derry

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.

Adam Leitch for one on the Luton match report in the Pink, the pre-match Echos and the following week's Echos. I'm not taking it personally, but as I spend about £150 a year on Echos, I'm beginning to think the people on here have a point. If customers get disillusioned with the Echo, it won't do the Echo any good. I wasn't holding my breath for a reply as I have a pretty poor opinion of the editorial attitude with regard to customer service.

I still get it on Sunday morning, It used to be in Totton with all the days local results and write ups by 6-15pm on Saturday. It was a great read. Now the Echo is yesterdays news but it used to come out in various late editions with that days news. Well Danny, who on the editorial staff penned the crap about bookings and suspensions without bothering to check accuracy? That was a bit of lazy made up journalism.

Maybe it's sooner, as we have just signed Otsemobor a right back.

I would like to see him loaned out for the rest of this season and play regular League football and after pre-season, maybe to a good side for the first half of next season. It is only by playing regularly that we will get to see what he can achieve.

There may be something his agent was asking for that caused NC to pull the plug and contact Exeter late on Tuesday evening.

Lancashire is nowhere near the finished article. We have lost Monk, Williamson, Mills and Cranie by not developing them along with Howard and Elliott. If Pardew lets Lancashire go it would be premature. Lallana has performed much better of late and not before time. James is a different kettle of fish. He is slow, that will never change. He isn't a bad footballer but our 5 year plan will see him replaced sooner rather than later. He isn't an issue for me as I don't rate him and can't see him playing much except as a stand in once the transfer window closes and Murty is back in contention.

James has a fundamental flaw, he is slow. I don't see a future for him here with the plans we have. I don't expect him to be with the club after next season, along with a lot of others. Lancashire looked a class act against Leeds.

For a number of seasons we have been really light at the back and vulnerable to crosses especially with a keeper that doesn't dominate. I have looked on with envy at most teams tough, uncompromising central defenders usually bought on the cheap or free transferred in and wondered why we never get in that sort of player. Now we have brought one in to replace a Preston reserve, of course he is going to play with the added bonus of being naturally left sided. Martin and Lancashire are work in progress and deserve the time to develop, Jaidi and Perry need rotational assistance and Pardew obviously doesn't rate Thomas. We are looking at a lot of games coming up and the centre of defence is vital. Fonte is high class and will play, Seaborne has proved he is the uncompromising defender we need to get stuck in. I thought the two Exeter centre backs looked pretty tough against us in a ten man team and gave nothing away. A right back would give us a regular miserly back four including adequate cover for rotation and injuries. We also on a regular basis need to play four naturally left sided players (which we haven't yet got) to provide balance. For too long we have made do with one or two, where we want to go that won't work.