Saint Fan CaM

I would sign a top striker as a Lambert replacement - would need to be strong, good with both feet, an aerial threat and above all else very mobile. Someone like Michu. If there's money to spare, then a CM in the mould of Yaya Toure would be superb.

Of course Adkins has got most things right. One thing he has little influence over right now is the standard of players at his disposal that have the ability to carry out the style and tactics he wants in the Prem.

Leave the defence inc. Davis alone - last thing we need is inconsistency there. Mid 3 should be Davis Cork and Morgan. Front three should be Jrod with Ramirez and Puncheon. Lambert on at 75m to retain draw/win or attempt to keep GD respectable. We'll almost certainly lose this - Stoke are the type of team that will not give us enough time on the ball and we're so pedestrian in buildup play I strongly believe we'll not score. Home win - 3:0.

Switching defence around against Stoke would be like an formal invite to muller us. Mind you, this is not a game we will win - a draw would be a great result.

Superb stuff.

Good point - a very lucky point, because we played poorly once again. The penalty award was extremely fortunate indeed. Lambert once again didn't look like scoring until he stepped up for the spot kick. As I have said previously SRL is now too immobile for the Prem and particularly for the style of football Adkins wants us to play. There's a very good reason SRL is our top scorer and his name is Lallana. Without him Lambert is looking isolated with few ideas on how to change things. He is increasingly finding himself out on the wing being playmaker so we then have to overplay the ball trying to get into a striking position and largely then end up losing it. Glad to see others are starting to realise that SRL is not working. Something has to change - I would like to see either Sharp back or the purchase of a skilled fast experienced striker. Ramirez must start central. Cork and Morgan need to be coached in forward passing. Puncheon needs to get his head up a bit more, but otherwise is OK for me. OK so we let in a goal - it'll happen in Prem - but we're looking better defensively. Still need a CB upgrade though.

That's a good point - I didn't know he could play both sides TBH, so yes I think he would be a good acquisition and probably in budget range. Would rather we had natural wide players to put out wide than play JRod and Guly out there.

A mobile, strong striker - in the mould of Michu - to replace Lambert. A fast, skilled left sided attacking midfielder to replace Lallana when injured. A tall strong experienced CB. That's it.

Good player, but do we need him? Not sure, unless we're looking for a replacement of some kind. Puncheon off?

Clearly because we were the better team on the day - and your point is?

My contention is that the situation is growing increasingly as the season has worn on - early doors Lambert got given much more freedom than his is being given now.

Well you pushed the stats at me - not the other way round! Can't argue with stats right?! As someone once said, the table doesn't lie.

Yes, I think there is possible connection, however I would actually put that down to (a) Shaw being excellent and (b) Fonte and Yoshi clicking in their partnership © Cork returning to partner Morgan - the defence looks much more balanced now (but perhaps not entirely perfect).

Yes I did. I do not understand how you can confuse "we're too one dimensional" with "Lambert is...". Lambert is becoming a liability because of the team relying so heavily on him being the playmaker when he is being marked out of the game and because he is not mobile enough to defeat the 2 on 1 situations he faces.

Look at the teams - all poor and in the case of Newcastle, plagued with injury. We will get it right once in a while or the opposing team will switch off or fail to obey the Managers instructions. The way things are, it will not happen the majority of times and especially against a very well organised defence like Sunderlands (who have an excellent Manager who planned the game really well yesterday).

How many games has Lambert missed? More to the point, how many games do you think Adkins and his coaches have prepared for where Lambert is NOT a prime part of the game plan? The answer to both those questions is few. Sure thing, this indicates Lambert plays a big part, however I believe his partnership and understanding with Lallana should not be underestimated. Take Lallana out and Lambert appears less effective. Whichever way you cut it, we're not scoring goals now - there's a reason for that and Lambert as the main striker has to take some responsibility. Put it another way. IF we had the money etc to entice a striker of let's say Van Persie's ability and pace into SRL's position - just one player - do you think we would perform substantially better and achieve better results than we are currently achieving? I believe we probably would and that's why £7m on JRod was not money very well spent for our first season back in the Prem.

Doesn't show anything of the sort, however I don't think anyone has used the term one dimensional to be fair. The trouble is though the application of his skills at this level - if he's given the time and space then he can make things happen, but he's denied this by either much better defenders or managers that know how to nullify him. Usually Lambert takes the heat off Lallana and Puncheon (or other player), however with Lallana out and Puncheon having an off-day, our goal threats are severely minimised because Lambert unfortunately doesn't have the pace to outwit his markers. This is not slating Lambert - he's been brilliant for us - it's the league we're in now and it doesn't matter how much anyone wants it to be different, this is the situation we're in. Adkins can either try to find another plan with SRL OR try taking SRL out the picture for a while OR suffer the possible consequences of the club's relegation. Doing nothing will end in the same types of result as yesterday. I do not think the 1st team is made up of the types of players/characters that will endure a relegation scrap like we used to have in the PL - it's too young to succeed in that I fear.

Well done you.

We play some nice football, but it is now not resulting in goals. I've made my opinion known on one reason for this, so I won't labour it on this thread. We've found a better defensive set-up now, largely I think to (a) Shaw and (b) Fonte and Yoshi clicking. We urgently need to sort out the squad issues in front of them now - i.e. significant inbalance in the type of players available in midfield and in attack.

Agree that we need better delivery from midfield into the strikers, but therein also lies a problem. Lambert dictates HOW we do that - he is too slow to run onto passes through the channels, so we aim for his head or aim for his feet when he has his back to goal and bingo, he gets found out. In terms of his goals, see when he scored them - early season - and before the good Prem Managers had a chance to find out how we ticked as a side. Either Adkins finds a solution to how we attack in the final third or we will struggle every single game from now on in I fear.

Absolutely this - I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this issue. For a team that supposedly wants to retain possession and keep the ball, we play an awful lot of ineffective high balls into Lambert (who sometimes either doesn't jump or run for the interception). It's not working people. I would like to keep Lambert as an option, but buy a striker 'upgrade' in January, but SRL will not want to be a bench player unfortunately.

I was not being rude - I was attempting to offset comment like "wow - wtf" which are hardly debating the issue and frankly are just trying to be dismissive of my view. If anyone thinks I'm wrong that's fine, but at least try to provide a reasoned response.

I dare you to come up with a rational explanation why Lambert is not scoring, not winning headers and generally not looking bothered. The likes of SDR get slated regularly on here for a cameo appearance and yet Lambert doesn't make the grade and he is untouchable. Now to me that's worthy of a WOW!

No, not atall. Read carefully what I have written and engage the brain before replying. Sometimes playing a certain player will influence how the team plays (e.g. in attack) and if a certain player is too one dimensional it will give the opposing Manager an easy job nullifying that player. How many times has Lambert scored recently or even come close? He's been great for us, but he's not delivering as a striker for us right now IMHO and that is affecting the overall team performance in attack.

So who or what is to blame Alps? Serious question. I personally don't believe the £30m was invested wisely and there are too many L1/Championship level players gracing Nigel's 1st team selection sheet.