Leeds v Saints - Post Match Reaction

[saint_stevo]

Big time IMHO.

 

His range of passing was seriously missed.

 

Thought so, and physical presence in recent weeks has been a big asset

[Tractor_Saint]

Would have loved to have won or drawn but we were playing against the league leaders and with the run we've had recently we have to slip up at some point. Happy that we slipped up to the league leaders - sounds like a close game.

 

Exeter here we come and I'm assuming they have lost their main striker who got sent off today.

[Window Cleaner]

Harding probably needs a rest. Give fish a game v Luton IMO

 

two games before that though.

[gjphilsaint]

You are ignoring the fact that Swindon have 2 games in hand. We have lost ground today.Not on the same teams but lost ground all the same. We've lost ground on Bristol Rovers, Swindon, Norwich and probably Colchester

 

For the last two weeks saints had virtuallythe best result in our division... now it would appear that one loss puts a kybosh on any chance of improving to the play offs... now that is what I call an over reaction!

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

Got back from the game about 45 minutes ago after driving through a blizzard for most of the last ten miles and then being confronted by traffic queueing to 'have a go' at getting up an icy hill!!

 

I don't envy those driving back down to Southampton if they have to put up with weather like that, though I suspect this weather front is coming down from up here (I live near Darlington).

 

I've not read a lot of comments on here, though from what I have read I would say that I agree with some of it and disagree with comments from others... so let me give you my views...

 

Firstly, Alan Pardew's report on the game is extremely accurate apart from perhaps two details:

 

1. Beckford was not their best player - he was a pile of crap! How any Premiership team can be interested in a player who is that poor in front of goal is beyond me! Their best player was Snodgrass who really made it tough for Thomas down the wing. His goal capped a fine performance and was probably the difference between the teams on the day.

 

2. Personally, I don't think we were missing Schneiderlin. I've not seen a lot of him, but what I have seen of him has been quite poor and I don't think he would have been the sort of player that would have coped well in these conditions. The player we were most missing was Graham Murty who would have kept Snodgrass a lot quieter and would have given us an extra option down the right where we were weak.

 

Aside from all this though I would say that we were extremely unlucky not to come away with a draw on a day on which neither team really showed their full potential.

 

Here's a few comments about individual performances:

 

* We were extremely lacking in terms of crosses and the final ball - especially down the right, even though Waigo was excellent for the first 15 mins.

* Our best players were Jaidi and Perry who were faultless in defence.

* Lallana showed touches of his brilliance but was never given the space to show the full potential of what he could do.

* Connolly was the hardest working player on the pitch and I was disappointed that he was substituted even if it was already well into injury time!

 

I could say a lot more but I will leave it there for now - I might come on here again later and add a bit more.

[VectisSaint]

Alpine speaks sense. He's been doing that a lot lately. Either I've changed or he has.

Must be you then. Alpine has always spoken a lot of sense, but some people don't like it, or the way he goes about it. Doesn't always put things in the right way, but 9 times out of 10 he is proven right.

[Colinjb]

missed Morgan?

 

I believe we did, we looked over-run at times through midfield, and that's something i've not been used to this season.

 

And Jesus, I don't think i've ever been so cold in my life then as I was today!

Edited 19 December, 2009 by Colinjb

[View From The Top]

And Jesus, I don't think i've ever been so cold in my life then as I was today!

 

It certainly was fresh!

[up and away]

Nope, I have been saying for a while that we are not good enough yet. This result proves it.

 

Some good football this season and I can't argue with the entertainment value at times and the great run of results but this team will fall short in the promotion stakes this season because of the -10 points and our poor start.

 

 

I can't really be disappointed with the team Pardew put out or the loss. Going down 1-0 to Leeds away is no disgrace, but I feel we have missed a trick here. Leeds had seven pairs of fresh legs on against us compared to midweek, with the noticeable figure of Connolly being full of beans for us.

 

If we miss the play off's this season I feel it will be down to little things such as this and the fact that Gillett is still playing well a league higher. Once we get bodies in sometime in January, Gillett is no longer an issue. It will just be a question of being able to recover from that point onwards.

 

If we are unable to get into the play off's, this will have to go down as a failure with the resources and players we have available to us. The defeat to Leeds is not a big loss on this road, but results against teams hovering either side of the cut off point will be far more important to us making the play off's. Colchester has to be far more important in this equation than Leeds.

[lordswoodsaints]

Was expecting at least a draw which IMO was not unrealistic.

It would have been a nice message of intent sent to the rest of the league if we had beaten them but it was not to be .

We have done 1000% better than I expected under pardew so I have no complaints about today's result.

[shurlock]

Back from the match - thought today some of our growing pains were exposed. Put simply, you can't go to places like Leeds if you can't retain possession -you just invite teams to set up camp in your half. And retaining possession has been a real problem of late.

 

Yes we sorely missed Schneiderlin but even with him in the team I don't think the midfield would have linked up with the forwards - Schneiderlin has a tendency to sit too far back James tried to step in but he had neither the vision nor failing that the defensive nous to make a difference. The result is that Lambert (whom Kisnorbo dealt with comfortably) and Connolly (who shouldn't be asked to win arial duels) were horribly isolated while the widemen had little service (Lallana asked a few questions without really threatening while Papa in his endeavour to get involved doubled up as a makeshift RB). Long ball and static play have been features of recent games and Schneiderlin has mainstay of those teams. So no, Schneiderlin is no silver bullet.

 

Perhaps, 4-4-2 is the problem and Pards has tough decisions to make whether we accomodate both Connolly and Lambert.

 

The plus side is that it has taken two-half seasons for Leeds to reach their current position and they are largely a committed if pedestrian side - Snodgrass apart, we were rarely overrun and Bart had a pretty quiet afternoon. Contrary to what others say, I thought Beckford had a decent game -****e in front of goal- but always a handful when he dropped deep and linked up the play. Bearing in mind that its only twenty games when we last came to Yorkshire and got mauled by Huddersfield, progress has been pretty remarkable.

 

The defence showed that it can be versatile - the problem is our midfield. Hammond and Schneiderlin need support, somebody who is good on the ball and will keep play ticking along. That's where I would strengthen in January no doubt.

 

A few judicious signings in the January and the playoffs are still a shout. For a team at the top, its incredible that Leeds were so ordinary - mediocrity i guess is relative. We are not far behind them and we won't facing top teams every week. Still we should aspire to be as good as we can.

[Bailey]

A difficult game today but we by no means disgraced ourselves.

 

Losing 1-0 at the league leaders isn't the worst result, but it shows that we've still got a lot of work to do, but we're getting there.

 

Our lads showed they were up for it, fought hard and didn't roll over, so credit to them for that.

 

Lets hope we can get back to winning ways on Boxing Day as Exeter visit St. Mary's!

[Andy_Porter]

Just got back about 40 minutes ago, pretty upset about the result and performance, before the game had kicked off I really thought we would have won. Leeds really arent that special, Snodgrass was looking dangerous and Bechhio was for me the best player on the pitch, everything went through him and the defence and midfield had no idea who should have been picking him up, he floated between the lines really well. Beckford didn't look to good and spent most of the game falling over, we dealt with him fine.

 

The back four done well, Jaidi, Perry and Harding in particular stood out and kept Leeds quiet for the majoirty of the game. Apart from a header from about 4 yards that went over the bar in the first half we limited their chances for the majority of the game without really creating anything for ourselves.

 

In front of the back four nobody had a good game. James and Hammond where terrible both individually and as a pair, they looked rushed in possesion and it really looked like the conditions where affecting their play while the two Leeds players in the centre looked comfortble and didn't have any problems on the ball.

 

Connolly ran his socks off a put in a real shift but he was feeding off scraps and Lambert didn't really look like scoring all game the Leeds defence stopped him from getting into the game. Can't really blame them they didn't get any service at all, I can't remember a single decent passage of play before the 80th minute. The two widemen worked hard but where restricted well.

 

IMO we should have got Mellis in and left Connolly on the bench and gone with a 4-5-1, easy to say in hingsight but in a game like that against a really good side away you need to control the midfield. We really failed to control the midfield and I think that was partly down to Schneiderlins absense, we needed a calm head to pick up the ball and just play an easy pass which Hammond and James seemed incapable off.

 

The game was lost in midfield, It was clear we need an extra body in the centre to calm things down a bit at times, might have been an idea to put Connolly on the left for 15 minutes and play with Lallana through the centre just to see if we could get a bit more of the ball.

 

This one result shouldn't stop us going for a play off place, makes the next two games far more important though, we need six points no excuses. Hopefully it will make Pardew and Cortese realise we are lacking in squad depth, another midfielder and a right back are a must.

 

Probably the coldest afternoon off my life but the roads where clear and the journey there and back couldn't have gone any better. Thought our support today was really good, one of the best atmosphere's of the season.

Edited 19 December, 2009 by Andy_Porter

[shurlock]

Just got back about 40 minutes ago, pretty upset about the result and performance really thought we should have won. Leeds really arent that special, Snodgrass was looking dangerous and Bechhio was for me the best player on the pitch, everything went through him and the defence and midfield had no idea who should have been picking him up, he floated between the lines really well. Beckford didn't look to good and spent most of the game falling over, we dealt with him fine.

 

The back four done well, Jaidi, Perry and Harding in particular stood out and kept Leeds quiet for the majoirty of the game. Apart from a header from about 4 yards that went over the bar in the first half we limited their chances for the majority of the game without really creating anything for ourselves.

 

In front of the back four nobody had a good game. James and Hammond where terrible both individually and as a pair, they looked rushed in possesion and it really looked like the conditions where affecting their play while the two Leeds players in the centre looked comfortble and didn't have any problems on the ball.

 

Connolly ran his socks off a put in a real shift but he was feeding off scraps and Lambert didn't really look like scoring all game the Leeds defence stopped him from getting into the game. Can't really blame them they didn't get any service at all, I can't remember a single decent passage of play before the 80th minute. The two widemen worked hard but where restricted well.

 

IMO we should have got Mellis in and left Connolly on the bench and gone with a 4-5-1, easy to say in hingsight but in a game like that against a really good side away you need to control the midfield. We really failed to control the midfield and I think that was partly down to Schneiderlins absense, we needed a calm head to pick up the ball and just play an easy pass which Hammond and James seemed incapable off.

 

The game was lost in midfield, It was clear we need an extra body in the centre to calm things down a bit at times, might have been an idea to put Connolly on the left for 15 minutes and play with Lallana through the centre just to see if we could get a bit more of the ball.

 

This one result shouldn't stop us going for a play off place, makes the next two games far more important though, we need six points no excuses. Hopefully it will make Pardew and Cortese realise we are lacking in squad depth, another midfielder and a right back are a must.

 

Probably the coldest afternoon off my life but the roads where clear and the journey there and back couldn't have gone any better. Thought our support today was really good, one of the best atmosphere's of the season.

 

Apart from whether we deserved to win (a draw tops and even then their keeper didn't have a save to make) I agree that game was lost in midfield. And i dont think its the first time our midfield has let us down. Christ I miss Safri!

[Andy_Porter]

Apart from whether we deserved to win (a draw tops and even then their keeper didn't have a save to make) I agree that game was lost in midfield. And i dont think its the first time our midfield has let us down. Christ I miss Safri!

 

Sorry I didn't write my post very well, I meant I thought we should have won before the game had kicked off. I really wasn't expecting us to get beaten like that after the last few games.

 

Over the 90 minutes Leeds where far superior in every department.

[dingbattigger]

Did anyone else park in the Old Pea**** car park? I appear to have left my backpack there with my season tickets amongst other things as I was getting the kids sorted in the car. Tried the pub but it's not been handed in. If anyone knows anything please let me know.

[The Majestic Channon]

Did anyone else park in the Old Pea**** car park? I appear to have left my backpack there with my season tickets amongst other things as I was getting the kids sorted in the car. Tried the pub but it's not been handed in. If anyone knows anything please let me know.

Thats pea c o c k btw for anyone wondering

[adethorne]

Just back:

 

We were beaten by a better team, there back four were good all game, kept what attack we had well in their pockets. That said we limited there attack, perry and jaidi played well, but Leeds finnishing was woeful, which helped. Can't bring myself to say anything about james or hammond but they should of gone fishing off mudeford jetty.

cold day but can't be to disappointed against team top of league, on the day we ran them close

[Bailey]

It's probably worth pointing out that Simon Grayson has said that Leeds' performance today was one of their best this season.

[JustMike]

we were poor today, midfield never got going. No service to the front 2. Jaidi my saints MOM.

[NN2 Saint]

Leeds showed today why they have only conceded 10 goals all season they worked so hard for each other. Definetly missed Schneiderlin no creativity in midfield altough we did very well defensively on another day we could have snatched a point but would fancy us against them at both SMS and Wembley not too down hearted as long as we pick up 6 points from the next 2

[Genk]

Now I wasn't there, but going on the radio Leeds were better than us they won the midfield battle, kept our very good strikers quiet and missed a hat full of chances. I dont think saints are crap I think this match just proves we're not quite there yet. If we're in this legaue next year we will be Leeds.

 

Leeds didn't really miss a hatful of chances but being the home team, yoy expect them to create a little more.

 

However, having just got in from the game, I felt Leeds managed to handle Lambert, Lallana and Connolly incredibly well. They shut us down quick and they looked quite good at the back. Shame we didn't really create anything until the 88th minute but wow how good would that have been in Harding had pinged it in the top corner! Lambert also really close.

 

Perry played very well, likewise Jaidi. James didn't do much in the centre which was where I think it was lost today. We couldn't get it out wide as Pardew said, thus didn't create much. Didn't think Papa had his best game either.

 

Not much between us and Leeds in all honesty, but I would probably say they just shaded it on the day. It will be completely different when they come down here, hopefully we will have 2 or 3 quality new additiosn to our team.

 

Great support again!

[Sheff Saint]

Leeds showed today why they have only conceded 10 goals all season they worked so hard for each other. Definetly missed Schneiderlin no creativity in midfield altough we did very well defensively on another day we could have snatched a point but would fancy us against them at both SMS and Wembley not too down hearted as long as we pick up 6 points from the next 2

 

100% perfect synopsis.

[St Landrew]

Now I wasn't there, but going on the radio Leeds were better than us they won the midfield battle, kept our very good strikers quiet and missed a hat full of chances. I dont think saints are crap I think this match just proves we're not quite there yet. If we're in this legaue next year we will be Leeds.

 

Neither was I at Elland Road, but according to the radio, I would say a hat full of chances is over stating the mark. According to the BBC, who are as good as statistics as anybody else, the game went thus:

 

Possession %

Leeds 54 Saints 46

Attempts On Target

Leeds 3 Saints 1

Attempts Off target

Leeds 6 Saints 5

Corners

Leeds 6 Saints 4

Fouls

Leeds 7 Saints 10

 

Not as one-way traffic as one might have thought.

[Saint_clark]

Sorry I didn't write my post very well, I meant I thought we should have won before the game had kicked off. I really wasn't expecting us to get beaten like that after the last few games.

 

Over the 90 minutes Leeds where far superior in every department.

 

That's because they ARE superior, and they were at home. Anyone who was EXPECTING a win is a bit foolish IMO.

[Saint_clark]

Football League show made out like we had one chance in the entire match.

[Colinjb]

Bart's positioning for the goal was poor, dragged far too close to the right hand post, invited Snodgrass to shoot at the top left corner. A great shame.

 

We had two good chances in the game, for them to not show Rickie just scooping past a nearly open goal was very poor.

[SaintPaddy]

I read all that threads on here but dont post that often. But as a season ticket holder for many years I do not know how Lloyd James gets a game in our team. It is even more frustrating he takes all the corners left and right and yet he can't even kick a ball.

Corners should be delivered with pace, his are always weak, he can't run' he cant tackle, he should never play at full back.

 

I don't like to pick on our players but he is not upto the job.

 

If Murty is out please play Wayne Thomas instead and let Dan Harding take the corners.

[DrZuess1979 the 2nd]

Bart's positioning for the goal was poor, dragged far too close to the right hand post, invited Snodgrass to shoot at the top left corner. A great shame.

 

We had two good chances in the game, for them to not show Rickie just scooping past a nearly open goal was very poor.

 

better to be beaten there, than at his near post.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

 

2. Personally, I don't think we were missing Schneiderlin. I've not seen a lot of him, but what I have seen of him has been quite poor and I don't think he would have been the sort of player that would have coped well in these conditions.

 

Wrong I'm afraid, we really missed him; James was pretty poor today. You obviously haven't seen the new improved Schneiderlin under AP. He's been strong, getting tackles in, winning balls, picking up second balls and his range of passing is a huge asset to the team. And if by conditions you mean the weather that's a silly argument, just look at Southend away when it was much worse playing conditions then today.

[SaintRobbie]

Wrong I'm afraid' date=' we really missed him; James was pretty poor today. You obviously haven't seen the new improved Schneiderlin under AP. He's been strong, getting tackles in, winning balls, picking up second balls and his range of passing is a huge asset to the team. And if by conditions you mean the weather that's a silly argument, just look at Southend away when it was much worse playing conditions then today.[/quote']

 

It's time to release James. At the end of the day only spiderman and lallana could truly be said to have made it from the youth experiment. James is one of the last failures in my opinion. We need a replacement in this transfer window.

[brightspark]

Because we are no nearer the play-offs after 22 games than we were at the start. We just aren't making up any ground.

 

Get over this defeat. It means little - its not exactly a loss to Exeter at home. Anyone who has followed Saints this season knows about the start we had, how we were something like 20 points off the play offs before the Yeovil game, and how we have become one of the strongest teams in the league since that game.

 

On an overnight and most of Sunday reflection, I think missing Schniederlin was crucial. Need him back next week, and need to keep him in January. If anything happens in January, we need a CB.

 

Agree with a few posters who have mentioned resting players for the FA Cup. I particularly worry about the period in January where we have Millwall, MK Dons, Swindon*, Brentford and Stockport within 15 days of each other. We need our players to be as fresh as possible so that we can achieve our so called "less than 7 points behind the play offs" target set by Pardew come Feb 1st.

[Andy_Porter]

I read all that threads on here but dont post that often. But as a season ticket holder for many years I do not know how Lloyd James gets a game in our team. It is even more frustrating he takes all the corners left and right and yet he can't even kick a ball.

Corners should be delivered with pace, his are always weak, he can't run' he cant tackle, he should never play at full back.

 

I don't like to pick on our players but he is not upto the job.

 

If Murty is out please play Wayne Thomas instead and let Dan Harding take the corners.

 

Lloyd James can take a decent corner, not amazing but better than anyone else in our side. Probably our most threatening corners since Jermain Wright was in the side.

 

Wayne Thomas was far from perfect today, if Waigo wasn't playing so deep in the first half Thomas would have been exposed, his positioning was as poor as James at times.

 

Football League show made out like we had one chance in the entire match.

 

Was two.

 

That's because they ARE superior, and they were at home. Anyone who was EXPECTING a win is a bit foolish IMO.

 

I don't think they're that much better than us, just we didn't perform to our usual standard. Good result against Norwich but we where far from our best then as well.

[countysaint]

I read all that threads on here but dont post that often. But as a season ticket holder for many years I do not know how Lloyd James gets a game in our team. It is even more frustrating he takes all the corners left and right and yet he can't even kick a ball.

Corners should be delivered with pace, his are always weak, he can't run' he cant tackle, he should never play at full back.

 

I don't like to pick on our players but he is not upto the job.

 

If Murty is out please play Wayne Thomas instead and let Dan Harding take the corners.

 

Whilst I do agree with you regarding Lloyd James ability to take corners and his tackling ability, I have to say that in the past I too would have been calling for his head.However I really have started to learn this season that AP is the manager that we really can trust to make the decision whether to play him or not or whether to let him take the corners.

So far AP has done a good job and I trust that he will find a suitable replacement when one becomes available.

January is just a few days away now................All good things come to those who wait!

[Andy_Porter]

It's time to release James. At the end of the day only spiderman and lallana could truly be said to have made it from the youth experiment. James is one of the last failures in my opinion. We need a replacement in this transfer window.

 

Ridiculous. I guess you have already forgotten about his performance against Walsall where he was probably our best midfielder. Pardew clearly likes him and he's going to be here to stay, I for one trust his judgement as I've said several times before James is just the new scapegoat.

 

Having a player in the side who can play right back, centre mid and right wing to an acceptble level is very important. We won't be selling him anytime soon.

 

Time will show Lloyd James to be a very good player, wether that's with us or not who knows.

[battlingbob]

lets just keep going and see how far we can get leeds norwich and charlton go up we have a day at wembley next season on level points we will storm the league cant wait

[Windmill Arm 2]

FFS we lost 1-0 to by far and away the best side in L1, so grip up you fecking drama queens, this gam will mean nothing come May.

[dubai_phil]

Enjoyed listening to the game yesterday, despite their technical problems. Sounded like a proper game of football between two matched teams where we didn't quite have the guile to break them down.

 

I suppose one worry is that we also struggled a little against Norwich to break them down and create chances.

 

I probably agree with others that it may be time for Lambert to have a break and recharge his batteries, he is so important to us.

 

Also, James is not a finished article, but he is improving and right now is a useful squad player. Read the opinions of many on here about Morgan and how "crap" he was, yet now we see many people thinking that we missed him yesterday. It is not James's fault that Murty has taken a second knock, and we do need cover in defence and for Lambert in January.

 

My one real criticism of James is with his delivery, he delivers it from wide and deep but he has far too much loop on the ball, allowing defenders time to move and attack the ball, if you compare that to the flat trajectory Delap has with his throws, the flat fast ball causes so much more problems. He can get that sorted (MLT get down to Staplewood and show him) then I think he would set up more than his "lack of pace" concedes

 

At the end of the day, we went to a team at the top of the table, we could have earned a point. We didn't, we won't implode and I'm with AP, 7 points off the play-offs at the end of January and I think we will have a chance.

 

After all FFS Man U could be 6 points behind Chelsea, we don't hear Fergie saying they've given up and won't make it. Still a long way to go, it will be a hard stretch and we could have had our "golden run" too early to make it, but ain't no point slitting the wrists over a 1-0 loss away from home.

[ericofarabia]

I believe we did, we looked over-run at times through midfield, and that's something i've not been used to this season.

 

And Jesus, I don't think i've ever been so cold in my life then as I was today!

 

It certainly was fresh!

 

It was certainly a bit cooler than Dubai that's for sure

 

We didn't ever get a hold of midfield or create any passes down the channels for Connolly to run onto and we hardly ever got wide to pump in balls from the byline. Papa had his hands full acting as an extra full back most of the time.

 

You certainly couldn't fault the effort put in and Perry and especiallt Jaidhi (MOM).

 

Great atmosphere for most of the match from both sets of supporters and the tempo of the game and noise made it seem like a cup tie, helped keep me warm!!

 

How we didn't score in the last 10 mins is beyond me ... 1-1 would have given me 10 points on the prediction league as well;)

 

Certainly nothing to be ashamed of. we'll give 'em a better game at Wembley

Edited 20 December, 2009 by ericofarabia

[ericofarabia]

Morning Phil ... could'nt send any more texts ... would have meant taking my gloves off and that just wasn't going to happen

 

Lol at being able to drink Old Speckled Hen in Leeds, was just like being at home in Dubai ..... but about 30 c cooler

 

Everything covered in snow today ... beautiful.

[dubai_phil]

Morning Phil ... could'nt send any more texts ... would have meant taking my gloves off and that just wasn't going to happen

 

Lol at being able to drink Old Speckled Hen in Leeds, was just like being at home in Dubai ..... but about 30 c cooler

 

Everything covered in snow today ... beautiful.

 

lol well at least on Tuesday I took the flag to SMS....

 

But wisdom prevailed and we kept it to wrap around our legs for the 2nd half!

 

A chilly 20C here today, had to find a long sleeved Tee-Shirt last night. Hope you enjoyed the cold for a change though. Helps get the Xmas spirit flowing (from the hip flask!)

 

Another week of TSW visitors looms down here and with you away we've got nobody left on the subs bench to cover for injuries!

[dune]

AP should take more from this game than any other game we've played because it was clear for all to see where the work needs doing at Saints. Leeds back four was solid as a rock wheras we were just ordinary - that's why they won and we lost.

[dune]

Football League show made out like we had one chance in the entire match.

 

That's about all we did have. Leeds murdered us and should have had 3 goals at least. We only looked like we might score in the 90th minute.

[JustMike]

Ridiculous. I guess you have already forgotten about his performance against Walsall where he was probably our best midfielder. Pardew clearly likes him and he's going to be here to stay, I for one trust his judgement as I've said several times before James is just the new scapegoat.

 

Having a player in the side who can play right back, centre mid and right wing to an acceptble level is very important. We won't be selling him anytime soon.

 

Time will show Lloyd James to be a very good player, wether that's with us or not who knows.

 

Ironically that was at right wing. I dont rate him at RB or CM and would probably get found out (again) in the championship.

[Genk]

Ridiculous. I guess you have already forgotten about his performance against Walsall where he was probably our best midfielder. Pardew clearly likes him and he's going to be here to stay, I for one trust his judgement as I've said several times before James is just the new scapegoat.

 

Having a player in the side who can play right back, centre mid and right wing to an acceptble level is very important. We won't be selling him anytime soon.

 

Time will show Lloyd James to be a very good player, wether that's with us or not who knows.

 

Totally agree. He may not be up there with the quality of Lallana but he can do a job wherever needed and it is good to have a player like this in the squad for when there are injuries etc which is more or less what he has been doing this year. A player who can play 3 or 4 positions is very useful in this league especially with alot of fixtures.

[Genk]

Ironically that was at right wing. I dont rate him at RB or CM and would probably get found out (again) in the championship.

 

He does get 'done' a few times at RB but I honestly think he is a decent CM. Yesterday he was up against the best team in the league and didn't really settle. I still think he can do a job in there, perhaps in the 4-5-1 when he has someone holding behind him so he's given a license to roam.

[Andy_Porter]

Ironically that was at right wing. I dont rate him at RB or CM and would probably get found out (again) in the championship.

 

Yesterday was the first time he's been asked to play in a midfield four, after yesterday I think he's probably not ready for that role yet, more suited to playing as part of a midfield five.

 

I'm really not sure why people are so keen to jump on his back at every oppurtunity.

 

Better holding midfielder than Wotton

Second best right back in the squad

Second best right winger in the squad

Still only 21

 

Aren't going to find many players who can do that for us in this league.

[JustMike]

He does get 'done' a few times at RB but I honestly think he is a decent CM. Yesterday he was up against the best team in the league and didn't really settle. I still think he can do a job in there, perhaps in the 4-5-1 when he has someone holding behind him so he's given a license to roam.

 

mmm id rather have MS and DH in there to be honest, or better. James would be a good player to keep hold of dont get me wrong, his versitility is vital but i just feel if we are serious about promotion he shouldnt start if we sign others in Jan

[shurlock]

Ironically that was at right wing. I dont rate him at RB or CM and would probably get found out (again) in the championship.

 

I dont particularly rate James - he's not decisive enough in the tackle, lacks positional awareness and cannot pass and move.

 

His one saving grace is that he can whip in some unplayable balls provided they do not become get-outs from all areas of the pitch - hence why he was decent at RM against Walsall. However, he also played RM against Hartlepool which I don't think worked as well.

 

I would only consider him at RM away from home if we're looking to stay compact and if we have a RB who is willing to bomb on and go beyond him. Such a ploy might have worked yesterday but on balance I think Pards was right to be more adventurous- there's no way we could have set up shop and kept them out for 90 mins. We really needed to get at them as we did excellently for the first ten mins. Pity after that.

[View From The Top]

It's time to release James. At the end of the day only spiderman and lallana could truly be said to have made it from the youth experiment. James is one of the last failures in my opinion. We need a replacement in this transfer window.

 

Disagree, play him wide right and he does the job well.