derry

Lallana has a lot of ability on the ball but is not particularly clever in his understanding of the game. If he was a clever footballer he would be drifting into space and blindside positions and make use of the width on the left touchline to outflank the defence, but because he seems to play pretty rigidly as he is instructed he allows himself to be fenced in by the instructions. When he is wide left and actually plays wide it gives him more space and time to play and when he is wide it gives the midfielders the time to get further forward. When he is narrow he is deprived of the time and space consequently he is crowding the central midfielders and the ball ends up being booted up towards Lambert. A big part of this lack of effectiveness is the way he is instructed to play. He needs to be given a role wide on the left side and apart from providing the width and tracking any runner wide gives him the freedom to play. For wide players it is pretty simple when the opponents have the ball track the runners, get goal side and tuck in if there aren't any wide runners, as soon as we get possession, wherever, get out to the touchline immediately.

A bit.

If you want to blame anybody for Lallana's drop in form blame Pardew and the coaches. The boy is trying to play the way he is instructed and it is not helping him or the team. He played really well wide left, tracking back wide, stopping the full back getting forward and stealing in on the blind side, off the wing to cause problems and score goals. The next thing that happened was that he was instructed to come into a more central position which denied him the space and freedom he needed and also opened up our left side. From that point we started to play hoofball up to Lambert and looked a lot worse for it.

If a player grabs another player by the shirt collar and gets pushed back then whatever punishment is given to the second player should be automatically applied to the first whatever the colour. Both were culpable. Professional players routinely should put as much distance as possible between themselves and the victim of a painful tackle. The referee should also position himself between the victim and that player. That would give time to take the heat out of it. Having said that, not wishing to sound holier than thou, I've waited six months to clobber somebody that badly fouled me. Believe me it was worth it. The first minute is the time for retribution. I passed him the ball and followed through, I didn't even get booked.

I didn't realise they played last night. As they played him he isn't leaving.

Stock is not cup tied.

Gillett.

Now that Schnedierlin is out for three matches either we will have to use him or buy somebody quickly.

Saganowski was on the bench at MK. Came out of nowhere.

Sol Campbell is sueing Portsmouth for bonuses and money owed. Announced on Sky news and confirmed by PFC.

He has just moved in to a new house at Bartley. He would like to join Saints at some point but he has a new contract at Reading which puts him way out of our wage structure. I know he was sounded out but we can't afford him at the moment.

He may or may not be, but the others aren't, worth a try, he's played nearly everywhere else except defence.

We are certainly not looking like a good footballing side never mind a dominant one at the moment.

It's the negativity that doesn't equate to a successful manager for me. He is probably a safe pair of hands but he doesn't inspire me with either his team selections or his tactics.

Hoolahan is a standout. I don't think Lallana is anywhere in the same class as Hoolahan when it comes to passing and laying on goals. I've seen plenty of players that I thought were all rounders but I never bothered to remember who they were.

Apart from Exeter we haven't done much lately and a good proportion either penalties or free kicks.

Purely a matter of opinion. But Pardew isn't going to pick an attacking team.

Leeds, Norwich, Huddersfield

The way I see it if we continue the way we are we are looking at next season so lightweight or not give it a go. One other thing if you have a midfield and strikers with no pace it allows the opponents to attack without being caught out. If that six played the opponents would be bloody uncomfortable with the pace and movement and a lot less likely to feel comfortable especially if Antonio replaced Connolly up front late on.

This is what I would like to see pending more signings.

Correct and now is the time to put that right. (Wotton, Schneiderlin, Hammond, Gillett are all one trick ponies)

I've seen plenty of players that I think are better than we've got in all positions but not playing in the same team. As for playing in this division, playing in a winning team for more money in front of big crowds works wonders.

Your first paragraph is how I would like to see it set up. Lambert Connolly (or Antonio) Holmes Lallana Schneiderlin Waigo

What we have are bit part midfielders that can only do part of the job. What we need is two driving, footballing, hard tackling, goal scoring midfielders. What we don't need are players that can only do one thing, either sitting, tackling or passing and no attacking threat.

After Lallana's good spell he suddenly reverted to narrow and inneffective. I slated him for it because it coincided with the start of our hoofball then I found out that was the way he was supposed to play. That was the point in time I started to doubt Pardew because of his negativity. I think Holmes needs to be given a bit of a chance, he was good last season.