Team for Oxford then

[CoolClaret]

The transfer window is shut, we probably didn't get all the players we would have wanted, but at least we managed to keep our best players and trim a bit more of the fat.

If Edwards is anywhere near close to being fit, we have to play him and I think SP will do.

Any news on Brownhill?

--------Traff
Roberts-CJ-Esteve-Humphries
--------Cullen
----Laurent-Hannibal
Edwards--Flemming--Anthony

UTC!

[Hedontplayforyou]

Trafford
Roberts CJ Steve Humphreys
Cullen
Brownhill Flemming
Edwards foster Anthony

In no universe will Parker play this, I think we may see the following -

Trafford
Roberts cj Steve Humphreys
Cullen Laurent
Hannibal
Anthony Flemming foster

[Goliath]

Press them high all over the pitch. They arent good enough to handle it.

.........Trafford

Sonne....CJR....Esteve....Pires

.......Cullen......Shelvey.

Edwards....Fleming...Foster

...............Barnes

[fidelcastro]

Edwards hasn't played since November.

I'd be amazed if he starts tomorrow.

[dermotdermot]

Is Edwards fit. A poster on the transfer thread said that he’s only played one game all season.

[Goliath]

Edwards hasn't played since November.

I'd be amazed if he starts tomorrow.

So would I but I think we are naming who we'd pick rather than who Parker will go with

[DCWat]

Trafford
Roberts Egan-Riley Esteve Humphreys
Cullen
Edwards Brownhill Anthony
Flemming
Foster

[rincon]

Press them high all over the pitch. They arent good enough to handle it.

.........Trafford

Sonne....CJR....Esteve....Pires

.......Cullen......Shelvey.

Edwards....Fleming...Foster

...............Barnes

would LOVE to see that. not likely unfortunately

[billyhamilton82]

--------------Trafford

--Roberts - CJ- Esteve - Humphreys

--------Cullen - Shelvey

-----------Flemming

Edwards - Foster - Anthony

[fidelcastro]

So would I but I think we are naming who we'd pick rather than who Parker will go with

I'm glad you're not the manager then.

[Spijed]

If Shelvey didn't make the bench straight away is Edwards likely to?

[Commy]

I reckon we will still have square pegs in round holes and expect a different result.

[fidelcastro]

If Shelvey didn't make the bench straight away is Edwards likely to?

No idea, but strangely the bench will be more interesting to hear than the starting XI tomorrow.

[kentonclaret]

So would I but I think we are naming who we'd pick rather than who Parker will go with

Parker clearly can’t select players who have not played a competitive match for a couple of months and are not deemed to be match fit. It could be another 4/5 weeks before we even see him in action.

[CoolClaret]

Parker clearly can’t select players who have not played a competitive match for a couple of months and are not deemed to be match fit. It could be another 4/5 weeks before we even see him in action.

He started Anthony against Blackburn who hadn't played and was a bit part player the season prior.

Wing is a bit different than centre mid/striker as well.

[mybloodisclaret]

Is Brownhill confirmed unavailable? So many leaving him out when we clearly missed him at Pompey at the weekend.

[louieollie]

I reckon we will still have square pegs in round holes and expect a different result.

Yawn

[SydneyClaret]

This squad should be beating the likes of Oxford 2-0 at worst. Parker needs to have some faith in his defenders and let the midfield players go forward and be creative.

[Ptgclaret]

Interesting how people think Edwards will start.

His last appearance was 30th November. He was an unused sub in the following 6 games, then hasn't even been on the team sheet for the last 5.

I've no idea if he's carrying a knock or out of favour, but either way fitness will be an issue for sure. Bench at absolute best I think.

We shouldn't be needing him to be at Oxford, with the likes of Benson and Shelvey on the bench last week, and I'd imagine Brownhill back too.

[Ptgclaret]

--------------Trafford

--Roberts - CJ- Esteve - Humphreys

--------Cullen - Shelvey

-----------Flemming

Anthony - Foster - Hannibal

[Murger]

Be more of the same.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Trafford
Roberts, Egan Riley, Esteve, Pires
Cullen, Laurent, Brownhill
Edwards, Flemming, Anthony

[agreenwood]

I’ll be amazed if Edwards starts.

He hasn’t played since November and had his first training session with us yesterday. He may not even make the bench tonight.

[RVclaret]

———————Trafford
Roberts ——CJ ——Esteve Humphreys
Anthony Brownhill Cullen Hannibal
—————-Flemming Foster

Shelvey & Edwards hopefully fit enough to come on around 55 mins if we are still level. Even though this is a 4-4-2 off the ball, Brownhill should still be pushing up and beyond the strikers with late runs.

[claretspice]

I suspect Edwards will be on the bench tonight, which means the starting XI is going to be very similar to that on Saturday.

My guess is that Humphreys and Hannibal might replace Pires and Sarmiento, and Brownhill will replace Laurent if fit.

[LincsWoldsClaret]

Now that it’s clear that we have settled for the playoffs, can’t see us changing much from the weekend, maybe Hannibal for Laurent but certainly nothing drastic

[jedi_master]

There has to be changes from Saturday as it was absolutely terrible in my opinion, and I very rarely use wording as strong as that. I thought Foster, Sarmiento and Pires were really poor and Laurent was uninvolved. I would even be tempted to give Sonne a go at right back as Roberts wasn't at his best, but there is no way we can realistically alter our defence with it's clean sheets. As a result (and, assuming Brownhill and Koleosho are fit):

Trafford
Roberts CJ Esteve Humphreys
Cullen Brownhill Hannibal
Anthony Flemming Koleosho

I also want to see Benson and Shelvey getting gametime off the bench. I have assumed that Edwards will be bench at best as he has barely played in ages as far as I understand it.

[Firthy]

Trafford
Roberts CJ Esteves Humphries
Cullen Laurent
Anthony Brownhill Foster
Fleming

And another 0-0

[fatboy47]

4 4 2.


Trafford.
Roberts
CJ
Esteve
Pires
Benson
Cullen
Shelvey
Edwards
Flemm
Foster.

Yes yes....I know it won't happen.

[Tinribs]

Is Edwards fit. A poster on the transfer thread said that he’s only played one game all season.

Has he been injured at all in this time? If not as a professional footballer is it not your job to stay fit until picked again.

[BleedingClaret]

Expect
........Trafford

Roberts....CJER....Esteve....Pires

Brownhill....Cullen.....Laurent

Anthony.... Sarmiento ...Foster

..............Flemming

Would like
.................. Trafford
....CJER..........Esteve ...... Humphreys
....................Cullen ...................
Anthony...Brownhill...Laurent...Hannibal
............ Foster......Flemming............

Shelvey, Edwards, Koleosho and Sarmiento off the bench if we need creation or dynamism if 0.0 on the hour

Roberts in a revert back to a 4 if required. Not adverse to him in a more attacking starting line up that includes him further forward

.................. Trafford
....CJER..........Esteve ...... Humphreys
....................Cullen ...................
.Roberts ....... Brownhill....... Hannibal
.Anthony.........Flemming.......Foster

Shelvey, Edwards, Laurent, Koleosho & Sarmiento off The Bench

[Hedontplayforyou]

12 players would be great

[BleedingClaret]

12 players would be great

12th man needed

Well you've gone and told them now

Expect
........Trafford

Roberts....CJER....Esteve....Pires

Brownhill....Cullen.....Laurent

Anthony.... Flemming ...Foster

----------------------------------------------------
Damn

[warksclaret]

Parker does not make radical decisions, expect

Trafford
Roberts Esteve CJ Humphreys
Cullen Laurent
Anthony Brownhill Foster
Fleming

If Brownhill unfit then Hannibal. I am hoping Shelvey will make an appearance off the bench tonight. Think its come to early for Edwards

[Hedontplayforyou]

12th man needed

Well you've gone and told them now

Expect
........Trafford

Roberts....CJER....Esteve....Pires

Brownhill....Cullen.....Laurent

Anthony.... Flemming ...Foster

----------------------------------------------------
Damn

[Hedontplayforyou]

I think he’s got to realise now that the midfield 3 we all expect him to pick isn’t right for home games especially. Laurent out Shelvey in for me. If Brownhill is still out then I’d like Hannibal in from the left too, drop Flemming deeer with foster running in behind .

One can only hope.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Has he been injured at all in this time? If not as a professional footballer is it not your job to stay fit until picked again.

Not been injured, just fell out with the club (interestingly it appears his game time dropped off a club almost the exact moment Amorim left to United).

[Newcastleclaret93]

Noticed not many have picked Shelvey.

I’m starting to think that he starts tonight ahead of Laurent

[dougcollins]

I'm really hoping not to see Pires in this team.

[alwaysaclaret]

Parker clearly can’t select players who have not played a competitive match for a couple of months and are not deemed to be match fit. It could be another 4/5 weeks before we even see him in action.

We've clearly brought Edwards in to try and achieve a top 2 finish, leave him out of the team for 4/5 weeks the season could be over with regards to a top 2, he has to figure before then, I'd say 2 weeks at the most, he seems a naturally fit type so I'd imagine he's not far off, given our struggles with scoring atm, wouldn't surprise me to see him on the bench.

[summitclaret]

Noticed not many have picked Shelvey.

I’m starting to think that he starts tonight ahead of Laurent

He should defo start if Brownhill not doing. Even if he tires, we have 5 subs. Just got to get a first half goal or the crowd could for the first time let out a collective, significant protest on the half time whistle, especially if its the same old tactics.

GR will 100% set up to frustrate us.

[me01jh]

Trafford
Roberts CJ Esteves Humphries
Cullen Laurent
Anthony Brownhill Foster
Fleming

And another 0-0

I've seen quite a bit of Oxford under GR... they have loads of pace in Placheta and Dembele so I cannot see Parker being too radical in his changes. He will not allow any space between the lines for these two to benefit in transition. If Brownhill is fit then the lineup above is nailed on.

Oxford are no mugs and in Brannagan & Rodriguez they do have a touch of sparkle that can win football matches. Helik & Brown are real threats from set pieces.

Where we can dominate is in the midfield, if Hannibal starts wide left and drifts in then we can easily overwhelm their three as Rodriguez is lazy and won't track. They often end up in a back 5 and very deep, so as long as we push our full backs up the park we can prevent them from getting out.

[gandhisflipflop]

If it was me

Traff

Roberts cj esteve humphreys pires


Cullen. Shelvey


Edwards. Flemming.


Foster


We will more than likely see

Traff

Roberts cj esteve humphreys

Laurent. Cullen


Anthony. Sarmiento. Foster.

Flemming

[123EasyasBFC]

--------------Trafford

--Roberts - CJ- Esteve - Humphreys

--------Cullen - Shelvey

-----------Flemming

Edwards - Foster - Anthony

This is the correct team for me 100%

[alwaysaclaret]

--------------Trafford

--Roberts - CJ- Esteve - Humphreys

--------Cullen - Shelvey

-----------Flemming

Edwards - Foster - Anthony

Close, but interesting there's no room for Brownhill, yet he's a wanted man, 4 or 5 Premier league suitors, Celtic in the queue, and apparently several with an eye on him in Europe, yet not good enough for a promotion chasing championship side, also Laurent behind an as yet untried shelvey. However a bench consisting of Laurent Brownhill hannibal Koleosho and Benson can't be sniffed at.

[CrosspoolClarets]

————————-Trafford—————————-
Roberts———-CJER——-Esteve———Humphreys
——————-Cullen———-Shelvey—————————
Anthony———Flemming——————Hannibal
—————————Foster————————————-

I am assuming Edwards is not match fit and Brownhill / Koleosho not fit at all as I didn’t see them in the training videos.

I want to see Edwards in the starting XI as soon as poss but not if it gets him an injury so it may be worth a bench appearance or two first and 20 minutes.

[AlargeClaret]

Trafford
Roberts CJ Steve Humphries
Anthony Cullen Shelvey Koleo
Fleming
Foster

[me01jh]

A lot of votes for Shelvey... he's only played 6 times this year! He was good ten years ago mind.

[jlup1980]

We need a spark. If Edwards is fit enough for 60 minutes he should start. Hopefully he can get fans off their seats and offer something different.

If Brownhill still isn't fit then I'd expect Edwards in place of Sarmiento, and Humprhries for Pires. Other than that it'll remain the same players, albeit hopefully in their strongest positions for a change! The front 4 below looks more balanced than normal in my opinion, and that might be enough!

Trafford
Roberts CJ Esteve Humphries
Cullen Laurent
Edwards Flemming Anthony
Foster

Given recent performances I will say there's an argument for starting any of Sonne, Hannibal, Shelvey, Barnes, or Benson just to see whether we improve as an attacking unit. I don't see SP making more than a couple of changes though.

[Rileybobs]

Now that it’s clear that we have settled for the playoffs, can’t see us changing much from the weekend, maybe Hannibal for Laurent but certainly nothing drastic

How have we settled for the playoffs? If we were to win tonight we'd be in the top two!