Vision Woodcote Royal We have players in better form than James Harper for a hotly contested spot in central midfield and whilst that department continues to malfunction, all of Marek, Gunnarsson and Karacan have every right to feel hard done by.
But does it really "continue to malfunction" though?
Apart from Southampton in which pretty much the whole side were poor then the actual contributions from the central midfield 2 haven't been that bad have they?.
Against Coventry despite being outnumbered did they ever actually get to threaten our back 4? Would suggest they were pretty well protected to me. Cardiff against 10 men for an hour?. Sheff Utd away ? Bristol City away? Derby at home?
Given that the central midfield has also produced goals and assists in those recent games then i think suggesting its malfunctioning is a bit over the top . If you're looking for it to control and dictate possession and play then i'm afraid you're going to be disappointed because as a team we're not set up that way. Sure they give the ball away at times but thats as much down to trying to maintain the tempo that Coppell wants as much as it is down to the individuals themselves. Until we change that way of playing (and why would we want to given our record under Coppell) then regardless of personnel our central midfield will always disappoint those that are expecting it to play in a different way.
Coppell's "favouritism" for Harper I suspect is simply because he does what his manager (and teammates) ask of him and not what the fans necessarily think he should be doing.
I don't take issue with many of your points and I'm sure that Coppell feeling that Harper knows what is required is a big part of why he gets so much preference. I know, too, that being out numbered in the centre most weeks will always make it difficult for us to dominate this area. I'm in favour of the sacriface because, as you say, it makes us more potent down the flanks.
However, yes, IMHO the central midfield did malfunction on Monday to a point that will cost us games against better sides and, ultimately, promotion.
Whereas in the past we had few options in central midfield Coppell is now spoilt for choice and, it should be remembered that giving Karacan his chance was one of the moves that kick started our season.
Furthermore, our best result so far, by a distance, was 3-0 away to Wolves which was achieved with Karacan and Gunnarsson in the centre. As one of the few who was there that night, I hadn't seen us look so strong in a long time and the scoreline didn't flatter us.
I'm not on a Harper witch hunt I just want his manager to use all the resources at his disposal and not to revert to the unjustified loyalty that cost us so dearly last season.
He admitted recently that we've started to look vulnerable well, Steve, if you've got a tape of that night in Wolverhampton, perhaps you should take another look and consider whether your "Harper must play" policy is justified or, indeed, that he might not be the only central midfielder who knows what is required and has the ability to carry it out.
Perhaps it was no coincidence that, at Molineux, we employed two central players who are better defensively than Harper and this worked well in compensating for the more attack minded Kebe . Perhaps Marek isn't the answer for tough assignments on our travels but picking Harper regardless isn't going to help in answering these questions and why we have, indeed, looked more vulnerable recently.
At Wolves we looked more than good enough to gain promotion with a good chance of staying there......................... I wish that had been the case on Monday night.
