derry

I prefer the disciplined 4-4-2 but that is a personal thing. If we are going to play 4-4-2 and it's Pardew that decides that, it has to be a disciplined wide formation otherwise it isn't 4-4-2. If we play 4-5-1 we need a good holding midfielder and two attacking midfielders. I sometimes think looking at what we have, Antonio and Waigo wide periodically switching wings, Hammond holding with Lallana getting forward and Schneiderlin doing the same on the left centre joining up with Lambert. That then opens up the possibility of taking off Lallana and putting Connolly up front as plan B.

We are nowhere near the finished article. I expect major surgery in the next two transfer windows. I expect us to be in division one next season but stranger things have happened. If by good fortune we do get into the championship I think the surgery would be quite dramatic.

We have a difficult situation with goalkeepers, Bialkowski is now coming out of what could be looked at in goalkeeping terms as a nervous breakdown. His loan at Barnsley did him good and he had another decent game against Charlton he may however still be fragile, only time will tell if he is needed. It doesn't look like Forecast is rated and Poke is on loan. Davis then really is the number one. He is probably one of the best reaction keepers for shot stopping around. He appears nervous and that affects the defenders. He doesn't dominate the box and is pretty much line bound. He rarely throws the ball out and mostly after about 20 secs possession boots it up field creating a 50/50 situation at the best. I personally would prefer a good all round keeper that dominated the penalty area with instant distribution to keep the game going. Even if he isn't as good a shot stopper. At the moment unless we get another keeper in there is no real alternative, so there is no point in emphasising the goalkeeping situation.

Like you say time will tell. The fact he could get into most division one teams is no great shakes. I think he is close to 22, more is demanded the higher the level, I don't think he would be a regular in the Premier. If he applied himself he would be better for us and himself. He was told last year by one of the senior coaches that he should run about less and be more discerning about the positions he took up. It was felt less running about and getting into dangerous positions would make him a lot more effective. It didn't happen. He has scored a few goals in a purple patch of four games but since then has come close but missed all of the chances created, he has laid on about three goals in that time but we have consistently leaked goals. Our problem is that we play one way only, one side pretty narrow, runner on the right, Lallana roaming, empty left side, slow right back, no real power out of midfield, a goalkeeper that only hoofs it, we were well worked out against Brighton. I now expect most sides to double up on our right and try and counter attack wide especially down our left. If Lallana played as a more orthodox left sided player he could still get into the middle but the defence would be stretched allowing him to get the sort of chances a got a month ago from around the left side of the box complementing Lambert and Connolly rather than duplicating them. He would then be able to participate defensively in front of Harding. I'm not anti Lallana, I like his enthusiasm and ball skills, his unpredictability on the ball has the potential to be lethal in the oppositions penalty area. If he pulls the full back wide it opens gaps for the other players and makes it difficult to double bank Antonio/Waigo that then gives him the opportunity to drift into a blind side back post position and be really dangerous. He is putting in plenty of effort but in areas that don't really stretch the opposition and don't protect our left side. More or less the same sort of thing the coach last year was trying to point out.

Can't remember which thread but somebody doctored a photograph showing Pompey players, on the shirt the sponsors name is Jobsite but in the photograph it read gob s hite. Send it to the pompey site that should get them going.

It was the lack of reaction after handballing that was the cheating. Sky using their technology have shown the view the linesman had, he had a clear view of the post and Henry.

If we go 4-5-1 could try Antonio and Waigo as the wide players Connolly or Lallana as attacking midfielders off Lambert with Hammond box to box.

But it was indisputably a proper goal. I was 20ft away, it was sickening but nevertheless a goal.

Not at all it's a very good analysis, but I wouldn't put Lallana in the same class as MLT. MLT was one of the most talented players around who significantly never played outside the top division whilst Lallana isn't even remotely near to being the best footballer in the third tier. He is a very talented manipulator of a football but that doesn't endow him with a footballing brain as his positional play often shows. I can't even see any Premier team putting him in as a regular first teamer. I can see eventually the Lallana v team formation question being resolved by the acquiring of better players that play for the team,certainly in my opinion in the next 14 months, most likely next summer when I expect to see him go.

Never mind the result there is the means available to make sure these situations can't happen. Last night apart from the handball goal the referee did get the Anelka penalty dive right, he went down like he was shot, it looked a bolted on penalty until the replay easily showed Given didn't touch him. N'gogg for Liverpool was similar. Two things should but won't happen, following the present extra goal line assistant experiment incorporate it. Fit Hawkeye and goal line cameras inside and outside of the goal posts plus use the match video to review all goals and penalty incidents before allowing as per rugby, tennis, and NFL. This wouldn't take long but it would make it almost certain to get the decisions right. Verified cheating should then be a sending off offence with a 5 match ban. Cheating is endemic, last Saturday Huddersfield hit the bar the ball bounced down, a forward and the goalkeper went for the ball just under the crossbar, the forward a la Maradona tried to turn it in with his hand. The linesman spotted it although the ball never crossed the line, the Huddersfield players who must have seen it were by then racing for the halfway line celebrating the goal which wasn't given. The player that handballed got a yellow card but it should have been a red for cheating with a big penalty. There is too much cheating and until it is rooted out and made counterproductive it will get worse. Fifa would do everybody a favour if Henry was banned from the world cup next year.

His absence allowed Harding to be picked off for the first goal and after that it was all over. We created snatched chances but they fell to the wrong players. Comparing him to a genius like MLT is crass, Lallana is nowhere near as good. If you are expecting him to lead forget it he isn't that sort of player. If he is hot he is worth his place but a lot of the time he isn't. He has scored in four league games this season and hasn't hit the target in a month despite a bunch of chances. I would much prefer a team player like Pilkington of Huddersfield who looked really impressive against Wycombe.

I understand your concerns but as teams evolve and are transitioning, players that aren't up to the best standard required stand out. Whilst goals are scored from different places it is often the performance of the current weakest links that lead to the overload that causes the goal. Our right back and left side is one such situation that needs addressing sooner rather than later.

I did say many, he was special and unique, his goalscoring was exceptional and not properly recognised at international level.

God, it is so common now, one of our friends died last month with liver cancer and three of my wife's friends have been diagnosed last month, 2 with breast cancer and the other with ovarian and lymph node etc. It is so sad. The only advantage he has, is his wealth gives him the best chance possible. Best of luck.

What a great story.

James was exposed last year but he is now getting decent cover in front of him by Antonio/Waigo effectively tracking back. He has a fundamental weakness, a lack of pace, it doesn't matter where he plays his slowness is an impediment. When Schneiderlin went off the other day James replaced him and we looked a lot worse for it. For the third goal he lost his man as he often does trailing along behind. We need new blood wide left and at right back. This team is still a transitional one and I would be surprised after the next two transfer windows if it bears anything but a passing resemblance.

Adam Lallana was very quickly dropped by the England system, I wonder why that was, after being promoted as a unique player that was a natural to play in the hole. In a football world where the best teams require more than cameo appearances, he may well find that the pinnacle of his career is as a part time first team squad member in a poor premier club. Alternatively a selection of lesser clubs. Unless the lad harnesses his undoubted ball skills to a disciplined approach he will experience similar treatment to the Under 21's. I would prefer him to do that with us but I don't think it will happen. If that is the case then the sooner a decent left sided player is brought in the better. We lack an attacking central midfielder at the moment but I'm not sure he could do that job. The only place other than that is as a second striker and Connolly looks a much more lethal striker. If we are to win promotion next year probably one third to a half of the present team won't be with us in February 2011. The present team still isn't nearly good enough despite some decent results. You only seem to post on Lallana issues and are never objective just defensive. You never objectively and persuasively argue his case on technical issues but criticise the posters in a disparaging way. If you think his technical and team skills are so good, an explanation as to why he doesn't track back and cover his full back and justify how the way he plays makes it easier for teams to counter our other threats and attack us down our left side. We are losing games because of it.

I'd like to see that team play, one final position to try Lallana in.

I think it was Swindon, Bmth & Bosc, Reading, QPR in 1956.

If we sort the dual problem of a proper left midfielder and a proper right back I think the centre could well take care of itself.

He looked pretty decent for Grimsby against Leeds, who played their best attack. The own goal was a deflection off him whilst trying to block a cross shot from Gradel. (He would be a cracking left midfielder for us)

I would still play Jaidi but with a proper right back.

The lack of a proper quickish left midfielder, a right back that is too slow to cope with nippy attackers. I will say that if the talent of Lallana could be coupled with the discipline to provide the necessary wide left that would be the best result. If he won't play as a proper left midfielder then I think it is only a matter of time before they try him somewhere else or replace him. The left midfielder would double up with Harding and give us width and depth in defence. A better right back would give the central defenders more support. The two together would strengthen us immeasurably. Against Brighton our lack of threat down the left allowed the defence to double bank our pacy right midfielder, that made it very difficult for us to get back in the game.

There was a lot wrong with our lack of a left midfield and a right back lacking the pace to be effective when taken on by wide players. That exposed our two central defenders. Brighton won nearly all the second ball but I think our lopsided shape allowed them to do that.

What is predictable is Lallana's representative on this site leaping in with a remark that has nothing to do with objectivity, but because somebody has the temerity to criticise aspects of his game that are causing the team to lose matches. If Adam Lallana doesn't come to terms with disciplined team play he will in the not too distant future be dispensed with. When he leaves Southampton in the foreseeable future he will find it even more difficult at a higher level to be a free spirit and have a free role. I am not anti to Lallana but I am disappointed that he appears unable or unwilling to put his undoubted ability to one side at times and fulfill the requirement to protect his fullback. That also allows the opposing defence to compact, play narrow and curb the real threat of the pace of our right midfield. Many talented players who indulge themselves and were not prepared to bend to the teams needs, have in the end become journeymen playing mostly reserve team football, being seen as a luxury that isn't required for the good of the team.