I disagree about Ward being inferior to Whitbread and Ayala

in regards to bringing the ball out of defence, Ward is classy on the ball (although he sometimes leaves a lot to be desired when defending) but Barnett is terrible in possession. His consistent inability to retain the ball in even the least pressurised situations is a big problem and in turn puts unnecessary pressure on our defensive unit. His positional play is also below the required standard whilst his tackling is often rash and clumsy, this was apparent in Leicester's second goal today. If you're crap on the ball then you've atleast got to be able to defend!

Concerning todays match in general, the fact that we started a player at CB who has been making big mistakes all season instead of Russell Martin (played in a position he has struggled to fill all season) who was put up against one the quickest players in the country suggests that we didn't take this tie seriously enough. If Naughton's not available to play RB why not put Elliot Bennett there and play Crofts or Johnson in midfield against players they are capable of dealing with? We definitely lacked some stength and bite in the midfield today. As I stated a couple of weeks ago, Leicester are very tough to beat and are not a side to be taken lightly, so playing a weakened or experimental side (Wes, Pilks and Benno all starting together in a diamond were far too open) was incredibly naive against a team that likes to play on the counter with rapid pace. As for Holt not even being on the bench...

Back to Barnett; he will be lucky to still be an NCFC player next September. I would much prefer we had somebody like Wes Morgan in our squad (todays' oppositions' motm) who was available in January for a snip at ?500K, somebody who is strong, dominant in the air and can read the game, would have made a perfect squad CB in replacement of Barnett. We can't afford to carry passangers anymore if we are to continue to progress, i'm sure Lambert knows this and will prove this by moving Leon on. ILWT etc.

Posted By: Common Sense Police, Feb 18, 22:04:31