derry

I don't need to read statistics I can see for myself. At least 3 against Walsall and Huddersfield for example. Lallana provides little in the way of laying on goals for others. His play might look attractive but that is all it is, what we need is effective and I would like to see somebody else at wide midfield.

He regularly misses vital chances in the games we don't win easily, furthermore he just isn't creating chances for others either. Apart from the goal which came I believe off one of his shots being blocked, and a couple of half chances his were the only good chances. How often have we drawn or lost games when he has missed vital chances before the opponents score. Many times.

I saw him against Walsall and Huddersfield, in the Walsall game he wasn't too bad against Huddersfield he was ineffective. My judgement is based on 24 games this season not two missed chances at Tranmere. I think we would be better balanced and create more in the difficult games with a more orthodox player at wide midfield and would like to see Lallana left out to see if that works especially away. Eventually he will either go or be left out unless he delivers a consistent end product and the nearer the managers head gets to the meat grinder the sooner it will happen.

For goodness sake wake up. 41 starts, 30 league games/11 cup games and he has 5 assists. Puncheon has played 4 games and has more than that already. That lack of an end product in terms of creating chances for others is what I am talking about.

22 I believe. He is no longer a youth player that can be cut some slack. Where we are, it is either shape up or ship out.

There is more to a football game than hanging about the cantre of the pitch then being unable to convert the good chances that fall. It's the rest and most important part of his game that is lacking. I would like to see him replaced with a more orthodox wide player or an astute footballer like Connolly to see whether it solves our problem. To be blunt I see Lallana as one of the problems not the solution. As a wide midfielder he is more of a provider than a goalscorer and he isn't doing that job.

You don't know that. He is is a natural very skillful controller of a football he does not have an astute fooball brain. His naivety in consistently taking up ineffective positions sadly accentuate that. I personally would like to see how we play without him.

I Watched the England game and the way Walcott didn't come to terms with a wide midfield role and felt at the time he went to the wrong club. Man Utd would have utilised his pace wide, Arsenal don't and use him as part of their footballing pattern. He reminded me of the way Lallana also doesn't seem able to adapt. The next day I read an article by Chris Waddle who said that Walcott was no different now than when he first saw him as a 16 year old and sadly he just doesn't have a football brain. This is also my view of Lallana.

I would like to see what our balance would be like if a less idiosyncratic player than Lallana was put in at wide midfield. He seems unable to put away the chances that fall to him in games that we struggle. He plays more like an attacking inside forward rather than a wide midfielder, I would like to see how we played with Waigo or Connolly wide right. Nearly everything we score seems to be coming off Puncheon, practically nothing is coming from Lallana except cosmetically attractive cameos.

It would all be so much more believable, if the politicians hadn't been in such a hurry to start raising taxes to be used as a top up of treasury funds, rather than for projects to reduce carbon dioxide. Didn't I read somewhere, attributed to Norwich, that it has been conceded that there has been no rise in global temperatures in the last 15 years?

Agreed.

I think it was more difficult to bed in last years players with the players we brought in August/September because we had a number of players that weren't good and a number that wanted away. By the time we got to the January transfer window the team was reasonably settled if not that good, however the players brought in were basically good footballers who could quickly blend with the other good footballers remaining in the team, therefore because we now have a collection of natural footballers, the transition was quick. It is the individualistic players that have the greatest problem fitting in, now we have only one and he is doing ok. For me the biggest question mark is the tactics. We have loads of firepower, which means we are formidable on good pitches, however because Pardew is essentially a defensive rather than a flair manager, he tucks his wide men in. That in itself doesn't present too much of a problem on good pitches, especially as Puncheon is so good at going outside on either side whilst Lallana tends to be too narrow. On the poor pitches we need to work right out on both touchlines unless we want to be negated by the boggy centre. Puncheon is a natural but Lallana needs to be specifically tasked out wide and because Pardew favours the wide men tucked in we are bogged down. Pardew has to change his tactics on the poor pitches, if he does, the greater ability of our players will flourish, but as long as he continues to set up the same, whatever the surface, we will struggle on poor pitches and be dragged down to the same level as the opposition.

Nocola Cortese said the results in the league weren't satisfactory and he was right at the time. Not only that the football was pretty dire. What happened next? The management got the message and stopped a lot of the negative tactics knowing they had to go for it, they gave the players their heads, now look at the results. Maybe if we hadn't been so negative at times we would be a lot closer to the playoff positions. The last two home games have been a quantum leap.

Puncheon gets to the byeline on the outside on both touchlines and crosses with either foot. He is the most naturally two footed player I've seen for a long time and pretty quick. I know he favours his left foot but he is the massive difference. Lallana isn't as two footed but is different and is helped by Harding wide.

If HMRC decide to challenge the football debtor rule in the high court, how long would it take and what effect would it have on a CVA and the licence to play in the league next season?

I think there is a conceptual gap in what you are talking about and the general understanding of the hybrid D of F that happens here. I don't think many understand that the SD will be the managers boss and he will report directly to him and he reports to the Chairman not the Manager.

You can say that again, I think being signed by Sir Matt was one of the good moves you made.

Ajax have a concept from bottom to top and if we had a D of F who enshrined a similar concept, ie passing football, all the teams playing a club style, only players/managers that fit the concept brought in, it could only be beneficial in the long term and would as Clifford says save a lot of chopping and changing.

Because like Gray and Wigley he was a nice bloke already at the the club. Spot on with the summary.

It was him that persuaded Leibherr to buy Saints for that we owe him some loyalty and support. To date except for the Echo stupidity he hasn't put a foot wrong. If it's a case of support Cortese or Pardew then for me it's a no contest. Pardew has one of the best jobs in football and hissy fits isn't going to endear him to the owners or help him keep his job.

He won't be outed by me and I'm the only one who knows who he is. Suffice it to say he played in the same team with Mick Channon. There was a photo in the pink recently of him standing next to CS.

This is very true but Pardew has to stop feeding the media or Cortese will dump him if he doesn't achieve Cortese's targets.

If there is confliction, the only thing that will keep the status quo this season is winning matches.

What struck me Ron is that there is no doubt in quite a few games we have been pretty poor, if Markus Leibherr is flying in from Dubai/Geneva/wherever expecting to see decent performances his disappointment could be significant. We have to give them the credit that they do like football and know what they want to see. If they are not seeing what they want or getting the results they want, questions are bound to be put. I'm not in favour of change for change sake but I must say that I much prefer the change on the pitch since this blew up, and the way we are evolving. If this is because of Cortese and in spite of Pardew then good luck to him. However I would like to think that it wasn't and that it is Pardew and his team also becoming more positive and confident.

With the success of the Puncheon/Lallana free roles maybe he's going to do it with all of them.:cool: