Andy_Porter

Cork would be first choice, he's very versatile and done a job for us all over the pitch. Pearce would be my second choice he's a decent defender although I haven't really seen enough to judge properly. Robertson gives us something we don't have in the squad, a proper strong target man, although my third choice he is probably the most likely of the three, hopefully we can make the Dyer swap permanent.

The players must realize how important the Plymouth game is and we should be beating them at St Mary's no matter how physical and direct they play. Hopefully the confidence will be sky high for the game. Charlton could be difficult depending on who their manager is, if there is a honeymoon period then we could be in trouble. A lot depends on how we both do in the midweek game. A win would be a great result there. Sheffield Wednesday is the sort of game where we slip up at home. Hopefully we will win but I feel a bit stupid predicting us to win four on the bounce. Can't see us getting anything at all against Palace on Sky midweek, it's the sort of game we always lose for whatever reason. Burnley is another tough one, can't see us taking too many up there either. Even a point would be a fantastic result. Two home wins sounds a bit much but if we play and defend like we did on Saturday I see no reason why we can't pick up 7-9 points.

Win the next three and then lose two. It's a shame the Palace game is Monday otherwise I could see us winning that one too. The most important game of the five and probably most important of the season so far is Plymouth. If we don't win that then we're back in trouble, a win and the confidence will be sky high going into the 6 pointer with Charlton.

The Arsenal comparison is ridiculous. They where four points away from winning the League last season and if Eduardo or RvP hadn't got injured when they did they probably would have gone on to win it. This season they will still get fourth despite having a captain who's obviously got a few screws loose. If Wenger goes out and signs a decent midfielder in January then I wouldn't be suprised to see them do well in the second half of the season.

Massive difference between McGoldrick and Robertson than Lallana and McGoldrick, same system but McGoldrick wasn't doing much defending and he was getting up close to Robertson.

Would be nice to see him here if it allows Skacel to play left wing until Holmes is back fully fit.

He makes Titus Bramble look world class.

We simply have to win on Tuesday, I hope we get a decent turn out. It's probably our biggest game of the season. A win and we will go into the Charlton game with bags of confidence. If we can get 6 points from the next two we will start looking up the league going towards Christmas, probably the most important part of the season to find form. Vital game on Tuesday, really will shape our season IMO.

We shouldn't change a thing, a little bit harsh on Pearce but the back four where brilliant yesterday so no need to change.

I thought James and Rudi where both quality. Probably their best performances of the season although that isn't really saying much. Schneiderlin and Lallana where both immense, with Surman there we have a really good balance in midfield. If we can get Holmes back soon and if Gasmi gets fit then we will have a really strong midfield, one of the best in the league IMO. I think Surman is back to his best, last season I was very critical and I think Pearson made the correct decision to drop him but this season since he moved to midfield he's been very good. Was impressed with some of Robertsons play as well, hopefully we can make the Dyer/Robertson swap permanent as he gives us a bit of power and strength upfront that McGoldrick doesn't offer.

He's been our best defender this season, don't really see why he was dropped tbh.

We're a counter attacking side so we're going to be better away from home. I think a lot of the home fans are too impatient as well, sometimes when things aren't going our way people are too quick to jump on the players for a miss placed pass, poor shot etc.

The support yesterday was spot on, the same again from the lads on Tuesday and we will be fine. Schneiderlin was a different class, he really is a superb player. He will be a very good player in the future, no suprise that Arsenal want him after his performance yesterday, for the first 70 or so minutes he won everything and his distribution was very good. Far too good for this league. Chris Perry, Jack Cork, Rudi Skacel and Lloyd James where all good as well, the two full backs both really got forward to help the attack out. I was most impressed with James it was probably his best performance of the season.

Can you remind me in which games Thomas was even half decent? Davies came in and he showed he was twice as good as Thomas for the same sort of money. If we're pinning our hopes on Thomas getting fit then we're screwed.

I doubt Saga will even want to come back tbh. Playing for a decent team who are winning most weeks where he's appreciatted against a relegation battle for a club who wanted rid in the summer. I doubt Rasiak, John or Saga will play for us again. Not ideal but that's just the way I see it.

Well that really is a terrible deal compared to what most would have thought at the time. At least Stern helped keep us up last season so it's not all bad. After KJ had gone on strike there really wasn't much the club could have done, we had to accept the best offer just to get rid of him.

Fair enough, I was thinking Stern would be on around 10k, no suprise we're in such a bad positional financially when we sign a striker on that much when we already had Rasiak, Saga, BWP and McGoldrick.

This is true, I think he suffered when Schneiderlin got injured. At the start of the season when the team was settled he put in some fantastic performances, maybe now Schneiderlin is back they can get their partnership going again. While I agree James deserves a chance in midfield I would still prefer to see Gillett, Cork or Surman alongside Schneiderlin.

To be fair to most of the lads that have come in on loan they are playing well above there level at a young age. Someone like Pekhart might turn into a good player with a bit of experience but expecting him to lead the line in a league he has no experience of is asking a bit much. Cork and Pearce both already had a lot of first team Championship experience unlike Smith, Robertson and Pekhart. I would like to know how much we're paying in wages for Robertson, Pekhart and Smith, I doubt it's far off paying to keep one of our strikers here.

Hopefully we get a chance to see them play together. ------- McG Holmes Gasmi Lallana Schneiderlin Surman That could be quite a decent front six, depending on who stays and if Gasmi can find form.

If Gillett is fit then he's a better option than James. He's been unlucky with injuries since the start of the season where he was forming a good partnership alongside Schneiderlin.

I'd go with that team as well, maybe Svensson in for Wotton if fit.

It's hard to know what players are worth in the current market, I think personally 3m is about right but then if it's rumoured that 2 or 3 clubs are after him we might be able to get a bit of a bidding war. 3m in one lump sum is also a completley different deal than say 500k upfront and 2.5m depending on appearances/goals etc Personally I think it would be a massive blow to lose Lallana but maybe Gasmi is good enough to take over and we could spend a bit of the transfer money to bring in a full back or two and secure Cork for the rest of the season. Depends how and if the money is spent really.

Playing 4-4-2 for the first time against a side like Reading would be a disaster waiting to happen. We need to play our usual formation and hope we can stay tight at the back and hit them on the counter. We simply haven't got good enough players to beat a team like Reading if we go for it from the first minute. Personally depending on the squad i'd go with: --------McGoldrick Skacel -- Surman -- Lallana -- Schneiderlin Wotton Mills Svensson Perry Cork -----------Davis I don't really like Wotton but he would add some strength and experience. Mills playing LB to accomadate Skacel in a more advanced role, hopefully he will get into some of the positions Holmes was getting into earlier in the season and Schneierlin can pick him out with some early cross field balls.