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Rodriguez looked dangerous too when he came on and probably would have scored if he'd had more time on the pitch. I'm glad that the genuine competition is pushing Lambert the extra yard.

Only a real idiot would pay that much for Taarabt. Has a dreadful attitude and he is surely one of the most selfish players to grace the PL. It's a shame as he's a talented player.

--------------Gazzaniga Clyne-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Shaw ------------Cork-----Morgan ---------------Ramirez Puncheon---------------------Lallana ---------------Lambert

1) I am always right, even when I'm wrong. 2) I admre Cortese, Reed and the other people who run the club for laying out a strategy and sticking to it. Often the long-term future of the club is better served when the manager doesn't always get what he wants. While I don't agree with everything they do, we're better off with them than without them. We need them to sustain any sort of success, so they have my backing. 3) I am fully behind NA. The man has tactics coming out of his ears and it's only a matter of time before we get the right one and the players fall into it. Just please don't slide back into the 442. With Adkins style of playing out from the back and playling through the middle, it just doesn't work at this level. Those things (not the 442) are part of what Adkins is about, so don't change them, but make sure that we do the best we can with what we've got. I'm very much a football modernist - we need to be at the cutting edge to stay in touch. If that means leaving out a popular player to make something work then so be it.

I'd like to see Mayuka wide in a front 3. He's a more direct player than Puncheon and I think we need that if Lallana is on the other side. Puncheon will probably play this one, but it's something I'd like to see.

The ambition is for a front 3. That's 3 strikers or possibly very attack-minded wingers. The kids teams do it already.

We changed the formation because the old one wasn't up to the job. Setting the formation up is something Pardew should have done when we had a blank canvas.

99 times out of 100, Celtic wouldn't beat them either. Upsets happen in cups.

Got to stick with Gazzaniga. Neither Davis or Boruc have shown they deserve it right now and the defence finally looks like getting used to Gazzaniga. Even the best keepers make mistakes and especially at his age, he needs the opportunity to redeem himself. Boruc can't trade on past glories. He needs to show us what he can do in the here and now.

The winger is there to come away with the ball, not to go above and beyond to track the wwide runner. When Odemwingie comes inside, he should run into Schneiderlin, but he doesn't and gets the shot away. Why is that?

---------------Gazzaniga Clyne-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Shaw -------------JWP-----Morgan ---------------Ramirez Puncheon----------------------Lallana --------------Rodriguez Lambert, S.Davis, Cork, Fox, Hooiveld, Mayuka, Boruc Swansea have some quick wingers and we could use Shaw's pace. Fox aint great and the kid needs to start somewhere. Davis had a shocker against WBA, so he's out. Midfield needs bodies in it but without being defensive and that works for me. Lambert hasn't been at the races lately and he needs to take a back seat for a bit.

1-1 draw at the Hawthorns in 2008. Lallana's first goal. More recently a pre-season friendly at SMS in 2011 that finished 2-2 with Cork and Lambert scoring.

I think Ramirez is more solid than he gets credit for. He's strong on the ball, tracks back when he needs to and doesn't give much away. He's played the role before and knows what is expected of him.

With Ramirez back, the number 10 role is as good as his. If he's ready to start, bring him in and put Lallana back out wide. We're not going to become solid defensively in the next 48 hours, so we need to score goals. Whether it's Ramirez or Lallana, we need someone between the lines to link Central midfield with the front 3. With a tight 3, there's a risk of it going flat and not going anywhere with the ball. Then we give the ball away and leak goals. We're not going to sort ourselves out defensively by packing the team full of defenders

Seager is a goalpoacher. Not a big lad, but he's quick and oftem finds himself behind defenders. He's got a nice set of feet too. His movement is very sharp and he'll find spaces that others don't. We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, but he does show promise. Reminds me a bit of a young Michael Owen.

-----------------Boruc Clyne-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Reeves -----------Davis-----Morgan ----------------Lallana Mayuka-----------------------Rodriguez ---------------Lambert Same team that finished the Spurs match. We really need to show our intent for this one. Proper front 3, overlapping fullbacks, Lallana between the lines, the lot. Clean sheet aint going to happen, so we'll need a couple of goals to chance getting anything.

Lambert is no Le Tiss. He can play a bit and break the net, but on the whole he's a bit of a carthorse. I don't think Lambert is as good as some people seem to think and I believe that becoming too dependant on him will hold the club back. Remember that the couple of seasons after Le Tiss retired, Saints got to an FA Cup final and made their best positions for years. Seeing past a talismanic player isn't easy, but for the progression of the club, it has to be done. Rodriguez is quicker than Lambert annd has better movement. He's more likely to get behind the defence too.

Because Lambert is just one man. If Lambert got injured, where would we be then? Lambert still isn't the fittest player either and we need an option to stay in a game if we have to take him off.

-----------------Boruc Clyne-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Fox ---------Morgan-----JWP ---------------Lallana Puncheon-------------------Mayuka --------------Rodriguez Gazzaniga, Hooiveld, Shaw, Reeves, Davis, Lambert, De Ridder I like what I've seen of Gazzaniga, but we've made our statement about Boruc and I don't think it would be proper to change back. Boruic is clearly a very good keeper who needs match fitness. JWP in for Davis as I just think we need some fresh legs. I've left Lambert on the bench as Rodriguez offers more pace and movement. Gallas is ancient and Walker is quite forward-happy, so I think we could exploit that. Playing without Lambert is something we need to get used to, to give us another string to our bow. I'm not suggesting in the slightest that we should freeze him out, but we need to explore our options. Lambert isn't superman and isn't going to be fit/appropriate for every game.

Fellaini starts in advanced midfield and doesn't get in the box for the early ball. Fellaini doesn't get in the box until the move is more advanced and the overlapping run gets made. Whether the overlap is found or not, our defence will move across to deal with the run and our fullback would cover the far post. Fullbacks are often quite small these days and big forwards like Lambert and Fellaini can win easy headers. Against Villa, we had most of the play in the 2nd half and didn't really have to worry about overlaps or back post headers. We won't get the run of the game at Goodison and chances are we'll have to defend some crosses from Baines and Pienaar. Clyne is 5'7" and would get murdered by Fellaini in the air. As you say, Neville isn't much of a threat and presence will be needed more there than pace and close tackling on that side.

Could do if it's part of our game plan. None of us know what Adkins is thinking and we know he's not afraid to make brave decisions in the name of winning the game.

Phil Neville is ancient and wasn't even that good in his prime. He doesn't have the legs to bomb on, so he won't overlap or cause us too much of a headache down that side. You could equally swap Jos and Yoshida, but my idea is to have someone who can win a header covering the back post and not 5'7 of Nathaniel Clyne.

You're right, it probably would look like that if we tried playing it. Playing a completely new formation would be a ****ing mess, especially as we're still getting used to the current one. --------------Gazzaniga Clyne-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Hooiveld -----------Davis-----Morgan ---------------Ramirez Puncheon--------------------------Lallana ---------------Lambert There is a need for some extra bulk to deal with the physical threat of Fellaini and Anichebe, but we need to keep it simple and stick to what we know to get any sort of continuity. When Baines overlaps, Clyne goes to him, Fonte goes to Pienaar, Yoshida goes to the Near post and Hooiveld goes to the far post. If Fellaini gets in the box, we have 3 against 2 in midfield to start a counter if the ball drops to us.

20 would be a serious achievement. Over 25 is Van Persie/Aguero territory and there's no chance he'll get that. I think he'll beat Grant Holt though.

----------------------Gazzaniga Richardson-----Yoshida-----Seaborne-----Shaw --------------------Cork-----JWP -----------------------Ramirez Guly--------------------------------------Mayuka ----------------------Rodriguez This game won't have a particularly high intensity. For them it's a distraction from a punishing league campaign and for us it's mainly a chance to flex the squad's muscles. Our players are unlikely to get overly exhausted or pick up silly injuries. I'd use this to run in the new players and give a few fringe players a chance to impress. I don't see the point in playing squad players purely for the sake of it. The likes of Chaplow and De Ridder aren't in our plans and if nobody wants them, we'll probably release them at the end of their contracts. Wednesday are a Championship side and I wouldn't feel comfortable putting out a side that we wouldn't have felt comfortable with in the league last season. We need to take it seriously to make sure of progressing.