derry

So do I, I called him offside four times in the build up to the disallowed goal, each time the ball didn't come to him so he was inactive. He finally was offside then onside but as he was immediately active the linesman correctly flagged. From where I was sitting in block 5 he was offside so many times it wasn't funny. He is vital to us but not in the narrow position that he played for 20 mins and at the beginning of the second half. He will get goals and his unpredictability and pace pulls the defence apart for the others. He really has to look around him if he is up the middle, on one occasion he was 5 yds goal side of the last defender still running towards their goal.

During the build up for the disallowed goal Waigo drifted into offside positions about 4 times coming back onside but due to the rule still offside if next becomes active which he did when he touched the ball, so he was rightly flagged offside. I didn't even need to look at the linesman who immediately flagged, I didn't stand up as I knew he was offside and the 'goal' wouldn't count. When he is wide and coming in from wide he can see along the line, but as soon as he comes inside he is unaware of the last defender's position and worse isn't checking.

Slowly and James go together. A fairly competent player but limited and will have to be replaced by a better player with pace in due course if we are to climb up the leagues.

Waigo made the mistake after about 20 mins of coming off the wing and going narrow, consequently he was unable to come to terms with not being able to see along the defensive line and was offside all the time. It also made him inneffective and the team narrow and inneffective. He and Lambert were both offside about four times during the build up to the disallowed goal. He had just moved out of the offside position and was the next to play the ball which put him offside under the current stupid offside rule. The linesman had his flag up immediately Waigo attacked the ball. Waigo has been the catalyst with his pace and width that has opened up defences since the BR game. If he hadn't been playing we would still be scoring once a game. Antonio provided a satisfactory alternative but I think Waigo will get more goals. Lewington was very unsettled by Waigo when he was wide and made a lot of mistakes and put a lot of balls into touch. Waigo may look awkward, but he gives defences massive problems with his pace and unpredictability. His cross from the byeline early on which was close to being turned in by Lallana was spot on and he can get goals. Interestingly the MKD asst manager made a very telling comment on how to play us, attacking down our flanks. This is still a weakness because of a narrow left midfield and a pedestrian right back.

We couldn't buy a goal until he arrived, he opened everything up. Papa Waigo N'Daiye for me.

If he needs help, his Southampton 'friends' will help. Count me in, it would be a privilege.

He really is going through the mill. For those that didn't know he was arguably the best attacking aerial threat in the world at that time. I hope he pulls through this, he gave me and thousands of others great pride in his goal scoring.

If Pardew decides that Lambert, Connolly, Waigo and Lallana all play it will be almost certainly be 4-4-2. In any event 4-4-2 is Pardew's plan B. Torquay second half, certainly the last 15 mins at Oldham were 4-4-2.

I don't see Wotton as the answer to a holding midfielder. He has his limitations but he is a man who gives 100%, that deserves respect. I don't see a holding midfielder as vital. I prefer one of the midfielders to cover the one that goes forward. I prefer 4-4-2 but if another formation works and suits the players that is the way to go. Shoehorning players into rigid systems is counter productive. The best way is to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses of the players and play whatever provides the best teamplay and results. Even a wide left midfielder of 3 in the middle complemented by a wide right attacker like Waigo can be seen as 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 but who cares if it suits the players.

I would be surprised if Pardew changes the side/formation that has won three league games on the trot. However if Connolly starts scoring regularly as a substitute and Lallana doesn't or gets injured then there will be a pressure to include him and go 4-4-2. Unless Waigo falls out with Pardew he won't be left out. It will be a choice in midfield, I would go for Schneiderlin with Hammond but I suspect it will be Wotton. If Lallana provided width down the left touchline then drifted in outside the far post for play down our right it would give us more solidity on the left. I personally think Wotton doesn't do much in the middle, a few headers, uninspiring passing, no attempt to pick up anybody, just floating around and gesticulating.

We didn't start scoring until Waigo came in on the right and with his pace opened things up. If Waigo is left out it won't matter a monkey's who else plays, because our lack of pace will cause a reversion to the narrow hit Lambert and hope scenario of the first nine matches, allowing the opposition to compact the defence, cause a static midfield and crowd us out.

I wonder why that is?

I've just watched the replay of Oldham's goal, the wide player strolled past him, he really is slow.

Yes but the Man City game and everything with it is the only one I vividly remember.

Just before Waigo's first game. Since he has come into the side we have pace and width on the right and are stretching defenders. Until he arrived we couldn't score.

That is in itself a really significant change. Have you noticed over the years that the good confident sides that seem to get goals appear to score a proportion of what appear to be easy/fortunate goals. This is probably the phsychological pressure of playing what is perceived to be a better side putting more than normal pressure on individuals promoting errors. It is something that we have been susceptible to for years. I've lost count of the number of these sort of goals we have conceded. It is good to see the opposite effect, long may it continue.

****ing rain, strong winds am.

A brilliant ball juggler when a youth player at WBA, on tv at half time interval gave a display keeping the ball up the whole half time. He was a good player for us in the early sixties.

It seems to me that Pardew is sticking with the present team on the back of a couple of good results, however he still intends, as soon as that run ends, to introduce Connolly alongside Lambert provided he delivers and switch to 4-4-2. Pace is important everywhere and the more we have, wherever it is, can only be beneficial. Wotton is playing like a very limited front sweeper. I would expect a lot more mobility and a better passing completion from a defensive midfield player.

I'm not fixated on that aspect alone but it is a weakness that needs fixing if we are to progress. There is no such thing as a successful team that doesn't effectively use width. There is no way that a team can be predominately narrow and be successful.

You may well be right as this is what has happened since the closure, until then there wasn't a problem in blocks 4/5

It isn't going to work in the long term. You are right in one respect a pacy left sided player will have to be brought in to play 4-4-2, furthermore a proper front sweeper with a high pass completion will be needed if 4-3-3 is to be played. Gillingham were a poor team, Southend aren't much either and the space in front of/behind Harding will be exploited by the better sides.

Okay, I'm wrong we didn't need any width and the goals have magically appeared. If Waigo gets injured it won't make any difference. Ferguson is wrong, Capello is wrong, the Brazilians are wrong, we are going to walk into the Premier playing narrow, just like Total football was going to pulverise the Championship last year.

I don't give a rat's arse about foul language however a lot of people don't like it and I happen to think they are right. Another thing, just why do you think this thread and the reason for it has happened? I sit in an area that contains a large number of club seats reserved for staff and their families. I know for a fact that there has been a reaction expressed to me about some of the behaviour we have witnessed. Bearing in mind that some of these people have relatives that are connected by work to the very top, I'm not surprised that this has now happened. I was told by one of them weeks ago that it was going to be sorted. It certainly hasn't come from David Luker it is from way above him.

No. More width, it is only since Waigo came into the side that we have had any width at all, enough at the moment to give us enough space to score some goals from open play. At the moment everything we create comes in from the right side, we create nothing down our left. That gives us two potential problems, firstly the better sides will work us out and load up their left side and block off our supply. Secondly and it happened against Bristol Rovers we leave our left side open and Harding is exposed to a triangle of right back, and two midfielders coming at him down our left leaving us wide open. It is only by occupying the forward width that we protect our full backs, which we do down our right. It is all well and good having a front sweeper, but unless he fills that gap in front/behind Harding (depending on his attacking position) as the opposition break out down our left, which Wotton doesn't, we are exposed. By playing a wide player on the left rather than a very limited, poor passing front sweeper, would make us more balanced in attack and provide better defence down our left.