Beckenham Saint

Lambert had come of the back of a 30 goal season when we signed him, he was obviously signed to do the same in that division, but as you say, no one knew he'd step up with us. Guly was decent in League 1 & Championship. Scouting network also bought us Hammond, Chaplow, Richardson, Barnard, Clyne, Lovren, Wanyama, Ramírez... as well as more and the above mentioned. Not all awful, were they? Mayuka was very highly regarded when we signed him, there are many factors why players don't play up to expectations, not every signing comes off. We have done very well on the recruitment front since the takeover IMO.

Granted Osvaldo was a waste of time and effort, yet to see anything that suggests that Ramirez is too. Overall, our scouting network has given us more Fonté's, Lamberts and Lovren's than Osvaldo's. Swings and roundabouts eh.

That could be argued, or it could be argued that our scouting network has been mixed at worst since the take over. Every team signs players that don't live up to their potential, may look good elsewhere and struggle to settle and find form etc. Look at Spurs' recruitment over the summer. Even Chelsea got one wrong when signing De Bruyne.

Can think of many times where, as mentioned, he has almost passed the ball to the keeper, but then can also think of times where the same technique has worked for him (Newcastle away, Chelsea away etc) so can see why he persists with the technique. Think he'd be at least on 15 goals by now if he occasionally put his laces through the ball inside the box.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1381408-why-marcelo-bielsa-employ-the-most-bizarre-tactics-in-football Sounds a bit of a nutter, I guess they don't call him "El Loco" for nothing.

Have you noticed that the dip in form coincides exactly with the injuries to key players? Boruc and Wanyama and Clyne out led to more goals being conceded, then Lovren. Then you have to take into account that the players filling in may be a bit rusty for not playing for a long time and will take a couple of games to get into it, a luxury you don't get in the Premier League. Our inability to find the back of the net consistently lately has been an issue, but we had a similar problem at the start of the season, but because we were defending so well we only needed to score one or two to win games. When we get our defensive solidarity back, the goal scoring may not seem such an issue again. I imagine that this will be an area that the club tries to improve in the summer though, as evidenced by the recruitment of a new striker last summer. I can see why you started the thread, and it's because you don't ever seem to look at the long term nature of the game, bigger picture and assess all possibilities before reacting to what you think is immediately in front of you.

^^Likewise.

I've noticed that, and don't understand the criticism. Isn't he still consistently the most successful / most frequent tackler in the league and has a very healthy pass completion percentage! I do feel that a lot of people on the forum moan about players without understanding their role in the team or watching their individual performances...

Alpine, how many of our players would have nutmegged collins like Ramirez did vs West Ham? How many of our players would have played the pass like the one against West Brom to set up our only goal that day? How many players would have scored the volley like that against Bristol? How many players would be able to ghost past players like they weren't there like he did a few times against Liverpool? How many Paul Wottons would take on the shot like Ramirez did and score at Everton? Would Steve de Ridder have scored that chip over Julio Cesar vs QPR last season? Or set up Clyne beautifully in his first start vs Aston Villa last year? Why do you so relentlessly chose to ignore the evidence that he is a decent player? Is it because he cost £12m of someone else's money? Or is it because, and i suspect, you probably couldn't tell a decent footballer if he hit you in the head with a ball from 50 yards?

Unfortunately I agree with SRL, don't think he has been as bad as some on here have been making out, lots of very good link up play, and despite an increase in misplaced passes, still pops up with the occasional wonder ball, á la vs Fulham, of which there were a few.

Ah yes, how could i forget such vital factors such as sitting down when there is football being played!? I wish he wouldn't use that translator either, so that we could get moments like Pellegrini showing his true passion for Man City by thinking he is the manager of Man United!

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11700/9192856/transfer-news-southampton-defender-jos-hooiveld-considering-his-future Hooiveld apparently (finally) considering his options, there was an article about Do Prado possibly leaving in the summer and Danny Fox has been sold. With Ramírez looking good, and the above leaving...who will we all have to moan about next season!? More seriously, Hooiveld departing could open up the door to one of the academy CB's like Turnbull or Stephens to step up, or even a new signing in this position over the summer.

from the end of the season though? Think he is still ineligible to play against us. Would like to see JRod rested for this, not sure who his natural replacement is. Maybe Gallagher up top with Lambert in the hole. Would love to see Ramiréz get more time on the pitch. Has shown his class lately.

I don't think he will be off. People saying he has lost his passion should look at the training picture galleries. Always smiling, lots of embraces with the players and so on. It was the picture of Shaw picking him up and MP smiling his head off that makes me think he won't go, he looks very settled. Maybe he doesn't prowl the technical area all the time, but he is very rarely in his seat for 90 minutes. I think he is a good manager, and I think he will be here with us next season. In regards to getting a better offer, the key word is better. Wouldn't any of you take another job if you had an offer that was better than your current one?

Got a friend that supports Charlton, apparently at one time when they were suffering financially, Pardew took it upon himself to buy a brand new Mercedes with the clubs money without running it by anyone. If that's true, and he repeated that sort of behavior, then probably not a part of Pards' pantomime villain character that would have endeared himself to NC. Still, it's all conjecture as to why he was sacked, don't think we'll ever find out the true reasons now.

I have full faith in him

Need to score when you're on top. Liverpool did, we aren't. Very frustrating. Ramirez looks like he could be the difference here. Don't know why it's taken some so long to see that he is a truly class act. Lallana looks to be on level tonight, too.

Win today you'll post the same rubbish again and again. Lose today you'll post the same rubbish again and again. Draw today you'll post the same rubbish again and again. Exciting. Right, snarky dig out the way. COYR!! Got a good feeling about this one.

Christ, imagine how they'd pretend to react to THAT!

Why do they all talk like that? I've never heard anything sound so put on and fake in all my life as the shouting and screaming on that programme! Pretty sure they get more over the top each season, painful...

Is harsh, but don't see who he'd replace. Would love to see Gaston get a run of games. Quite frequently he comes on for Cork, and he's not going to get ahead of him in the starting XI, especially against Liverpool. Natural swap would be for Davis, although that would be harsh on him as he consistently plays well. Nice problem to have!

Stoke now 1 up against Arsenal. What's happened with Pards?

Absolutely class design here, good job mate. Would love this as our kit.

Why does the money matter so much to you? Is it specifically your money they are spending? Earlier in the season Brendan Rogers said that he was happy with Liverpool's progress this year, as (and I'm paraphrasing here to save time finding the exact wording) "No club goes from 7th to 1st." Likewise, we wouldn't have gone from 14th to 6th in one season, even if we had spent more than we did. Steady progress is what a club needs to make, and that is exactly what we're doing. If we finish 9th this year, that's still 4 places higher than last, and if we continue to progress in the same vein that means 5th next year. Now, I don't think that will happen as it gets harder to progress as much from here, but next year, 7th is possible, say. And then, with the right tactics and aggression, who says that the year after we can't be in the position that Liverpool find themselves in now? Bigger pictures, and all that, Alpine.

Get in! Great header.