If we went up to the prem and hyperthetically Dalglish came in for Lambert and he wanted to go to his hometown club. the only deal on the table is a swap deal with Andy Carroll. would you be pleased or disappointed. Quite simply Lambert - aged 30 - cost £1 million - 24 goals from 35 games this season - no experiance above championship Carroll - aged 23 - cost £34 million - 3 goals from 15 games this season -(in total for liverpool 8 goals from 46 games, all comp) premier league experiance and england international who would you want
Lambert at the moment because he brings so much to the team and does wonders for team confidence as well, but a couple of years down the line I suppose we should go for a younger player. But not necessarily Carroll.
Taking wages into account? If so, there are a great many players I'd rather have than Carroll on a reported 80k a week.
I love Lambert but think Caroll would be better prospect for the future, under Nigel he would get his confidence and fitness right and shine for us for many years. Lambert has without doubt done a splendid job for us but if his form is taking him past Caroll at the moment. Rickie now stands as a Southampton Legend though and if he does a job in the Premiership he'll further prove his worth as a legend.
Lambert's the better player right now, and the way you've phrased the question there's only one answer! But Carroll, if he gets his off-field habits under control, would be a pretty incredible signing for us. People seem to have forgotten what a good player he was at Newcastle. It would be tough to see Lambert go but I think Carroll would be as good a replacement as we'd find, and he has a much longer shelf-life. Having said that it's a pretty unlikely scenario!
If this were to be a deal that were seriously proposed, I can only see it being a player plus cash swap. I think Carroll + £15M for Lambert would be about right On a serious note, Carroll needs some "on the bus" lovin' and he'll be the monster that he was at Newcastle again in no time. A great, great prospect if managed properly.
Carroll showed the world in the Carling Cup Final what a limited skill-set he has. He tries to play the same sort of game that Rickie plays, target man plus attacking midfield, but in that game failed to create or achieve anything. He did get an assist but it was the sort of situation where Rickie would have scored himself. Rickie, on the other hand, continues to go from strength to strength. His value to us has risen steadily since we paid £1 million in August 2009, and now must be well above the £12 million plus add-ons we got for Oxo. If, and I have every confidence that he will, he takes to the Premier League like he has taken to every other league he has played in, he will be priceless. His only downside is that he can only have 3 or 4 years left at the very most, but by then we will have other strikers coming through from the academy. Carroll for Rickie? You're surely having a laugh!
I would take Carol Vorderman over Andy Caroll to be fair. Lambert all the way. Also Andy Carroll allegedly likes too much of a party, surely our young talent conveyor belt would not take such an influence!!
No point in asking this, it's like asking am I better then Slash at playing the guitar. Anyways Lambert anyday .
For those with a long memory I'd like to refer to a player called Derek Dougan in making my comparisons with Rickie. Here was a very good footballer but due to altercations with managers found himself playing in the 3rd tier of English football in 1965. Leicester, then in the top tier bought him before subsequently selling him on to Wolves where he enjoyed possibly the best years of his career. For the past three years Rickie Lambert has been awesome for us - how he ended up playing in the lower reaches for many a year, only Rickie can answer that. From my observations right now Rickie is a superior player in every facet of the game to Andy Carroll and should be picked for this summer's Euros. As for the future, he himself has realised he has been given the opportunity to play at the highest level. I am sure he will be a success in the Premiership. He is only 30. If we think of the age of some players - Giggs, Scholes, Drogba, Lampard, - I am certain he can play at the top level until he is 35. As for Carroll I think he is a player of enormous potential but needs to get his attitude sorted out. Perhaps a spell in the doldrums might wake him up.
older players only loose speed- well rickie has never had that. he is a clever player, has good vision, a hammer blow with either foot and has now added mobility to his game. he will stay at the same level or get slightly better over the next 4-5 years, so i say rickie and then he can teach the kids
fully agree with most comments - personally i would rather have lambert next year than Carroll. only really used him as an example due to his massive price tag which was only just over a year ago. about a £33 million difference between them in their last transfer fees as for age i believe teddy sherringham scored his last premier league goal in dec 2006 at over the age of 40, so who knows what Rickie could offer for a few years
Oh wouldn't it be great if he was still banging them in at 40! He would, by then, of course have beaten Mick Channon's goalscoring record for Saints, which would be the seal on his immortality.
Have any of you actually closely watched AC? I have of late, simply because I wanted to understand why he is failing to do anything for Liverpool. Seriously, the guy has no sense of positioning, wanders along the defensive line aimlessly and is always reactive to situations – anticipation simply does not appear in his psychology. Neither does he graft for his team mates, he will not attempt to close down defenders when they have the ball; in my 40+ years of following football; I am hard pressed to recall of footballer with such low intellect matched with questionable work-ethic. The reason why he is not scoring goals is because he does not work hard enough for it; off and on the pitch. Effort will never replace a natural strikers ability to score goals but working at it will bear results. Strangely, his manager was a consummate finisher, who made up for his lack of pace by having great anticipation and movement. Finally, I have huge admiration for NA – but I believe he might struggle to sort out AC.
