Clifford Nelson

Not as bad as all that, surely.

That might, of course, be a possibility. NC/ML have not proven themselves to be mad spendthrifts so far, which I am very happy with. There is a problem which is very difficult to deal with, and that is what to do with all the players in the squad who haven't got a future here, but that nobody else want either. We can't just go on adding to that pool. I have said before, and will do so again, that there is a very difficult decision to make here: Do we have to pay up the contracts of those we need to shift, or keep on paying them? The second alternative is not a good one, because players who know that they have no future don't contribute to the right mentality of the team, apart from possibly Wotton and Perry in the capacity of old, scarred pros who have someting to pass on to the youngsters. I think that the big decision needs to be arrived at after this transfer widow, after which every employed person in the club have exactly the same goal, the success of the club.

The article was clearly labelled as rumours and the like. I don't think they have done something awful. The sad part is that our football club and our local newspaper can't cooperate. I'm not apportioning blame, but I'm disappointed that when NC was unhappy with the reporting of the future of the training ground he 'banned' the newspaper, rather than speaking to them. It wasn't the Echo which broke the embargoed news, it was already all over the media. We need the club and the paper to work hand in hand, and both parties need to come to an understanding.

Indeed I did. Your sources have been good. I can accept, although with some difficulty, that with Fonte and Ward arriving we have already decided that Perry and Thomas will be gone by the summer when their contracts run out, as I think they are. But I cannot believe that we would be signing Seaborne as well with the two of them still here.

I'm quite relieved really. I can't see a role for Pericard at SMS beyond this season, and since he would only ever play if Lambert is injured, he will occupy an expensive seat on the bench counting only his wages.

Something in what is rumoured about all these CBs could not be true, unless there are other things going on which we don't know about. With 4 CBs already at the club I can't see AP signing another 3 (Fonte, Ward, Seaborn). Tac-tics usually have good sources, so that accounts for Ward, but if there is to be any truth in the Seaborn gossip, then surely there must be some movement out as well, probably Perry and Thomas, and maybe Lancashire as well. So, maybe, the lack of confirmation is about a larger game of chess, where contracts may be agreed, but not signed until there is some other movement, such as Ward will be announced when Thomas' departure is confirmed. I can't imagine NC entertaining the idea to pay for 7 CBs "just in case". We already know that the squad is far too big.

I seem to think that we thought the same about this the last time it was discussed. I only think it's worth mentioning what AP said himself, i.e. something like: Managers come and go but the club remains. - The DoF or Sporting Director should be their to make sure that the club's sporting plan is followed. To allow every new manager to come in with his own ideas about how to play football every time is a very strange way of conducting business. Remember the old edict in business: Directors direct, managers manage! Those who don't understand the difference ought not get involved in it.

I'll stand with you Derry and defend Harding any day. If it hadn't been for Lambert he must stand out as our signing of the season. He cost us nothing!!! He actually did very well indeed when Lallana on the left of the 4-5-1 supported him in the defensive. Mellis and Schneiderlin never understood how to do that properly, which left him exposed at times.

Well, Fonte, then. God knows how that crept in.

It clearly must have been Ward. The only question is whether we were seriously after both him and Fonte, or if he was back-up in case Fonte turned us down. I'm leaning towards us wanting both. Ward will be gone in the summer on a free, so why not get him now on a nominal fee. He'll soon be able to sign a pre-contract agreement anyway. Thomas is unfancied and I can't see Perry given another contract. That leaves us with only Jaidi in the summer, unless we count Ollie Lancashire. To compete in the CCC we need three good centrebacks for next season.

I don't necessarily think that LJ will set the world alight in any position, but he must surely be a choice utility player. He can play RB, RM, CM, and he does it all rather well. Any squad needs a player who easily takes the place of others when needed. Put him on the bench and you have several options rather than one.

Who cleared his desk? Oldknow? Why does that make him a dirty chap?

The suggestion isn't as bad as it may first seem. It isn't only Pulis, but a number of other players at the club who have left the youth set up behind, and it is now clear that in the opinion of our own management team they haven't got the quality that AP is looking for, i.e. not ever likely to be better than the current team and currently not as good as. Remembering that we are a L1 team the amount of takers for these players must be coming primarily from L2 and non-league football. If they are showing no interest at all in these players then AP and NC must consider if there is any value in them coming in for training until the end of their contracts? Players who know that they are not in the manager's plans are not an asset for the club since they don't try to impress anymore. Without them meaning any harm they detract from the competitive spirit. In that context a decision must be made if it isn't a better policy to pay up their contracts in the short term and keep a smaller, but much more competitive squad.

I also can't understand how AP can fancy Antonio, although it's ahead of Waigo, and has nothing to do with Gillett. It's also difficult to see the virtue in Pericard: Poor record after the first season in CCC with Pompey a few years ago. Only six games for Carlisle this season. Even if he is back up for Lambert I don't think he is good enough for our ambition. The squad was rubbish when AP arrived and there are a large number of players still there even though they have nothing to offer for the future. In my view Antonio and Pericard only adds to the number of those who are not up to the standard to compete for a place. Nevertheless, AP has done well over a short time here. He is not going to listen to me, so I just have to live with it.

Apart from Kelvin I only rated Gillett in last years squad and thought that he was a certainty this season. I was therefore disappointed that he very clearly wasn't fancied by AP. But if I look at our current midfield, would I fancy him ahead of Hammond or Schneiderlin? No. Would I consider him as the long term defensive midfielder in a five man midfield? No. We need something more than his willingness to work tiredlessly for 90 minutes. That doesn't make him a bad player, and I am delighted that Donny plays a game which suits Gillett and allows him to shine. Good luck for the future!

How true! It has really gotten to me that AP fancies him ahead of a genuine talent like Waigo, or as against LUton making PW run the left wing, where he has already shown to be uncomfortable. I'm equally befuddled by the amount of supporters who think they see talent and potential when MA plays.

Second mistake. He has already signed Antonio until the end of the season.

Following the signing of Antonio (a large cheer of delight went up in Reading) I can't say that I'm impressed. Pericard had a good first season for Pompey in CCC but has done nothing anywhere he's been since. Went to Carlisle because nobody else wanted him. Has played six games for them. We really need better players than this, since the two of them aren't improving the quality of the squad. My heart sinks every time I see MA start a game, and now this...

Wotton's re-introduction was as a defensive midfielder who could protect the defense and anchor the midfield in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. I'm sure that we can find better players to play that role, but then we had to introduce Conolly, which means a 4-4-2 formation and the discussion about Wotton and a three/five man midfield a purely academic question. For as long as it lasted, though, it gave us a spine o work around, and it produced the most exciting football I have seen for many a long year.

You're right. Furthermore it doesn't do anything for the "winning attitude" to go and lose winnable games. I hope that the time when we kept losing against substandard opposition with our management team coming up with ready made excuses have been forever consigned to history. It's only playing to win that matters.

I haven't successfully seen him deliver a cross from that position, at least as far as I can recall, and I have been at all home games except Brighton. I have repeatedly seen him having awful and embarassing games, but not a good one. I have doubts about his pace since firstly when he scored his only goal he never got past the centrebacks, and the fullbacks he's been up against have usually kept up with him. What is even more embarassing is that he hasn't got a first touch. The ball keeps bouncing off him. I am at a total loss why people rate him, or thinks he's got potential, when we have Waigo on the bench with talents he has demonstrated with goals and assists. I am bewildered that he is kept out of the team by a talentless non-league player.

I think we just have to disagree on that one. I didn't see him against Colchester, but I haven't seen him successfully getting to the byeline and delivering a useful cross yet. I would be very worried if we went and signed him. We already have too many players we need to get rid of. Otherwise I agree on new RB, CB, CM and possibly also another striker.

For a club who's last trophy was in 1976 I think that any win is special.

I can't remember seeing a wide man getting to the bye line with any regularity for many years and think it is probably a dieing art in the modern game. The only time it seems to happen is if the fullback and opposing wide midfielder both fall over. Have you got any suggestions of players with the skills and pace to do it?

Our defensive frailties are pretty obvious. Murty is usually injured so that we have to play James or Thomas. Jaidi hasn't got a settled partner. Trotman looked like AP's preference and probably only a matter of haggling the price, but then something happened. We're leaking goals rather badly and we need to have a CB pairing week in and week out plus a proper RB. I don't think either Trotters or any other young bloke with 'potential' is what we are looking for, but rather an experienced or very good one, even if it is going to cost a bit.