We end the year with Aston Villa at home tonight and, after such a spectacular capitulation at Manchester City, rumours are abound that Phil Brown is going to go all radical on us again.
The last time he did this - picked an XI in a formation that bamboozled everyone - it worked spectacularly. We won at Arsenal.
So, with Villa's terrific team appearing at the KC before another capacity crowd and the Sky cameras tonight, what has Brown, the great innovator and experimentalist, the man whose optimism has booted the Premier League up the arse, the man who conducts half-time bollockings on the pitch in front of the Tiger Nation, got up his sleeve?
The obvious changes first. Sam Ricketts will return after his ban to left back and Paul McShane will shift across, mercifully, to the right back position he occupies happily and competently. He should never play at left back for us, or indeed anyone, again. The restoration of these two will allow Bernard Mendy to get back into the right midfield slot which produces such incomprehensible brilliance from the madcap Frenchman.
Dean Windass will be unquestionably dropped after his no-show at Eastlands. However, conjecture suggests that Marlon King might get a rest too, even though he had no reason to feel ashamed of himself after Boxing Day. The endeavour of substitute Daniel Cousin, whose attitude off the pitch seems to have riled his manager of late, and the eagerness of fellow sub Craig Fagan after his long-anticipated return, may have convinced Brown that both can operate from the beginning against Villa - especially as those two supplied the combination which produced City's goal and maintained that amazing, if consolatory, record of scoring in all away games.
King would feel aggrieved at dropping to the bench but this has always been part of Brown's philosophy and maybe he's testing his chief striker's character by tempting the idea of removing him from the front line. King's workrate is excellent, but he's only scored one goal at the KC - and that from a penalty - and goals are as vital as ever given City's recent issues of leakage. King's future, of course, will come under scrutiny in two days' time as the window opens and maybe Brown can look into the striker's eyes and see whether he still fancies the job of permanent Hull City player after one game away from the limelight.
Geovanni may also lose his place, like he did after the 5-0 slapping by Wigan back in August, and this would be less shocking, despite his better scoring record and natural facility to alter a game's entire course. His effort has, admirably for a man not used to the climate or intensity, never been questioned but he is having less impact as opponents begin to predict his pathways and, worryingly, is making more and more incorrect decisions when in possession of the ball.
The return of Nick Barmby seems to be set in stone, especially if one of King or Geovanni (or both) is consigned to the bench. Barmby was superb against Sunderland and excellent the week before at Liverpool, and his withdrawal after little more than an hour of each - something Peter Taylor used to insist on, irrespective of the player's fitness or influence - took a little bit of sparkle out of City's performance in the remainder of each game. Barmby was on the bench, unused, at Eastlands - a decision deemed odd at the time - but perhaps there was no point in introducing him in the second half as the game was lost and, unlike Cousin and Fagan, he had nothing to prove by running around chasing a lost cause for half an hour. If he does start against Villa, he could operate behind Cousin or Fagan, or alongside one.
Stelios Giannakopoulos is still waiting for his first start in black and amber and, for as long as Mendy is able to rampage headlessly at left backs, he is unlikely to do so. This is unless he can operate more centrally, which seems unlikely, but is where Richard Garcia may, again, get his opportunity.
Garcia was phenomenally off the pace when he was dragged back from nowhere into the fold against Sunderland but maybe a central role, feeding Mendy and Barmby, might suit him. Mendy has to play because he is lightning quick, including from a standing position, and Villa currently have a right back in Luke Young playing on the left because of injury to their regular left back (despite occasional England left back Nicky Shorey being fit, oddly). Garcia, with an eye for a pass and one of the best first touches in the squad, may suit a complementary centralised role which relies more on vision and less on pace.
The issue of absent full backs, one which City felt so painfully at Eastlands, rears its head identically for Villa because, as well as Young playing on the left, they currently have midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on the right side of defence to account for Young's relocation and other absences. So if there was ever a chance, finally, for Peter Halmosi to start a match and run like hell at a makeshift defender, then this is surely it.
If some (or all - yeah right) of these suggestions are replicated in the teamsheet tonight, it means that George Boateng (who looks totally shattered), Geovanni, Windass and King will all be rested. The keeper and back four remain set in stone (at least until Andy Dawson and Anthony Gardner are fit again, though Nathan Doyle must be due a start at some point, poor lad), as do the roles filled by Mendy and Ian Ashbee. The retention of Dean Marney may depend on where Barmby is positioned. Otherwise, it could be carnage on the teamsheet.
Maybe such experiments belong in a week's time, when Newcastle United come to the KC for the FA Cup third round tie. Brown likes filling his Cup sides with stiffs and seeing if he can get away with it. But something different is required after the tragic offering on Boxing Day and Brown has shown handsomely this season - and this calendar year - that radical can sometimes work brilliantly.
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