derry

Chaplow being injured definitely disrupted things but the failed experiment of playing Schneiderlin, Hammond and Cork together made a total mess of it. As soon as Chaplow was injured a forward player should have played wide right. We managed 1 win in five games, and that was only because SDR replaced one of them v Hull. Central midfielders that don't threaten never mind score goals is another part of the problem, I know we need a striker but a quality attacking goal scoring central midfielder is essential to provide something extra. For Davis to stop rebounding shots out to opposing strikers would help, it's not as if he gets many shots to deal with.

Not for the first time. The bad run was basically the failed experiment of playing the three central midfielders together for four and a half games yielding 2 points and 0-1 at halftime v Hull until one of them was replaced, no wonder Lallana has struggled.

Everybody has stood by this team and we are top of the league and up to eight matches ago were going well but the wheels have come off results wise and other teams are now playing well. It was deemed as sacrilege to voice criticism at anyone. If we are to get back on track in my opinion we need one thing above all else a quality goalscoring attacking central midfielder. One goal from the three midfielders is awful. It seems that even when they do get a goalscoring opportunity they don't even remotely threaten. It seems a lot of vital goals against are now coming from rebounds off the goalkeeper. We are short of a striker, Lambert is out until the end of January unless there is a successful appeal. Lallana and Guly are playing poorly without alternatives. We are at the moment looking really thin on quality in the squad. The squad needs reinforcement now, another goalkeeper is required, experienced centre back cover is needed and a decent wide player.

Dave, pm me if you hear anything worthwhile.

Seabourne was unlucky at Peterborough. Harding and Seabourne were left back to deal with CMS who is quicker than Seabourne. Seabourne was hung out to dry by Harding's abysmal positional sense and ball watching. Harding's position at least 15 yds to the left and slightly in front of Seabourne was rediculous when they were only picking up CMS. It meant that CMS was able to muscle Seabourne but Seabourne couldn't touch CMS because he was the last man. If Harding had dropped off behind Seabourne he could have taken CMS out for a yellow at the worst. He would also have forced CMS wider which was significant as Davis was beaten on his near post. Harding then ball watched again for the third goal turning his back on his man facing the corner so he couldn't see him. He was given a little nudge and his player slipped in front of him to score easily. Seabourne was unlucky with the penalty as the film made it look as though he didn't touch the player that went to ground at the same time he had his arms raised conceding non contact. I don't think Seabourne has come on since he signed for us and even a full recovery would put him just in front of Martin. In my opinion we need a couple of better replacements for these two.

That only leads to the self doubt leading to the present situation of dwelling too long in possession in the wrong place. He needs to play slick give and go passing in midfield, forget about holding the ball only just inside the opponents half, get into the last third and let his ability on the ball take care of itself where opponents can't afford to tackle him. He also needs to try and not get sucked into a mid position when we are attacking down the right, he would have a lot more opportunities loitering on the corner of the penalty area and arriving late unmarked and if necessary if the ball is cleared to our right reset to the corner of the box. It also sets him up for bending a shot inside the far post which he is so good at.

Dropping Fox because Lallana isn't playing well is one of the daftest suggestions on here. Lallana is a talent and in my opinion is trying hard to get back on form but has got it wrong. Instead of more running with the ball, taking more and more touches he needs to put in a bit of one touch team play and pass and move more thereby getting into better forward positions where his close control will naturally come into play. At the moment he is a peripheral figure playing in front of the defences he needs to be in behind.

Most of the possession we had was rushed and closed down but when we didn't have the ball we weren't working hard enough to get it back. They were in our faces but we didn't do the same. Schneiderlin is a purist and aggression was needed in the midfield last night.

That wasn't the reason, we needed a more physical presence to win more ball and close them down quicker. De Ridder's unfortunately tagged with this but it is the job of the other players to get on the end of them which we didn't do. He gave a perfect pass to Lallana to dither on and after James saved from him really should have blasted it low at the massed bodies coming in rather than trying to pick out Guly. Other than that he was our only hope of creating something because Richardson put some very poor overhit crosses in last night.

It will cost Maynard and his agent millions if he goes anywhere in January other than on loan. He would be a nutter not to let his contract run out.

Bristol City played with very high tempo, they worked so hard that unless we matched that tempo we weren't going to break them down. Even when DeRidder got down the right we were light on numbers and late into the box. On numerous occasions the ball broke in the six yd box but nobody had made the effort and gambled to get in there. For me apart from Lallana's infuriating self indulgent below par performance the problem was our slow pace of play up the whole spine. The three other flank players put in a good shift and competed. The slow motion started with the goalkeeper. Everybody in the country knows that Davis won't release the ball early, that he will eventually pass short to somebody so they set up with just enough space to entice him then close the ball down. He never ever passes in front of the receiver and often ends up with the ball launched by somebody under pressure or gets it back and lumps it himself. If we want to play from back we need a goalkeeper that is slick at releasing the ball so as to catch the opponents on the break not already compact and formed up. Hoiveldt was solid and constructive but Martin who defended well is extremely limited in possession meaning that our possession didn't work at the back. Cork worked his socks off in closing down but gave nothing in a forward sense. Schneiderlin for me struggled to adapt to the high tempo consequently we never got a proper grip on midfield and failed to support attacks from the midfield. In front of them Lambert was frustrated all night by a referee that gave no protection from the pushing that went on. Guly did some good things but his control was poor and far too many passes were given away. All in all we needed to match Bristol all over the park and fight for the right to play our football but we were off the pace and DeRidder was our only real threat. In hindsight although I thought the change might have been made at halftime Hammond and Cork would have been a more combative central midfield. Lallana needs either a wake up call or to be taken out of the firing line. With Guly from a football sense misfiring there is no room for sentiment. Now Connolly is back and DeRidder playing a part there is a little bit of scope for change.

Doncaster's Chairman last week stated he had a clause in his contract from 1st Jan any club offering £3m could talk to him.

The price in Sharp's contract is £3m (Doncaster's Chairman)

Maynard would be daft if he went anywhere until his contract is up. He would make a killing in July pocketing a big signing on fee and top wages. Coming to us would pale in comparison to waiting six months.

At that time Drew Surman wasn't getting a game which was a lesson well learnt. Staying was a no brainer if he wanted to play every week.

I would be very surprised if we make a Guly/SDR signing other than a goalkeeper from a foreign side. Anyone we sign for the first team has got to be able to fit/fill in immediately, to do that they would really have to be playing in this country already.It took quite a while for Guly/SDR to fit in. I personally favour Jutkeiwicz as he could play with or without Lambert and wants to play for us. Sharp and Rodriguez have turned us down already so even if they came to us now, their motivation as far as we are concerned is questionable. I would like to see us double up and try and bring in Vokes as one for the future/backup.

Reported £20k a week on offer.

We had no bombers with the range to bomb Argentina and no bases in South America. The Harrier didn't have the range and would have put the Carriers in range of the Argentina Air Force if we had attempted it. The focus was to take back the Falklands, to do that the carriers needed to stay out of range of Argentina and in range of the Falklands. Missiles were unacceptable politically because we were getting help from the US and France.

Birmingham 1-1

Hoiveldt was excellent today and really gave us solidity winning everything and covering the back four. Schneiderlin looked like a real playmaker today and hit some very good medium and long balls to the forwards his best game this season. The formation with SDR wide gave us so much more. SDR seemed to be trying too hard at times but did two absolutely outstanding things besides having a very effective game. The cross for the goal was outstanding as was the chase of Scannell when he was clear away and winning the ball. Lallana several times took too many touches when an easier option was on and both he and Morgan gave the ball away several times when facing their own goal just playing it over their heads without looking when there were options in front of them but none behind them. Sometimes Lallana and Guly showboat too much and give the ball away but two excellent finishes. The rest of the players played well at a high tempo making us too good for Palace.

It's an easy connection to make but an easy story to tell. I can't see us letting him go, it also looks like the cheap option for Newcastle which wouldn't happen. If they want him they will have to pay far more than he is worth.

Let us know how you get on. As an aside my wifes cousin lives at Bondi, giving us stick over the weather. Take care.

I didn't comment on others except my perception of the normality of the people that hunted against the apparent wierdos that try to disrupt hunts as seen on tv.

No.

29 appearances last year, 33 previous year missing for about 1/3 of each season. We need better than that. Lambert is pretty much 95% but Connolly record is poor and Barnard is out for an extended period. If they buy him he will get goals if fit but it won't help us at all if he isn't fit for the run in. He could be a gamble but as it's already been said we've already had a difference of opinion about what happened in August that could have ended our interest.