Ryan Bennett's resurrection

[Thirsty Lizard 3,154]

44 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

Was it? Genuine question, but three star players in Lambert’s promotion seasons were Holt , Hoolahan and Martin, all of whom were already at the club.

Not quite right Nuff Said. Lambert brought Martin to us. (Lambert knew him from when they were both at Wycombe). 

[All the Germans 1,073]

I'm going to assume you're talking about different Martins (C / R).

[Crabbycanary3 994]

I always thought that Bennett and Klose were our best CB partnership at the time (and said so) . Bennett didn't play consistently well, but you could see that he had something, and as always, players need coaching/tactics/partnerships to flourish. I'm not going to claim I could see him flourishing for a top 8 Prem side, but he certainly had something to play in the top flight

[king canary 7,559]

10 hours ago, Nuff Said said:

Was it? Genuine question, but three star players in Lambert’s promotion seasons were Holt , Hoolahan and Martin, all of whom were already at the club.

It was- it isn't just about finding stars but about the whole squad.

Look at the Championship promotion season- Ruddy in goal, Russell Martin and Marc Tierney excellent at fullback, David Fox looking like Xavi in the deep position, Crofts bringing industry, Surman a touch of class and then Jackson on a scoring spree that took us up all signed by Lambert.

Similarly in the Premier League- Johnson and Howson from Leeds were a core part of our midfield for years, Pilkington was a real talent, Morison stepped up really well from the Championship etc etc.

Hard to think of many duff signings under Lambert- James Vaughn maybe?

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Didn’t mind Ryan Bennett, especially when played alongside Klose. The worst thing that could have happened to Russ Martin was moving him to CB. It was full back where I thought he excelled in his prime, it was clearly a more natural role for him.

[Nuff Said 5,079]

12 hours ago, All the Germans said:

I'm going to assume you're talking about different Martins (C / R).

Yeah, I was thinking of Chris, not Russell. Fair points from KC about those players he did bring in though. Given the quality of players recruited in Gunn’s era (Holt excepted), I would say we have to give Lambert and his team credit for the quality of the signings, it clearly wasn’t down to previous scouting.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,775]

What was great about the recruitment was that they were all lower league players. In the 2011/12 Premier League season, we signed ten players, all of whom were playing in the Championship or League One the season before. Six or seven of the squad had played non-league football, too. Despite this, we finished 12th and were the top scorers in the league outside the top six. 

Lambert's recruitment and the way he built that squad was absolutely phenomenal.