We certainly got our s**t together for the second half of the season, but we were threadbare at the back at the start of the campaign. Just because Moore and Atkinson were able to both A) stay fit and B) form a strong partnership doesn't mean that the decision was the right one, and it doesn't mean the poor start to the season can be underwritten. Mousinho tried to hobble his way through the season but soon realised that wasn't possible, and we didn't bring in a reinforcement (Grayson) until the end of the January window. Atkinson was in and out of the team at the start due to a mixture of niggles/suspensions and Ruffels was out for a bit too to compound our defensive miseries. The signing of an experienced, capable CB could have worked wonders for a side lacking in experience and bite.
Had we lost one of Moore or Atkinson in the second half of the season, we wouldn't have finished in the play-offs. Moore had to play every league game this season just gone, which is virtually unheard of in the modern era. Also relying on them to be the sole CBs meant we had a lack of tactical flexibility. I'm sure there could've been some games where we needed to mix it up with a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 but couldn't due to the lack of a 3rd fit CB. Imagine what we could have done with Atkinson playing on the left side of a 3 and Clare being pushed up to RWB almost immediately to reduce his defensive struggles.
You can argue it all worked out in the end, but that doesn't mean it can't have worked out a lot better than it did.
