Transfer Window
Over the transfer window, it gets a little cloudier with arrivals, so I’m going to go with an XI up to the signings of Poole, Sanders and Bramall. That XI, based on the form heading into that window, would be Palmer, Eyoma, Edun, Walsh, Jackson, Bridcutt, Grant, McGrandles, Rogers, Johnson and Hopper. Of course, that is in some way influenced by the fact Montsma, Jones and Anderson were all affected by Covid.
The 2-1 win at Wimbledon came before Rogers signed and probably came as close to a full squad as we got for the first half of the season. At that point, Harry Anderson was missing, as was McGrandles, which means we still didn’t have the full compliment. We did have all three centre backs available though, with Jackson an unused sub.
After that, we lost Walsh, again, until January 23. The 2-1 win against Northampton saw us at full strength, or the capacity to be at our transfer window starting XI, although McGrandles was playing his first game back. He came on and scored, so we’ll say this was the fourth game of the season in which we had our best starting XI available. However, bear in mind we only had six subs that day, such was the impact of Covid and injuries. Our 1-0 win at Portsmouth was the second game of the month we had a full squad, although Rogers started on the bench.
Oddly, the first time that we fielded what I considered to be our strongest XI, fit and injury-free, was when we lost 1-0 to Doncaster, although I think we were very good that day and deserved the win. Had we been deadly from 12-yards, it would have been three games at ‘full strength’, with three wins. Football is all about ifs and buts though.
Games Played: 5
Full Strength: 3 – PPG 2.00
Weakened: 2 – PPG 2.00
Post-Transfer Window
What would be our strongest XI since the window closed? I think there’s an argument for Palmer, Eyoma, Edun, Walsh, Jackson, Bridcutt, Grant, McGrandles, Rogers, Hopper and Johnson, pretty much the same as before the window. No disrespect to Poole or Bramall, but both are easing their way into the side. It doesn’t matter anyway, because we only managed two matches with our full-strength side.
The first was the 3-0 win at Gillingham, and the other the 0-0 draw at Hull, except that Bridcutt went off injured after 23 minutes so it barely qualifies. The week after, Joe Walsh played the last game he appeared in, our 2-2 draw with Accrington. 13 days after that we lost Jorge Grant in the aftermath of Plymouth, and that’s pretty much where we are now. Essentially, we came out of the window at full strength, and one by one the players have since dropped. Could it be that in the 46 days between Hull in the EFL Trophy and Sunderland away we played 12 matches? Possibly.
Games Played: 12
Full Strength: 2 – PPG 2.00
Weakened: 10 – PPG 1.00
Conclusion
By my reckoning, there have only been eight matches where Michael has had the full complement of first-team players to pick from. The first was our 0-0 draw with Fleetwood, but with the caveat Joe Walsh was rushed back early to fill in. That was followed by the 2-0 win against Plymouth, although at that stage Tayo Edun was still breaking through, and finally the 1-0 Ipswich win.
In January we had a decent complement of players, despite Covid. Yes, we were low on numbers, but arguably not on quality and managed three games from five at ‘full-strength’, or with a relatively full starting XI. Sadly, since February, we have had just two matches with a full set of players.
If you take out the games where a player came back as a sub (Northampton), or went off injured and missed most of the game (Hull City), we have only had what could be classed as a full-strength starting XI for six matches of the 36 we have played, or 16% of the time. In most of those, the player we have been missing has either been the captain (18 outings from 36, missing 50% of the time), or our leading scorer (missed six of 12 since the transfer window, 50%).
That situation is much worse now than at any other time. We used to lament one or two missing, but we’re now without our leading scorer and assist creator in Grant, two central defenders (from three who play there regularly) in Walsh and Jackson, our number nine Tom Hopper and of course Brennan Johnson on international duty. Throw in Max Sanders, who hardly had a kick since his move from Brighton, and you can see exactly why our current league position is not a failure at all, but in fact a huge testament to the squad’s resilience and strength in the face of adversity.