Wilder's 2015/2016 team changed quite radically from January onwards. Rico got injured; Collins and Marquis came in; we started playing 4-4-2 with James Martin on the wing; and most importantly, Ricky Holmes returned from injury and absolutely dominated the league.
IMO keeping consistency in terms of tactics and personnel is generally a good idea at this level, but only if your tactical system is actually working and your personnel are actually performing to their potential.
In our case, 4-3-3 was working really well until Xmas and we were the division's top scorers. Then Pinnock lost form, Bowie (the best no.9 in the system) and McWilliams (midfield lynchpin) got injured and suddenly we weren't creating chances anymore.
Now we've just produced one of our best performances of the season against a promotion rival playing 3-5-2 and I'd say it's time to shift semi-permanently to a system which suits the remaining members of our squad. If we can keep the starting line up against Mansfield relatively settled with a few areas of healthy competition (Bowie vs Appere, McWilliams vs Leonard, Dyche vs Magowan) then we could really see the side grow into the new formation. Effective wing-back interplay takes time and many hours on the training pitch - Lintott and Haynes have a high ceiling and if we can improve their crossing we could really be in business.
i respect your opinion Bungle …
but … mansfield did not pressure us in that formation .
Haynes and Lintott did not get questioned playing so high up the pitch .
i think we need to be more solid but allow Appere and Bowie to hurt teams .
Mansfield played a high line and we got balls behind them . Others may not be so accommodating .
The early ball into Appere and Bowie causes real problems - that’s what we need to work on because we never convert all the crosses we have !