It was a tough decision that Bobby Manc had to make on Wednesday. He had to choose between League Cup progression and the Premier League match against Chelsea on Saturday.
Mancini made eleven changes for the game at The Hawthorns, preferring to blood some of the youngsters rather than playing a stronger side that, in truth, would have blown WBA out of the water.
It was a gamble to play the players he did and it was a gamble that didn’t pay off. But I think it was a risk that was worth taking.
Many of us will say that the Carling Cup was our best opportunity to win silverware this season, but I disagree with that. The FA Cup is also a knock out competition that we could stand a good chance of winning. And we cannot be discounted be discounted from the Europa League, even though it would be much more difficult.
In addition to this, Mancini was able to field some players who otherwise may not have made it to the first team squad and it gave them a brief taste of first team football, of which the would not normally have got.
Of course, Bobby will no doubt receive criticism from some quarters for fielding the team he did but, despite the fact that we have been knocked out at an early stage, I think Bobby made the right decision.

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