derry

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.

If Lallana played wide like he did for five games and scoring, yes. If he as he has been playing narrow, No. I do understand however that is how Pardew is telling him to play, which is wasting his talent. If that is the case until we sign a quick natural left midfielder Holmes should play. James for me is a lucky reserve standard player that the manager seems to like that brings nothing to the table. We need to set our sights higher than bit part players like James, he is not the future.

No, we need to set our sights higher. We need proper footballers that tackle, pass and attack not bit players that can only sit or pass or tackle.

Holmes is the only natural wide left midfielder we have. Until we get someone better we should play him for the balance. I personally don't rate James except to fill in because primarily he is so slow.

Then we need somebody else to get forward. Ideally we need two midfielders that do the whole job not just half of it.

No we are certainly not out of it but what concerns me with the present squad is the team selection. Pace is essential, we don't have it even worse we play the slowest player on the pitch wide right. I have been told some of the players themselves have questioned Hammonds atributes, yes he wins the ball but he is a poor passer. Schneiderlin is a good passer but we need two players in the middle that can pass, tackle and have the pace to get beyond the strikers. Over the years including the academy we have signed hardly anybody with pace we are now paying the price. If Stock or anybody else isn't quick we shouldn't sign them. I'm happy to give the three new guys time and think they may be the bedrock to build on. We now have a four year plan to get to the Premier, slow players won't get us there and more importantly keep us there. It doesn't seem to me that pace is a priority for Pardew. It is for Wenger, Ferguson etc. I'm not talking Waigo/Walcott pace but quick not slow comfort zone players. We have so many players that are relatively pedestrian that operate in their comfort zones we have to sign more pacy players. Don't get me wrong Bill, we will win more than we will lose but we won't sweep all before us and if we want to be in the Premier for the 2015 season we have to start right now.

If I read Cortese correctly, if we aren't on target for promotion next season Pardew will be history.

Bill, if you watched this team regularly despite a decent return you would be pulling your hair out. We are a long way from being a decent never mind a good footballing side. I do think that under this manager pragmatism and caution are the basis, not irresistable fast attacking football, with pace a must. We might fluke it into the playoffs but even this side needs rebuilding to be a force. From now on no player that lacks pace should be signed. We are slow all across the midfield and up front, Waigo is very quick and Antonio is reasonably quick but plays head down and seems purely an impact sub unless we can turn him into a centre forward. Lambert and Lallana lack pace but have some very good qualities but all the others need replacing. The central midfield flatters to deceive with two players who between them hardly equal one. None of our midfielders break through the strikers and the two players with pace sit on the bench. There is so much wrong that needs putting right.

James or Holmes? It's a no brainer, we have loads of better options wide right and only one wide left. Holmes is the best crosser of a ball in the club. Unless we get a wide left player in he should play. James on the other hand apart from being the mediocre non goal threatening dead ball kicker we don't need, really doesn't rate a place anywhere because he is so slow. I see him as purely a necessary evil, an infill until we can get better players in then let go.

Worse than that, we were hoping to nick a goal from a set piece. I don't like slow. We need to bring in footballers with pace. We have too many oddballs with no pace. Hammond, Schneiderlin, Wotton, James, Lallana, Lambert (a great dead ball scorer thank goodness) etc, having said that there is a place for Lambert and Lallana but we can't continue with a lack of pace, no balance from the rest. I think Schneiderlin is potentially a good player but he plays in his comfort zone, busting a gut doesn't happen. Hammond needs to up his game, his passing isn't good, he does win a lot of balls, but if you put him together with Schneiderlin we are really getting the output we expect from one good player.

Worse still neither does Pardew and yesterday's team was nowhere near our best. Balance and pace, Balance and pace we don't have either.

Spot on. We need better balance and a lot more pace. We are nowhere near yet.

This is the problem, I personally think that Hammond and Schneiderlin are too similar so it should be one but not both. James is too slow. Holmes is the best left midfielder but isn't quick. We need midfielders to attack out of the middle and pace down the flanks without that we will do what we did yesterday just play across the front of the defence. I thought the team selection was crass.

It's not about the result it's about the team that was selected. The goalkeeper isn't an issue and I think neither was the back four, but the rest of the team was a shambles. Every team needs pace and balance. The centre of midfield is poor it has to be either Hammond or Schneiderlin as they both tend to sit and aren't attack minded. The second central midfielder has to be an attacker, except for possibly Lallana we don't have one. Holmes at wide left was not before time but he is not the quickest. Lambert and Lallana are not quick so with no pace out of midfield we pick what must be the slowest player in the football league at right midfield. No wonder we were so poor. Waigo is lightning quick and Antonio isn't bad but were on the bench. Pardew is saying one thing and doing the opposite. He says we are going all out for the playoffs and then picks a pedestrian team that wasn't going to threaten and would rely on maybe nicking a goal from a set piece which we did. Going all out with our present squad is playing Lambert and Connolly/Antonio up front, Waigo starting wide right with Lallana attacking out of midfield with only one sitting player. It certainly isn't playing safety first. I don't know what others think but I certainly want us to have a go, not just to try and scrape results being cautious. If we don't make the playoffs so be it, but we will have given it our best shot. Doing what we are at the moment isn't giving it our best shot and in any event will probably still fall well short. We need three more players, a quick natural left midfielder, an attacking midfielder, and another quick striker to give us balance, and especially pace.

He was at his best coming in off the left late, plus tracking the runners which he did well for about five games. The key was Waigo playing wide right. Once we stopped starting Waigo we stopped playing.

I think it's time to go for broke. playing two static players that don't complement each other and a right midfielder that is embarassingly slow is a bigger problem. It is time Pardew either stops talking about the playoffs whilst putting out paceless teams or gets on with it and puts out attacking teams. With the present strength we should play either Hammond or Schneiderlin in deep midfield but not both. Play Holmes left midfield and Waigo starting right midfield giving a run of games to Lallana in central attacking midfield, with a Connolly/Antonio choice to partner Lambert and as impact substitutions. Another alternative until we get a replacement Give Gillett the holding midfield roll. I know it's not a physical team but it could be lethal and we have now on paper a decent combination for the back four.

I realise that but often quick attacking teams overload defences and push them back making them more defensive. We won't make the playoffs without attacking so my attitude is give it a go. Also bring in a couple more quick players to make it happen. We won't frighten teams playing James right midfield.

Holmes, Hammond, Lallana, Waigo ln midfield with Connolly and Lambert or Antonio if Connolly not 100% James, Lallana, Holmes, Lambert, Hammond and Schneiderlin lack pace so we kept playing in front of their defence. At least Waigo and Antonio have pace and Lallana can attack. I agree with the others, drawing games is only going to keep us where we are. We aren't going to make the play offs trying not to lose. We may not either trying to win every game but we might.

I know it sounds like nit picking but football reporters should know the basics. Last night in the story about Jon Otsemobor it was remarked when he left Rotherham for Norwich that he had left Turf Moor (Burnley) when it should have said Millmoor. If a reporter doesn't know, he can look it up but to allow crap to be printed is nonsense. A lot of people reading the articles can see that it is innaccurate.

Yes and I would always play him wide right as long as we didn't need him up front.

We have no interest payments to make and no mortgage payments to make. Crowds are up, players salaries are lowering as we get shot of the highly paid players, so we are in a pretty good position to finance a lot of our spending, I believe the mortgage payments were circa £2m a year on their own.

On Wednesday the OS posted an injury update on Jaidi's eye injury and that they expected him to be out for about two weeks. This morning the Echo are running a lead article commenting that Pardew now has a dilemma whether to drop either Jaidi or Perry to accommodate either Fonte or Seaborne. With Jaidi injured there is no dilemma or choice to be made unless both of the new players are picked to play. It is obvious from the article that the Echo are unaware of Jaidi's injury. The readers of the Echo who expect facts not conjecture are being misled by this lazy journalism. OK, the club isn't talking to them, but it doesn't stop them checking the OS for accuracy before running a story.

Thats fine, and if you read my first post on this thread you will see a measured defence of your news item. My remark about yellow cards is a genuine criticism, as I expect people who pontificate at length and purport to be a football expert, to at least know the basic framework of the disciplinary system they are commenting on. Accuracy is important but doesn't come without studying the detail of the subject which obviously didn't happen.