derry

I think SDR used to accentuate his strengths could be a devastating outlet on either the right or left wide. He could be our main outlet for breaking out of our own half not to be utilised as a tippy tappy right midfielder with no opportunity to run the defenders. If we are going to use him and we paid a million for him, we have to adapt to his strengths as much as he has to adapt to our play. He is the only first teamer with pace and we would be stupid not to capitalise on that by giving him the service he needs. He needs a quick pass out from defence to break from his own half, he needs balls played in behind the defence into the corner, he needs to receive inside support to wall pass him behind the defence into the corner if blocked. He has to be used to run the defence and turn it so we can get our attacking players into the box on the blind side. At the moment we are not using his pace, he is just another cog in the ponderous midfield living off scraps and usually receiving the ball facing his own goal. It's all very well saying the manager doesn't rate him but the manager has questions of his own to answer. The plan keeping a tight midfield allegedly because De Ridder isn't defensive enough, really worked in their first five games, we conceded seven goals, twice the normal rate only scored two lost twice against rock bottom sides, drew twice and won from 0-1 down v Hull after De Ridder was brought on at half time for one of the three. Against Crystal Palace SDR made a magnificent game saving tackle chasing 30 yds and catching the nippy Scannel when he was clean through and uncatchable by anybody else. Give him a chance, give him the service and he will rip up defences even if half his crosses aren't on target he will rattle the opposition.

Same for me Ron and bottom line no need to play the three CMs together again. I just hope we haven't committed to playing Falque too much as he has a way to go if the other night is anything to go by. I just don't think he is man enough for the 19 battles to come.

It strikes me that Administration will have to be funded by someone. Portsmouth have to sell players by Monday midnight to bring in transfer fees or subsequently loan them out and get some fee. Nobody pays up front but by stages with transfer fees. A number of sellable assets will have poor values due to the attached wages. No player will want to jump at a loss of income as they become free agents in the event of liquidation. Why would teams want to buy them when they could come on the market for free. WHU and Cardiff could buy a few:lol:. CSI could hardly fund the administration unless there would be a return. Chanrai/Portpin could but would they want to throw more money at a bottomless pit. I just can't see the parachute payments being brought forward with enough of an advance to fund the Administration. It could be that it may get to court and if it does it really should be curtains.

On Sky SN a couple of hours ago, have bid £1.5m for Sharp, hardly enough but could be Mirror led.

On Sky SN a couple of hours ago, we have put a £1.5m bid in for Sharp, hardly enough?

I thought I saw a bit on Sky a couple of hours ago that we had just offered £1.5m for Sharp.

Against Doncaster the three midfielders played with Schneiderlin in the hole ,that worked. Normal team v Crystal Palace won 2-0, Bristol City out worked us but the damage was done in the five games the three played together except Hull when we were 0-1 down at halftime and De Ridder came on and changed the game. Adkins is at fault he picked the three midfielders together and it doesn't work. The results speak for themselves. They should never have played together again after half time of the Hull game.

Adkins is to blame for this slump. At BC when Chaplow was injured he didn't think about it he left Hammond and Cork in the middle and stuck a square peg in a round hole and we lost. Against Hull he hadn't learn't anything and started the same side, we were hopeless and 0-1 down. When he brought De Ridder on for one of the midfielders and we quickly scored two to turn it around I thought he had cracked it, but no we started the next three games with the same team. That team played four and a half matches against nobody, scored twice one a Fox free kick to Lambert at Pompey, conceded 7 and gained two points. SDR was fit all that time. Against a poor Coventry again he had two midfielders and added Cork at half time and we won, Same again against a poor Forest nearly one half against ten men. SDR and Richardson were obviously fit last night but same again against a team that was coming off a 4-0 win with good players and boy were we found out. It's all very well being liked and looking after the boys but he is paid not to keep some of the players happy by compromising. When we were flying he only played two of the three central midfielders and left the other on the bench. They might be better players but the team suffers when three of them play together. We have had poor results with them together it is time he learn't it will cost us promotion. This slump hasn't been helped by the injuries and suspension but it also hasn't been helped by not having adequate back up at centre back/striker and Adkins failing to pick balanced sides that blended. Adkins was and still is my No 1 choice but he has to make the difficult decisions and leave out a player that doesn't fit. Two works but three messes us up.

I find it amazing that nobody is really hitting on one of the major causes of our lack of intensity and momentum. FFS the bloody goalkeeper takes forever to make his mind up what he is going to do next. He knows what he has to do but in his case appear to do. The manager wants to play from the back, well if he wants to do that, he needs to get in a keeper that wants to do the same. Davis stands over the ball, the defenders spread out, the opponents already know what's going to happen so they close up tight at the back and hold off just far enough at the front to entice Davis to eventually bite the bullet and pass the ball to some poor unfortunate, who is likely thinking FFS why me, now deeply in the mire being closed down rapidly. Then it either gets passed to some other poor unfortunate and lumped, gets lumped or more often sent back where it came and Davis lumps it first time to the centre backs and we lose possession again. If he's going to lump it he might as well do it straight away and hit it out wide. What I don't understand either is that about 15 players wander off to one side and De Ridder is on his own on the other side so Davis lumps it into the crowd. Why doesn't he try and hit the open space with our quickest player in it. It was all right up to a point and we got away with it with a full strength team and Fonte capable of breaking forward but with Martin's poor control, Harding on the wrong foot, and no target man the slowness made a ponderous midfield comprising three players that don't gel and a talented but lightweight new boy even worse causing us to be comprehensively outplayed. To cap it all Harding decides to let Nugent come inside onto his good foot and hit a screamer, send him down the line you prat. And Martin sells himself, turns his back like a junior league defender and lets the opposing centre back walk round him and cross for the other centre back to score. Boy does that say something that the two centre backs feel that free to play in our box. We need a striker that can cope without Lambert and a strong centre back in the Hoiveldt mould to give us more viable options. We are now left with too many fit lightweights that can't perform when pressured as we are going to be more and more as teams realise a high pressing tempo unsettles us especially when the manager keeps picking a side where the blend just doesn't work. It's no fluke that we play better when only two of the three central midfielders are on the field.

There was a lot wrong last night, some of it could well be put right by the inclusion of Lambert, Lallana, Fonte and Chaplow but we desperately need a couple of rabbits out of the hat this transfer window. An experienced centre back in the Hoiveldt mould and a striker that can play with and up front without Lambert. Leicester were a good side last night but we were very lightweight. The team selection was one of two main causes of our problems. Harding out of position couldn't cope with the pace and tempo whilst Falque was a peripheral figure and should never have started. Both were quite rightly substituted but should have been replaced after the second goal as it was obvious then it wasn't working. Destperation prevailed but swopping Connolly and Falque which was no improvement and just wasted time. Richardson and De Ridder should have started, didn't but should have replaced Harding and Falque after the second goal. The second cause was the slow tempo which started with the rediculous amount of time Davis took to release the ball and the lack of intensity in the midfield to grab hold of the breaking ball and the overuse of long balls and especially from Martin heading the ball back to the opposition.

Everybody has an opinion but to criticize De Ridder tonight beggars belief. The manager selected a team that was hopeless in two respects. We got away with Harding against two poor sides but sentiment prevailed. He was exposed by the high tempo and speedy attack. He was grossly at fault for the first goal despite the quality of the shot. Instead of making Nugent go down the line he settled for letting him come inside onto his left foot which opened up Nugent to bend in HIS favoured foot. Falque should not have started he isn't a strong enough player to immediately come in and take part. Ok he had some nice touches, a decent cross early but went missing for periods and often settled for the easy option. He wouldn't have been considered much of a threat by Leicester. Both players should have been substituted shortly after the second goal was scored, it was crass to wait another half hour leaving us only half an hour to try and save the game. It was crying out for Richardson and De Ridder to be brought on to raise the tempo and restore balance. Davis just doesn't get it. If we are to play out from the back to build up with quick pass and move football Davis cannot take the amount of time he does to pass the ball. The goalkeeper has to release the ball instantaneously like any other passing player. To just stand on the ball allowing the opponents to form up and stand about 20 yds off our defenders and then drop them in it with a slow rolling pass behind our player who is being already rapidly closed down, forcing him to hit it long, drop somebody else in it or more often pass it back to Davis for the long ball. Last night we hit more long balls at their centrebacks than I've seen all season and virtually always gave possession away because we were so slow to the breaking ball. Leicester played with the intensity that we adopted early on in the season but have now lost to be replaced by low intensity strolling passing it about game which is alright against low tempo sides but is no threat to hard working teams. Reading showed the way now other sides are adopting the same tactics so we have to get back to fighting for the right to play. Last night only De Ridder, Richardson, Hoiveldt, Fox, to a lesser extent Cork, Guly and Connolly in patches showed the necessary effort and intensity. Schneiderlin and Hammond just didn't fight for the right to play not helped by out of position Harding and lightweight Falque. When I questioned Martin being the only back up centre back and described him as very much a learner I was criticised. Last night it really hurt us, he sold himself by turning his back on a feint and was passed easily for the resultant unpressurised cross to be nodded in. His distribution is poor, he is uncomfortable in possession and his heading is a present to the opposition. We badly need another centre back and a striker that can fill in for Lambert. Hoiveldt is carrying him at the moment. I will say that Fox did a manly job as stand in for Hoiveldt. There was a lot more wrong than the fact De Ridder didn't manage to pull an undeserved rabbit out of the hat. He takes up good positions but rarely is given the ball to run at the defence, eventually he may be after short passing be included often facing his own goal, certainly closed down, having to turn and is almost never released to run past the defence onto a through ball. He is easily one of the quickest players around but we don't use him properly. He could be a devastating counter attacker released quickly but we would rather play up the blind alley into a massed defence on the left and ignore the quick counter up the right. Blaming De Ridder is rediculous, blame the lack of service that's the problem. He always gives 100% and in my opinion is not being given a fair go by the manager. Playing Falque from the start was an insult, he was peripheral and cosmetic and contributed to the slow tempo, something De Ridder could never be accused of.

De Ridder didn't get one decent ball to Run on to He was living off scraps. A pacy player like him needs the ball passed in front of him.

Works both ways, plans for Lallana or who is going to play on the left? and now don't know formation, so planning difficult.

THEVMAN would surely have mentioned if Guly wasn't playing

I believe that if the Monday night match has been moved from Saturday to be shown on TV, so there is no advantage, the players for all the weekends matches including the moved match have to be signed by noon on Friday.

IMO no way did we bid £7m for Hooper and there are other options that would cost a lot less. I just hope we are seriously bidding not just using up the month bidding for players that won't be released without silly money which we wouldn't entertain.

The People have never let the facts get in the way of a story. No way did we bid £7m for Hooper and if we did why would we only bid £3m when it has already reported that Huddersfield had turned down a bigger bid from WHU at the start of the month.

THEVMAN was correct he said the only one of the injured who was fit was Guly. SDR was on the bench despite not being fully fit.

Midfield is the problem, I think there will be one change at wide left and right back will depend on fitness.

Is SDR and FR fit?

I think even if we sacked him we can retain his registration so that any club wishing to sign him would have to buy the registration.

I think it was on here previously, it was alleged that he was injured and took an unauthorised trip to I think Cyprus, after which the whole problem kicked off.

That was the club's initiative and had nothing to do with the SOS group but they used the term save our saints in the promotion of the collections. The Save Our Saints Group was formed at a meeting in the De Vere and publicised by The Echo months before the crisis and was aimed at trying to unseat Lowe/Wilde initially and only latterly focussed on a back up plan.

Sean O'Driscoll has joined Forest to help Cotterill keep them up. Could possibly give them a lift.

That was rubbish. The only money was about £1m pledged on here. The SOS group was a self financed group that was organising a back up including liasing with other groups. In the end time ran out used up by the useless Pinnacle group leaving no time for a rescue which would have taken time before the club folded, but fortuitously Markus Leibherr stayed interested. No money was raised by anybody because if things fell apart it would have had to be returned which would have been a nightmare.