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Best 10 players outside of prem - two saints

NickG

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NickG

NickG

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NOTW list today:

 

1. Shane Long (Reading)

 

It will take a minor miracle for Reading to keep hold of their top scorer. The Irishman notched an impressive 25 goals but fired a blank in the Play-Off Final defeat to Swansea. Not 'world class', as his chairman John Madejski describes, but a sharp-shooter who could flourish in the top flight.

 

2. Connor Wickham (Ipswich)

 

The hottest property outside the Premier League. All the big clubs have been linked to Wickham, with Liverpool reportedly gunning hard for his services. Around £10m should bag the 18-year-old, who is currently in Denmark with England for the U-21 European Championships.

 

3. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton)

 

The Southampton winger has been linked to Arsenal and Manchester United ever since he made it into the Saints first team. His father, ex-England international Mark Chamberlain, favours a move to the Gunners due to Arsene Wenger's reputation for bringing through youngsters.

 

4. Max Gradel (Leeds)

 

The pacey winger was heavily linked to Newcastle last January, but remained at Elland Road where he was named both Fans' and Players' Player of the Year. Criticised for his inconsistency earlier in his career, Gradel (left) managed an impressive 18 league goals and earned his first cap for the Ivory Coast.

 

5. Adam Lallana (Southampton)

 

While Oxlade-Chamberlain might be grabbing the attention of the Premier League elite, Lallana would arguably be a bigger loss to Southampton. The talented 23-year-old is at the heart of most of Saints' good play, and their fans would be loath to lose such an influential player.

 

6. Craig Mackail-Smith (Peterborough)

 

At 27, Mackail-Smith's big break will come late in his career if ever. Critics will point to his average goal-scoring record last time round in the Championship, but that was in a morale-sapped Peterborough side. Fresh from a confidence-boosting season in League One, a few Premier League sides might fancy a punt on the Scotland international.

 

7. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)

 

Burst onto the scene in August with a man-of-the-match display in a 3-2 win over Leicester with one goal and two assists. It turned out to be his only strike of the campaign in 40 appearances, which admittedly isn't a great goal-to-game ratio for a striker. Nonetheless, big clubs are still circling around the England U-19 international.

 

8. Andy King (Leicester City)

 

Schooled at Chelsea up until the age of 16 before joining Leicester, King (right) has worked his way into both the Foxes' first team and the Wales national side. A midfielder with an eye for goal - 15 in the league this season - he's made himself a permanent fixture in Sven Goran Eriksson's cash-rich team.

 

9. Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough)

 

Yet another product of Middlesbrough's impressive youth system, Bennett has quietly gone about his business in the Tony Mowbray revival. The left-back's displays were rewarded with two caps for the England U-21s and haven't gone unnoticed in other parts of the North-East.

 

10. Guy Moussi (Nottingham Forest)

 

A hardened French midfielder who suffered an injury-hit season, making just seven appearances. Still, with his contract up at the City Ground, it hasn't put off potential suitors from snapping up Moussi. Everton boss David Moyes - a regular bargain-hunter of the lower leagues - is reportedly an admirer.

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Turkish

Turkish

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I think whoever has compiled that list has believed a lot of hype. Adam Lallana is a better, more influential footballer than Chamberlain at this is moment in time. That is an unarguable fact.

 

Did you actually read the comments?

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NickG

NickG

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I think whoever has compiled that list has believed a lot of hype. Adam Lallana is a better, more influential footballer than Chamberlain at this is moment in time. That is an unarguable fact.

 

isn't that exactly what whoever compiled the list said??

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Window Cleaner

Window Cleaner

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No Lambert but Mackail Smith is in there?

 

Doubt that Lambert would even make a list of the top 30 or even top 50. He ain't that good.

Don't forget 24x25 championship players have to be considered as well.

 

Wonder where they would have placed the Charlton lad that Liverpool bought for 8 million last week if this list had been published a week or so earlier.

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Tamesaint

Tamesaint

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The article neatly sums up what is wrong with the media's football reporting these days.

 

You can imagine the scene in the NOTW offices

 

"Quick , write something about the lower divisions. Don't bother doing any research - just write about anyone who is likely to have been heard of by our average Premiership supporter. Try to limit it to players who will be in our transfer rumours round up very week for the next few weeks - Shane Long, Conor Wickham, Alex, CMS. Don't bother with any insightful reseach on any players our readers will not have heard of"

 

 

Alex may have plenty of potential - but one of the top 10 players outside the Prem ???? Do me a favour!!

 

No Fonte ?? Very strange.

 

No mention of Ricky!!

 

This time of year really is the silly season.

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S-Clarke

S-Clarke

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The article neatly sums up what is wrong with the media's football reporting these days.

 

You can imagine the scene in the NOTW offices

 

"Quick , write something about the lower divisions. Don't bother doing any research - just write about anyone who is likely to have been heard of by our average Premiership supporter. Try to limit it to players who will be in our transfer rumours round up very week for the next few weeks - Shane Long, Conor Wickham, Alex, CMS. Don't bother with any insightful reseach on any players our readers will not have heard of"

 

 

Alex may have plenty of potential - but one of the top 10 players outside the Prem ???? Do me a favour!!

 

No Fonte ?? Very strange.

 

No mention of Ricky!!

 

This time of year really is the silly season.

 

Fans will always over-rate players at their club.

 

There is no way Lambert is one of the best players outside of the premiership.

 

He's a good player for us and I love him, but let's be realistic - he's not in the top 100. Fonte has been a decent Championship CB - but has a way to go before proving he's one of the best outside the premiership. The gulf between L1 and the premiership is enormous.

 

I think the list is quite accurate and of-course they're all going to be subject of transfer speculation - they're all very talented and sought after players.

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Dazza82

Dazza82

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He scored 10 League goals in the Championship for a poor side that was relegated. They wouldn't have been setting him up with many good chances.

 

He creates alot of his chances himself with his chasing down and putting pressure on the other players. He reminds me of Ormerod when we signed him

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sambosa75

sambosa75

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I think people are a bit harsh on Rickie Lambert to be honest. He is twice as technically gifted as Mackail-Smith. CMS might work harder and would actually be the ideal partner for RL but as a player, Lambert is by far and away a more gifted player.

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Window Cleaner

Window Cleaner

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Carl Jenkinson. Dont know where you are getting 8m from though, it was around 1m

 

http://www.thegunninghawk.com/2011/06/12/carl-jenkinson-on-learning-his-trade-and-joining-the-squad-for-pre-season/

 

must have got confused then, it's the local alcoholic beverage I suspect, made from berries of some kind, tastes like the stuff I used to make from grape juice when I was a student but it sure gets you wasted pretty quick. Anyway one link you may all want to have a look at.

 

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/media-watch/dalglish-eyes-saints-star

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Crab Lungs

Crab Lungs

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must have got confused then, it's the local alcoholic beverage I suspect, made from berries of some kind, tastes like the stuff I used to make from grape juice when I was a student but it sure gets you wasted pretty quick. Anyway one link you may all want to have a look at.

 

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/media-watch/dalglish-eyes-saints-star

 

 

"don't rate him. he will end up like walcott. not a good player."

 

Says a Liverpool fan, somewhere in Surrey or Ireland.

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Smirking_Saint

Smirking_Saint

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I think people are a bit harsh on Rickie Lambert to be honest. He is twice as technically gifted as Mackail-Smith. CMS might work harder and would actually be the ideal partner for RL but as a player, Lambert is by far and away a more gifted player.

 

Lambert really isn't all that good, and TBH we already have a perfect foil in Lambert as a player who works hard and scores goals, all be it one that may get sent down :(

 

Lambert isn't that special, he didn't have the greatest of seasons last season and now has to prove it in the championship, I hope he does, but if he doesn't I would much prefer to have someone that can come in and do a job.

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sambosa75

sambosa75

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Lambert really isn't all that good, and TBH we already have a perfect foil in Lambert as a player who works hard and scores goals, all be it one that may get sent down :(

 

Lambert isn't that special, he didn't have the greatest of seasons last season and now has to prove it in the championship, I hope he does, but if he doesn't I would much prefer to have someone that can come in and do a job.

 

You seem to be basing your opinion of Lambert on last season, which I'm sure even he would admit was a poor season by his standards, yet he still scored around 25 goals. The season before he carried this team. He has excellent technique for a player that has played his entire career in the bottom 2 divisions and is capable of scoring from anywhere. I'd rather have a player with that ability than Mackail-Smith. Yes, he had a good season last year but I liken scoring bags of goals for Peterborough to scoring bags of goals in the Tyro league. Looks great on your stats but not much use when you are losing 5-3 and drawing 4-4 every other week. He scored goals because he played in a team that went gung-ho in every game. As a team, they created lots of chances but also gave away loads too.

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benjii

benjii

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You seem to be basing your opinion of Lambert on last season, which I'm sure even he would admit was a poor season by his standards, yet he still scored around 25 goals. The season before he carried this team. He has excellent technique for a player that has played his entire career in the bottom 2 divisions and is capable of scoring from anywhere. I'd rather have a player with that ability than Mackail-Smith.

 

I pretty much agree with this.

 

I think Lambert's role will evolve as Adkins continues to make his mark on the way we play. He showed on numerous occasions last season that when he picks the ball up in "the hole" or deeper he can be the most incisive passer in our team.

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Itchen_block4

Itchen_block4

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Lambert really isn't all that good, and TBH we already have a perfect foil in Lambert as a player who works hard and scores goals, all be it one that may get sent down :(

 

Lambert isn't that special, he didn't have the greatest of seasons last season and now has to prove it in the championship, I hope he does, but if he doesn't I would much prefer to have someone that can come in and do a job.

 

As the squad is, I wouldn't dream of starting a game without Lambert if he was fit. For someone who played as a target man for so long, he is a great passer and creative player as well as a goalscorer. He started the season carrying an injury, but later in the season once Adkins was bedded in, he really picked up. He's not that quick but that's ot his style, lots of NPC strikers aren't that quick and neither are the centre halves.

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The9

The9

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Smith did nothing this season rickie didn't do last season though. I like both, but at this moment smith has been inconsistent in the championship and rickie has never had the chance.

 

I've never seen Rickie run like he's sharted, for a start.

 

Actually I'm not sure I've ever seen him run, but that's by the bye. He's definitely not one of the top 10 outside the Prem at the moment.

 

I think I'd have Matt Mills and Fonte in that list over a couple of the players I've never heard of, the striker with one goal in 40 being the first candidate for the chop.

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Thedelldays

Thedelldays

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As the squad is, I wouldn't dream of starting a game without Lambert if he was fit. For someone who played as a target man for so long, he is a great passer and creative player as well as a goalscorer. He started the season carrying an injury, but later in the season once Adkins was bedded in, he really picked up. He's not that quick but that's ot his style, lots of NPC strikers aren't that quick and neither are the centre halves.

 

I agree...IMO the 2nd half to the season we saw lambert develop...when we first got him, he was a great target man and everything went through him....the 2nd half to this recent season we saw him use his ability far more...he can now be both target man and provider....he set up quite a few goals....

 

you need more to your game than just being a target man the higher you go...and sir rickie has that...whether that means he should be in that list above..probably not...YET

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sammysaint

sammysaint

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Well i think we have to ask ourselves on the Lambert argument would he walk into any team in this league ?

 

Lallana and Fonte would for sure and AOC and MS would defo make the bench at worse, Lambert i feel would be a great signing for any team that got promoted or finished between 21st and 13th and any other team would have him but he would be 3rd choice.

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SaintJackoInHurworth

SaintJackoInHurworth

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Everyone is going on about how Lambert should or shouldn't be in the list, but I think the bigger issue is whether AOC should be in the list. If this is a list of the ten best players outside the Prem based on current ability then AOC and a number of these players should definitely not be in the list. They have huge potential and may well be class Prem players in years to come, but they are not that yet!

 

This list looks more like a list of the players in the Championship believed to have the biggest potential for the future.

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