Chez

they can't stand him down there, but two divisions lower I'd imagine he would look **** hot. How many players drop from Prem to League 1 in one go though?

sounds like their troubles are over!

I've read 40% home, 40% away, 20% to the FA. although other places say 45/45/10 split

perfect summary IMO.

yep, with James maybe CM and then Lallana had a free role up the middle allowing him to work hus nuts off and see lots of the ball. I always thought Lallana should have played there last season instead of McGoldrick. Having said that Lallana has done pretty well in the left wing/AML spot. I'm not a fan of Holmes, as he is terrible tracking back, but if we are playing wingers then he wouldn't have to quite as much.

away at Notts County. Not been there yet. Arsenal away would be another ground, how much would they charge for tickets I wonder?

perhaps Holmes' inability to track runners had something to do with that?

but that's exactly the formation we played in the second half with Lallana playing AMC with Wotton and James in deeper roles. And it did work.

by contrast Barnard's performance was equally unimpressive. His only chance in the first half saw him fail to control a ball well enough to keep it down to enable him an easier shot. He did get his shot in but it was powder puff and straight at the keeper. He looked classier than Paterson, but certainly not more effective IMO. Mind you Ipswich defenders are a lot tougher than Wymcobe's. It matters not. Barnard's our man now and the guy at Southend is nobody.

in the CCC?

he was on his knees after 65 minutes. Not sure why as his tracking back left a lot to be desired. Mind you he's been out a long time so its (his lack of fitness) to be expected, but then again I've never thought that he tracked runners or chased back nearly enough.

a mate of Pattersen?

you could well be right there, but do we have the right quality/type of player to play left and right midfield in a 4-4-2? Lallana doesn't see enough ball at LM which weakens us as a side, and Holmes doesn't track back. On the right Waigo never seems to do quite enough and possibly is better through the middle, James offers little going forward, leaving Antonio, who has looked great coming off the bench rather than starting.

FA cup tickets are not part of the £650 season ticket

The £90k prize money and £200,000 gate money won't go far.

how many did Sunderland bring down? They usually sell their allocation even for mammoth trips like this.

I'm not a fan, never have been, but he always gives his all. I have to ask, is Barnard a better player? Time will tell.

at left midfield he's looked uncomfortable, at left back he looks, er, comfortable.

forgot about that. Nice chunk of Barnard fee paid.

did you not spot that we went to 4-3-3 in the second half? IMO Barnard might as well have come off at that point. Antonio or Waigo are better options on the right hand side. Barnard wasn't impressive and if fit I'd play Connelly ahead of him. Whether Barnard is capable of leading the line with Connelly (thereby resting Lambert) I'm not sure as he is not very big. I felt a bit sorry fo him really. Signs and immediately is played out of position. I look forward to seeing him against lessor defences as Ipswich centre back pairing were monsters.

to be fair when he brought him on at the death in the last home game we closed the game down completely.

best use of advantage I've seen and he did it three times. Very good. Can we have him every week?

Decent first touch, left footed, happy to go the byeline, but slow, doesn't track back, and doesn't beat a man.

could we not have palmed him off on Southend, perhaps paying half his wages?

agreed (although the last defeat was Bristol Rovers at home). Just look at the difference today when we moved from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1. Wotton was a constant, but it was the formation that made the difference. However that doesn't mean he does not play a decent role in that 4-5-1. He allows the other two central midfielder to push on without fear. The question is can we bring someone in to play that same holding role that can also control and pass better.