Average League One Players?

[hogesar 9,658]

Clearly not!How Lambert''s done what he has with this playing squad is beyond some of the wildest imaginations of our fans. The fact we have loan players like Lansbury and Pacheco and Vokes, none of them make the starting eleven yesterday is full credit to the players we have here already.But i think a special mention has to go out to the likes of Fox, and even moreso Tierney now. Fox came to us with not much of a reputation - in fact Colchester were pretty happy with the 250k price tag or whatever it was we paid - and weren''t too bothered about losing him. I think he''s been an absolute revelation - and i also don''t think he gets the credit he deserves. The manner in which he switches play is absolutely first class. He very rarely loses the ball and has a fantastic passing range. We''ve also seen he''s got a pretty good shot on him as well. He''s looked class since that opening day Watford defeat.And more recently, Tierney has been fantastic. For any left-back to keep Drury out in the way he has is testament to the fantastic performances he''s put in. Even in the Swansea and Watford games where we didn''t defend as well as usual, i feel he has been the one who has been consistent throughout. There''s very few crosses that come in from his side of the pitch - some of his hard-tackling has been fantastic as well. It''s been good to see him link up with Surman well when moving forward (who also had perhaps his best game for us yesterday) and i think his long throw is a good weapon to have in the armoury as well.Of course, we could then mention the likes of Crofts, Martin and of course Holt & Jackson...Whatever happens from here, this season has been absolutely fantastic!

[Harleston Canary 0]

Agree 100%. You have identified one of the key things that separates Lambert''s team from previous city squads, most obviously Roeder''s. Rather than sign players with a ''reputation'', but nothing to prove, he goes for hungry lower league players and manages them well. Seeing the coverage on Sky last night got me thinking about Dion again - one of the few recent pre-Lambert players to be consistently good for us. He was picked up as an out of contract ''has been(?)'' at the time and went on to be the cornerstone of our team.

There are many similarities between our squad and the one that Blackpool were promoted with last year. Did anyone really rate Charlie Adam or Gary Taylor-Fletcher before last year?

Whatever happens from now on - well done Lambert on your signings and your policy of giving people who want it a real chance to prove themselves.

[I am a Banana 0]

[quote user="Harleston Canary"]Well done Lambert on your signings and your policy of giving people who want it a real chance to prove themselves.[/quote]

[hogesar 9,658]

[quote user="I am a Banana"][quote user="Harleston Canary"]Well done Lambert on your signings and your policy of giving people who want it a real chance to prove themselves.[/quote][/quote][y]and havent they done just that!

[John 0]

The idea''s that encircle ''proven players'' are something that have always griped me, and it''s of great relief to me seeing Lambert rejecting it. After all, what has a ''proven'' player got to ''prove'' when playing football? The likes of Chris Iwelumo and Jason Scotland came out of very similar circumstances as Holt for one, at a very similar age, to become ''proven'' at this level, and up until that point they were anything but. You can guarantee in both cases arguments suggesting that Scotland and Iwelumo having reach the ages of 28/29 ''ish without having proven themselves at Championship level that they never would were rife; just as much as there was as on Holt at the beginning of the season amongst City fans. It''s the refusal of such notions that fuels these players on (as is evident in a range of interviews from the likes of Holt, R Martin, and Fox this season).It''s that burning refusal to sink before a career has reached it''s apex amongst every budding footballer looking up in the game that makes a player worth fielding on a football pitch. Glance at the late performances of Anotonie Sibierski or Thomas Helveg, and you begin to understand what a ''proven player'' means. For me it stands more as a derogatory term for the players deluded enough to believe they''ve "arrived" in a game where there is no station to stop at before retirement.The likes of Nottingham Forest, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, and Sheffield United have been damning their reliance on buying what is ''proven'', casting a green eye of envy at the performances of Swansea, Watford, Leeds, Reading, Millwall, and us, primarily composed by players who arrived at these respective clubs with a reputation that belied their talent.''Unproven players'' are what we want if we wish to prove ourselves; for with ''proven players'' you can be assured the club will reflect the stale careers that occupy it.

[Harleston Canary 0]

Well said.

Let''s not forget Holt was signed by Gunn, so a little nod to the big man there. I have to say though that it''s probably down to Lambert''s man management skills and installing him as captain, that has led to his performances over the last two seasons.

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

Good post, OP. It was particularly pleasing to see that there were no loan players in the starting eleven. Also nine of the starting eleven were Lambo buys.

[Salopian 1]

I think that PL seems to be the main motivator, but I would give Culverhouse credit on the coaching front and also in startegy/tactics.

I suspect that PL knows what Culverhouse contributes, and that is why he brought him with himself from Colchester. To some extent each would contribute less on his own with a different colleague.

[pete 319]

And Jackson starts to look the business.  Trust PL!

[grantroederdisaster 0]

For a start, none of our squad hat won League 1 by 9 clear points can be classed as average League 1 players otherwise we wouldn''t of won it!

[Yobocop 1,098]

I said this last week but happy to repeat myself, we actually only paid £50k for David Fox, an absolute smeggin bargain.

[hogesar 9,658]

[quote user="Give Peas a Chance "]I said this last week but happy to repeat myself, we actually only paid £50k for David Fox, an absolute smeggin bargain.[/quote]Did we really? Absolutely fantastic business if so...It would also imply that Colchester felt he was a nothing player who they were willing to lose! However, to be fair, i never really remember him standing out for Colchester....Since he''s came here though he''s become one of my favourite players!Reverting back to the proven / unproven discussion there is definately an argument for the need of both. We''ve done very very well this season - hungry unproven players have been the primary aim for us in the transfer market and its worked in leaps and bounds. At the same time, however, it''s important not to tie all ''proven'' players into the same category.For every Sibierski there''s an Earnshaw who consistently gets goals at this level - There''s midifelders who''ll put in a shift every match for 3 years or whatever at the same club at championship level. I think the issue with us has been pre-Lambert we''ve gone for some proven players, just the wrong ones. We''ve gone for ones who have proven themselves to the extent they have nothing to prove anymore - to themselves or anyone else.

[Bill 1,788]

Good thread with some excellent points

For my tuppence worth I would add the way players have seemingly fallen off the radar only to return in superb form. Who might have written off Surnam and Whitbread. Thought Jackson and McNamee (me) would never get back into the team. Fox looked to have been a mistake, early on.

Yes there have been those that fell by the wayside, but they were indentified as such very quickly and not played week after week to become ''hate figures'', but in general the last two years have demonstrated how important having the right managment structure in place is.

[Chunky Norwich 0]

Again, completely agree and with the poster who said about ''proven'' players. NCFC used to have a policy on buying players on the way down which only ever resulted in one thing but now we seem to be going for players on the way up.

I''d like to think I know a lot about football in this country (more than Steve "the header was from, er, Norwich''s top scorer, er, Simeon Jackson" Claridge) but I had never even heard of Crofts, Martin or Johnson before they signed and similarly for Fox (just knew about his free-kick in the 7-1) and Tierney ("I''ll never sign for Norwich"). Even players like Whitbread, Barnett and Surman whom I''d heard of, he''s plucked from the doldrums and revitalised them. Whitbread really does look like a class centre-half at the moment and can now see why he got the number 6 shirt ahead of Ward