danceoftheshamen

What about "Doing the Lambert Walk"?

Well we just about scraped survival last season by 2 points :shock: & since then we have lost or are about to sell by all accounts Hutton.....Cuellar....Collins.....Warnock ..........Makoun......Heskey......Petrov Then if we add in the injuries we currently have: Hutton....Cuellar....Collins....Dunne....Warnock Albrighton.....Holman....Petrov....Gabby ........................Heskey Then look at the replacements thus far: Lowton ......Vlaar ............KEA..........Holman So for me we badly need more because as it stands We are looking at a line up along the lines of: Lowton......Vlaar.....Clark......?????? ....................KEA Nzog.....Delph.....Ireland.....Bannan ....................Bent Just looks a bit light on experience for me so Bottom 6 as it stands but with improvement as new signings come in & injuries ease up etc... I see a slow start but with things picking up as the season progresses & if & when new signings arrive/players adjust to the pace/injuries ease etc.

Just been weighing up this transfer window thus far IN KEA Holman Lowton Vlaar Guzan (Return) OUT Cuellar Heskey Collins Guzan Makoun (by the looks) Effectively lost Petrov That's effectively 5 in & 5 out if you include the loss of Petrov. Then by all accounts Makoun is finally off too which would make 6 outs. I am very happy with the new players & they do look decent, however the concern has to be that when compared to the players who have departed they are effectively rookies in the Premiership. So really we have lost some of our most seasoned campaigners, especially with Heskey, Collins, Petrov & Cuellar only to have replaced them with unknown quantities who will surely need time to adjust etc? Does anyone else think this is rather risky? Add to that the loss of Gabby & Dunne & it's pretty scary stuff. The only really experienced players we have left are Bent, Warnock, Given, Nzogbia & Ireland.. All bar Bent & SI players who have hardly set the World on fire lately. Then we have the young players who are still learning their craft in Clark, Bannan, Delph, Guzan, Herd, Lichaj, Baker, etc etc & the new signings who are basically untried. The first 6 games are crucial so far as i'm concerned as we are severely lacking experience. I see an interesting season ahead but with a few hidings along the way.. Another couple of signings are crucial in my opinion & our season hinges on how well & how quickly the new signings adapt as well as how well the youngsters progress..

Really cannot see Dempsey coming here at all... Good player though. As for being ready for the season? Well it appears midfield is better but we still lack striking options & creativity for me. An injury to Bent & we are really struggling.....again. Having said this i am sure PL will be doing everything possible to rectify the situation... He must see it so will be interesting to see who he brings in.... New LB is surely essential as is another option in attack.

The only problem is if that 20 goal a season striker gets injured...As we found out for the second half of last season which very nearly resulted in us getting relegated.....So the quicker we get back up the better

SOLD :shock:

It is not as if we have pushed the financial boat out with any of the signings this season? I am not putting stock in one newspaper article, but neither would I bet my house that this would not happen. Neither would i put my house on it Macandally... The players purchased have merely replaced other players who were on higher wages. Lowton - Cuellar Vlaar - Collins Guzan - simply resigned Then we have strengthened Midfield with the Aussie & KEA but have released Heskey & most likely Makoun. I think we have done well with all that i have to say but looking at it from Randy's viewpoint it's all necessary work but with the overall effect of lowering wages. Could be read in different ways i guess but when you look at the last 3 seasons combined it could easily appear that the club was being prepared for a sale. Look at it this way.. we have hardly been building for a challenge for trophies now have we!

Still think it highlights that we have a lack of creativity & as it stands i think we will struggle to score goals. looking at our pre season results they have hardly been laden with goals.. Sounds like the Forest performance which i couldn't attend was very similar to the Burton one which i did manage. lots of possession at the back but lacking penetration? Still PL seems happy enough which is good news i guess. Still will be much happier when we have some back up for Bent, a new LB & some more creativity on top of Ireland & Nzogbia.

There are 3 possibilities in this story 1. It's just a newspaper "sensational" story designed to flog more papers. 2. Bearing in mind the timing of it & the fact it's a London tabloid it could well be written or conceived by a West Ham fan intent on unsettling us as much as possible ahead of the season opener against them. 3. The story is correct & somebody connected that the reporter has links to (not uncommon with reporters obviously) has actually been told something & Lerner really is giving up on Sporting ventures altogether & looking for a buyer.

Well firstly i am not bothered by the Forest defeat today... It happens & they start back the week before us too so should be ahead in their fitness, which may be something to do with why we flagged in the last 15 mins. As for the season I will, as many have posted above, also be happy with watching better football & seeing proper commitment from the players. I will be delighted to see us play minus Heskey (Bless him) I fully expect us to win a few, lose a few & draw not so many :| I also fully expect it to be approaching the end of October before we really start to see how well the new signings are coping & have gelled. So i expect several draws & even a few humiliations up until then with a few wins to boot but with further work being done in January i really don't expect much at all until the following season. So long as we avoid a relegation scrap i am reasonably happy so long as we can see clear progress.

It really is odd with Warnock... I remember when we signed him my mate (a Blackburn fan) was absolutely gutted.. He was their player of the season...But since Houllier came here & he was ousted he has been abysmal or occasionally ok too. Very odd... Is it actually possible for a player to forget how to play the game?

I don't want Sturridge if i'm honest.. watched him for team GB the other night & OMG he was dire... I know he scored but really he couldn't miss & that was the only decent thing he did all game aside from hog possession never pass & mess up several promising position due to his selfish play.

Still think we lack creativity & a decent goalscorer aside from Bent, who it seems is being rather dogged by injuries of late. I just worry where our goals are going to come from if (or more likely "when") Bent gets injured. In midfield i still worry about our creativity. Ok we have SI & to a point Bannan but for me we still lack creativity. Our wingers are unpredictable too it has to be said. On the positive side i love the look of KEA & Lowton, am happy with Vlaar (though have yet to see him play of course) & delighted that Guzan resigned as for me we always seem more secure at the back with him in there. To be fair to AMC the Aussie looks decent too. So New striker New Midfieilder, New winger New CB dependent on Dunne's form Oh & LB region is not sorted yet either of course.

This sounds like utter nonsense... Why on earth would we build Brad up as competing for the 1st team jersey & then loan him out allowing Given to steal a march on him?

I used to be a season ticket holder for the Holte from 1979 onwards & well it was awesome then up until the seating of course which kinda ruined it very quickly. These Health & safety nonces need a check up from the neck up as they have ruined the atmosphere at football... I was at the Burton game where it was primarily terracing & well the atmosphere from the Villa fans was better in my opinion than what i have witnessed at Villa Park for years. When i went up against Swansea last season the Holte end really was the quietest & worst i have ever heard it...utterly like a library as the Swansea fans correctly pointed out.. Ok we played "McCleish" football but nonetheless it put me off going again all season. So for me why not 1. Petition the club to re train the stewards to stop being such idiots & ruining the game on behalf of a few boring old cronies who don't like atmosphere. 2. Introduce the safe standing area & then try to expand it year on year as possible. 3. Ask the club to advertise the main sections of the Holte as only suitable for the more vocal fans... Basically push the library dwellers to the front & sides. Surely this must be possible? 4. Only issue season tickets for those area's on the premise that it will be the vocal part of the stand so if they don't like it buy elsewhere in the ground. 5. Have the Ultra's given the main area..i.e central upper Holte.. I guess as a members only area or something... For me get this area full of passionate fans & it will spread forwards & outwards. Thats all i can think of at the mo but something needs to be done thats for sure... The whole buzz about going to Villa was because of the brilliant atmosphere of the Holte... Now thats gone it's kinda dull now.

Tough one... Looks like PL wanted to meet Vlaar to see what kind of character he is etc?. But PL has, by the look of it, other irons in the fire too maybe? From the info that has been released it looks like we didn't actually make a definate offer for Vlaar just asked to meet him?.. In which case, surely they have jumped to conclusions over in Holland?.. Or have i misread something? So i doubt these "hurry it up" noises coming out from Feyenoord will have gone down too well with PL. Obviously they must be anxious to get it done with the Champs League fast approaching etc but if no deal was agreed then surely this is jumping the gun somewhat? Having said that it does appear that maybe there is a strict policy of no players in for positions we already have covered unless one of them leaves first?... All i can say is good flipping luck if we are waiting for MON to buy Collins/Warnock or whoever as he doesn't do business until the last day of the window. You can kind of see why he does that now too... He waits for other teams to do their buying thus leaving themselves overladen with players & therefore desperate to offload them on the last day for a reduced price... So for me if MON is involved we should say buy now or forget it pal! Otherwise it leaves PL in the position of having to wait until it is way too late to buy... That for me is MON's game.... Forcing the other club to buy first then waiting until the last day before bidding thus forcing that club into a corner & having to then reduce asking price or be stuck with the player & a huge wage bill!

Aha!.. Thats the blighter! He's the one i was thinking of Stevo!..

I stand corrected (& ill informed ) Dunno where that came from :oops: Still i don't think we are bad in the youth department

Could of sworn i heard some mention of him being a schoolboy with us or something? :? Maybe i was mistaken?... Anyhow granted even if he was it's kind of not right to include him i guess.... So i will delete him from the post.

Ok just for the record, & in no way am i refuting the higher quality of Feyenords Youth system over ours.. But we did produce Gary Cahill (Current England international), Darius Vassell (former England international), Gabby (Has been in England squad before now)..Then Ok Gareth Barry to a point & of course we have several who are still to reach their true height in Bannan, Weimann, Clark, Carruthers, etc although jury is still out on many of these guys... So credit where it's due we ain't all that bad... So we have 4 England internationals 1 x current Chelsea star & several other established Premier league players too.. Plus of course half the current Villa side with others coming through So we ain't doing bad. Liking the sound of Vlaar too.. Hope it's done soon..

^^ Agree with this... Owen would be ideal back up for Bent or as another option if we needed to push for a goal etc.. After all have we all forgotten what happened to our attack once Bent got injured last term? 0 wins i believe? & hardly any goals? Wages is of course the issue however & i can see him ending up at one of West Ham, who appear to be going for any big name they can get hold of regardless of wages (A habit they appear not to have learned from since the last time they were in the Prem) or Southampton, who appear to think they are now akin to Manchester United for some bizarre reason... The other places would be Reading or QPR who both appear eager to buy anyone who moves again regardless of wages. (Nathanial Clyne being the case in point as i think he is one of those Lambert was critisizing for being greedy?)

In all honesty, & i only speak for myself here of course, any story that i now see with the old "Spurs,West Ham, Everton & Villa" or similar are "all after this & that player", intro to it i competely ignore. It is clearly just a complete load of tosh made up by a newspaper to try & generate mass sales. We see it week in week out & it's always something along the lines of all us mid level Prem clubs are "vying for the signature of so & so" or Sunderland, (the new current fave as MON is there) are about to pip us to this or that player etc... BORING! & i just don't fall for it anymore whatsoever.. I have to ask, out of the players we have bought, which one of those clubs were also linked? Sunderland? Nope! Spurs? Nope! In fact none of them..

Vlaard the impaler... I.E DRACULA :shock: He will suck the life out of opposition forwards.. I'm off to buy me a Ray Reardon wig & have my fangs elongated

Was at the game today... good Villa following for a friendly... Thought first half we were quite poor but that was surely always going to happen with 3 new players half the reserves & a sprinkling of 1st teamers? We did look disjointed in that half & lacked threat badly particularly considering the opposition. Thought Enda Stevens looked a bit out of his depth in all honesty.. Midfield looked more energetic i felt just severely lacked creativity & that is my main concern... Also our crossing was utterly abysmal time after time & whilst i can understand rustiness to a point i found it rather too poor too often for professional Premier League footballers. Burton scored a good goal so nothing to worry too much about there as it was simply unstoppable. Second half was better.. much better in fact & we hardly gave the home side a look in but again just lacked a threat up front & looked really powder puff. We need a presence in the box in my opinion as Bent has literally no scraps to feed off. Time after time crosses came over but were dealt with really easily by the home defence. So to surmise: Enda Stevens = not ready Warnock = same old lapses New players = Impressed with all of them though need to gel. Bannan = looked much better than last season Bent = Easily marked out of it Fonz = Some good touches but oh such woeful finishing. Hutton = Awful crossing Nzogbia = Some good touches & looked slippery but with no end product Weaknesses = Lack of threat going forwards, zero ariel threat (No wonder we never score from corners & concede so many from set pieces) Weak full backs & a lack of creativity from midfield... No penetration. Players needed New striker with ariel threat Creative midfielder (Even if Ireland fits this role what if he gets injured?) Left back Central defender (Preferably one who can score the odd one too)