VillanousOne

i can't believe he can be do any worse than Tonev's initial awful displays? even Bacuna was pretty dire at the start.

I think there are two many variables at the moment - too many unknowns. I think come January we'll have a more accurate idea of how we are progressing, presuming we don't get lots of injuries.

Luna has looked just as bad defensively so no idea why you had made up your mind he is so much better already.

There is something technically very poor about the team, the way no-one seems to be able to make runs or recognise where another player is going to run into. We don't seem to be able to create more than a couple of passes forward without losing possession. Our first touch is often poor. For some reason we just seemed to end up with four players in the left hand corner of the pitch with no-one actually able to break down Sunderland's defence. If Gabby, Benteke and Weimann aren't all firing on all cylinders we offer nothing going forward, and clearly none of them are. it'a a tedious cliche but we need someone in the middle who can dictate play and pull the strings, you can sometimes see KEA, Westwood and KEA try but in many ways we just lack quality, and it is something Lambert has to address. In pre-season Gardener and Helenius were two players who looked like they had a bit of composure and ability to pass forward, something has to be changed.

he looked better defensively but didn't get forward as much as he did in the 1st.

would like to see him get more game time

Clark has looked much better and very solid, especially when alongside Vlaar

absolutely agree we need that balance yes we need the ability to look slightly better going forward at the expense of looking much weaker defensively on the left. i agree we need a decent left back rather than Clark or Baker out of position but currently Luna hasn't shown that, hopefully in time he will. I think even now he is a better option than Clark or Baker. well after Baker's performance vs West Brom you maybe right

absolutely agree we need that balance yes we need the ability to look slightly better going forward at the expense of looking much weaker defensively on the left. i agree we need a decent left back rather than Clark or Baker out of position but currently Luna hasn't shown that, hopefully in time he will.

Benteke seemed to be positioned as a creative forward drifting deep and flicking on headers, he had three people slamming into him everytime he got the ball as he is no longer an unknown. Kozak playing off Benteke would never work but considering that - he still managed to look a threat and create chances. Benteke should have been the one to come off but he's our golden balls so it will never happen. I really though Kozak looked wank when he first joined but now i am starting to see good things from him and Tonev. As a sub for Benteke or even Gabby he is a good back up player - and deserves to get more chances.

Guzan: 6 - not sure he could do anything about the goals Baker: 4 - Poor Clark: 5 - Got better as he grew into the game Vlaar: 8 - Easily our best player Bacuna: 5 - Error aside he did ok Sylla: 4 - No first touch or urgency KEA: 7 - One of his better games for us and great goal, starting to attack and pass forward as well as harrassing players and losing possesion alot Westwood: 7 - Great work rate and good goal Tonev: 6 - his shots are at least now on target and he looks dangerous, still lacks composure and good decision making Kozak: 7 - The best striker on the night Benteke: 5 - Won a lot of headers but still waaaay off the pace subs: Weimann: 7 - Provided urgency and threat Gabby: 6 - looked up for it Delph: 6 - Got heavily involved

Kozak was the only attacking threat we had in the first half and performed way better than Tekkers did. He was unfortunate to be substituted.

But not the team that actually ended the Cardiff game. It does feel Lambert gets slated for the kick and rush hoof ball but as soon as we try and play passing football we get slaughtered. Our central midfield play is still pub quality.

the warning signs were there - completely unecessary comments from Lambert to stoke up some bad blood and **** awful PR and then a dire team line up. Sylla has been shocking so has Baker. need Delph and Gabby on

I'm not sure Weimann deserves to walk straight back into the team. I don't actually think we have missed him and Luna a great deal, although Luna does add more going forward but only at the expense of a weaker defence. We have missed Gabby and Delph a great deal, but I think we have seen a lot of promise from Kozak and possibly even Tonev as a result. It would be harsh on either to drop them.

I get he doesn't score enough, but I think his overall contribution and assists can't be sniffed at, but agree it is right to want more from him - as we know what he is capable of. It is no coincidence that his injuries and poor form seems to have impacted Benteke and vice versa. So far either one has been recovering from injury and short of match fitness or just injured. I think he was poorly advised when he suddenly bulked up that one season as well totally agree with this also

it feels like we are going backwards now aside from our defence, but i think if we start getting better luck with player form and injuries we could really push on. All the ingredients are there now for us to really start to look the part, trouble is as soon as Lambert has to come up with a plan B because thinks aren't working our for whatever reason we seem to quickly fall apart. He seems to only see things working a certain way with certain players and if they aren't available it's hooof and hope time.

Like it or not Gabby has been one of most loyal, consistent, longest serving and best performers over the years, scoring more important goals than any other player. Granted there aren't many others to compare him to because the general quality of our team and ability to retain decent players or not fall out with them has dropped like a stone in recent years. I would rather he played and had one or two spells of awesome unplayable ness a season than a whole season of being just above average. I think he is massively under appreciated and dogged by niggling and persistent injuries that seem to hamper his performances as well as our own utterly random attacking tactics.

i hate garden players

Yeah I can see that happening too, although at least it will probably be for a good cause. Rather than getting Man City to pay him off to Spuds, he told them he'd only take a wage cut and go there if they agreed to pay £50k a week to an abundance of charities in Togo. On topic though, seems Benteke is okay thankfully, hope he starts banging them in now. i think he's still suffering from the original thigh injury though

would love to see him given a cameo from the bench

Erik Bakke?

That's what you get if you play football with chickens.

He would need to actually start some games to do that. No-one wants him to fail. But he is pointless as an occasional substitute

Carruthers barely gets off the bench for MK Dons (could be injury related) Delf even when fit rarely starts for Blackpool. Grealish is the only player who seems to start games at Notts County - rarely finishes them. No idea where Stevens is. Daniel Johnson and Burke got about 12 minutes game time between them on loan. I know sometimes it works out, but really i think it should be sink or swim time now for most of these players. These aren't 16 and 17 year olds we are talking about, most are over 18, some are over 20 now.