Starting 11 for Tuesday

[Maguire]

If Antonio starts then I'll probably cry.

[Optimist]

I'll cry with joy as he comes off the bench to score the winner. If BM has faith in him then so have I.

[Mr Angry]

.................Feds.................

Griffin...Mills....Zurab....Harte..

...............Ledge..Karacan............

McAnuff.........Howard............HRK

....................Long..................

Subs: McCarthy, Gunnar, Pearce, Church, Tabb, Antonio, Hunt

This for me, assuming Kebe isn't fit. lets flood central midfield to deny Cardiff space, and grind out chances on the break with Long being supported by HRK, Jobi and Howard. As we have shown since Kebe's injury, we don't have the players that can hurt decent opposition with a 442 at this time; Hunt & Church are off form, whilst Manset is an impact sub at the moment; playing the above formation gives us defensive solidity in the middle and will allow us to break with pace.

Tomorrow night is about grinding out a result, and to do that we have to accept our limitations at this time. IMHO, playing 442 will allow Cardiff the licence to cut through our middle and threaten our back 4 at will - in pretty much the same way that Leeds did at Elland Road, and even Sheffield Utd did at the Mad Stad after 25 mins. Lets stay solid, and do to Cardiff what they did to us; break up play, slow down the game, and frustrate them.

[savage 4 england]

.................Feds.................

Griffin...Mills....Zurab....Harte..

...............Ledge..Karacan............

McAnuff.........Howard............HRK

....................Long..................

Subs: McCarthy, Gunnar, Pearce, Church, Tabb, Antonio, Hunt

This for me, assuming Kebe isn't fit. lets flood central midfield to deny Cardiff space, and grind out chances on the break with Long being supported by HRK, Jobi and Howard. As we have shown since Kebe's injury, we don't have the players that can hurt decent opposition with a 442 at this time; Hunt & Church are off form, whilst Manset is an impact sub at the moment; playing the above formation gives us defensive solidity in the middle and will allow us to break with pace.

Tomorrow night is about grinding out a result, and to do that we have to accept our limitations at this time. IMHO, playing 442 will allow Cardiff the licence to cut through our middle and threaten our back 4 at will - in pretty much the same way that Leeds did at Elland Road, and even Sheffield Utd did at the Mad Stad after 25 mins. Lets stay solid, and do to Cardiff what they did to us; break up play, slow down the game, and frustrate them.

I've got to agree with that. I've got a feeling BMc will go with that too.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Yes, that looks good to me too. Cardiff will need to come out and get a goal tomorrow, and we're at our best hitting a team on the break.

[Ian Royal]

McDermott must rate Antonio as Henry was sold. Unlike fans, one bad game isn't goign to change Brian's opinion too much.
Tabb is a good option though, really pushing for a start. He used to play on the wing, even if not his best position.

And there's a reason Antonio hasn't started all season except two meaningless end of season games where he was poor in both. Good impact sub but not a starter for now, as I've called all season. He doesn't really seem to know what he's doing and is therefore not reliable over 90 minutes and he's weak tracking back as well.

Tabb is a good shout IMO.

[UpNorth]

Agree about Tabb. He has played on the wing for other clubs in the past (did a job for us in this position against the Owls a few years back).

Going 4-5-1 with Howard attacking in midfield looks a good option.

It was clear for all to see that lumping the ball forward as we did in the first leg was not the answer. We rarely won anything in the air. Hunt made no impact and looks off the pace. Easy to switch to 4-4-2 later in the game if we are going for the win.

[Fox Talbot]

.................Feds.................

Griffin...Mills....Zurab....Harte..

...............Ledge..Karacan............

McAnuff.........Howard............HRK

....................Long..................

Subs: McCarthy, Gunnar, Pearce, Church, Tabb, Antonio, Hunt

This for me, assuming Kebe isn't fit. lets flood central midfield to deny Cardiff space, and grind out chances on the break with Long being supported by HRK, Jobi and Howard. As we have shown since Kebe's injury, we don't have the players that can hurt decent opposition with a 442 at this time; Hunt & Church are off form, whilst Manset is an impact sub at the moment; playing the above formation gives us defensive solidity in the middle and will allow us to break with pace.

Tomorrow night is about grinding out a result, and to do that we have to accept our limitations at this time. IMHO, playing 442 will allow Cardiff the licence to cut through our middle and threaten our back 4 at will - in pretty much the same way that Leeds did at Elland Road, and even Sheffield Utd did at the Mad Stad after 25 mins. Lets stay solid, and do to Cardiff what they did to us; break up play, slow down the game, and frustrate them.

Agree - rather play 11 good players than have just 10 if we played 4 4 2 with Long + A.N. not-up-to-it.
We're fitter than them, let's go for pens!

[marcusopp]

.................Feds.................

Griffin...Mills....Zurab....Harte..

...............Ledge..Karacan............

McAnuff.........Howard............HRK

....................Long..................

Subs: McCarthy, Gunnar, Pearce, Church, Tabb, Antonio, Hunt

This for me, assuming Kebe isn't fit. lets flood central midfield to deny Cardiff space, and grind out chances on the break with Long being supported by HRK, Jobi and Howard. As we have shown since Kebe's injury, we don't have the players that can hurt decent opposition with a 442 at this time; Hunt & Church are off form, whilst Manset is an impact sub at the moment; playing the above formation gives us defensive solidity in the middle and will allow us to break with pace.

Tomorrow night is about grinding out a result, and to do that we have to accept our limitations at this time. IMHO, playing 442 will allow Cardiff the licence to cut through our middle and threaten our back 4 at will - in pretty much the same way that Leeds did at Elland Road, and even Sheffield Utd did at the Mad Stad after 25 mins. Lets stay solid, and do to Cardiff what they did to us; break up play, slow down the game, and frustrate them.

Snap!
I'd go for that too.
I feel we've under used Howard this season. Starting him in such a vital game will give him (and us) a real boost.
C'mon Reading!!!!

[seahawk10]

I saw Kebe get on the bus via facebook. He should at least be on the bench.

My guess is McDermott has him on the bench and then will bring him in if we are even or trailing in the 2nd half. If we are winning he might hold him off for the final.

Fingers crossed.

[royalsroyalsroyals92]

Hard choice really. beginning of the season we werent particularly effective with the 4 5 1, but i think tomorrow its a good plan to use it. Cardiff will probably play a 4 5 1/ 4 3 3 formation if Bellamy is fit, and we need to start dominating in midfield a bit more. If you look at some of Longs easier goals this year they have come from creative passes from the likes of Harte, and dont forget that spectacular ball from howard that led to the penalty against pompey. Legs and Jem are great workers, great at winning the balls, but they arent as creative as i think we need sometimes. When Hunt came back from industry he did play quite creatively and he did well, but recently he has just been ineffective. I think adding Howard in will give us a really good outlet, and it may be able to counter some of Cardiff's creativity.
I am a fan of Manset, and i rekon he is going to be a really great player for us, so keep him on the bench. Church played well against Derby, so it'll be hard to chose who to drop as i cant imagine us having 3 strikers on the bench.
Think we have been quite sound defensively recently, and im a big fan of Mills, and either of Khiz/Pearce.
Dont understand why people would suggest getting Feds out of goal.
Still think with a fit Kebe we will edge this game

[seahawk10]

Dont understand why people would suggest getting Feds out of goal.Still think with a fit Kebe we will edge this game

I haven't suggested it, but I can understand why. McCarthy will make more of the 'how did he keep that out?' type of saves. I think McCarthy has more talent than Feds and we may need every bit of luck tomorrow to nick this.

If McCarthy were in goal it would increase my confidence that we will advance. That is just the way I feel.

[royalsroyalsroyals92]

I feel confident with both of the goalies, think we are in a lucky position.
I am quite a fan of fed's distribution but agree that he does sometimes need to roll it out for the easier option, however where im a fan of that in mcarthy, i think his kicking is pretty woeful. Both seem to make good saves, but feds (from what i recall) seems to make more finger tip saves, whereas mcarthy seems to get his body in the way alot (but ive heard thats just due to great positioning).
Tough call, but i think Feds edges it for me on distribution.

[mikey0406]

if HRK or Kebe is not fit to start then BM will go for a 5 man midfield with either Noel Hunt or churchy out wide and Howard in the middle of the park playing off Long

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Will just be kebe for hrk. If both are out I think Church will start out wide... not saying it would work though, id rather play Cummings!

Remember Pardew at the very same stage playing Darius out wide and it didn't work.
Coppell did the same IIRC with Church in a big game and it didn't work.
Now Cummings playing ahead of Griff might just work as he does have pace and is a thinking footballer (unlike Henderson and Church) and wouldn't have to worry quite so much about defending.

And the man who gets it spot on is above.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Will just be kebe for hrk. If both are out I think Church will start out wide... not saying it would work though, id rather play Cummings!

Remember Pardew at the very same stage playing Darius out wide and it didn't work.
Coppell did the same IIRC with Church in a big game and it didn't work.
Now Cummings playing ahead of Griff might just work as he does have pace and is a thinking footballer (unlike Henderson and Church) and wouldn't have to worry quite so much about defending.

Well if we do play Cummings on the right and we get promoted I will claim my spot on the bus...

ticket ready? It worked last night.

[Z175]

Will just be kebe for hrk. If both are out I think Church will start out wide... not saying it would work though, id rather play Cummings!

Remember Pardew at the very same stage playing Darius out wide and it didn't work.
Coppell did the same IIRC with Church in a big game and it didn't work.
Now Cummings playing ahead of Griff might just work as he does have pace and is a thinking footballer (unlike Henderson and Church) and wouldn't have to worry quite so much about defending.

Well if we do play Cummings on the right and we get promoted I will claim my spot on the bus...

SMUGFACE

[Sarah Star]

Well, it never even crossed my mind that Cummings would be played on the wing, but he did so much better than I thought when I heard that's where he was going to play. He deserves a lot of credit for that. A good strong performance.