Quote Originally Posted by dml1954 View Post
Its obvious that if NW thought he was fit enough he would play him more, so why is everyone constantly moaning that he is not played enough ?. The fact that he is not picking him regularly should be good enough for us, bearing in mind what NW has achieved so far. As for why he is not fit - he missed most of pre season, then had niggling injuries, then had his court case and appearances to worry about and now is doing community service every week. Its not surprising that he's not fit is it, with all that going on. Most of a players core fitness is down to what he puts in pre-season. They are trying to get him fit enough to play every week but it is a long process and difficult once the season has started. Trust in NW and give him a break.
I get the impression that NW thinks Tomlin will never have it in him to play the way NW wants his team to play, but that he thinks the alternative skills that he has to offer outweighs his lack of athletic ability against some teams. So Lee will play when we are short or when the team needs a skilled locksmith to open up a packed defence later in a game.

As we saw against Hull in the first half, when the other side is fresh Lee could barely get close to the ball. I'd put his wayward passing in that period down to lack of match fitness but he did himself no favours when he was unable to even play a simple ball through, given that is meant to be his key skill.

Right now I do not think anyone can question NW's tactics, except with the benefit of hindsight, as he's got a bunch of players to a level that is far greater than the apparent sum of their parts. Long may he continue to keep making the right calls...