I have now changed my mind about our main priority for January

[Jim Smith 2,317]

I am not sure who the player is or whether they are out there but if we can find one then I think our main priority has to be a strong central midfielder to protect the back four and enable us to play a more creative option alongside him.

I think our biggest problem at the moment is that we are deploying Crofts and Johnson in some games to give us more solidity when other teams have one player doing the same job. Having to play both of them means we have to do without more creative players. We either have to sacrifice Wes to play 4-4-2 in which case we can''t keep the ball and tend to lump it or we have to play the 4-5-1 which leaves Morison a touch exposed, especially if Crofts plays instead of Bennett. We also ironically leave the CB''s exposed at times as neither BJ or Crofts just sits in front of the back four and we therefore are getting caught on the break. Fox is the best at that role but I think Lambert feels he is not a good enough tackler/mobile enough to play there against the more fluid sides.

I also think Johnson''s performances have tailed off considerably since the early part of the season although he improved markedly on Saturday once Wes came on and he was able to sit at the base of the diamond and play simple passes.

I therefore feel that addressing this area migt make a huge difference to us, especially at home where there will be games when we want to play 2 up front plus Wes. I am unsure who might be out there who is in our range but maybe this is why we''ve been linked with Frimpong or alternatively Trotter at Millwall looks a good player when i see them.

I also hope we will be sniffing around Adomah in january to give us some more genuine pace in the squad.

All probably academic for next Saturday though as I would revert to the 4-2-3-1 formation of a few weeks ago.

 

[Canaries Utd 0]

Wouldn''t dare start another Maynard thread, so i''ll use yours Jim. With regards to midfeild I think we do need another midfeilder, i have my concerns over Fox and Surman, both have great feet, but to lightweight and slow, Fox very rarely runs with the ball.But i wanted to mention Maynard from Bristol, his contract is up at the end of the season, surely going to be wanted by many, but a good prospect?

[Canary_on_the Trent 0]

I think Lambert will look at bringing in players for all areas of the pitch. He certainly won''t be resting on his laurels.

Players from the Championship I''d look at are Jem Karacan & Nicky Maynard

[Jim Smith 2,317]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Wouldn''t dare start another Maynard thread, so i''ll use yours Jim. With regards to midfeild I think we do need another midfeilder, i have my concerns over Fox and Surman, both have great feet, but to lightweight and slow, Fox very rarely runs with the ball.

But i wanted to mention Maynard from Bristol, his contract is up at the end of the season, surely going to be wanted by many, but a good prospect?

[/quote]

 

Don''t disagree. we could do worse than lauch a double swoop on Bristol City. Whether they would sell both to us though is another matter and i suspect others might outbid us for Maynard.

[Salopian 1]

We need a central defender who makes few, if any, mistakes! They have all made mistakes which led to goals.

Whether any of them can improve in this respect, I''m not sure. De Laet looks very good, but then boobs. We are not sure how good Ward, Ayala and Whitbread might become, but they all showed weaknesses.

For the moment Barnett and Martin seem to have the places, the latter''s reading of a game and support for the quick Barnett, having been impressive. It was de Laet''s greater pace, however, which made PL keep Martin in the centre and play the Belgian at FB, I suspect.

If Barnett can develop his focus and concentration, then he could become very useful, but at the moment he is prone to mistakes.

One mistake per game by a defender is costing us.

I still think that another striker could be useful. Wilbraham is in the squad, but surely unlikely to step on the pitch, Martin has gone on loan, and Jackson for the moment doesn''t seem the answer.

We are left with the excellent Holt and Morison, and an injury-doubtful Vaughan, but the first two are very similar, and we need someone who can offer something different. I like the sound of Maynard!

[Skittles16 0]

Emnes from Boro wouldn''t be too shabby

[willo2 0]

I''m in the ''Strengthen midfield'' camp.Johnson is integral, but he cannot play at the tempo he does and not get injured/suspended. Fox is too lightweight, certainly for a 4 man midfield.There has been talk of Frimpong, we will need to shift a loanee, hope we buy Naughton, to get the Arsenal star. If not, someone like Trotter at Millwall would fit the bill. High energy and can score a goal or two. We have looked better 442, in my opinion. Gives us greater threat and ability to win games. I think Hoolahan coming on late when the game is stretched is a great tactic to have up our sleeve.I like Onouha at Man City, young with Prem experience and bags of pace, would be ideal for our defence.

[BarclayCanary (Former HDDH) 0]

I also think we need another midfielder to just hold the ball up and be able to slow the tempo of the game down if needs be.

Like Lansbury we had last season for example, personally I feelw e need Hoolahan in the team from the start.

I am glad I am not the manager as I have no clue as to what formation etc I would play.

Onwards and Upwards :D

OTBC!

[birchfest 397]

Snodgrass, McGugan and Vaughan back fit for me

[Bryangunnshairline 0]

Agree with the op. I look at spurs.. they play parker along side modric in a 442. If we had someone in the parker mould then we could play Wes along side him?

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]But i wanted to mention Maynard from Bristol, his contract is up at the end of the season, surely going to be wanted by many, but a good prospect?[/quote]

Maynard would add the pace we need up front and hopefully add to the goal power.

[Canaries Utd 0]

Oooooo... McGugan, good shout, especially with Forest highly unlikely to threaten the playoffs again.

[J.Warman 0]

what about if wee get rid of one of our loan players

(either buy them or send them back), and get tom huddlestone on loan, he is returning from injury in december i think, and harry redknapp will want him to return to match fitness, and i dont think huddlestone will get into the tottenham side anymore, as their midfield is so good.

so what about getting him on loan in january?

he is a fantastic passer and has got a hell of a shot on him, and he is definatly strong enough to play a holding role in our midfield.

just thought i would put my idea out there.

[Type 95 0]

[quote user="Bryangunnshairline"]Agree with the op. I look at spurs.. they play parker along side modric in a 442. If we had someone in the parker mould then we could play Wes along side him?[/quote]I see your point, but Spurs play a sort of 4-4-1-1 with Van Der Vaart behind Adebayor, and Hoolahan is more like a VDV type player, more advanced than the CM position. It''s a tough one, it really is. I''d like the diamond to be used or tried more, it worked at Villa for the opening 20 until BJ was taken off. Not sure who would play where to be honest, maybe a midfield 4 of BJ defensive, Pilks left, Crofts right, and Hoolahan in the hole behind Holt and Morro. Plenty of attacking options, Crofts and Pilkington to get back often also.To be honest, I can see why Bennett was dropped, but I really like him, and would love him to be in the team. I feel he does do a lot defensively to help out Naughton (or whoever is at right back) and I feel he should be more confident about going on runs/shooting more.If only we could play a 5-6-2 formationRuddyNaughton, De Laet, Barnett, Martin, TierneyBennett, Fox, Crofts, BJ, PilkingtonHoolahanHolt, Morison. That would be nice. [:)]

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Hoolahan is more like David Silva if we''re playing that game. He usually has 2 outlets in front of him. I think it suits Wes better to have it that way. Van Der Vaart is a different build and more direct and powerful rather than clever and full of tricks.

Pilkington has to start at the moment, he''s been the difference on enough occasions so far.

It''s a real conundrum up front, i''d want to start Holt, but i would Morison too, just not together, everyone see what i mean?

I think with Man City, it gives us a go to try something a bit different.

I think Johnson and Crofts should play, to attempt to make the game ugly, and then we should try and exploit their marauding full backs with a bit of width.

I''d be tempted to give Morison a break, get holt back for a game on his own up top like this

Johnson

Crofts

Bennett

Wes

Pilks

Holt

I think in January, we need to look at a quick and clever striker, as it looks like Vaughans fitness can''t be relied on, a midfielder like VDV with a bit of quality and a bit of strength and a Centre Back with prem experience but still with the physical aspects needed. Whether this fits the budget or not, i''m not sure.

[Bryangunnshairline 0]

I prefer us in a diamond and I can see Holt and morison play together. My point about spurs was that modric used to play off the striker but has now moved back into midfield and is doing a great job. I see a lot of Wes in how he plays. But if I''m honest Wes is by far at his best in a diamond.

[smooth 114]

I am with bghairline, Morison and Holt can play together and in fact will cause the cultured Man City defenders problems, they won''t like being hastled. I was in favour of starting Jackson but if we can get the ball in early I would still say G. Holt would get on the end of it whoever the defender is.

That is what we need to do get the ball in the box for Morison and Holt.

Maybe try Hoolahoops on the left and Pilky on the right. I think as one other poster said it is a game where we can go for it and put out a team/ system probably they are not prepared for.

In regard to the midfield position, it is a leader in the midfield or at centre back that is needed. Frimpong does his talking on the field, but I wonder if a more experienced head is needed. However I can''t put a name forward, although Frimpong looks impressive and could be a great addition.

Maynard end of his contract sure people will be putting bids in, a number of the names listed here are good, young, hungry players in the championship proving there worth.

January transfer window is going to exciting.

[MAJESTIC 0]

I am not sure who the player is or whether they are out there but if we can find one then I think our main priority has to be a strong central midfielder to protect the back four and enable us to play a more creative option alongside him.

I think our biggest problem at the moment is that we are deploying Crofts and Johnson in some games to give us more solidity when other teams have one player doing the same job. Having to play both of them means we have to do without more creative players. We either have to sacrifice Wes to play 4-4-2 in which case we can''t keep the ball and tend to lump it or we have to play the 4-5-1 which leaves Morison a touch exposed, especially if Crofts plays instead of Bennett. We also ironically leave the CB''s exposed at times as neither BJ or Crofts just sits in front of the back four and we therefore are getting caught on the break. Fox is the best at that role but I think Lambert feels he is not a good enough tackler/mobile enough to play there against the more fluid sides.

I also think Johnson''s performances have tailed off considerably since the early part of the season although he improved markedly on Saturday once Wes came on and he was able to sit at the base of the diamond and play simple passes.

I therefore feel that addressing this area migt make a huge difference to us, especially at home where there will be games when we want to play 2 up front plus Wes. I am unsure who might be out there who is in our range but maybe this is why we''ve been linked with Frimpong or alternatively Trotter at Millwall looks a good player when i see them.

I also hope we will be sniffing around Adomah in january to give us some more genuine pace in the squad.

All probably academic for next Saturday though as I would revert to the 4-2-3-1 formation of a few weeks ago.

who?

these sort of players cost some serious paper not that many i can think of that could do better,,but i know what you are saying.i would stay well clear of adomah plays cracking now and than but we need to aim a bit higher now.

[Well I Never 0]

How accurate is the Frimpong rumour?

Would be great to see him in on loan and maybe Snodgrass too. Also a Maynard type to coincide with the return of Vaughn. Providing our horror injury run with defenders improves, that would be a strong squad.

[Well I Never 0]

*buying Snodgrass, I mean.

[star_manic 0]

[quote user="Bryangunnshairline"]I prefer us in a diamond and I can see Holt and morison play together. My point about spurs was that modric used to play off the striker but has now moved back into midfield and is doing a great job. I see a lot of Wes in how he plays. But if I''m honest Wes is by far at his best in a diamond.[/quote]......i can''t see PL playing the diamond in this league. it leaves the full backs more exposed and every team has speedy widemen, but like you this is the best system for wes, who in my opinion has not been very good lately, so maybe a rest last saturday will refresh him.

[ZLF 274]

We can do with a little extra pace throughout the side; perhaps more in moving the ball than raw speed.

my order of preference is centre back, centre midfield (or fox gaining consistency!) & a wide player as a back up to Pilkington/Bennett - putting them on off means a full formation change when sometimes just more of the same and fresh legs is all that is needed

[Yobocop 1,097]

Jimmy Kebe, Patrick Van Anholt (sp?) and Carlos Teves (craig bellamy style loan)