Time To Drop Lambert

[Gemmel]

Forget the fact he looks unfit, it's his head that's not with us at the moment.

I have no idea whether it has anything to do with Pardew, but it just looks like he doesnt want to be here.

Movement was shocking, won very little in the air, touch and passing are questionable and doesn't look close to scoring in open play........ Assesment of yesterday, which i could use for the last 5 games ive seen him play.

Put him on the bench and let him earn his place back.

I rate him very highly and am a big fan, but he needs to sort himself out.

[the_barmy_saints_army]

feck off!

[Badger]

Trouble is that we need someone capable and injury free to take his place whilst we rest him. I don't see anyone in the squad at the moment, unless we play Barnard on his own up front or vary the formation.

[Colinjb]

His problem is confidence. If that can be recovered then it will be worth much more then the few percentage of fitness he may be now lacking.

[barney]

Definitely not the same player as last season, but class is permenant as they say.

[VectisSaint]

What a great idea. Drop Lambert after he scores 2 pens. Lets try our other strikers, Connolly injured, Barnard, maybe doing time, Ryan Doble, well he has been selected for the Welsh squad so must be ready to lead the line. Any more bright ideas? Suppose we could try playing Butters up front after all he did score a hat-trick for Palace once.

[L1Minus10]

Who the **** is going to play instead ? We have no other forwards - hence none on the bench yesterday. Strongly disagree anyway...

[RedArmy]

Barnard hasn't left us much choice now.

[S-Clarke]

At stages in the game yesterday i felt i saw glimpses of him from last season.

 

He's definitely improving, slowly yes - but he's getting there.

 

Look back at the clips from the first 30mins and you'll see most of our good play revolved around him, his hold up play and bringing others into play was very familiar - but he's just not getting the opportunities in front of goal at the moment.

 

You don't drop him though because he's a 30 goal striker at this level and he will always come good. Just be patient, Adkins is doing some good stuff fitness wise.

 

I bet you anything that those 2 penalties will take the weight of his shoulders, because he has been playing with that burden of not having scored for a few games.

[moon monkey]

He will not sort himself out if he is sat on the bench, if anything it will do him more harm than good.

[Lighthouse]

Didn't James Beattie take about 10 games to get on the score sheet at all in the Cup Final season? Give him time and patience and he will start scoring again.

[Colinjb]

Didn't James Beattie take about 10 games to get on the score sheet at all in the Cup Final season? Give him time and patience and he will start scoring again.

 

I'm pretty sure that was back in 2000/01. Didn't score until about December then went on a 10 match scoring run or similar. That was when he truly established himself in a Saints shirt.

[RedArmy]

I'm pretty sure that was back in 2000/01. Didn't score until about December then went on a 10 match scoring run or similar. That was when he truly established himself in a Saints shirt.

Definitely did the same in 02/03. Didn't score for ages, got a hattrick against Fulham and couldn't stop scoring after that.

[Graffito]

Totally disagree. You support him through the lean spell (by his own high standards) and the goals will return. He's the most important player we've got so no way should he be on the bench. Oh, and it didn't look to me that he doesn't want to be here when he ran to the Northam after his second goal yesterday, quite the opposite.

[Matthew Le God]

Didn't James Beattie take about 10 games to get on the score sheet at all in the Cup Final season? Give him time and patience and he will start scoring again.

 

The problem isn't just that Lambert isn't scoring. He got two yesterday. The problem is the rest of his game has been poor all season in comparison to last season. Against Bournemouth he lacked movement, his touch let him down, he mislaid a lot of passes, he lost a lot of balls in the air etc etc. A shadow of the player he was last season.

Edited 3 October, 2010 by Matthew Le God

[RobM]

The problem isn't just that Lambert isn't scoring. He got two yesterday. The problem is the rest of his game has been poor all season in comparison to last season.

 

Neither were from open play though, to be fair. I'm sure half the team could have scored two from the spot, but what we are lacking is creativity and goals from open play.

 

I'm not sure if dropping RL is the right thing to do, but it will be very interesting to see how Adkins manages this problem, as it certainly is a problem. I think some man management and motivation might be the answer.

[suewhistle]

He will not sort himself out if he is sat on the bench, if anything it will do him more harm than good.

 

I'm with this. An article quoting Rooney said more or less the same in yesterday's Guardian: play yourself to form. My signing on came through yesterday and I came off the bench today. Made space but then missed an open goal, had so much time but I'm just worried about performing and hit it over the bar... so I can empathise with RL.

[Smirking_Saint]

Its confidence, not anything else i don't think. Just have a look through the pictures from the Bompey game on the OS. Its amazing the reaction and passion from him and his fellow players. Thats not a reaction from or to a player who doesn't want to be here.

 

Confidence is a massive massive thing on the football pitch and even more so for a striker. If you lack it your whole game goes to pot, it really is strange. I once went through a season and scored 42 in 16 games, i then went to a decent team and just didn't feel up to it, and promptly couldn't hit a barn door. The manager tried to steady my nerves, my teammates and father tried but nothing happened. Then all of a sudden you get a break, start scoring and it starts working.

 

I have also tried to coach it out of players, it doesn't work, you need to just keep faith for as long as you can (but not indefinately) and hope it comes off. I reckon the two pens may be a good start but he will still have the open play arguement in his head and so until he burys one or two he may still be a bit off form. More to the point we havn't got anyone to replace him anyways which is a massive deal ATM.

 

I also know a player who is sh*te when he plays with his mates in 11 a side, they get on his back easily and it doesn't help. He then proceeds to play 6 a side or 11 a side to help out a couple of guys at work and plays absolutely blinding. Its a strange thing is confidence, but without it your nothing.

 

It is cliche but so true.........................Class is permanent, form is temporary.

[brmbrm]

HE NEEDS GAMES TO GET HIS FORM BACK

 

Sorry about the bold and caps, but this is basically what he needs: its a blessing there are no alternatives at the moment, since both Lamberts and the saints bets interestes are served by him playing himself back into for,

[doddisalegend]

Its confidence, not anything else i don't think. Just have a look through the pictures from the Bompey game on the OS. Its amazing the reaction and passion from him and his fellow players. Thats not a reaction from or to a player who doesn't want to be here.

 

Confidence is a massive massive thing on the football pitch and even more so for a striker. If you lack it your whole game goes to pot, it really is strange. I once went through a season and scored 42 in 16 games, i then went to a decent team and just didn't feel up to it, and promptly couldn't hit a barn door. The manager tried to steady my nerves, my teammates and father tried but nothing happened. Then all of a sudden you get a break, start scoring and it starts working.

 

I have also tried to coach it out of players, it doesn't work, you need to just keep faith for as long as you can (but not indefinately) and hope it comes off. I reckon the two pens may be a good start but he will still have the open play arguement in his head and so until he burys one or two he may still be a bit off form. More to the point we havn't got anyone to replace him anyways which is a massive deal ATM.

 

I also know a player who is sh*te when he plays with his mates in 11 a side, they get on his back easily and it doesn't help. He then proceeds to play 6 a side or 11 a side to help out a couple of guys at work and plays absolutely blinding. Its a strange thing is confidence, but without it your nothing.

 

It is cliche but so true.........................Class is permanent, form is temporary.

 

I assume you're avalaible on a free? we could do with that sort of firepower up front:D

[Smirking_Saint]

I assume you're avalaible on a free? we could do with that sort of firepower up front:D

 

I'm going to hospital Monday for a cruciate ligament reconstruction so probably not much use !!

[doddisalegend]

I'm going to hospital Monday for a cruciate ligament reconstruction so probably not much use !!

 

ohh not nice. Good Luck

[Arizona]

Definitely did the same in 02/03. Didn't score for ages, got a hattrick against Fulham and couldn't stop scoring after that.

 

I seem to remember him starting that season with a penalty too. Think it was away to Villa. Enkleman got sent off and Steffan 'Can we do it this way tonight' Postma came on to pick it out the back of the net.

[buctootim]

Its doubt its wanting away or lack of confidence. IMO its off-field issues. Lets hope he can sort them out rapidly, for everyones peace of mind.

[Smirking_Saint]

ohh not nice. Good Luck

 

Thank you

 

Unfortunately its the second time its happened so i'm pretty well versed.

[Saint Fan CaM]

He needs good delivery and a balanced side which Lallana brings (with Puncheon), plus some confidence. I think the weekend will do some towards the latter and the more Lallana can start the better Rickie will be - there is a chemistry there and probably more than his strike partner Barnard. With Barnard out of the picture supposedly, who knows what might happen now?

[shurlock]

His interview on Saints Player after Bournemouth didn't suggest a man whose head is elsewhere else - seemed as happy as i've heard him. Lambert is an incredibly honest player whose modesty and eagerness to do well can cost him when he's off-form. Tends to let the doubts and expectations prey on him. Anyway, it sounded like he really needed those goals and now that he's got them and there's now stability off the field, we might start to see him dominate teams again.

[david in sweden]

....earn his place back...?

He's not the first "unfit" player to be fielded every match, but he's worth his place if only for his free-kicks and penalty prowess,

.and before you put him on the bench ......WHO did you have in mind that is suitable to replace him ?

[Toomer]

Saturday might just kick start his season, lets hope so.

[RedAndWhite91]

I'm hoping that his two goals on Saturday (even if they were penalties) will give him a bit of a confidence boost.

[OldNick]

What a poor idea. RL was very good saturday, not to his best but he linked very well with the whole team. I suppose you'd have dropped MLT , Ron Davies Mick Channon etc when they had a loss of form. Did you notice how Bournemouth's game lifted as soon as Al left the game? These people inspire their teammates and frighten the opposition.

[merrimd]

The problem isn't just that Lambert isn't scoring. He got two yesterday. The problem is the rest of his game has been poor all season in comparison to last season. Against Bournemouth he lacked movement, his touch let him down, he mislaid a lot of passes, he lost a lot of balls in the air etc etc. A shadow of the player he was last season.

 

I will get loads for this, but I reckon he was like this last season as well, certainly from the home games I saw of him. He has never won his fair share of headers from the hoofs, rarely outjumps the defender and makes it so easy for them. Everyone seems to think he is this awesome target man, and yet when do we start playing sh1te both this season and last??? When we start to hoof the ball up to RL! What he DID do last year, was score loads of goals. Thats the ONLY difference between this season and last. Last year the keeper would not have saved his header in the first half on saturday! That is not to say I dont think he is an awesome striker, and our most important player, I just dont think he has ever been our BEST player, not by a long way.

[Gemmel]

What a poor idea. RL was very good saturday.

 

No he wasn't he was very poor. I am a big fan of Lambert, but something is not quite right with him at the moment.

[OldNick]

I will get loads for this, but I reckon he was like this last season as well, certainly from the home games I saw of him. He has never won his fair share of headers from the hoofs, rarely outjumps the defender and makes it so easy for them. Everyone seems to think he is this awesome target man, and yet when do we start playing sh1te both this season and last??? When we start to hoof the ball up to RL! What he DID do last year, was score loads of goals. Thats the ONLY difference between this season and last. Last year the keeper would not have saved his header in the first half on saturday! That is not to say I dont think he is an awesome striker, and our most important player, I just dont think he has ever been our BEST player, not by a long way.

I agree i never also thought he was outjumping the oppo defenders, but he has the knack of being at the right place at the right time and also a decent finisher. Top player for this league

[Lord Duckhunter]

For whatever reason we have a threadbare group of forwards, so he has to play week in week out. If we had a decent replacement on the bench there would be an arguement for leaving him out. He has been really poor this season and there is no signs that he's getting any better, I thought his general all round play on Saturday was below standard.I've no idea what the problem with him is, but it's the Managers job to sort it out, or leave him out. The first thing NA's needs to do is get another option in on loan because at the moment his hands are tied. It's just a question of hoping Lambert comes good, and that can't be the way to run a promtion campaign.

[The Kraken]

There's a quote in today's Echo from Adkins, saying that Rickie obviously needs to keep working on his fitness and the club are helping him with that.

 

We now have all of October where we have no midweek games. That means NA can get all the players up to the fitness levels he demands, and has all week to work with them to get his tactical ideas across. Give it a week or two and I would expect RL to be firing on all cylinders again, he maybe just needs another one from open play to really get him going.

[benjii]

He wasn't very good on Saturday - it was the worst performance I've seen from him, I think.

 

That said, he showed bottle, nerve and skill with the two penalties. No point dropping him IMO. We are good enough to carry him through a period of bad form; it'll be worth it when he starts firing again.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

If the rumours about Barnard are true, then I suggest we won't be resting Rickie any time soon! If anything, we might need cover for Barney...

[Chez]

if we'd had other options we'd of tried them long ago as he has been terrible this season in almost every game I've seen. I didn't see any improvement from him at all on Saturday. His confidence looks a little dented, and his first touch was wioeful at times. Fortunately for him there is quite literally no one else so he gets a chance to find his form again on Saturday. He'll come good eventually, hopefully we can keep winning which will surely speed up that return to form.

[RonManager]

if we'd had other options we'd of tried them long ago as he has been terrible this season in almost every game I've seen. I didn't see any improvement from him at all on Saturday. His confidence looks a little dented, and his first touch was wioeful at times. Fortunately for him there is quite literally no one else so he gets a chance to find his form again on Saturday. He'll come good eventually, hopefully we can keep winning which will surely speed up that return to form.

 

http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/bc/58/0,,10794~153788,00.pdf

[Andy_Porter]

I'd like to see us play Chamberlain through the middle alongside Barnard, could really stretch the play. Maybe even try Guly up top.

[doddisalegend]

I'd like to see us play Chamberlain through the middle alongside Barnard, could really stretch the play. Maybe even try Guly up top.

 

I think Barnard might be rested for a game or two under the circumstances. However playing Alex off Rickie might work they combined for a goal at the cup match against Bompey. I noticed we left Lambert up more on saturday but Lambert doesn't have the pace for counter attacking Chamberlain does though.

[Pokerchampion]

Put him in the reserves for 45 mins , one for fitness and for confidence to knock a few into the net , never hurt big names recovering from injury for match sharpness . Totally agree with this thread , in open play he is no mans land , last season when a high ball came to him he won 99% of those high balls , he would be planted like a tree , this season he is getting knocked around all over the place , i noticed on 25 mins he was blowing very hard , the ball went out for a throw and he signalled he didnt want it to the thrower .

Needs fitness and confidence booster , he is also very much now in a comfort zone , being payed around £10k a week , he was reported to be on £3k at Bristol Rovers .

Come on Rickie prove all us doubters wrong and put the work in at training it will pay off

[doddisalegend]

Put him in the reserves for 45 mins , one for fitness and for confidence to knock a few into the net , never hurt big names recovering from injury for match sharpness . Totally agree with this thread , in open play he is no mans land , last season when a high ball came to him he won 99% of those high balls , he would be planted like a tree , this season he is getting knocked around all over the place , i noticed on 25 mins he was blowing very hard , the ball went out for a throw and he signalled he didnt want it to the thrower .

Needs fitness and confidence booster , he is also very much now in a comfort zone , being payed around £10k a week , he was reported to be on £3k at Bristol Rovers .

Come on Rickie prove all us doubters wrong and put the work in at training it will pay off

 

We don't have any reserves anymore we're not even in a reserve league. We have the devolopment squad made up of kids but i'm not sure playing with them would help his confidence.

[Toadhall Saint]

Do not drop RL - his confidence isn't what it was last season but if you drop him now you will dent his confidence further - stick with him and he will start banging them in regularly IMHO.

[Pokerchampion]

yes completly forgot about that , hmmm well he needs help , maybe looked up to Pardew big time and felt he owed him everytime he stepped out on the field , also Pardew could obviously motivate certain players to get the best out of them , He always put Lambert on a peddal stall for others to look up to .Now this season we can play without him as was proved on Saturday . Im sure Barnard can hit a good pen along with others in the squad . Thats all he did on Saturday

[Stu Man Do]

I think you have to realise that he actually played alot better on saturday than in previous games and is obviously taking longer than we hoped to get back to full fitness and sort his game head out. Dropping him would only increase the problems IMO he needs games and chances to get himself sorted.

[corsacar saint]

The way he celebrated scoring the two penalties on saturday,did not suggest to me in the slightest that he is anyway unhappy here.

[St_Tel49]

No he wasn't he was very poor. I am a big fan of Lambert, but something is not quite right with him at the moment.

Adkins is well aware of the problem. He is basically not fully fit - I suspect had too relaxed a summer - but I think NA has it in hand. Actually as far as Saturday is concerned he mis-controlled or lost the ball 4 or 5 times - which is 2 or 3 more than he would have done last year - but most of the time his hold up play was good as was his bringing of other players into the game. The problem is that that the mistakes stick in your mind more than the stuff that is properly executed.

[dickyhale]

Think again?