Does anybody else get annoyed when...

[Dicky 0]

So, one bad result and that horrible little reptile Smudger crawls out from under his stone - must have been hard for him with nothing to moan about over the past few months. Now he feels fit to criticise Lambert!! This is the same Smudger who was criticising Holty earlier in the season and demanding he was taken off. Seems that Fox is your new hate figure - always have to have one don''t you Todger.

[Coelho 0]

[quote user="Smudger"][quote user="Coelho"]Yeah, I agree that was awful. Do you honestly think Lambert believes that Holt, Wilbraham and Jackson is going to be sufficient to get us promoted? I''ve said it on other threads, but he will get another striker in within the next week. The diamond is not the problem IMO, we just had an off-day today. That diamond has been an integral part of the best season of away performances since the early 1990s, and with Surman coming back to fitness the midfield is more than strong enough. We just need a quality striker to play up front with Horse. Meet me back here in a week, let''s see where we''re at [;)][/quote]No you are quite right, the diamond is the formation we are best at playing and has been a huge part of our success.Do you believe that Fox is the correct player to play at the base of that diamond though?  If so then why do you feel this?I would say that you are making yourselves very vulnerable by playing any player at the base of the diamond who does not win their fair share of tackles.  For me Crofts has to be number one choice to start in that postion with Korey as back up.  Against most teams in this league I would say that we need to start matches with both Crofts and Korey on the pitch.  Without them we look far too lightweight in the midfield and are overun there by most teams.  Yes we have plenty of creativity in our midfield, but it is coming at a hefty price in my opinion at the moment.I would also like to see another ball winning midfielder brought in along with a striker on loan.[/quote]I take your point about Fox, but there are two ways of looking at it. Crofts started the season more as a holding player, but has since been given licence to get further forward - he''s more of a box-to-box style player, who likes to bomb on into the area. He''s had a lot of shots and a few goals too this season, whereas Fox doesn''t tend to play that way. He naturally prefers to sit a bit deeper, collect the ball from the centre halves and has a good range of passing to open teams up from deep. Of course his tackling isn''t as good as Crofts, and this is a weakness, but there''s also the added strength of having a technically gifted player sitting deeper to open the game up. Ideally we need someone with the qualities of both Crofts and Fox to play there - when Clingan was at the top of his game he did this very effectively, as did Safri. All I''m saying is that what Fox lacks in tackling ability, Crofts lacks in a ''playmaker'' role. Xabi Alonso was never a great tackler, but he was vitally important for linking the defenders with the attacking players. It''s six and half a dozen the way I see it, and I''m sure Lambert has his reasons for doing this.And as for Wilbraham, I think it''s unfair to criticise him too much - if anything, this is where I might put a question mark on Lambert for having bought him in the first place. He''s never had a good goalscoring record, but he''s done well at what he''s good at IMO - linking play, winning headers, shielding the ball and bringing midfielders into attacks, chasing and making a nuisance of himself. When people post ''he never wins any headers'', it infuriates me - he won a fair few last night, but nobody was close enough to capitalise on them - Holt and Wes both like to pull wide or come deep to influence the game, leaving him with next to no chance of linking the play even if he does win the headers. Ideally, I think we need a quality loan striker to play on the shoulder of the last man, Earnshaw-style, and Holt to do what Wilbraham''s doing now. Wilbur should be our Dublin-style impact sub - if we need a goal, by all means bring him on to play with Holt and float balls into the box like we did after their equaliser last night.

[Ernie 0]

[quote user="ryan1992"]You hear people (including Lambert) saying things such as ''people need to remember how far we have come, 18 months ago we were in the bottom half of League 1''? We are where we are now. We have been in the top 6 for months and have been as high as 2nd. You may aswell say ''5 years ago we were in the Prem'' or ''18 years ago we were in Europe''. We can, with the signing of a decent striker, get this club back where it belongs, the Premier League, not League 1 as some people seem to think after a season down there.[/quote]

Couldnt agree more, no one is happier than me to be where we are now after the last few years but I too would like to see us back to where I believe we should be and thats the premier league. Surely all fans want to see their club achieve as much as possible and not settle for second best?  Performances must based on the here and now there is no relevance to where we were, we have moved on and thats exactly the point.  Last night was so predictable and I for one was pretty fed up with the performance.  Did their keeper make save after save, did we hit the post the bar, did their defence make last ditch tackles, did Doncaster look like they couldnt be bothered and that they were beat before they even started, were they world beaters that night, did we play with a real urgency and get at them from the off? No.  Did we still have enough chances to make the game safe, did we think we just needed to pitch up and we would win, did we suddendly find some urgency once they scored, are we still playing a striker whose job is to score (regardless of his link up play flick ons etc) who still cant 6 yards out with only the keeper to beat? Yes.  Is it the end of the World as we know, are Norwich suddenly shit and Lambert doesnt know what hes doing?  Well of course not, but lets not dress up yesterday result/performance as anything else but what it was....bad.

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Lambo"]

Aaron Wilbraham... the new Chris Brown??

 

Since arriving Wilbrahimovic has played a role in at least 2 or 3 big goals for us. He was brought in as cover and his recent starts have been because of Chris Martin''s absence.

As for David Fox... I like the fella and think he''s done a reasonable job but again, When Surman is fit I don''t think he''ll be starting.

[/quote]I think that Fox is a technically gifted player, but he is clearly being played in a position where all of his weaknesses are exposed to the maximum, playing alone at the base of the diamond.  Against Leeds on Saturday, there was a period of approx 10 mins iduring the first half where it appeared that the whole of our defence had lost faith in giving Fox the ball.  Added to this Lansbury is playing out of position on the left and Crofts is playing in a position he is not used to playing too.  Lets stick with playing players in their correct positions unless the need is there through injuries that we do not have any alternatives.  The balance of our midfield is clearly wrong and has been for the majority of the games this season.  This is the reason why we sit so deep in games and invite teams to attack us.As for Wilbraham, I have only seen him involved in the build up to one goal and it was a very minor part that he played in that.

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="Smudger"][quote user="Lambo"]

Aaron Wilbraham... the new Chris Brown??

 

Since arriving Wilbrahimovic has played a role in at least 2 or 3 big goals for us. He was brought in as cover and his recent starts have been because of Chris Martin''s absence.

As for David Fox... I like the fella and think he''s done a reasonable job but again, When Surman is fit I don''t think he''ll be starting.

[/quote]

I think that Fox is a technically gifted player, but he is clearly being played in a position where all of his weaknesses are exposed to the maximum, playing alone at the base of the diamond.  Against Leeds on Saturday, there was a period of approx 10 mins iduring the first half where it appeared that the whole of our defence had lost faith in giving Fox the ball.  Added to this Lansbury is playing out of position on the left and Crofts is playing in a position he is not used to playing too.  Lets stick with playing players in their correct positions unless the need is there through injuries that we do not have any alternatives.  The balance of our midfield is clearly wrong and has been for the majority of the games this season.  This is the reason why we sit so deep in games and invite teams to attack us.

As for Wilbraham, I have only seen him involved in the build up to one goal and it was a very minor part that he played in that.
[/quote]

Why don''t we just start a campaign to get rid of Paul Lambert so that you can be installed in his place because you obviously know far more about it than him or anyone else for that matter. The only problem I have, however, is your consistent inconsistency.  

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="ryan1992"]You hear people (including Lambert) saying things such as ''people need to remember how far we have come, 18 months ago we were in the bottom half of League 1''? We are where we are now. We have been in the top 6 for months and have been as high as 2nd. You may aswell say ''5 years ago we were in the Prem'' or ''18 years ago we were in Europe''. We can, with the signing of a decent striker, get this club back where it belongs, the Premier League, not League 1 as some people seem to think after a season down there.[/quote]a) Nobody thinks we belong in League 1, and if we did then we wouldn''t have won the league.b) We are massively in debt with a squad who are still relatively new to each other.  We are punching well above our weight in this league.c) So Paul Lambert has a fair point.d) Therefore you don''t.e) Therefore, please shut up.

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Webbo118"][quote user="Smudger"][quote user="Lambo"]

Aaron Wilbraham... the new Chris Brown??

 

Since arriving Wilbrahimovic has played a role in at least 2 or 3 big goals for us. He was brought in as cover and his recent starts have been because of Chris Martin''s absence.

As for David Fox... I like the fella and think he''s done a reasonable job but again, When Surman is fit I don''t think he''ll be starting.

[/quote]I think that Fox is a technically gifted player, but he is clearly being played in a position where all of his weaknesses are exposed to the maximum, playing alone at the base of the diamond.  Against Leeds on Saturday, there was a period of approx 10 mins iduring the first half where it appeared that the whole of our defence had lost faith in giving Fox the ball.  Added to this Lansbury is playing out of position on the left and Crofts is playing in a position he is not used to playing too.  Lets stick with playing players in their correct positions unless the need is there through injuries that we do not have any alternatives.  The balance of our midfield is clearly wrong and has been for the majority of the games this season.  This is the reason why we sit so deep in games and invite teams to attack us.As for Wilbraham, I have only seen him involved in the build up to one goal and it was a very minor part that he played in that.[/quote]

Why don''t we just start a campaign to get rid of Paul Lambert so that you can be installed in his place because you obviously know far more about it than him or anyone else for that matter. The only problem I have, however, is your consistent inconsistency.  

[/quote]Not saying that I would do any better, but we all make mistakes.Greater managers than Lambert have made mistakes in the past and it is about time that our fans accepted that instead of having this - everything that Lambert does can''t be wrong mentality.  That is the same kind of mentality that got us in to trouble under Worthington and the old board of directors in the first place.For what it''s worth I believe that Lambert gets 90% of what he does right.  That is a very good record and you can''t expect much better from a football manager.  This doesn''t mean that the fans should not be critical of certain decsions which they believe are costing us points though.This is where many of our fans are criticised for getting too cosy with the club.  Are we punching above our weight at the moment? How long will it be before Lambert will admit that he has got it wrong over Wilbraham?Who knows, maybe Wilbraham will score a hatrick at Barnsley on Saturday and prove Lambert right?  If I was a betting man I wouldn''t be placing any money on it though!

[milehighcanary 0]

Spot on Ryan. Spot on.

[milehighcanary 0]

Mister Chops....obviously you enjoy sleeping in your bowl of mediocrity. Please don''t allow the ambitious and vibrant conversation wake you. If you are happy to float around and bounce between League 1 and the Championship, then just come out and say so. Otherwise, get a sense for the right on the wall and see that we have a genuine chance of making the Premiership this season.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="ryan1992"]You hear people (including Lambert) saying things such as ''people need to remember how far we have come, 18 months ago we were in the bottom half of League 1''? We are where we are now. We have been in the top 6 for months and have been as high as 2nd. You may aswell say ''5 years ago we were in the Prem'' or ''18 years ago we were in Europe''. We can, with the signing of a decent striker, get this club back where it belongs, the Premier League, not League 1 as some people seem to think after a season down there.[/quote]a) Nobody thinks we belong in League 1, and if we did then we wouldn''t have won the league.b) We are massively in debt with a squad who are still relatively new to each other.  We are punching well above our weight in this league.c) So Paul Lambert has a fair point.d) Therefore you don''t.e) Therefore, please shut up.[/quote]Exactly, and I can''t help thinking that we have so many miserable gits on these forums that they''re probably better off ending it all now, improving the  quality of the gene pool and marginally increasing the world''s average IQ in the process, as they are physically incapable of enjoying or appreciating, well, anything.

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="Smudger"][quote user="Webbo118"][quote user="Smudger"][quote user="Lambo"]

Aaron Wilbraham... the new Chris Brown??

 

Since arriving Wilbrahimovic has played a role in at least 2 or 3 big goals for us. He was brought in as cover and his recent starts have been because of Chris Martin''s absence.

As for David Fox... I like the fella and think he''s done a reasonable job but again, When Surman is fit I don''t think he''ll be starting.

[/quote]

I think that Fox is a technically gifted player, but he is clearly being played in a position where all of his weaknesses are exposed to the maximum, playing alone at the base of the diamond.  Against Leeds on Saturday, there was a period of approx 10 mins iduring the first half where it appeared that the whole of our defence had lost faith in giving Fox the ball.  Added to this Lansbury is playing out of position on the left and Crofts is playing in a position he is not used to playing too.  Lets stick with playing players in their correct positions unless the need is there through injuries that we do not have any alternatives.  The balance of our midfield is clearly wrong and has been for the majority of the games this season.  This is the reason why we sit so deep in games and invite teams to attack us.

As for Wilbraham, I have only seen him involved in the build up to one goal and it was a very minor part that he played in that.
[/quote]

Why don''t we just start a campaign to get rid of Paul Lambert so that you can be installed in his place because you obviously know far more about it than him or anyone else for that matter. The only problem I have, however, is your consistent inconsistency.  

[/quote]

Not saying that I would do any better, but we all make mistakes.

Greater managers than Lambert have made mistakes in the past and it is about time that our fans accepted that instead of having this - everything that Lambert does can''t be wrong mentality.  That is the same kind of mentality that got us in to trouble under Worthington and the old board of directors in the first place.

For what it''s worth I believe that Lambert gets 90% of what he does right.  That is a very good record and you can''t expect much better from a football manager.  This doesn''t mean that the fans should not be critical of certain decsions which they believe are costing us points though.
This is where many of our fans are criticised for getting too cosy with the club.  Are we punching above our weight at the moment?

How long will it be before Lambert will admit that he has got it wrong over Wilbraham?

Who knows, maybe Wilbraham will score a hatrick at Barnsley on Saturday and prove Lambert right?  If I was a betting man I wouldn''t be placing any money on it though!
[/quote]

 

But what qualities, knowledge and experience do you have to decide exactly what constitutes a mistake Was it, for example, a mistake in signing McNamee? I would also be interested to hear how you arrive at your figure of 90%.

[Guest]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"][quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="ryan1992"]You hear people (including Lambert) saying things such as ''people need to remember how far we have come, 18 months ago we were in the bottom half of League 1''? We are where we are now. We have been in the top 6 for months and have been as high as 2nd. You may aswell say ''5 years ago we were in the Prem'' or ''18 years ago we were in Europe''. We can, with the signing of a decent striker, get this club back where it belongs, the Premier League, not League 1 as some people seem to think after a season down there.[/quote]a) Nobody thinks we belong in League 1, and if we did then we wouldn''t have won the league.b) We are massively in debt with a squad who are still relatively new to each other.  We are punching well above our weight in this league.c) So Paul Lambert has a fair point.d) Therefore you don''t.e) Therefore, please shut up.[/quote]Exactly, and I can''t help thinking that we have so many miserable gits on these forums that they''re probably better off ending it all now, improving the  quality of the gene pool and marginally increasing the world''s average IQ in the process, as they are physically incapable of enjoying or appreciating, well, anything.[/quote]The way I see it, the balancing point has now been tipped, and people are expecting us to win certain games. Undoubtedly this is going to pile extra pressure on what is a relatively young and unfamiliar squad, and unfortunately at this stage of the season you have teams going for a playoff place or battling to avoid relegation meaning that the form book goes out of the window even more.4 minutes into the match on Tuesday, and people around me were already vociferously moaning that the defence were passing the ball about amongst themselves. Ludicrous, and set the tone for the rest of the night. Let''s not beat about the bush, we were very poor against Doncaster (probably the worst performance I''ve seen this season), yet still were 9 minutes from winning the match until Drury''s unfortunate OG. However, the most important thing is that we generated a lot of decent chances despite a disjointed display.Behind closed doors I am sure that Lambert is driving the team on, and I still think we have every chance of an automatic spot, but two-thirds of a season of decent football and results and some people seem to think we are Arsenal and that they can do a better job than Lambert. I can absolutely see why he wants to play down expectations at this stage.Sadly, some people seem to equate ambition with a blind lack of realism.

[ryan1992 0]

[quote user="milehicanary"]Mister Chops....obviously you enjoy sleeping in your bowl of mediocrity. Please don''t allow the ambitious and vibrant conversation wake you. If you are happy to float around and bounce between League 1 and the Championship, then just come out and say so. Otherwise, get a sense for the right on the wall and see that we have a genuine chance of making the Premiership this season.
[/quote]

There do seem to be so much unambition on here sometimes! I look at teams like Hull, Stoke, Blackpool, Wigan, Bolton, Burnley and Reading who have all been/are in the Premier League recently, and also have been in the 3rd/4th division, and even non-League in the past few decades, I bet when they were at the top of this League, they weren''t saying ''well 2 years ago we were in League 2, now we are top of the Championship, so I don''t care if we win/lose/draw, because we are performing above our weight'' they wanted to be as successful as possible, and achieved those goals. People moaned when we had Neil Doncaster here because the club was being run ''with no ambition'', well I''d say that mentality has rubbed off on some! Plus, if we don''t go up this year, it is going to be a hell of a lot tougher in future years, this Championship is the weakest in a long while, so why not go for it? If we play out of our skins for the remaining games, yet miss out, then there is nothing else that can be done, and we would have had a very successful season, but if they go out with a whimper, that wouldn''t be acceptable.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

Ryan - nobody is saying they ''don''t care'' - it''s not as black and white as you and a few others make it out to be.  It''s called perspective.  One bad performance and result and suddenly all the moaners crawl out of the woodwork.  We''re still fifth, three points off second with only two defeats in 19 league games.  But because some of us don''t feel the need to moan about certain things incessantly, or we need to sign somebody yesterday, or whatever, doesn''t mean that we ''don''t care'' -we''re just a bit more level-headed and sensible about things and we surely have to acknowledge that we have performed above and beyond expectations this year.I don''t think anybody would disagree with your last point though - we all ask that of our players and they have been doing that, which is why we are where we are.  If that stops then yes, it will be disappointing, but I''m sure it won''t happen.  It might not be enough come May but I hope people aren''t going to commit suicide over it or anything - we''ve still done very well this year.I think Lambert and the players deserve faith and trust put in them for what they''ve done up to now and it is (like it or not) a far cry from what we had to put up with under Grant, Roeder and Gunn so it might be an idea to try and enjoy it and be more patient about it while it lasts because good seasons have been few and far between as far as we''re concerned.Oh and one more thing - if you remember, we had a similar spell last season at about this time where our performances were very patchy.  People were getting worried then, too, and the less said about certain fans'' reactions after we lost to Tranmere and especially Leyton Orient, the better.  They were convinced we were going to blow it, yet when we went up, they were celebrating like they never doubted it.  It''s probably the same people this time round, so maybe it should all be taken with a pinch of salt...