S-Clarke

Reeves is an attacking midfielder, who was converted from a LB. To accommodate Reeves, we'd have to either put him at RB which would have been a bit of an issue - or we could have shifted Fox to RB, again - a bit of an issue. We could only play square pegs yesterday, that's the problem. I'd be a bit more comfortable with a Japanese international at RB, rather than a young player who has only ever played 10mins in the PL and is primarily an attacking midfielder.

We had no full backs on the bench though. I'm not sure what else NA could have done there.....we're being crippled by injuries and that's half the problem, well probably more than half the problem.

One of the main changes I noticed in the 2nd half was how Fulham pushed up as a unit. In the first half they stood off and allowed us the time and space to move it around. And this was the period where we should have killed the game off, most PL teams would have done so. But then with a Fully fit squad I think we would have, we just cannot afford injuries to the players that are currently injured. That's as simple as it is really. It looks like their clear instruction in the 2nd half was to get in our faces, press and deny the space. That's exactly what happened and we panicked and tried to get rid of the ball quickly, rather than taking the care that we did in the first half. Psychologically I believe this move from Fulham also pushed us deeper, and deeper and as the half went on they were more and more in our half - and the goals were coming, let's be honest. What we needed in that 2nd half was a bit of a calming influence and pace down the sides and in behind to take advantage of the gaps they were leaving behind (which there were). Unfortunately, we had neither and that's more down to the players we had available as opposed to tactics. Alot is being made of the substitutes, but we'd lost our way even with those players on the pitch. The substitutes, if anything, changed the tide slightly. I thought Guly was excellent actually.

I seriously hope that's not the case. What a ****ter if true. Going into our most ''winnable'' batch of fixtures of the season, without our best player to call upon. Brilliant.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I don't think he's a captain, and I think he should relinquish the role to someone more suited to it.

Boruc was signed as the third GK, Adkins said as much in his interview when he was signed.

I didn't even know that there were rumours going around. and couldn't this have gone in one of the many threads..?

I'm one of those who said what you stated Alpine. It's easy to see why though, some of our players are unfortunately not good enough. I'm sure this has surprised Adkins to a degree, as I thought certain players would adjust better than they have - and they deserved a crack, but alas they are very much struggling. I'm also not of the opinion that we neglected the defense in the summer, it was the area we focused most of our time on as this area brought about most of the links (GK/s, CB,s, RB's, LB's). Unfortunately we didn't seem to be able to secure who we really wanted, apart from Clyne and Yoshida. The issue you have though, is if the player you really want isn't available and the alternatives aren't quite as good - and potentially cost more what do you do? Overpay for Dann for e.g, or bide your time and wait for the other player to become available - and I'm sure this was done on the thought that some of our players would adjust better than they have. Really though, all we need is an additional LB - basically a clone of Clyne, and an absolute beast of a CB with a decent turn of pace. If I'm being ultra picky, I'd like us a right winger as well. Oh, and we need to hope that we're lucky with injuries otherwise we've got no chance.

As a change from the other debates, how impressed have people been with this kid? His distribution is as good as we were told, his shot stopping looks stunning (that save in the 2nd half today was bloody class) and he seems to have a real presence in and around the penalty area - always talking, always taking control when he can. He's had a few iffy moments, but I think his good moments outweigh those. I think he's a class keeper already.

Quite simply, No.

I'm confused as to why we changed this in the summer. The easy choice would have been Fonte, a bit of continuity from the season before as he was captain on quote a few occasions. Then we have Davis, captain of Rangers and NI. I love Lallana to bits, but he isn't a captain. He needs someone to look up to himself. I think we made too many changes over the summer in terms of formations etc, and the change of captain was another which was probably not needed. I think we needed to stick with what we knew, and let the momentum carry us through before evolving and improving into the team they want us to be. Too much change, too soon.

Well, It hasn't been the problem over the last 2 years. I think with a tough start, questions are being asked - but sometimes people can look too deep for problems, which aren't really there. To be blunt and straight to the point, certain players in our 11 are not good enough. That's it. Nothing more sinister than that..!

Lallana hasn't been fantastic on the whole. Glimpses of what he can do, but he isn't doing it over 90mins - and I totally agree on his ill discipline today, completely left Fox exposed. I also honestly don't feel he's captain material. I'm not getting that move.

Care to name a few?

He's having a bad time at the moment, and is possibly out of his depth. But he was better than Fonte on many occasions last season. It's odd how it's switch around. But if we're honest, both CB's aren't good enough for where we are striving to be. So Fonte, and Jos will both need replacing sooner rather than later. He's been a great servant though and I hope he still gets support from us. He's earned that, surely.

Pretty sure he will stick. We've had a tough start fixture wise, we have a threadbare squad hit by injury's at the moment. And amazingly, we're out of the bottom 3. If we're in the bottom 3, by a few points, come mid-jan than I think he'll possibly act. But he's earned a fair bit of slack as far as I'm concerned.

Sorry? I have an opinion, which I and others think is valid. I don't think it's rubbish. You can be an odd one sometimes Roger. If anyone critises Lambert than Christ, they've had it.

Not mine. Good manager, hindered by what he has available to him and the injuries which have crippled our squad in the last week or 2.

But was he our best player, today? Probably not, no.

That's what it's all about though, everyone see's things slightly differently. Football would be a boring debate otherwise. I don't think he did get behind in the 2nd half, but what I was getting at is that he was more likely to than Lambert for example. He just had a bit more mobility about him, which I think was important to retain.

Who else will do better with what we have? Be honest, with the injuries we have, this is a squad that will be ripped apart by most teams in this league - which is why I loved the character shown to get a 2-2 today.

Just a little strain I believe, he should be alright for WHU. But at least we'll have him here during the international break. Ramirez is a worry if I'm honest. It doesn't sound like a good one.

Did he though? When did he have a clear cut chance in the 2nd half exactly? The reality is we needed to freshen it up a bit up top. Jay Rodriguez gave us mobility and pace in behind, so it would have been foolish to replace him. Guly came on and did exactly what he was supposed to do and gave us a little bit extra in the closing stage of the game. As I've seen others say, the people moaning about the Lambert substitution are living on his goal record from previous games - not his contribution and performance in the 2nd half.

It's not great, because they were without alot of their starters today, so were kind of there for the taking. They're probably at their weakest at the mo. But on the flip side, we showed great character and determination not to be beaten - but unfortunately that alone will not keep us up, we need quality as well, which was sadly lacking in many areas today. A very lower league performance for the majority of the 2nd half