retired_jessieb

The god of any of bench warmers is the D/M/F, a player of that calibre which I can only say I have been lucky to find only twice. There is more than that number around I'm sure, but usually my scouts are a useless bunch unable to find a DL, let alone one of these precious players.

retired_tchockfan

I currently have my favourite player - a D/M RLC. This one is way to good to sit on the bench though, so he rarely plays an entire game in the same position.

And to answer the above question, if they are on a good run of form they stay in the lineup. They are even allowed a '5' every so often without even being warned.

retired_karamelkel

I rotate my players quite a bit, but my starters play most of the time. If a starter has a 5 or 6 game or two, but his morale remains high(indicating he's got confidence) he'll keep his lineup spot. If his morale plummets he gets sent to the reserves for a couple of easy games to build his confidence back up. I Watch my youngsters in the reserves and if they average 7 over 8 games or more, they get a first team call up.

I won't start my players unless they are fully fit although guys with 90% or better fitness will go on the bench on the theory that they can play at least a half.

retired_tam5868

I am coming to the conclusion that my squads are always too big and hence some players dont play as much as they should.
I have in my mind a starting 11 but it always changes during the season. If one of my starters is low morale or playing badly I always find a couple of games in the reserves will sort him out good and proper. This works especially well with strikers who can normally tear apart defences for the reserves.

retired_ngrundman

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> PatrickD, don't overlook that somebody playing equally well in 4(20) matches earns a lower rating than he would in 24(0) matches - simply a matter of less time to accumulate the things that add up to better match ratings. Your 6.5 bench warmer may well be a 7.2 starter in disguise. (Or a 6.1, I suppose) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I also find that sometimes the opposite is true as well. I once had a MRC who was over 7 coming off the bench and would lay eggs when I gave him the star; 4s and 5s. Would happen in consecutive starts as well.

Guess he didn't want to play more than 30 minutes.