Onwards and upwards with lambert

[Canary Man of Kent 0]

I went to the game tonight and as everyone has said, it was bad. However, it wasn''t all bad. Until they scored we looked the more dangerous, we so easily could have had the lead were it not for some bad luck and bad finishing (same old story).

For me though, it''s now time to draw a line under the first 3 (league) games and look at where we go from here.

Top of the priority list for me is organisation. Say what you like about both worthington and roeder (at least the first 4 months) however the one thing they made sure of was that we were well organised and everyone knew their roles. I don''t think any of the teams played so far have a better group of players, (maybe col u, we''ll see) but for sure all their players knew what their role was and what the overall tactics and strategy for winning was. A good way to illustrate the point is hoolahan, he didn''t look great today and I''ve heard others suggesting lappin over hoolahan, to me that''s ridiculous and the problem is actually that the rest of the team don''t know how to use him. I''m confident organisation will be enough to get us in the top half.

Next: now there''s purpose we need urgency and determination. Tudur-jones looks to be a player with great potential, but he drifts in and out of the game in etuthu-esque fashion, TJ is a better footballer than Gary holt, but holt had unbelievable drive and desire. I''ve used TJ as an example but I think it applies across the board, far too many times we''re second to the second ball and also too often players aren''t closed down quickly enough or an extra yard of space is given.

Next comes an outlet: urgency and organisation is no good without an outlet. Whaley and mcdonald may provide this (although the jury is out) with increased confidence, but with hoolahan on the left and Spillane and drury at full back I don''t think this is enough. Semi appears to not be up to it, therefore I think a new right back is a necessity, and furthermore will give us the necessary flexibility at centre back. Askou and doc need competition which Spillane could provide were he not nailed down in the right back slot, nelson isn''t up to it.

The things I''ve listed above are achievable without a major overhaul of the squad, I really don''t think we''re too far away players wise. Roeder achieved a good deal of what I''ve set out above in his first few months so it is possible. Lambert has a tough task ahead of him, but I believe in him, in my mind a good manager will do the things I''ve noted above (the first two points anyway) as a matter of course.

It''s been as depressing a two weeks as I can remember, but the early dismissal of gunn has given me a glimmer of hope, there''s a little positivity in this canary yet!

On the ball city! And good luck mr lambert, you''ll need it!