Itchen_block4

Not trying to say that he's a bad player, because he's far from it. He's just not the sort of player who suits the way we want to play but he's earnt so much influence here that it's hard to see an alternative while he's still here. Just look at Andy Carroll - great at Newcastle, but a flop at Liverpool. There are parallels in him being big, powerful and decent on the ball, but Liverpool have a reputation fo flowing football and Carroll had the same problem of being expected to be the furthest man forward. Is he injured at the moment? I had expected him to do well in West Ham's direct 433. Back to Lambert, he's very good at what he does. I'm just not sure that what he does is what is right going forward. Lambert's class has got him to where he is now, but he is starting to get found out and we need to find other ways round.

To many, I know the guy can do no wrong, so please don't give me abuse. The guy has been instrumental in getting two successive promotions and I am in no way detracting from that. I love the guy and would be sad to see him leave. Sad, but not angry or scared and here's why: Lambert has earnt himself an awful lot of influence over the last few years. Even now he's shed the pounds, he's still a hefty bloke and running isn't his strong suit. Some hefty strikers make up for their lack of speed by leaving the play behind and using intelligent movement to sniff out goals, while some use their ability with the ball to be involved more in play. Lambert is very much in the latter category. In a 442, this works fine as the second striker simply runs ahead of him. In a 4231 though, the '3' don't arrive until later in the move and the ball-playing striker has to hold the ball up until the '3' are on hand because he hasn't run into a goalscoring positoin himself and is surrounded by defenders. Sound familiar? Taking Jay Rodriguez' goal against Chelsea, I don't think Lambert would have scored that. Not because of the touch or the finish (very nice btw), but I doubt Lambert would have made the run to get on the end of the pass. In fact Puncheon probably wouldn't have made the pass if the run wasn't there. Lambert holds the ball up, but couldn't the team take responsibility for not giving the ball away, so the striker can find himself at the top of the tree, where he should be? We'd score more goals if we did that and see less of trying to walk the ball into the net. I'm not convinced that Lambert is the right man to take us forward. I wouldn't suggest moving him on now, as we can't afford the transition in the middle of a relegation battle, but head over heart, I can't see that he has a future here beyond this season. I'd like to see more of Rodriguez as I do think the lad has a bit about him. Lambert for me is more influential than is healthy and against good defenders, that brings out his weaknesses.

Except that last one, those are all plausible things we could do this month and so far we're seeing attempts to address 2 of those and we're only a week into the wiindow. Lambert is so influential that he is always in the team regardless of form because we haven't worked out how to play without him. Rodriguez is in an impossible situation here, as would any striker we could realistically afford or attract. We're only going to find an alternative if we are forced to by Lambert getting injured or sold. If you were the manager, would you drop Lambert? Possibly if we had Aguero or Falcao in the wings, but otherwise I highly doubt it. As for ambition, it's clearly there. You are right in saying that £30m is a lot of money, but the player's we've signed are all young enough to serve us for a good few seasons and we won't need to go to the expense of replacing them next season, so we will have less to do next summer. If we stay up, which I think we will, we're in a very good position to push on with plenty of young, talented players.

We do, it's just that all the other teams hve it too, so it's not the advantage it was back then. Sports science is a cost effective way of getting more out of elite players and every PL team uses it. It's beyond teams with small budgets, hence why we were such a fit side in the Championship and L1. 1. Keeping posssession uses far less energy than chasing the ball. Spain and Barca score lots of late goals because their possession football has conserved their energy and worn the other side out. 2. The rich teams with big squads have the luxiury of being able to rotate and rest players to conserve their energies. Neither cheap nor easy.

I have a season ticket and I like to think I know a fair bit about football. I have no idea how or where Lambert wants to play, I haven't asked him that. Not that it's of much consequence anyway as he's not the manager. For the record, I'd keep him until the summer to see out our relegation battle. I thought that was quite clear?

Too early to say surely? He's only played down the middle without Lambert a couple of times this season. He's not as influential as Lambert, but that's not what we really need from a striker. If Rodriguez had the game time in the central berth that Lambert has had, he'd have more than 2 league goals. Don't be too quick to dismiss Rodriguez, because he will come into his own when Lambert does move on. £7m might seem a lot now, but it sure won't when we have a 23/24 year old English striker banging them in next season.

I actually think we'd be better without Lambert. He's too influential in my book and that highlights his shortcomings. I love the guy, but the team must come first. My strategy would be to part ways in the summer and spend pre-season working on another way round. It amazes me how many people would have us settle in a 442 or have us try to jackhammer him into the free role that Gaston is very good at just to get him in the team. It's not healthy for a player to be that big, especially when he has limits. I worry that he's not quick enough or clever enough off the ball to really thrive as a PL striker in a system like ours. In a 4231 system like the one we want to play, the striker is the man who gets on the end of stuff, not the guy who pulls the strings. Right now we have staying up to worry about, but it's something we should look at in the summer to take us to the next level. If West Ham or Newcastle offer him a fat paypacket then good luck to him. Call me heartless, but that's football.

Does the guy have to out and out "replace" anyone? Good squads have more than 11 players in them. If he starts, someone drops to the bench. Flair players aren't famed for their consistency, so options are a good thing to have. At present, one would imagine him playing on the left, although Lallana's return could change that. If he's on the bench, he's an option to change the match and might start the next game if he does so. Any PL team where Steve De Ridder gets game time could use an extra wide option. We've also taken to trialling Rodriguez and Ramirez there, so it's clear that the area could do with seeing to.

-------------------Boruc Clyne-----Yoshida-----Hooiveld-----Shaw -----------Morgan-----Cork -----------------Ramirez Puncheon----------------------Rodriguez -----------------Lambert Forget about Astori for this. He's not our player yet and probably won't be in tme for the weekend either. I think this is the best we can come up with from what we've got. Rodriguez was one of the few to come out of yesterday with any credit, so IMO deserves this. Lambert isn't the best runner, so could do with one or both wingers running ahead of him when required and Rodriguez will do that.

Rohypnol her drink, steal the book and run away. If she asks, you raped her. B!tches is digging this according to book 1.

Could you not just ask to borrow it? She'll probably let you borrow it if she isn't regularly flicking her bean to it. Have you returned book 1? She's a woman, she'll have noticed, so she'll be keeping tabs on book 2.

Someone else will come in. Sinclair, Seager or possibly Barnard as an overage player if we can't shift him. Good luck to Hoskins at Stevenage.

There's also the possibility that the first team would get tonked and by SWF logic, we would be worse than QPR because they beat them earlier. TBH, we can do without a cup run to keep minds focussed on staying up. The benefits of resting key players will be greater than the benefits of giving them match practice since they've already played half a season and we're at the end of a busy Christmas period. After the reserves got tonked by Leeds, we went on a decent run of form. Probably just coincidence, but it does show that the result was pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

---------------------------Boruc Richardson-----Stephens-----Hooiveld-----Fox ----------------------JWP-----Chaplow -------------------------Reeves Mayuka-------------------------------De Ridder -----------------------Rodriguez K.Davis, Fonte, Cork, S.Davis, Hoskins, Chambers, Lee Cup football is unpredictable. Sides like Bradford beat sides like Arsenal and a side in Bradford's position would be delighted with a team like that. There are players there with something to prove even if they aren't the best at the club. The league is beyond Chelsea, so they will go all out for the cup and the benefits of playing a strong team would be minimal. Give the rest a chance and let the first teamers have a rest. As someone else said, a side similar to this one is of similar strength to the one that took Man U to the wire a couple of seasons ago. Lets not forget that Lambert, Morgan and AOC back then weren't at the levels they are now. The 8-0 was a one off, they won't do that to us, even our reserves. Stay strong and we can be in it.

Adding to the keeper debate, I'd play Gazza for his superior distribution. Not only does he offer quick distridution from the back, but he can also pick out a man accurately with a long ball. If we can get Lambert or Ramirez on the ball facing goal by bypassing all of the Arse players pressing us, we've got a pretty good chance of scoring.

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All about fitness really. Arsenal will move the ball about and make us run hard around a lot and we can't accomodate players who are going to drop off after 60 minutes. Newcastle did that and let a 3-3 slip into a 7-3. I'd likke a fully fit Clyne, Puncheon, Shaw and Lambert to play, but I don't think they are fully fit in which case I think it would be a mistake to start them. Adkins' call obviously, but the PL is far more physically demanding than what we've been used to and lots of people are underestimating that.

-------------------Gazzaniga Richardson-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Fox ---------------Morgan-----Cork --------------------Ramirez Mayuka--------------------------------Guly -------------------Rodriguez Yes, I know. Lambert had a good game yesterday, but it's an inconvenient truth that he's not especially fit. Arsenal like to move the ball around and we'll need to run very hard to keep up with them. A player who will tire, drift out of the game and give the ball away lots after 60 minutes isn't the sort of player we want to start.

His first contract came into effect when he turned 17 in the summer. It lasts 3 years, so we have plenty of time to sort this out without tribunals. What he can sign at 18 is a full professional contract, like JWP has done, which will give him bigger wages and tie him down for longer. He won't go anywhere in January, but where we are come the end of the season willl be a big factor in what he does next. I reckon he'll stay and sign the big contract if we stay up. Otherwise we'll get lots of money for him.

Remember the scene from Back to the Future where the train pushes the Delorean acrosss the canyon? Now imagine what would have happened had the speedo not reached 88mph...

1) Get more action than in 2012 (Shouldn't be too difficult) 2) Find a girlfriend 3) Drink more 4) Go to more away games 5) Generally get out more Some boring ones now: 6) Get fitter. My metabolism is such that I don't get fat, but my endurance is nil, I'm always tired and my muscles are weak as Katie Price's vag grip. 7) Be less of a lazy, useless cvvnt. Get some uni work done 9) Spend less time on football forums 10) Actually follow through with things I say I'm going to do.

You in the process of doing a conclusion Bearsy? Can I request that b!tch dies a slow, painful death at the hands of Christian? Then her corpse gets gang raped by Christian, Jose, Dr Savile, Cvvnt Travis, Christian Grey-Hair and all the other male characters we've met, the Inner Goddess is taking a dump in B!tch's mouth, Kate is filming and fingering herself while the Subconcious is crying in the corner pounding paracetamol.

Do you wear 36" or greater belt size? (Yes = 3 points) No Have you paid more than £7.50 for haircut in last 5 years? (No = 3 points) Not out of choice. I'm just blessed with thick hair that the hairdresser charges £9.50 to cut. List your top 10 albums, was any of them released this millennium? (No = 3 points)I was only born in 1992, so bit of a silly question. Have you had sex with more than one lady this year? (No = 3 points) Not for want of trying, but unfortunately not. Bonus: Was they same time! (Yes = -10 points) If only! When did you last wash your car by hand (Within week = 6 points, within month = 3 points) I don't drive When did you last go to garden centre (Within week = 6 points, within month = 3 points) That renowned hotbed of picking up snatch... If only I had a garden When Barry said Allegro just now did you know what that looked like without googles (Yes = 3 points) A car?

I think Nigel was trying to be too clever against Sunderland. Wouldn't be the first time, but it's better than having a manager at the other end of the spectrum entirely who religiously doesn't change a thing and just lets the rot happen when a big player gets injured. He got it wrong and I've got plenty to say on that, but the real test of his nous will be how he sets up this afternoon.