If you look back on our board to comments before the Wigan game almost every post seemed to suggest a midfield including Pilks and a lot with Bennett (who I think has been very impressive in recent weeks) to give us the width many of us thought was sadly lacking yesterday. PL is doing a fantastic job but I do think that sometimes he tinkers too much and doesn't always play our strongest team, just a team he feels can do a job for that particular match which is slightly different. If it works (which it has for a significant number of games this year) then he looks like a tactical genius but sometimes such as v Sunderland or Stoke or yesterday it can look like he simply picks the wrong tactics and players. For us to win in the PL we have to be pretty much firinig on all cylinders - we do not have the players of Man U or City who can play at 80% and still be better than most opponents. Any slight error in judgement by PL (and regardless of our high regard of him he doesn and will continue to have them) is magnified as we do not have the squad to give him the luxury of bringing a £10m player off the bench to change a game. We need to accept that we cannot play our best 11 week in and week out due to injuries and fatigue (I know in the 60's & 70's people played 42 games a season and got kicked in the air then worked a shift in a second job and didn't complain but times have changed) so I think that PL has to marshall his resources as best as he can. I am sure he felt that he had enough ability on the pitch to turn Wigan over and rest the likes of Pilks/Johnson/Howson. Sadly this was not the case but at least we held on for a point and deprived Wigan of two which is another nail in their coffin.
in lambert's 'tinkering' defence, we don't really have a strongest first team at the moment. that can be viewed either way as good or bad but he mixes it up because the players in our squad are all quite similar ability-wise. he therefore also needs to keep them happy. plus we know he loves his tactics being altered during games and the flexibility it offers him. i think next season might see us get a slightly more settled starting 11 if we bring in three or four better players than what we have now
I wonder which players PL has in mind to ship out in the summer in order to bring in new faces. I fear for the 'king of Spain' and Leon Barnett IMO
I reckon Barnett, Chris Martin, Lappin and Crofts will be sold with Korey and Adeyemi (among others) out on loan again.
who will sell will depend on some part who we can get in to replace them, and what contract periods these players have left. these are the likely players
As much as I love our little Wessi, I agree. If we play him we're forced to either play the diamond or a 4-4-1-1 formation as he isn't anywhere near as effective as a wide man or a central midfielder and unfortunately in this division you can't afford to limit yourselves that much. As for the boos at the end of the game, I think a lot of them were aimed at the ref as he had a truly crap performance yesterday and seemed determined to give everything he could against us. Finally, Canary Call. Always listen to it on the way home from games and have always gotten annoyed with the same 'fans' coming on who haven't been to the game but have decided we were rubbish purely from the commentary. However, this season there is an added annoyance, Rob Butler. He spends all his time telling every caller he sits in the snake pit and then twists their words. For example, yesterday a woman came on and said would all the people coming on and complaining like to see the manager sacked based on a couple of loses because that's what some of them sounded like they wanted. Rob Butler then turned that into she wanted Paul Lambert sacked. He then got stroppy someone tweeted something along the lines of 'a few idiots boo at the end of the game and Rob Butler manages to turn it into sack Paul Lambert' Bring back Chris Goreham, Neil Adams and Matthew Gudgeon.
I believe differently. I think we should live in the now and 3 points was the priority Sunday not sparing someones feelings. Every game should be a Cup Final. Strongest team out and go for the win, home or away. Next season will be decided then and how the players perform will decide if they are here next year. And PL won't admit we're safe yet so why change just to give someone a game and risk losing points. A professional player knows the score. There are a certain amount of players and the best should be picked first, the better will be on the subs bench and the not so best will be reserves. I know its not quite as simple as that but I do get fed up hearing about resting players, squad rotation etc. Please explain to me how Sundays midfield was selected on merit. How had that four become the best midfield to beat Wigan. We've got to get out of this small Norwich syndrome. We need to move on from the gratitude for every unexpected point and feeling thankful that we are in the presence of top clubs and lucky to be taking them on. We are doing it on merit.
And I'm getting tired of the "be grateful" attitude. Every time the media covers us its "7-1 to Colchester" "players from lower leagues" " hungry" "sleepy Norfolk" "real adventure for the fans". Patronising we don't need, popularity we don't need. Respect we've already earned. We played Manu (not the rugby player) off the park for long periods so we're good enough. Its not a fairy tale, we are a half decent team 14 points clear of relegation. 40+ points we will earn by the end of the season and it will be on merit because we beat those teams at that time. If we play badly for the rest of the season its our fault and bad performances and not "been punching above their weight".
Was mostly the usuall numb skulls, but one or two did pick up on the boo boys ! Which i just couldnt understand at the final whistle, rant a bit and grumble to the bloke next to you maybe, but DON'T boo ! Not if you want PL to stay ?
Excellent post, Redruth Every club lives or dies by the sword - if you need to experiment, there are friendlies, reserve games or a training ground. A full house on match day deserves full commitment from the management, players and fans - (so don't boo a Premier League home draw as it's a point gained on the survival mission )
@redruthyella. Who said anything about "sparing players' feeling"? I certainly didn't. It is a fact that good man management is a massive factor in the success of any team; also that an element of squad rotation is essential. Both have played a huge part in getting us where we are. I agree that "how the players perform will decide whether they are here next year", but to perform well or badly they have to be given first team exposure. On the question of "small team mentality", the only form of it that concerns me is when it is in the players' minds. "Small" teams play well against the big boys but then slip up against more modest teams. This is something that City teams have often suffered from in the past.
Maybe I chose the wrong words. What I mean is these guys are professional footballers. If Grant Holt was sold tomorrow he would see that as business and celebrating in front of the home supporters of his new club when he scores. Its the club that is the first concern. If that means staying in the Prem because thats the way it is with money etc then so be it. That means you have to pick the best team every game as Wigan showed there are no push overs. If a player is dropped or left out for long spells then thats they way it is. If they have to be sold, thats the way it is. They aren't family pets, they are bought and sold to play for our club. I know that sounds callous but I only care about NCFC. None of these lads were born when I was standing on railway sleepers in the pouring rain at Northampton in the 60's watching the worst game I've ever seen.
Have to admit when I saw the line-up before the game I was very happy with it and was glad Lambo was trying the diamond out again, and if playing the diamond then that four has to be the best option if you ask me. Fox simply has to be in it, and as has been pointed out on other threads he doesn't play well with Bradley Johnson (who also appears worryingly out of form) so he wasn't going to start. Surman has been playing brilliantly and can play the left-side of the diamond as good as anyone we have on his day, and you also need another engine who can put a tackle in there and that was Crofts - who I actually though did ok. Pilks and Bennett don't fit into a diamond - unless played at the tip, but I thought Wes had a good game in that role - so were never going to start in the formation that Lambert (and me!) had decided was the best one to beat Wigan. As it turned out our lack of width was exploited by Moses and Maloney and we have to concede that on the day Martinez ultimately won the tactical battle after tinkering with the way they'd set-up before we did
i think the point is, we don't actually have a best starting XI. lambert's man-management is a key factor why we have done so well, along with his tactical nous. he has alternative formations which include different players so that they play to their strengths but also lambert has to keep a group of players who are all fairly similar in ability happy and he has done well to do that, but i'm pretty sure thats obvious to everyone
Agreed they are not family pets, redruth, but it would surely be counter-productive for any employing club to consider them simply mercenaries and commodities. It's not a matter of callousness or whatever, it is sound practical sense and in the best interests of the employing club to make sure players want to play for it, and, while they do, for each other. Same applies in business, or any institution. As I see it, caring about the club involves caring about its players to the extent that, and in ways that, maximise their contribution to the club.
I saw commitment on Sunday, I also saw some pretty tame performances, Surman was not on his game, and sorry Sid, but for me Hoops lost the ball on too many occasions, plus he seemed to run out of ideas, picking the ball up, running forward, stopping turning round, then getting swamped, for me to say he had anything other than a average game. Great goal though! What I think confuses a lot of supporters, is how can we play one of the best teams in the world (ManU) off the park one week, then really struggle against a potentially relegated team? There's a lot of negativity amongst the fans at the moment, coming out of the ground on Sunday I lost count of the times I heard, "if they can't play better than that then I'm not coming again". It's very dissappointing to hear that from supporters, but I'm not making it up. I get a bit fed up with the "don't you remember where we were 3 years ago brigade", we aren't there anymore, we're in the big pond now, with the big boys and doing pretty well, but I'm afraid whether you like it or not, expectations match our new position and we're bound to be dissappointed from time to time, so onward and upward, keep the faith. ILD OTBC
i saw commitment too. poor old wes and jackson could barely walk for the last ten minutes but still gave everything they had left in the tank. the players looked a bit tired i thought overall but they did a lot of chasing as wigan were good in possession. fans have to understand that our players are having a remarkable season! and thats on top of the amazing two years prior to this. thats where people mustn't forget where we've come from. agree we shouldn't just be happy to lose and think, well, at least its not tranmere or whoever', but our players are not expected to beat every team we play. i simply cannot fathom why these negative comments are appearing. was it simply down to the perceived weakness of the opposition, because if it was, thats stupid.
Martinez should have signed the Yak at the start of the season! Speaking of Martinez, I admire that guy. Principled, clean, straight-speaking and his teams play football. If Wigan do go down, I think they'll bounce straight back up.
