shurlock

Fantastic draw. Having done all the hardwork to get to round 3, I now have delusions of progressing. The lower the opposition, the better and all the better its at home.

Not really. Its not just about flashing the cash. If so there are lots of better precedents and analogies. Man City raised so many eyebrows because they were not a top 4 club but were able to buy established players from the bigger or better clubs - barry, toure, adebayor, tevez etc- a real statement of intent. That's like us raiding Leeds, Norwich, Charlton etc and skimming their cream. So far we've only bought Lambert who was at at team with frankly limited ambitions.

Some good banter with the lino where I was - some fan was pretending they were spurned lovers but generally a poor, poor atmosphere. Prefer when we're all housed behind the goal not seperated, with some of us stuck in a side stand. Anyway, it was too easy for the team and the fans - and that sense of entitlement reflected in our play and our atmosphere. We did what was enough and no more. Fair enough. Me I was still f**ked from Tuesday and wanted to be fitting fit for Wycombe and Walsall.

Liked the way Murty geed up and encouraged to papa - thought they linked up very well in the 1st half. He talks more (in a good way) than any other player - surely a candidate for captain if he stays fit?

Well made and he was more of an attacking midfielder for Brizzle. Still there were too many times when instead of being in the box for a cross or something, he was stuck out wide or in a deep position. I know Lambo has been ill but I don't think its a coincidence that the goals have dried up since Connolly's been in the team.

True and for every city that operates a ground share, there is a city with two grounds - Bristol, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh etc. And there are as many foreign examples. Groundsharing only makes sense when there are real economies of scale. There may be an argument for sharing when cities have two big teams in which each requires a massive stadium -Milan, Rome etc. Then, as a city, it makes less and less sense to build/support two expensive, environmentally contentious stadiums. But that doesn't apply with smaller clubs/stadiums.

Not back from the game till Wednesday evening and spent most of yesterday asleep but set in the context of Hartlepool's home record (though its hardly an intimidating place), it was an excellent result. Conditions were absolutely miserable and no assessment of the players or the performance makes sense without recognising that. There was a period of play in the second half where none of Kelv/Bart's goalkicks crossed the halfway, repeatedly hooking at out of play. Hartlepool switched ends at kickoff, so they would have the wind on their side second-half. Frankly, it didn't help them as everything hit forward either carried through to the keeper or ran out of play. It made life for Jaidi or Trotman immeasurably easier who didn't have to worry about the pacy ball down the channel. At the same time, its not as if we adapted our game and were too reliant on the long ball - not the first time. While they saw alot of the ball in the first 30 or so with the tippy-tappy stuff, they rarely threatened and the goal came as a surprise. After that we woke up -Lambert missed an absolute sitter- without totally firing. Their right back gave Lallana plenty of space throughout which he exploited with clinical effect (needless to say he was my MoM), though with James on the right, we were quite narrow. The big decision on the night was to start with both Murty and James on the right - I don't know if this was a one-off, part of Pards "winning ugly" strategy or the sign of things to come. Pards obviously rates James, so even if he turns to a more attacking option on the right, Antonio or Waigo, I can't see James dropping out of the team. Perhaps, Schneiderlin's position is most under threat in the centre. Still unsure whether Lambert and Connolly really click - apart from Orient, I can't remember them combining for a goal. On paper, they look like the perfect little and large combo, so perhaps its a matter of time. Connolly has a tendency to move the ball quickly rather than hold it up which can be a slight problem if there aren't bodies around (only Lallana seems to be on the message). At the same time, the luxury of another forward means that Lambert tends to drop deeper and deeper into positions that are unlikely to hurt the opposition. It seems that Lambert flourishes when he has the responsbility of leading the line. Anyway, a job well done - not as upset about Kelvin's injury as I would have been at the start of the season, a reflection of Bart's growing maturity and some iffy moments from Kelvin. For our part, we made some good noise and the monkees theme tune at the start of both halfs was a nice touch. A welcoming place but its always easy to be magnanimous c*nt when you win.

lol. didn't know that story. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mediareleases/release.php?id=1649

Don't arrive till 6pm - have the name of a hotel i booked ages ago but have no idea where the f**k it is or what cheap and cheerful means in Hartlepool. Slight feelings of dread - going to mean a really unproductive rest of the week if we lose. Tomorrow and wednesday are already write-offs. But its the big one.

I wouldn't bet on it. AP seems to rate James, thinks he's got what it takes to be a very good holding midfielder. I'm not so sure.

In the 2 mins he was on, he made two surging breaks that were as dangerous as anything we did in the 2nd half, though he bottled the first one. Mellis is a class player who just needs a start after his absence. His movement, passing and tracking back would be a huge asset in a 4-5-1.

Yes he strays unforgivably offside but he looks a real threat whenever he plays, especially when he takes up a central position. Shame he's been largely used on the right.

"Our fans keep turning up and we have produced displays that warrant that, but Sunday didn't, so if we have 17,000 on Saturday we would have to accept that as a team". Love it. Last year 17,000 would have been a decent turnout.

If you're referring to the Bristol home game - Mellis played on the left and was partly responsible for their third goal. If you're talking about the away game, they got most joy down the right and scored as a result of Gobern's individual mistakes. If you want to nitpick, check where we've leaked goals. You'll see they've mostly come down the right (Huddersfield, Brentford, Charlton, Oldham, Orient, Brighton etc). The count is probably more than 2:1. My problem with Lallana is not his supposed defensive indiscipline but his tendency to go inside which has bunched things up in the midfield, blunting our attacking play. But he's improved alot this season.

I agree. The way they cut through the middle of the park (which can always suck wider players in) was a bigger problem than whether one player was one or five yards of the touchline. We had a similar problem away at Brizzle but they didn't capitalise and we raped them on the break, something which is obviously harder to do at home.

How has this bullsh*t story about Saga only playing well for a contract stuck all these years? Its a coincidence but so is the fact that he was playing in what was our strongest, most creative team since relegation. Sh*t, life's full of coincidences. A total redherring.

We are pretty light upfront. Lambert, Connolly who's returning from a long-term injury and Paterson who's still some way off the first team. That's it. The likes of Lallana, Papa and Antonio could chip in with support but they're not out and out strikers capable of leading the line.

No coincidence that his purple patch came with him playing in the hole or at least coming off the left as part of a 4-5-1. Lallana's been most effective (I'm thinking Carlisle, Gillingham etc) when he's been played unapologetically down the middle but we don't have many left-sided players to fill in (we tried Mellis and Mills there with mixed results). In the absence of a left-sided player (could Papa have a go?), Lallana will start on the left, though we won't see his full potential as a result. The saving grace of 4-5-1 is that it allows Lallana more room to roam than a disciplined 4-4-2.

Sure he never hit the byline. His best crosses come from a few yards outside the 18 yard box, especially when they are laid back to him to hit first time. But yesterday he was happy to cross from far deeper than that.

AL is playing much more on the left in the last few games (since Bristol when we went 4-4-2). Yes he will always stray -as he did yesterday- but that's part of the problem, especially when we go 4-4-2. Re. Mellis - he was unlucky to go on international duty when he did (though he did score 3 in 3 while he was away). He was beginning to develop a good understanding with AL and RL. At times, we still rely too much on the long-ball, not least because the likes of Hammond nor Schneiderlin are too happy to stay back rather than look to create space.

James is better at crosses than setpieces - far up the pitch he can hit a mean, fizzing cross. But he's a one-trick pony. Since he can't take players on or won't take an extra touch, he tries to cross from all positions, especially when he is too deep. The result are lazy, looping crosses that are easy to clean up. Another problem is with Antonio constantly running at players, James doesn't have the chance or the time to get into positions where he can cause real damage with a cross.

Don't think the problem was necessarily at the back, though the lack of pace at CB and poor distribution are worrying. A bigger problem is our predictability and lack of movement in the middle: both Hammond and Schneiderlin are too defensively-minded while 4-4-2 forces Lallana to stay on the left when he's more effective moving around - and when he does move around, he pulls the rest of the team out of shape. Of course, yesterday was only one result but I would be tempted to bring in Mellis and drop Connolly (and possibly Papa for Antonio) and return to 4-5-1.

Wonder if schneiderlin's going to be fit for sun- anybody know what's wrong (Sky mentioned an ankle)? Do think some of our passing went stray yesterday - we would miss him. Last season when schneiderlin picked an injury he tended to be ruled out for a long period.

Nice to Markus there too, beaming.

It was amusing that they thought we had forgotten Deon Burton was a skate