Should Cisse start Saturday??

[SammyKojoe]

For me he has to start. In this league and in our situation if you get a chance you need to take it. He is by a million miles the most likely player to do that.

He is just too good a player to have on the bench. When he stays on the pitch his goals to games ratio is already very good. Plus he creates a fair few chances as well. Spuds will be a lot happier if they see a player of his quality on the bench.

How you fit him in though is a good question.

[Mellowhoop]

DroP mackie and start him wide

[MattyRangers]

Totally agree.

If we had gotten a result from WBA I probably would have said we shoul leave the side as it is; having lost I think we need to mix it up abit and bring in the player who is, by a country mile, our most dangerous player going forward.

Good point what you say about where to fit him in though. For me, he has to be up top with Bobby, but that means sacrificing somebody form Midfield. Id like to see Traore left mid, personally, so maybe a midfield and forward line of:

Adel Barton Diakite Traore
Bobby Cisse

?? Thats just me thinking aloud. Only worry with that, for me, is the lack of cover Adel with give down the right when thats the side Bale will be on; could be a disaster and maybe a work horse like Mackie is needed to give Bale at least a bit of a game?!

[Bluehoop]

The only thing that makes it uncertain is the way we have performed at home in his absence. The manner of the defeat at WBA makes it likely, but then then manner of the victories against Arsenal and Swansea makes it less so.
It is of course Hughes' preferred formation so I suspect he will play

[Terry-Mancini-123]

What gives you confidence he won't get red-carded again and effectively pull the plug on our season? It's beyond question that he is our best chance of goals, bur being reduced to 10 against Spuds, ****, Stoke or indeed ManC is handing the points over and I believe that it is simply too big a risk.

[Bluehoop]

What gives you confidence he won't get red-carded again and effectively pull the plug on our season? It's beyond question that he is our best chance of goals, bur being reduced to 10 against Spuds, ****, Stoke or indeed ManC is handing the points over and I believe that it is simply too big a risk.

Yes he has picked up 2 and it makes it easy to think he will do it again. But you have to ask yourself why a 30 something year old professional who never got a card in his entire career before them will get a third one in a matter of weeks?

I believe his history - both red cards and goals makes it a risk well worth taking

[MiddletonRanger]

absolute certain that he must start

[qprbrisbanedivision]

Got to start for me !

[Bluehoop]

absolute certain that he must start

As certain as it was that him missing those 4 games would mean we got zero points? It really isn't as straightforward as you suggest IMO.

Hughes stumbled across a system for the Arsenal and Swansea games that worked because he didn't have Cisse or Helguson available - and boy did it work well.

It's a tough decision - go for a system that has worked a treat against 2 good sides (and which saw us score 5 goals) or go for his favorite formation with a guy he knows can score goals against anyone, so long as we have sufficient possession (which we achieved against Arsenal because of the alternative system)??

[QPRDave]

Said this before if we go 442 will we be able to cope with modric, Parker, etc in the centre,and can we play Adel in a 442? Agree with Matty, if we go down this route would be tempted to replace Adel with Traore, because Mackie offers good defensive cover as well as attacking option. Glad i'm not Mark Hughes tbh!

[stainrodisalegend]

Go for Cisse, play him upfront, not on the wing, that is where he is effective. If we want a wide man we have better players out there. Cisse blamed his poor performances in Italy on being played out on the wing where he has said he is less comfortable. We need his goals imo, and he scores them in the six yard box. Yes the midfield has done v well at home in scoring but not sure we can rely on that every week. Agree it might mean making sacrifices elsewhere, either Adel or Mackie to give us extra bite in the middle. Finally Hughes has the kind of tough call he wd like to make.

[Stanley]

Should Cisse start Saturday?

In a word, YES.

Revert to 4-4-2 with him and BZ/HH.

4-5-1 didn't work v WBA - BZ was way too isolated.

We need GOALS now more than ever and Cisse is an expert in that dept.(not to mention his lightning pace).

[Johnnykc]

Should Cisse start Saturday??

Yes.

[DouDou_87]

This is Hughes' biggest call for a while.

I can see us potentially getting torn apart with 4-4-2 to be honest, but then I think we have to bite the bullet and go for it.

Hughes seems quite a cautious manager so I think he'll probably start with Cisse on the bench and go with 5 in midfield.

Personally- I'd go 4-4-2 with Cisse and Bobbie up top and a midfield of Samba, JB, Mckie and Adel.

[QPRDave]

Go for Cisse, play him upfront, not on the wing, that is where he is effective. If we want a wide man we have better players out there. Cisse blamed his poor performances in Italy on being played out on the wing where he has said he is less comfortable. We need his goals imo, and he scores them in the six yard box. Yes the midfield has done v well at home in scoring but not sure we can rely on that every week. Agree it might mean making sacrifices elsewhere, either Adel or Mackie to give us extra bite in the middle. Finally Hughes has the kind of tough call he wd like to make.

Good point about Italy stainrod i read that somewhere too, think you're right if he plays he must play in his proper role