Was Mick McCarty right to play a B Team against Man U?

magma69

There is much controversy over Mick McCarty's decision to make 10 changes to the side that beat Spurs at the weekend. Much of the Wolves fans are incredibly disgruntled at his defeatist attitude to the fixture. Do you agree?

I personally think it was a wise move from McCarty. The team worked their socks off at the weekend to grind out a win and there would undoubtedly be tired legs last night if the same 11 were picked. Let's be realistic here. Even if their strongest team played they would still most likely lose to a United team wanting to bounce back from a home defeat. The chances of them getting a draw were slim and getting the whole 3 points would be extremely unlikely so what is so silly about doing what he did. They are not like Liverpool or Arsenal who can beat anyone on their day. I know it is never nice to see your team admit defeat but pragmatism should come first and I say fair play to McCarty for saving his players for a game where they can go get 3 points.

P.S. Mods. I don't know how to make a poll would be appreciated if you could. Thanks.

CHD

No

Yes, the Burnley game is huge for them next week. The supporters club member who said they deserve their money back and really hope he plays a full strength side -v- Burnley is slightly retarded.

Johner

Atari Saipan

Well its in the rules that you must play a full strength team in all top-flight games so going by the rules he was wrong.

cashville

Hmmm probably not because the rules state you must play as strong a team as possible. No source - I'm fairly sure it's true!

From a Wolves point of view it did make sense though, Burnley game is MASSIVE.

I think he could have been a little more subtle, 3-4 changes and take 2 off a half time maybe - but then you never know what way a game will pan out with injuries. He really is after drawing a lot of attention to it, I'd say they'll get a warning about future conduct maybe?

FutureGuy

Fair play to Mick to be honest. The top sides have been fielding weakened sides for years against the smaller clubs, which was having a big say in the relegation battle.

They got a great result against Spurs but to ask for a similar result against United was asking a bit too much. He cut his losses and rested his entire team for the game against Burnley which is much more important.

Brilliant move tbh.

Liam O

No

United didn't play a full strength side either with both Gibson and Obertan starting so why aren't the FA writing to them? loada crap tbh they could easily beat any charge. Fans should have been warned though...

JPA

Atari Saipan

Bad move from Mick, angering the fans is never a good move and if they don't win at the weekend they'll be on his back big time. Rest 2 or 3 if ya want but 10? That's taking the piss.

ntlbell

Can't believe the FA are looking for an explanation it's none of their f*cking business who he picks.

JPA

Atari Saipan

ntlbell wrote: »

Can't believe the FA are looking for an explanation it's none of their f*cking business who he picks.

Well it is since it was against the rules.

Xavi6

Atari Saipan

Disgaraceful to be doing it so early in the season.

There is no reason why Wolves couldn't have gone there, put up a fight, and left with their heads held high and a point at least. Instead they went out with a losing attitude.

Like Villa in the Uefa last year, I hope they get battered at the weekend.

whatawaster

JPA wrote: »

Well it is since it was against the rules.

Do the FA have a list of who the best Wolves players are? They are simply reacting to the media, as they always do. It's a joke.

Fuhrer

Xavi6 wrote: »

There is no reason why Wolves couldn't have gone there, put up a fight, and left with their heads held high and a point at least.

well yeah, there is a a reason.


A very simple and easy to see reason why.

ShiverinEskimo

Atari Saipan

A manager's job is to instill confidence into his team. He should be trying to convince his players that on their day they can beat anyone - a la Burnley when United visted.

Assuming a loss and taking your big players out - who would relish a chance to play against United at OT - was a bad move and in my eyes is the manager saying "I have no confidence in your abilities to beat a big side".

Foolish move tbh - whether it's against the rules or not.

Nalz

No

Wolves could have (not saying would have) got something if they had played more first team players

But whats the point of registering X amount of players for a competition, if you get penalized for playing 11 of those? What do people want? Lets grade the players so... Doyle, Craddock etc are Grade A players and must play against Manchester United. :rolleyes:

RasTa

Wolves should clearly be awarded a ten point deducation and a huge fine. The decision of the 'manager' is basically match fixing. And what a shock, he's a member of the League Mafia Association. Fancy that!

Additionally Wolves should be made to pay compensation to all the Wolves fans. Including;

* Refund of Match Ticket
* Refund of any and all travelling expenses/Accomodation
* Refund of monies relating to TOIL or Annual Leave used to watch this fixture.

Additionally the manager should receive a touchline ban and a huge individual fine. The League and Football in general is utterly, laughably corrupt and has been for some time. There is something fundamentally wrong with the game of Football. Just look at all the 'non Premier' clubs and their attendances. Average attendances now in the 2nd tier down are typically 50%-95% empty. In pretty much every game. The game of Football relies on its grass roots. People may think the 'Premier' League is the be all and end all, but it stands squarely on the bastion that football is. Without that edifice below it, the 'Premier' League will crumble and show itself to be the Emporers New Clothes that it is.

There are too many results and too many decisions from the powers-that-be and two many double standards evidenced in all areas for there not to be something going on.

Sometimes the easiest, clearest way of discovering the truth is to weigh up the evidence and discard the evidence that doesn't fit. The League and Football is corrupt. And it's at every level. Perhaps it's always been this way.

Xavi6

Atari Saipan

Fuhrer wrote: »

well yeah, there is a a reason.


A very simple and easy to see reason why.

Such as?

Maybe Steve Bruce should have rolled over instead of fielding a full strength attacking team cause look what happened there.

magma69

No

Xavi6 wrote: »

Disgaraceful to be doing it so early in the season.

There is no reason why Wolves couldn't have gone there, put up a fight, and left with their heads held high and a point at least. Instead they went out with a losing attitude.

Like Villa in the Uefa last year, I hope they get battered at the weekend.

Increasing your chances of staying up/long term future for the club is more important than being able to hold your head up high by drawing or narrowly losing to a top team.

bladespin

No

He was right, why risk your best players in a match you're very unlikely to get anykind of result from?

The players fielded could have gotten a result but were outplayed in the end, there was no match fixing.

Ush1

Xavi6 wrote: »

Such as?

Maybe Steve Bruce should have rolled over instead of fielding a full strength attacking team cause look what happened there.

Steve Bruce has a different mentality for one thing.

Upcoming matches are more important for them than United at home.

steps_3314

Well whats the first thing players and the manager say when they win promotion. Its the club looking forward to visiting and playing teams like Liverpool. Chelsea, Man United etc

So no he shud have rested a couple of players and not the whole team bar the goalkeeper.

And to be fair Man Utd do not kick their opponents into injury. Theyll suffer more at clubs who are also fighting relegation this season.

They have to win Saturday now.

whatawaster

RasTa wrote: »

Wolves should clearly be awarded a ten point deducation and a huge fine. The decision of the 'manager' is basically match fixing. And what a shock, he's a member of the League Mafia Association. Fancy that!

Additionally Wolves should be made to pay compensation to all the Wolves fans. Including;

* Refund of Match Ticket
* Refund of any and all travelling expenses/Accomodation
* Refund of monies relating to TOIL or Annual Leave used to watch this fixture.

Additionally the manager should receive a touchline ban and a huge individual fine. The League and Football in general is utterly, laughably corrupt and has been for some time. There is something fundamentally wrong with the game of Football. Just look at all the 'non Premier' clubs and their attendances. Average attendances now in the 2nd tier down are typically 50%-95% empty. In pretty much every game. The game of Football relies on its grass roots. People may think the 'Premier' League is the be all and end all, but it stands squarely on the bastion that football is. Without that edifice below it, the 'Premier' League will crumble and show itself to be the Emporers New Clothes that it is.

There are too many results and too many decisions from the powers-that-be and two many double standards evidenced in all areas for there not to be something going on.

Sometimes the easiest, clearest way of discovering the truth is to weigh up the evidence and discard the evidence that doesn't fit. The League and Football is corrupt. And it's at every level. Perhaps it's always been this way.

Is this a joke?

Nalz

No

RasTa wrote: »

Wolves should clearly be awarded a ten point deducation and a huge fine. The decision of the 'manager' is basically match fixing. And what a shock, he's a member of the League Mafia Association. Fancy that!

Additionally Wolves should be made to pay compensation to all the Wolves fans. Including;

* Refund of Match Ticket
* Refund of any and all travelling expenses/Accomodation
* Refund of monies relating to TOIL or Annual Leave used to watch this fixture.

Additionally the manager should receive a touchline ban and a huge individual fine. The League and Football in general is utterly, laughably corrupt and has been for some time. There is something fundamentally wrong with the game of Football. Just look at all the 'non Premier' clubs and their attendances. Average attendances now in the 2nd tier down are typically 50%-95% empty. In pretty much every game. The game of Football relies on its grass roots. People may think the 'Premier' League is the be all and end all, but it stands squarely on the bastion that football is. Without that edifice below it, the 'Premier' League will crumble and show itself to be the Emporers New Clothes that it is.

There are too many results and too many decisions from the powers-that-be and two many double standards evidenced in all areas for there not to be something going on.

Sometimes the easiest, clearest way of discovering the truth is to weigh up the evidence and discard the evidence that doesn't fit. The League and Football is corrupt. And it's at every level. Perhaps it's always been this way.

What!

Too much of a grey area, how can you prove/determine what the best team is? Rafa went on a massive run of squad rotating...not picking the same team game after game. Granted, he had Gerrard, Reina and Carragher etc in most of those lineups.

But how do you define this? What exactly is the rule? Play all fully fit players available? (a) How do you determine fitness, (b) How do you determine the class of player and (c) Isnt it up to the manager to manage the team how he seems fit, over the course of a season?

Ush1

Trilla wrote: »

Too much of a grade area, how can you prove/determine what the best team is? Rafa went on a massive run of squad rotating...not picking the same team game after game. Granted, he had Gerrard, Reina and Carragher etc in most of those lineups.

But how do you define this? What exactly is the rule? Play all fully fit players available? (a) How do you determine fitness, (b) How do you determine the class of player and (c) Isnt it up to the manager to manage the team how he seems fit, over the course of a season?

Exactly.

Xavi6

Atari Saipan

magma69 wrote: »

Increasing your chances of staying up/long term future for the club is more important than being able to hold your head up high by drawing or narrowly losing to a top team.

Picking your battles after less than half the games in a season shows little confidence in a playing group. McCarthy has effectively consigned himself to a battle for survival. If I was a Wolves fan I would be hoping my manager had a little bit more faith when they're not exactly doomed yet.

kida

If they beat Burnley then Yes

Remember their "A" team were beaten by Utd in the Carling Cup

Fuhrer

Xavi6 wrote: »

Such as?

Maybe Steve Bruce should have rolled over instead of fielding a full strength attacking team cause look what happened there.

Steve Bruce has a large squad of expensive players and is in the top half of the season.


Mick was beaten by Uniteds reserve team the last time he fielded a full strength team at old trafford and with a game at the weekend that is infinetly more winnable, he decieded to take a gamble.


Of course you know this alread and are just having a go to wind up people

opr

While obviously it is easy to understand the reasoning behind the decision, what if other clubs start following suit ? The league would very quickly become an absolute joke!

Opr

event

Johner wrote: »

Well its in the rules that you must play a full strength team in all top-flight games so going by the rules he was wrong.

define full strength?

Xavi6

Atari Saipan

Of course you know this alread and are just having a go to wind up people

That's twice today you've accused people of being on a wind up because they have a differing opinion to you. What's that about? :rolleyes:

Nalz

No

opr wrote: »

The league would very quickly become an absolute joke!

Well if Wolves or McCarthy get in trouble for this, it will be an even bigger joke

kida

event wrote: »

define full strength?

would imagine its a team consisting of first team squad players which it was

did any Wolves players make their debut last night?
how many had palyed fewer than 20 first team games?
how many are still youth players

just hoe weak was it anyway?

Xavi6

Atari Saipan

Fuhrer wrote: »

Yeah alright, you got me. Im bringing down the forum from the inside...

Just shows that you're not worth bothering with so we'll move swiftly on.

magma69

No

steps_3314 wrote: »

Well whats the first thing players and the manager say when they win promotion. Its the club looking forward to visiting and playing teams like Liverpool. Chelsea, Man United etc

So no he shud have rested a couple of players and not the whole team bar the goalkeeper.

And to be fair Man Utd do not kick their opponents into injury. Theyll suffer more at clubs who are also fighting relegation this season.

They have to win Saturday now.

That's typical manager PR bull****. Their aim as a manager of a promoted team is to keep them up. You always got to take those comments with a grain of salt. The same way if Man U are playing a division 2 nobody team in the cup, Fergie will make them out to be really good and his team will have to give it 100% to win and all that malark. When really they could win the match with their eyes closed.

Nalz

No

kida wrote: »

would imagine its a team consisting of first team squad players which it was

did any Wolves players make their debut last night?
how many had palyed fewer than 20 first team games?
how many are still youth players

just hoe weak was it anyway?

If they are registered to play in the Premierleauge for Wolves then there is no problem. Whats the point of registering then?

Ush1

Xavi6 wrote: »

Picking your battles after less than half the games in a season shows little confidence in a playing group. McCarthy has effectively consigned himself to a battle for survival. If I was a Wolves fan I would be hoping my manager had a little bit more faith when they're not exactly doomed yet.

Endless arguement I spose of the optimist vs the pessimist. Worst case scenario vs best case. Risking injuring important players etc...

Dave!

No

Nothing wrong with it. He's making full use of the squad, identifying the matches he thinks are most important and most winnable and choosing tactics accordingly. All managers do this. Some teams when they play against the better teams put 10 men behind the ball and blatantly play for the draw -- should they be penalised for this too?

As mentioned, the FA pandering to the media.

The 'top' teams prioritise matches too, decide what ones are most important, which competitions they want to win most, and field teams appropriately. Carling cup is the prime example of course.

opr

Trilla wrote: »

Well if Wolves or McCarthy get in trouble for this, it will be an even bigger joke

Imagine a situation were all smaller clubs start to pick and choose the games they think are most win-able and field a team based on this. This would have a massive impact on the league and very much to its detriment.

Opr

Fuhrer

Xavi6 wrote: »

Just shows that you're not worth bothering with so we'll move swiftly on.

Oh no, please come back!


I love explaining to someone how a manager of a newly promoted team with a thin sqaud might think that he doesnt have much of a chance when playing against a nearly full strength champions team away from home when the game at the weekend will be much easier if he rests some players.

Paul Tergat

It's an absolute farce that we are having to even talk about this.

He can play whatever side he wants. He is the manager and its his job to prioritise and nobody should be telling him otherwise

Nalz

No

opr wrote: »

Imagine a situation were all smaller clubs start to pick and choose the games they think are most win-able and field a team based on this. This would have a massive impact on the league and very much to its detriment.

Opr

I agree, but more definitive laws/rules need to be put in place for this. And I for one, don't know how one would go about that though

Johner

Atari Saipan

event wrote: »

define full strength?

I don't make the rules.

Premier League rule 20, section E, says teams must field a full-strength side in all top-flight matches.

Peyton Manning

No

He had every right to pick the team he did, but it may come back to bite him in the arse.

If Burnley finish 17th and Wolves finish 1, 2 or 3 points behind in 18th, then I bet Owen Coyle will be delighted he fielded a full strength team against United and McCarthy didnt.

ShiverinEskimo

Atari Saipan

Fuhrer wrote: »

Oh no, please come back!


I love explaining to someone how a manager of a newly promoted team with a thin sqaud might think that he doesnt have much of a chance when playing against a nearly full strength champions team away from home when the game at the weekend will be much easier if he rests some players.

Just how I would love to explain to someone how a decent performance against the champions by your first team followed by a FIVE DAY rest is not exactly the worst preperation for a relagation 6 pointer.

There's arguments for both sides - you're acting like a rest will guarantee a better performance against Burnley when the very opposite could be true.

Nalz

No

Johner wrote: »

Premier League rule 20, section E, says teams must field a full-strength side in all top-flight matches.

All teams are guilty of this.

eddiehead

No

Its not simply as black and white as every game is worth 3 points and they are all of exactly the same value, some games a realistically "6 pointers", the match against Burnley is far more important to Wolves than a match away to United. Like it or not this is how McCarthy sees it and probably how a lot of other managers see it too, and they are right. In an ideal world all 20 top flight clubs would be challenging for the league but that simply isn't the case, some clubs are there to survive and they must prioritise and choose their battles.

He was 100% in the right IMO

opr

Dave! wrote: »

Nothing wrong with it. He's making full use of the squad, identifying the matches he thinks are most important and most winnable and choosing tactics accordingly. All managers do this. Some teams when they play against the better teams put 10 men behind the ball and blatantly play for the draw -- should they be penalised for this too?

As mentioned, the FA pandering to the media.

It hurts me to say this as I am a Liverpool fan but at present I think mangers would identify Liverpool far above Man U or Chelsea that they may be able to get something. So they decide that against Chelsea and Man U they will play the reserves and against Liverpool they will field a full strength side. How the fcuk is that fair ?

This is only one of a million things I can think of that just don't seem right about this.

Opr

Fuhrer

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

There's arguments for both sides - you're acting like a rest will guarantee a better performance against Burnley when the very opposite could be true.

I didnt guarantee it, I said it would make the game mroe winnable.


But of course im wrong, what top teams ever bother resting players before important or big games?

Nalz

No

opr wrote: »

This is only one of a million things I can think of that just don't seem right about this.

Right or wrong, the rules are not definitive enough so Mick McCarthy has done nothing wrong. Epecially as it was 2 or 3 days after defeating a top 6 side in their own back yard.

Lord Trollington

No

RasTa wrote: »

Wolves should clearly be awarded a ten point deducation and a huge fine. The decision of the 'manager' is basically match fixing. And what a shock, he's a member of the League Mafia Association. Fancy that!

Additionally Wolves should be made to pay compensation to all the Wolves fans. Including;

* Refund of Match Ticket
* Refund of any and all travelling expenses/Accomodation
* Refund of monies relating to TOIL or Annual Leave used to watch this fixture.

Additionally the manager should receive a touchline ban and a huge individual fine. The League and Football in general is utterly, laughably corrupt and has been for some time. There is something fundamentally wrong with the game of Football. Just look at all the 'non Premier' clubs and their attendances. Average attendances now in the 2nd tier down are typically 50%-95% empty. In pretty much every game. The game of Football relies on its grass roots. People may think the 'Premier' League is the be all and end all, but it stands squarely on the bastion that football is. Without that edifice below it, the 'Premier' League will crumble and show itself to be the Emporers New Clothes that it is.

There are too many results and too many decisions from the powers-that-be and two many double standards evidenced in all areas for there not to be something going on.

Sometimes the easiest, clearest way of discovering the truth is to weigh up the evidence and discard the evidence that doesn't fit. The League and Football is corrupt. And it's at every level. Perhaps it's always been this way.

Over react much?

Brien

No

Trilla wrote: »

All teams are guilty of this.

Exactly. Fergie does this before EVERY big european night. It makes sense to keep your players/team best interest in mind, and here if that means they can beat Burnley then well done to McCarthy (for once).

Yes Questions will be asked if htey dont win it, but how many times did a weakened United side put a loss down to "European Hangover"?

Teams have more than 18 players for a reason. Let them play the league how they see fit

GLaDOS

RasTa wrote: »

Wolves should clearly be awarded a ten point deducation and a huge fine.

Some award