When I saw the team last night my heart sank. We are now a million miles away from what always was, knowing your best team. Years ago you could name the team before you got to the Ground, only disturbed by injuries. Last night we had a Manager and players almost out of contract, forming a rag, tag, and bobtail outfit heading for relegation while Roland 'Nero' stood and watched. Heaven help us on Saturday and my personal admiration for anyone planning to make it to Wigan.
Yes! A few days ago someone posted ten-minute highlights of our 4-2 win at Arsenal - Arsene Wenger, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, et al. We had a strong and mobile midfield, a dogged attack (watch that bit when Johansson gets up and muscles over the defender) - and fleet-footed, incisive strikers.
I have been watching Charlton for 50 years - and there are some people who still prefer Bradley Pritchard over Claus Jensen!
Very worrying times and I am again baffled by Powells team selection. He has chopped and changed so many times this season i can barely work out how many formations hes used and what players play where anymore.
Goalkeeper: the one position I actually think we are fine in
Defence: I cant believe we spent all summer getting evina to sign a new contract to be a bit part left winger (a position he is woeful at). If wiggins is out evina has to play or failing that wood...you cant chuck a youth player in for his full debut in such a big game.
Midfield: The cousins/stephens partnership has been the one shining light of the season and although i want powell to stay breaking that up is as bad as it gets in terms of team selection. Jacko is a club legend but past it. Harriott was part of the super 11 at the end of last season and green is a natural RW. on form neither of these should start but playing CM's out wide isnt working so they have to be given a go.
Strikers: obviously kermo is a quality championship player and although church huffs and puffs And looks like he cares he lacks quality and has missed big chances over the season. Sordell is lazy and looks uninterested but has a much better touch, hold up play better and shows glipses of quality church simply dosent seem to have. Given a run of games he might come good.
This is a team that needs investing in the next couple of days but heres my 11 for the remainder of the season. Majority of these get in because they are the best options and with green, harriott and sordell I would just hope they would come good….the alternatives havnt.
Clearly this was a shocking performance and I must admit I find CP's excuse a bit lame. But my main concern is that how will this affect the last days of the transfer window? Would you want to come to a club that seems to be on a course for relegation? You'd probably go elsewhere which will make it all the harder to bring in the players we need.
I'm fuckin furious mate, more than the result, I have never slagged off Lennon or Piggott and the geezer ain't got the balls to apologise or retract it.
No, you DID cast doubt on Lennon! If you read the player scores the fans who were there ranked him higher than Evina, so I rest my case. I will accept that you've not commented on Piggot but I'm not the only one who noticed that you've been making snide comments against the blooding of Academy players here, so you're the one in the dock here. What about making a statement to clarify your position vid a vis the Academy instead of lashing out on those of us who've noticed this? Comment on the scoring, huh?
You are a knob of the highest order, I said Evina and Lennon not in the same team, I went Reading when Evina was toilet so my point is Evina at left back or not at all.No reflection on Lennon what so ever.
I také my son every year to home FA youth cup matches, I can't go saturday mornings as I work, I think Paul Hart is the most along with manager important person at our club, go back to last seasons FA youth cup thread I was massively impressed.I hope this clarifies the position because you are pissing me off.
Alnwick Wilson morro wood wiggins Green cousins stephens Harriott Sordell Kermorgant
Please let that be our starting lineup. (When Wilson is back). .
thing is CP was just one player away from being able to field that side last night. Instead of shuffling it all around bringing in Fox to replace Wiggins would have sorted it. Instead it's about five unenforced changes. Jackson in, Cousins to the right, Evina on the left, Lennon (a CB) at left back etc. Stick to 4 4 2 and pick square pegs in square holes not round one's. To not have a single shot on target is a disgrace. Reinforces for me one of the reasons why I've given up on away games the last two seasons. I don't mind losing but at least give it a go.
This all day long, not a problem with losing I support Charlton I'm used to it. We may not be blessed with a great squad but come on CP at least give us a chance play players in their right positions, yes there will be times when 1 or 2 will need to cover, but to break up the spine of the team and piss about with it so much is ridiculous. His stance against Sordell, Green, Harriott, Hughes etc needs to stop. time and time again they have come off the bench and looked good but the very next game they are no where to be seen. Then to stick the final nail in the coffin Jackson who gets a stupid red card against Yeovil costing us 2 points waltzes straight back into the team. What must that do to their confidence? Joe Piggott confidence is probably shot to pieces from the Millwall game god knows how Harry Lennon feels.
I have also cut down on away games, the cost is ridiculous but I at least want us to have a go. Every game it's like we play for a 0-0 it's boring and demoralising. I was really buzzing before the game yesterday and was kicking myself for not going, I really thought we would give it a go, but like many others as soon as I saw the team and saw how many unnecessary changes that were made, I was gutted and new would be in for a long night.
All I can say is we must have been rubbish last night if people are suggesting Danny Green should be in the next XI
*bangs head on desk*
Oooh, it's a corner; oooh it's a corner. Danny Green is quite adept at curving it on to the roof of the net, if not exactly into to keeper's arms.
He is improving. Last season at The Valley he scuffed it, and it ricocheted off the defender ten yards away. Take it again - same thing. Third time, it bobbled across the six-yard-box amid such confusion that we bundled it over the line.
and who poxy flagged me, what Silent Addick dont realise is Plaayer ans WSS are having a laugh with me because they know I never slagged them off, he aint got the balls to retract it knowing he is wrong.
Just to cheer everyone up read today 'Millwall interested in striker Simeon Jackson', They have already signed DJ Campbell, while we seem to just be getting SL rejects. Is this takeover a joke, at least last season we got Frimpong, Obika, Hulse and Razek on loan. At the point of dispair!
How many goals we scored from corners this season? Any set peice we have that needs to go in to the box have usually been shit. I'm not defending Green as sometimes his corners have been shit, but he will whip more crosses in 20 mins then we do all game without him.
Just to cheer everyone up read today 'Millwall interested in striker Simeon Jackson', They have already signed DJ Campbell, while we seem to just be getting SL rejects. Is this takeover a joke, at least last season we got Frimpong, Obika, Hulse and Razek on loan. At the point of dispair!
Yes and they really made a difference didn't they :-)
Alnwick Wilson morro wood wiggins Green cousins stephens Harriott Sordell Kermorgant
Please let that be our starting lineup. (When Wilson is back).
The one thing our team has had since SCP came in was togetherness, that has been lost this season through contract issues and quality players leaving without replacement and I think all of these loans coming in are the nail in the coffin of the togetherness.
Kerm - upper Champ Church - mid L1 Sordell - Champ potential but pony at the moment.
So all in all where does that leave us?
I'm afraid it's RELEGATION.
Completely disagree on Jackson (12 goals in the Champ last season and a few this year already) and Wilson - very harsh and one of our best players so far this season.
Just to cheer everyone up read today 'Millwall interested in striker Simeon Jackson', They have already signed DJ Campbell, while we seem to just be getting SL rejects. Is this takeover a joke, at least last season we got Frimpong, Obika, Hulse and Razek on loan. At the point of dispair!
Yes and they really made a difference didn't they :-)
I'd argue Hulse and Obika were more effective for us last season than any of our current forwards have been, including Yann.
Home at 3am from Donny, family move today so won't be on here much until tomorrow but without reading ANYTHING , my brief thoughts on last night/the current worrying situation are here...
No Thuram in goal so the conspiracy theorists were wrong on that count. Not happy to see Ceddy & Lennon on the left and I'm afraid those fears were realised quite early on. Donny/Dickov wanted this game SO much more than us from the off .I can understand that they were more than miffed in the way their 2 appearances in SE7 turned out and revenge was their aim - they came out of their blocks a la Usain Bolt. Of course, we too should have been up for it - a 6 pointer indeed but as before this season, we were out muscled & out fought before we saw any chances of our lads getting going.
2 nil down at half time says it all & down to 10 men- a mountain to climb. I won't hazard a guess at our formation last night ( is there a "chaos formation" ? ) but it didn't work and seemed as though damage limitation was the best we could hope for. Can't comment on the red card as it was at the far end and players in the way of our view but there didn't seem to be too any protests . I'd say pretty much ALL our players looked out of sorts & as though they had other things on their minds which may be true in light of the uncertainty around the Club. I wasn't "gaffer watching" all the time but not once did I see him leave the side of the dugout - from a distance he looked totally dejected as were most of the trusty travellers in the away end.
A few Addicks slagging off the team pretty loudly but that's passion, anger at spending money & precious time in attending etc .On the whole, once the drum was silenced fairly early on, we followed its lead. There really was very little to shout about & my voice today is testament to that. Came away very despondent & worrying where we would be by Saturday...
Rumour heard that we are due to sign 2 -3 players for CASH before Friday- 2 pretty much done deals, the 3rd needing a bit more work. No names mentioned at all. Also, a rumour that SCP has been offered a contract in principle , probably to be signed on Thurs and that Yann too is in the same situation but murmurs about the terms being given. All or none of these could be true. I did however, by pure chance sit in front of a guy who introduced himself as Lawrie Wilson's uncle. Unfortunately, his nephew wasn't on the pitch for too long although Unc wasn't incensed by the decision to send him off - as he and I agreed, our view wasn't ideal. With little happening on the pitch ( apart from Donny players conning the lino & ref and halting play on many occasions) we had a chat about all things Charlton. Uncle is a Hammer but also watches Lawrie when possible. Said he was at Ipswich on NYD and thought we were unlucky to only come away with one point. Stated that L's best position is wide right & ideally in front of CS , of which we are only too aware. I asked if he's happy at our Club and was told yes but Brighton want him ...Nathan Jones obviously having a say in his Club's targets . Of course L has another year to run on his contract. Also said that the players were bored witless since Saturday night and they would rather have come home than stay up north. And Unc then went down to the concourse at half time and didn't reappear- sensible man !
So, it's all down to what happens in the next couple of days, I guess. maybe last night's performance & result is not the be all & end all ( it did feel like it at 10pm !)and that the team we see at Wigan will have been refreshed & rejuvenated with the inclusion of at least a couple of new faces (inc a striker PLEASE!!!) Anyone coming in at this stage needs to hit the ground running though and maybe the SL additions are not up to speed with the English game yet....but when will they get said opportunity ? Another decent reason why a Reserve team in a relevant league would be a huge plus. You know that I will support whoever puts on the red shirt and whoever is strong enough to get us out of the mess we currently find ourselves in. I sincerely hope that this is SCP & that he is given the opportunity to bring in a few of HIS players. Maybe then , and only then will the playing field be more level & that we can slowly but surely begin to haul ourselves away from the lower realms of the table. Next season seems a zillion miles away but as long as it's in the Championship, I'm not going to waste my time stressing about the way forward.
What I do know is that, as Gritty & Brownie stated last Thursday evening, the players & management team need us to get behind them from the first whistle to the last, every game. The mythical 12th man needs to morph into reality starting at Wigan. I honestly don't know whether we can turn our season around as February approaches but I DO know that all concerned will give it their best shot. The next few days will tell us whether RD is the man we hope he'll be.
How many goals we scored from corners this season? Any set peice we have that needs to go in to the box have usually been shit. I'm not defending Green as sometimes his corners have been shit, but he will whip more crosses in 20 mins then we do all game without him.
Not in disagreement, but Jacko put a great corner in first half that landed about 6 yards out in the centre of the goal. Thought that was a big missed chance with no-one there!
Just to cheer everyone up read today 'Millwall interested in striker Simeon Jackson', They have already signed DJ Campbell, while we seem to just be getting SL rejects. Is this takeover a joke, at least last season we got Frimpong, Obika, Hulse and Razek on loan. At the point of dispair!
Yes and they really made a difference didn't they :-)
I'd argue Hulse and Obika were more effective for us last season than any of our current forwards have been, including Yann.
No argument from me, in fact you have confirmed my point.
I've heard that the Standard Liege guy is able to pick a pass but is slower than slow ..... any thoughts on how he played and if he is up for the relegation fight. To me it seems that only Thuram is an asset from the players we have from Liege so far and we already are well covered in that position .. or is it too early to say?
To me it seems that only Thuram is an asset from the players we have from Liege so far and we already are well covered in that position .. or is it too early to say?
I am in this camp, I have seen nothing to suggest we have improved the squad with the "SL" loanee's so far.
Strange team selection last night but before each game everyone has their own idea of what team he should pick. Some of Powell's poor choices were suggested by more than one on here before the game.
I had read some saying Lennon should keep his place. I've also read on here over the past few seasons that Evina should get a chance at left midfield. I can kind of understand why Powell tries to fit Jackson into the team, he's one our few goal threats in a team that doesn't score enough goals.
Can argue Green, Harriott, Fox etc should have played, but we could have gone out with them in the team and still got the same result. Green's had a lot of poor games for us when starting throughout his time here. Harriott has rarely impressed this season but is still young. On Fox I expect we've decided not to offer him a new contract given he wasn't even on the bench.
He did get it wrong last night but in the wide positions without everyone fit I don't think there's a 'right' answer. Our wingers in Harriott, Green and Cook are not Championship players. Occasional good games or a promising performance off the bench isn't the same as playing well over the season. We've also lost Stewart who although wasn't great was better than our other wingers.
Pritchard I don't see hitting the heights of last season again. I think teams have found ways to make it difficult for him and we don't have enough threats coming from other areas to make up for that. Jackson is not really an option out wide at this level. The only wide midfielder I'm happy with is Wilson, and that only really works if we have a out and out winger on the opposite side. He's rarely played there this season with Solly's injury problems.
We've brought in a couple of midfielders but I'm not convinced they'll offer what we need. Ajdarevic sounds like someone to compete for a place with Stephens, Cousins and Jackson. Not a bad thing considering Gower, Hughes and Pritchard aren't going to be starting games. Koc doesn't sound like he'll be ready for the Championship.
It's obvious we need a goalscorer up front but we badly need one if not two Championship standard wide players. At the moment Powell has the choice of trusting wingers that are unreliable and not really up to it, or trying to grind out results with wide midfielders, some of which are players out of position. Get them in and Harriott, Green and Cook can compete for place on the bench and will be fine as back up.
I agree that theres no 'right answer' however there is certainly a wrong one. I just cannot get my head round the decision to break up the centre midfield partnership of Cousins and Stephens.
Against a team that we comfortable beat a month or so ago, we should expect to have a fair amount of possession. The middle of the park is so important, and without your best two in there, we immediately start at a disadvantage.
At 0-0 Yann did treat us to a spinny-lets beat two men-skillz followed by a great pass. I enjoyed that.
And with yards off space and no one near him the young full back NSS has been slagging off backed up Steve's comments with an appalling first touch off the shin for a goal kick How Yann controls himself from exploding when he does stuff and the other players fuck up the simple things I'll never know
I agree that theres no 'right answer' however there is certainly a wrong one. I just cannot get my head round the decision to break up the centre midfield partnership of Cousins and Stephens.
Against a team that we comfortable beat a month or so ago, we should expect to have a fair amount of possession. The middle of the park is so important, and without your best two in there, we immediately start at a disadvantage.
Maybe the "Stephens to Brighton" rumour has legs? As Scoham says Ajdarevic looks as if he is here to compete with Stephens, maybe in reality he is his replacement?
I agree that theres no 'right answer' however there is certainly a wrong one. I just cannot get my head round the decision to break up the centre midfield partnership of Cousins and Stephens.
Against a team that we comfortable beat a month or so ago, we should expect to have a fair amount of possession. The middle of the park is so important, and without your best two in there, we immediately start at a disadvantage.
It is a puzzler I agree.
My best guess is that he doesn't trust Green for 90 minutes (evidence shows he is right) and with Wilson having to play right back in the continued absence of Solly his options were limited to a woefully out of sorts Pritchard or Cousins who was a right back before being converted to midfield.
I agree that theres no 'right answer' however there is certainly a wrong one. I just cannot get my head round the decision to break up the centre midfield partnership of Cousins and Stephens.
Against a team that we comfortable beat a month or so ago, we should expect to have a fair amount of possession. The middle of the park is so important, and without your best two in there, we immediately start at a disadvantage.
It is a puzzler I agree.
My best guess is that he doesn't trust Green for 90 minutes (evidence shows he is right) and with Wilson having to play right back in the continued absence of Solly his options were limited to a woefully out of sorts Pritchard or Cousins who was a right back before being converted to midfield.
Looked at in those terms it makes more sense.
I dont trust Green for 90 mins either Len, but it makes more sense to me to start him RM. You get that balance, and don't disturb the CM partnership. Its a bigger loss moving Cousins out wide than starting Green imo.
The other thing would be to tweak the formation, 3-5-2?
I thought the lesson would have been learned after the Sheff Wed game where Stephens was put out wide.
Comments
I have been watching Charlton for 50 years - and there are some people who still prefer Bradley Pritchard over Claus Jensen!
*bangs head on desk*
Goalkeeper: the one position I actually think we are fine in
Defence: I cant believe we spent all summer getting evina to sign a new contract to be a bit part left winger (a position he is woeful at). If wiggins is out evina has to play or failing that wood...you cant chuck a youth player in for his full debut in such a big game.
Midfield: The cousins/stephens partnership has been the one shining light of the season and although i want powell to stay breaking that up is as bad as it gets in terms of team selection. Jacko is a club legend but past it. Harriott was part of the super 11 at the end of last season and green is a natural RW. on form neither of these should start but playing CM's out wide isnt working so they have to be given a go.
Strikers: obviously kermo is a quality championship player and although church huffs and puffs And looks like he cares he lacks quality and has missed big chances over the season. Sordell is lazy and looks uninterested but has a much better touch, hold up play better and shows glipses of quality church simply dosent seem to have. Given a run of games he might come good.
This is a team that needs investing in the next couple of days but heres my 11 for the remainder of the season. Majority of these get in because they are the best options and with green, harriott and sordell I would just hope they would come good….the alternatives havnt.
Hamer/Alnwick
Solly/Wilson Morro Wood Wiggins/evina
Green Stephens Cousins Harriott
Kermo Sordell
I také my son every year to home FA youth cup matches, I can't go saturday mornings as I work, I think Paul Hart is the most along with manager important person at our club, go back to last seasons FA youth cup thread I was massively impressed.I hope this clarifies the position because you are pissing me off.
I have also cut down on away games, the cost is ridiculous but I at least want us to have a go. Every game it's like we play for a 0-0 it's boring and demoralising. I was really buzzing before the game yesterday and was kicking myself for not going, I really thought we would give it a go, but like many others as soon as I saw the team and saw how many unnecessary changes that were made, I was gutted and new would be in for a long night.
He is improving. Last season at The Valley he scuffed it, and it ricocheted off the defender ten yards away. Take it again - same thing. Third time, it bobbled across the six-yard-box amid such confusion that we bundled it over the line.
So much for the beautiful game.
They have already signed DJ Campbell, while we seem to just be getting SL rejects.
Is this takeover a joke, at least last season we got Frimpong, Obika, Hulse and Razek on loan.
At the point of dispair!
But I did hear a story that unless Powelly sign a new deal Yann won't sign a new deal.
No Thuram in goal so the conspiracy theorists were wrong on that count. Not happy to see Ceddy & Lennon on the left and I'm afraid those fears were realised quite early on. Donny/Dickov wanted this game SO much more than us from the off .I can understand that they were more than miffed in the way their 2 appearances in SE7 turned out and revenge was their aim - they came out of their blocks a la Usain Bolt. Of course, we too should have been up for it - a 6 pointer indeed but as before this season, we were out muscled & out fought before we saw any chances of our lads getting going.
2 nil down at half time says it all & down to 10 men- a mountain to climb. I won't hazard a guess at our formation last night ( is there a "chaos formation" ? ) but it didn't work and seemed as though damage limitation was the best we could hope for. Can't comment on the red card as it was at the far end and players in the way of our view but there didn't seem to be too any protests . I'd say pretty much ALL our players looked out of sorts & as though they had other things on their minds which may be true in light of the uncertainty around the Club. I wasn't "gaffer watching" all the time but not once did I see him leave the side of the dugout - from a distance he looked totally dejected as were most of the trusty travellers in the away end.
A few Addicks slagging off the team pretty loudly but that's passion, anger at spending money & precious time in attending etc .On the whole, once the drum was silenced fairly early on, we followed its lead. There really was very little to shout about & my voice today is testament to that. Came away very despondent & worrying where we would be by Saturday...
Rumour heard that we are due to sign 2 -3 players for CASH before Friday- 2 pretty much done deals, the 3rd needing a bit more work. No names mentioned at all. Also, a rumour that SCP has been offered a contract in principle , probably to be signed on Thurs and that Yann too is in the same situation but murmurs about the terms being given. All or none of these could be true. I did however, by pure chance sit in front of a guy who introduced himself as Lawrie Wilson's uncle. Unfortunately, his nephew wasn't on the pitch for too long although Unc wasn't incensed by the decision to send him off - as he and I agreed, our view wasn't ideal. With little happening on the pitch ( apart from Donny players conning the lino & ref and halting play on many occasions) we had a chat about all things Charlton. Uncle is a Hammer but also watches Lawrie when possible. Said he was at Ipswich on NYD and thought we were unlucky to only come away with one point. Stated that L's best position is wide right & ideally in front of CS , of which we are only too aware. I asked if he's happy at our Club and was told yes but Brighton want him ...Nathan Jones obviously having a say in his Club's targets . Of course L has another year to run on his contract. Also said that the players were bored witless since Saturday night and they would rather have come home than stay up north. And Unc then went down to the concourse at half time and didn't reappear- sensible man !
So, it's all down to what happens in the next couple of days, I guess. maybe last night's performance & result is not the be all & end all ( it did feel like it at 10pm !)and that the team we see at Wigan will have been refreshed & rejuvenated with the inclusion of at least a couple of new faces (inc a striker PLEASE!!!) Anyone coming in at this stage needs to hit the ground running though and maybe the SL additions are not up to speed with the English game yet....but when will they get said opportunity ? Another decent reason why a Reserve team in a relevant league would be a huge plus. You know that I will support whoever puts on the red shirt and whoever is strong enough to get us out of the mess we currently find ourselves in. I sincerely hope that this is SCP & that he is given the opportunity to bring in a few of HIS players. Maybe then , and only then will the playing field be more level & that we can slowly but surely begin to haul ourselves away from the lower realms of the table. Next season seems a zillion miles away but as long as it's in the Championship, I'm not going to waste my time stressing about the way forward.
What I do know is that, as Gritty & Brownie stated last Thursday evening, the players & management team need us to get behind them from the first whistle to the last, every game. The mythical 12th man needs to morph into reality starting at Wigan. I honestly don't know whether we can turn our season around as February approaches but I DO know that all concerned will give it their best shot. The next few days will tell us whether RD is the man we hope he'll be.
Keep the faith !
I had read some saying Lennon should keep his place. I've also read on here over the past few seasons that Evina should get a chance at left midfield. I can kind of understand why Powell tries to fit Jackson into the team, he's one our few goal threats in a team that doesn't score enough goals.
Can argue Green, Harriott, Fox etc should have played, but we could have gone out with them in the team and still got the same result. Green's had a lot of poor games for us when starting throughout his time here. Harriott has rarely impressed this season but is still young. On Fox I expect we've decided not to offer him a new contract given he wasn't even on the bench.
He did get it wrong last night but in the wide positions without everyone fit I don't think there's a 'right' answer. Our wingers in Harriott, Green and Cook are not Championship players. Occasional good games or a promising performance off the bench isn't the same as playing well over the season. We've also lost Stewart who although wasn't great was better than our other wingers.
Pritchard I don't see hitting the heights of last season again. I think teams have found ways to make it difficult for him and we don't have enough threats coming from other areas to make up for that. Jackson is not really an option out wide at this level. The only wide midfielder I'm happy with is Wilson, and that only really works if we have a out and out winger on the opposite side. He's rarely played there this season with Solly's injury problems.
We've brought in a couple of midfielders but I'm not convinced they'll offer what we need. Ajdarevic sounds like someone to compete for a place with Stephens, Cousins and Jackson. Not a bad thing considering Gower, Hughes and Pritchard aren't going to be starting games. Koc doesn't sound like he'll be ready for the Championship.
It's obvious we need a goalscorer up front but we badly need one if not two Championship standard wide players. At the moment Powell has the choice of trusting wingers that are unreliable and not really up to it, or trying to grind out results with wide midfielders, some of which are players out of position. Get them in and Harriott, Green and Cook can compete for place on the bench and will be fine as back up.
I agree that theres no 'right answer' however there is certainly a wrong one. I just cannot get my head round the decision to break up the centre midfield partnership of Cousins and Stephens.
Against a team that we comfortable beat a month or so ago, we should expect to have a fair amount of possession. The middle of the park is so important, and without your best two in there, we immediately start at a disadvantage.
And with yards off space and no one near him the young full back NSS has been slagging off backed up Steve's comments with an appalling first touch off the shin for a goal kick
How Yann controls himself from exploding when he does stuff and the other players fuck up the simple things I'll never know
My best guess is that he doesn't trust Green for 90 minutes (evidence shows he is right) and with Wilson having to play right back in the continued absence of Solly his options were limited to a woefully out of sorts Pritchard or Cousins who was a right back before being converted to midfield.
Looked at in those terms it makes more sense.
The other thing would be to tweak the formation, 3-5-2?
I thought the lesson would have been learned after the Sheff Wed game where Stephens was put out wide.