swjf50

We really need to be up for this game. I''d hate us to lose to Villa & see Lambert jumping up and down with delight on the touchline. They beat us in the cup, we need to raise our game and seek sweet revenge. Credit to Lambert and Villa tonight but lets do our very best to take the smile off his face. Hopefully Turner will be fit, we may need his experience.

Weimann ....Aston Villa

With Stoke''s aerial bombardment is there a case for bringing Ruddy back because of his height, size and dominance in the penalty area? I think it should be seriously considered. I''m not saying Bunn has played badly, far from it, but he may get flattened, so Ruddy''s extra strength would be useful.

I agree with you NorthWalesCanary.

if you keep the ball and don''t threaten the opposing goal, you aren''t going to win any matches. In this division if you make a mistake at the back, it is usually punished, so I would still say that when there''s a chance to get some points we should at least go for it and give the opposition something to worry about.

Of course you have to be well organised at the back aswell but if you are just going to sit back and allow the opposition to attack you, you are never going to score. Goals give you wins, do they not? I just think we can set ourselves up to be more attack minded, have the ball in the opposing half more often whilst keeping it tight at the back. It''s not rocket science.

....is attack. At home we need to play 2 strikers to give the opposition more to worry about. Becchio and either Holt or Jackson could work well and we could have Kamara or Bennett on the right wing. At the expense of who? That''s difficult .....possibly Hoolahan, not because he has played badly but we need to try out new formations to break down the opposing defence & score more goals. I would also put Whittaker in central midfield in place of one of our central midfielders, as he is more versatile and can pass!!

Glad to see we are back on the subject. The Swansea away game was one of the few times when we seemed to throw caution to the wind and played attacking football. I can''t remember many others, can you? I might be tempted to play Whittaker in central midfield, I know he''s essentially a defender but he can also run with the ball, tackle, pass and score goals, so is a good all-rounder. Our 2 defensive midfielders Johnson and Tettey lack the ability to do much more than defend and we are crying out for our central midfielders to do more than that. I''d also put Kamara on the wing in place of Bennett, as I think he would be more of a threat. If its not working as well as it should, it isn''t the end of the world and at least we''ve tried something different and can go back to a different formation etc. At the moment we have a plan A but don''t seem to have a plan B.

Our play under Hughton tends to be built on a solid defence and safety first, however, when we are not scoring at all, it must be time to take some risks and spring a few surprises. We need to shoot more often and the full backs need to go on the occasional run to give their support to the attacks. We have to be less predictable in our play and also be quicker breaking out of defence. Swansea are a great example of doing the latter, so hopefully we won''t be caught napping. Substitutions have to be made earlier to give the players a chance to effect the game. These are all obvious suggestions I know, but it seems very rare that they are put into practice. For example, how many goals from outside the area have we scored this season? Very few I know. Obviously it doesn''t matter how we score, as long as we do, but we have to use all methods. A penalty wouldn''t go amiss.

How about....... Camp Whittaker Turner Bassong Garrido Kamara Tettey Johnson Snodgrass Hoolahan Holt

I think we need another attacking creative goalscoring midfielder who can play with both feet to challenge Hoolahan for a place in the team, plus another tried and tested goal poacher to add to Holt, Kamara and Becchio. What do you think we need?

1-2 I''m afraid

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]pros - clean sheet, becchio offering more efforts on goal than holt has in a game in ages, a point gained, wes being creative cons - poor movement up front, sat too deep, poor passing quality, lack of creative cutting edge, slow support for beccho and lack of pace. We gave FULHAM too much respect we need to defend from the front and get in teams faces, and move 20 yards up the pitch, use 451 as a positive to attack, not a sponge to just defend[/quote] Yes I agree Zippers. It should really have been 3 points for us. Neither team offered an attacking threat and since we were the home team, we should have been in their faces and throwing our midfielders forward to support Becchio as much as possible.

Positives - we didn''t lose, we kept a clean sheet and Kamara was a breath of fresh air and looked lively. Becchio struggled on his own up front against a tough big central pairing but worked hard and nearly scored. Hoolahan and Snodgrass were our best players going forward and worked their socks off. Tettey also had great spells. Our central defence looked sound. Negatives - we never looked like breaking Fulham''s defence down and scoring. We had very few shots on goal. Our plan B was to put an extra striker on with 10 - 15 minutes left but that had very little effect. Kamara was the only one who looked like he would change the game but unfortunately he wasn''t risked until the last 5 minutes. It''s going to be a struggle until the end of the season but in all reality I didn''t expect anything any different. We don''t have the finance to really compete with the majority of teams in the Premiership. Our best bet is for our scouts to unearth some hidden talent from abroad if we manage to stay up. Hughton has done his best with what we have and the funds he has available, he has made our defence more secure with minimal outlay which we desperately needed. We had to build from the back, so I think the first phase of the building programme has been done. The question now is can we survive this season and work on our attack so we are a more potent and threatening, even entertaining force in the seasons ahead?

Thanks for that. I think we have 4 strikers - Holt, Becchio, Jackson and Kamara. I presume Martin isn''t included.

Does anyone think we''ll bring in a loan or two and do you think we''ll ship any out on loan? What are the chances of picking a striker up ie Hooper when and if they lose in the Champions League? A midfield player like Biglia perhaps?

I can''t see Hooper coming here. Firstly Celtic don''t want to sell and they don''t have to, secondly we aren''t prepared to pay the inflated prices, I don''t think we are anyway. We shall see. Graham is more likely going to go to Sunderland than us. I think the signings will be Kamara, Becchio, possibly Curtis Davies and Bridcutt but the last 2 are last minute deals. I haven''t heard whether Morison is in a swap with Becchio at all. Jackson might be sold so if that is the case I can''t see us selling Morison aswell.

perhaps a swap with Morison going to Celtic, but I doubt it. Unless Graham is coming here or someone similar I can''t see Holt leaving.

It appears we''ve not bid for Hooper which may be a good thing. I hope that we have a striker coming in though. Austin would be good depending on how much they want for him ie anything over £4m would be too much. Perhaps we should pick up a Michu type gem from abroad, now that would be fantastic, but I guess they are very hard to find.

He appears to be off the radar at the moment and hasn''t even been on the bench. I can''t see him getting back in the team and what I''ve seen of him he''s been disappointing. Is it time he moved on? We could bring someone else in that could add something to the squad. What do you think?

Sorry if this has been posted before but there''s a great BBC Match of the Day spoof on You Tube which is brilliant. You must watch it. Someone I''ve never heard of does an impersonation of Lineker, Hanson and Lawrenson. Some of the rubbish that comes out of their mouths is typical and a great laugh.

Having seen Aston Villa screw up from a winning position, how do you realistically see us doing against a very good attacking side - Man U ? If we lose by the odd goal, would that be acceptable, bearing in mind we conceded 5 against both Fulham and Liverpool and 4 against Chelsea? I think sometimes it is about damage limitations. Our defence has improved massively since those games thankfully, so I would hope we can keep the score down and make it hard for them. Equally it would be great to get a couple of goals, but that is obviously where we are struggling at the moment, so I can''t see us winning. A draw would be a fantastic result, but I think it is unlikely although not impossible.

Ward, C.Martin, Lappin definitely. I''m not sure who else, but I think I''d be happy to hang on to everyone else. Lappin has done nothing wrong, in fact he''s been a model professional and has done well every time he has been used, unfortunately he has fallen down the pecking order. He would do well in the Championship or Scottish League. Ayala and Vaughan have a future here, if they are happy to fight for their place in the team, so at the end of the season, if it has gone well for them, I''d like them back. Because of Fox''s lack of first team appearances, you would presume he is not in Houghton''s plans, but I like him and he does give us something different. Surman is nearly always a disappointment to me, as he has skill, but he doesn''t use it very often, he lacks pace and is lightweight. He''s not really a winger and has fallen behind Hoolahan and Snoddy in the pecking order, plus we have Butterfield to come back from injury.

Forgot to add HOLT''s name to that line up. Morison to come on if Holt tires.

RUDDY MARTIN BASSONG BARNETTor BENNETT GARRIDO TETTEY FOX HOWSON or BENNETT PILKINGTON HOOLAHAN Turner needs to be dropped as he''s been at fault for 6 goals in 3 matches. Hopefully he will improve and gain more confidence. I would give Garrido a chance to improve on the last game. Barnett has played well with Bassong so he may well keep his place although Bennett should be given a chance if Barnett struggles again. Central Midfield isn''t working properly yet and I think Howson could be better employed higher up the pitch. Should we play one winger or 2? I''m not sure and much depends how fit Pilks is having not played for a while. I would definitely drop Surman and possibly give Snodgrass a rest. Jackson would be the ideal impact sub for the last 20 - 25 mins. Hopefully Tettey will give our back 4 more protection and Fox''s passing game will open up opposing defences and create more chances. Whatever happens, we have to stop shipping goals and start converting more of our chances.