Afternoon fellow yellas! I have been trying to second guess what Lambert's starting 11 will be for our opener against Wigan. With Pilkington not being match fit and recent knocks for Ward and Vaughan it has made my prediction slightly easier, this is what I think he will go for... RUDDY R.MARTIN BARNETT DE LAET TIERNEY JOHNSON BENNETT SURMAN HOOLAHAN HOLT JACKSON Over the coarse of the season I feel that there are 3 main positions under threat. Assuming we stick with the diamond formation I believe there are 3 positions under threat and by the end of the season I expect that NAUGHTON will have replaced R.MARTIN, PILKINGTON will be favoured to SURMAN and VAUGHAN will be have formed a formidable partnership with Holty! I know this is very open to interpretation and will change considerably throughout the season depending upon injuries, suspensions, tactical changes for whom we're playing, but nevertheless it would be interesting to know what your thoughts are. NaaaridgeBoy
slightly controversial but i reckon r.martin and hoolahan will start on the bench... ruddy; naughton, barnett, de laet, tierney; fox; johnson, surman; bennett; holt, morison
Good shout Superman, the only adjustment I would make would be a back 4 of Naughton, Barnett, Whitbread, de Laet with Tierney on the bench.
Hmmm, its a tuffy this is! i feel so sorry for poor old lambert but hes dug himself into a hole now... I would go for this. ruddy naughton de laet barnett tierney johnson bennett surman hoolahan morison holt with the service that bennett and surman could produce from the wings and hoolahans creativity in the whole behind the strikers thats how i would think we would line up, me personally though would start fox in for johnson but i dont think that will happen...
the problem with that team is that neither bennett nor surman would be able to play out wide in a diamond. you have to have at least one of those two who will drop deep and central or we would get massively over run. you could play one of them alongside either crofts, johnson or fox, but not both. it simply wouldn't work
Evening Dave Diamond formation Ruddy R. Martin Tierney De Laet Barnett Fox (base) Crofts Surman Hoolahan (tip) Holt Jackson Not much change from last season for me. Maybe Morison/Wilbraham will be in place of Jackson and Johnson in place of Surman.
There's rumours crofts is injured... Guess I'll see Wednesday... Apart from that Ruddy Martin. Barnett. Delaet. Tierney Barnett Johnson hoolahan Surman Holt. Morrison Looks good to me, but who knows. Can't wait though.
Interesting thoughts. Superman, I appreciate your concerns with regards to being overrun, however, I understand Bennett is also very sound defensively (I believe he provided good cover at RB for Brighton). Also, if Johnson is preferred over Fox I believe he would provide better cover than Fox. I have no doubt that Lambert will play with what he believes is his strongest eleven, therefore he will be very ruthless and those that helped us gain promotion could lose their place in the team almost immediately. We certainly have strength in depth and the manager has some welcomed tricky decisions to make in deciding his preferred eleven (and to be honest it will be extremely difficult choosing the best bench too!).
RBF would love to join the line-up predictions! Please put me down, i'll keep my eyes open for the thread. Thanks
The problem is, its fair enough saying that the 11 that got us there deserve there chance, but to me we need our best 11 players who can play together on the field and the reason we shouldn't hesitate in such a decision is cause we are facing a team that we no doubt will be battling against come the end of the season, this is the type of game we must pick up points in..
Last Season, Wigan opened at home with a 4-0 defeat to Blackpool who attacked them with pace. I fancy Jackson, Bennett and Hoolahoop to do this this year.
I feel a few players from the end of last season shouldn't be dropped - continuing the winning mentality from last season. I would go for a 4-4-2 diamond. Ruddy R. Martin whitbred de laet tierney Fox Crofts Bennett (tough choice ahead of surman) Holt Jackson
Boy the midfield is tough so Im gonna leave that one! Defence of ruddy, tierney, de laet, Barnett and R Martin Up front holt and Morrison for me
Its a brilliant problem as we have a squad of quality players now, the first time i ve ever seen such a promising squad starting a new season.
i think ruddy naughton, barnet, de laet, teirney crofts, johnson, bennett, wes hoolahan holt, morrison
The place where there is most uncertainty for me is the defence, I expect de Laet will be included simply because we will need his pace, but I'd actually punt for Whitbred ahead of Barnett based just on performances in the pre-season, and when Ward come back you can't discount him simply because he is out main aerial threat. On that same line, I think it will probably be Naughton ahead of Rusty because he has looked more dangerous pre-season. I'm not really sure Tierney will be able to come forwards with much effect in the Premier League, but as long as he isn't hopelessly out of his depth then he will have to play they, as he seems to be first choice ahead of Drury. Something I should add is that Lambert has tried playing Lappin (again) and K Smith as full-backs a few times in the pre-season, and I don't know if he'll try it in the actual league but the guy does seem to always be looking for ways to get more attacking from his team, so don't be too surprised if we line up a 3-4-3 with Korey and Lappin!
