Bailey

Nothing more than a co-incidence. This season has come too soon for us. Pardew hasn't had long to work with the squad and he hasn't been able to bring in all the players he would have liked either. By the end of August, we'll have a much better idea of how we will fare this season.

We need the following: - A hard tackling central-midfielder - Sam Sodje - Zak Whitbread - Simeon Jackson If we can get the above players in, we'd have a competitive team for this divsion.

Sam Sodje and Zak Whitbread please. Ambitious I know, but if we could get these two in then we'd be sorted defensively.

Not a good day at the office. We need to drop Wotton for starters. He always seems to be a passenger and I appreciate that his experience is invaluable, but it counts for nothing if he can't do the basics like being able to pass a football! I'd put Gillett alongside Schneiderlin, he's a younger and much better version of Wotton IMO and a midfield duo of these two would work a lot better. Secondly, we need to play two proper wingers in their proper positions. Holmes or Mills left-midfield, with Thomson or a new signing out on the right. There is absolutely no point in playing big strikers like Lambert and Rasiak if we aren't going to get to the by-line and provide them with the chances to score. Can't help but think that we need 2 new defenders too. Ideally, Pards would get Sam Sodje and Zak Whitbread in. They're both proven at this level and would be a big improvement on the current squad. Signing these players would also enable Lancashire to go out on loan to a League Two side to gain some experience. Today just confirms what we already knew. There is a lot of work to be done and maybe this result will be a blessing in disguise, as it highlights that we need at least another 3 signings for this squad to be competitive in this division. 3 points on Tuesday are essential now. We need to get rid of the -9 A.S.A.P because the longer it goes on, the harder it's going to be mentally to shake it off. Still early days, so no need to be too down-hearted just yet, but as is clear for all to see, a lot of work still to be done. Here's hoping for a much improved performance on Tuesday night!

Lambert will be our spot-kick taker, make no mistake about it.

I wouldn't go with this side, but this is what I expect it to be: [center]Davis Murty Thomas Perry Harding James Wotton Morgan Lallana Rasiak Lambert Subs: Bialkowski, Lancashire, Gillett, Thomson, Mellis, Holmes, Paterson[/center]

Thankfully all of this is behind us now. Time to move on.

Hard to comment as I have never seen Mellis in action, but I'll trust Pards on this one. What I will say is that he gives us another option in midfield and pushes Pulis further down the pecking order so can't be bad! Seriously though, it's good to see that we're using Dean Wilkins' links with Chelsea to our advantage. Hopefully they'll continue to loan us their best young prospects for the forseeable future too.

Be surprised if we got Jackson but wouldn't completely rule it out. Our new owners have already pulled a rabbit out the hat by signing Lambert so who's to say that Jackson won't follow?

Makes sense. There's no point in having Davis, Bialkowski, Poke and Forecast, so one of them was always going to leave on loan. Still don't understand why we signed TF in the first place though!

Don't think this would put a team off to be fair, as the Carling Cup is unlikely to be a priority for potential suitors.

I have to agree. I was a fan of Saeijs during his loan spell with us last season, but for some reason I now think we could do better, despite the fact we're in League One.

I think it comes down to experience. I don't think Pards likes the idea of us playing Schneiderlin and Gillett together, and as other posters have said, Wotton poses more of a threat defensively too. I hope Gillett can force his way into the first-team soon though, as he's a really good talent who is a better version of Wotton IMO.

Lallana would be most effective if he played through the middle, just off of Lambert IMO.

Wotton over Poulsen? You've got to be kidding? Would definitely have Pulis ahead of him though.

Anyone having trouble watching the 'Pardew Northampton preview' video? Gets a few seconds in before freezing.

Hopefully the club will put some sort of update on the OS tomorrow with regards to how many tickets have been sold. If we can get above 10K, then that's a fair turn-out considering it's a Carling Cup game against League Two oppo.

Lambert and Saganowski, but Marek will be off soon so not going to happen. If/when Rasiak and Saga do go, we'll need to replace both of them. In an ideal world, we'd have four strikers to choose from, but who? Andy Bishop from Bury would be a good signing, but maybe we need someone with a bit more pace to partner Rickie. Any other realistic suggestions?

Lambert wins hands down. Although they're similar style players, Rickie is younger and has scored more goals at this level. Would have been great if Stern stayed, as these two would have formed a top-draw partnership for League One, but it wasn't to be. Hopefully we can get another striker in to partner RL as I'm pretty sure that Saga and Rasiak will be off soon.

Realistically, I think we need two centre-backs, a right-midfielder, a central-midfielder and another striker. The signing of Lambert also means we could potentially play Lallana in his preferred and most effective position; just off a physical forward. If we can fill the positions in the team below, I think we'd have a decent chance of making the play-offs this season . . . ----------------- Davis ------------------ Murty ----- Perry ----- ????? ----- Harding ????? --- Schneiderlin --- Gillett --- Holmes ---------- Lambert ---- Lallana -----------

Top draw signing from Pardew. Lambert scores goals for fun in this division, and signing him is a signal of intent by the manager and the new owners. I can only hope that there are a few more signings like this on the horizon!

He got my vote for MOTM in the match reaction thread. Along with Lallana, this lad is the most technically gifted player we have at the club. His touch and control is second to none, and his passing ability is superb. It was a great bit of vision to try and lob the keeper too, and had it come off we would have had an early contender for the 'Goal of the Season' award. I have always defended Schneiderlin when he's been criticised on here, and yesterday's game goes some way to justifying that. If he can reproduce these types of performances on a regular basis, then he could be a star for us over the course of this season. I still believe that he'll end up playing in The Premiership one day too! Oh and by the way, I've got a new song for him. Once Rasiak goes, we'll still be able to use the 'Baby Give It Up' tune after all! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIgeG3qulgg&feature=PlayList&p=889F86A9F6D81013&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=15 Na na na na na na na na na na naaa Morgan Schneiderlin, Schneiderlin! Morgan Schneiderlin!

Are P*mpey trying to sign as many injury prone players as possible? First they sign Steve Finnan, then Antti Niemi and now Mark Viduka. They'll be lucky if these three muster up 20 appearances between them this season!

Is there any way of getting rid of points deductions on the data editor? Cheers in advance.

They won't go under. Even if they go into admin, somebody will come in for them.