Sour Mash

Who would you have in the squad ahead of Rodriguez and Lambert? Would it be that much of a surprise if Shaw doesn't go to Brazil?

Nicked from elsewhere, but might be of interest to some http://theendofthepub.tumblr.com/

I don't think anyone is suggesting he should be an attacking midfielder, just that they expect a greater return from him in the final third, which he showed signs of last year, but appears to have gone a bit backwards on this season.

Lambert's goal return so far this season is reasonable, his number of assists excellent.

Answer to the OP is "No". Lambert is still the best Centre Forward at our club.

Right, so no examples of a player head-butting a team-mate and returning to the squad and no realistic examples of players that would have been useful and available for us to bring in up-front on loan at the end of January. So why exactly should he be "bitterly disappointed"?

Who was available for us to get in on loan after the Osvaldo incident? How many past incidents have their been of a player head-butting a team mate and him being welcomed back into the side?

Like when we sold him to Arsenal?

How many people in Eastern Ukraine consider themselves Russian? Isn't it quite a high percentage?

Agreed; we'll try and source someone from abroad, it's where the value and availability is, just not easy to get right.

Make my mind about what? You think we should have gone out and spent £7m on a striker such as Shane Long who's Premier League goal scoring record is quite a bit worse than Lambert's.

Well I consider it unrealistic to expect us to go out in January and spend £7m on a striker, when we already have an expensive, fairly new international striker and a pretty decent English Centre Forward. Lambert has been off form, but his return for us this season really hasn't been too bad, he still contributes, but the aim was of course that Osvaldo was to be the main man for us - it was a big gamble, but didn't pay off.

So you wanted Osvaldo, Lambert and another £7m+ signing? Fair enough, but that's pretty ambitious.

Osvaldo was still our player and hadn't whacked Fonte when Long signed for Hull.

Do we, as a point of policy, loan out young, up and coming players to lower league sides if we have the intention of them being involved in our first team? All those that have gone out on loan over the last few years have subsequently been moved on, just wondering if this is coincidence or policy?

He probably didn't think it was a better offer, which is why he stayed in his current role.

Have any managers stayed in their current role when receiving a better offer?

So you think he'll go if a better job offer comes in?

Well he must have some confidence to communicate effectively in English, as I assume he uses it every day in quite a high pressure, demanding industry. The problem is, the longer he drags it out, the bigger a deal it'll become when he does drop the translator. It's not a big deal, but it hasn't done him any favours in terms of engaging with the support.

True, but a lack of engagement?

Yeah, his assist return isn't bad, but his goal return for someone that plays in that position? His game is about chasing down opposing players, being tidy with the ball etc, great for retaining possession, but is ultimately a cautious approach when we're also playing two midfielders that don't contribute much in the final third.

The translator thing is getting a bit of a chore now, how much longer can he reasonably keep that going? It doesn't do him any favours in terms of communicating with fans.

The problem stems from the way we're set-up. We play with Cork/Wanyama, Schneiderlin and Davis, three players out of the 11 on top of our back 5 that won't contribute much in terms of goals. It helps guarantee we have a load of possession, but will have an impact in our overall goal threat at times.

That is 'rock bottom'.