Rickie Lambert 80/1

[Noodles34]

just had a fiver each way with Ladbrokes.com on PL Top Scorer

 

I think this excellent value, basically 20/1 to finish in the top 4. I guess if we have a good season it will be down to his goals, worthwhile bet in my opinion (each way)

[once_bitterne]

I think we might be getting a bit carried away with SRL. Undoubtedly the single biggest reason we have got back to back promotions, but....

 

Now over 30

Before last season had never played at L1/L2 level

In pre-season he looks woefully over weight and slow

I think him pulling a Holt maybe a pipe dream.

 

With Sharp on fire in pre-season, us spending over £6m on Jay Rod and Lee looking as if could be a decent player I think this season may be the one the unthinkable happens, Lambert gets dropped from the starting lineup.

[once_bitterne]

I think we might be getting a bit carried away with SRL. Undoubtedly the single biggest reason we have got back to back promotions, but....

 

Now over 30

Before last season had never played at L1/L2 level

In pre-season he looks woefully over weight and slow

I think him pulling a Holt maybe a pipe dream.

 

With Sharp on fire in pre-season, us spending over £6m on Jay Rod and Lee looking as if could be a decent player I think this season may be the one the unthinkable happens, Lambert gets dropped from the starting lineup.

 

 

*played above L1/L2 level

[Roger]

I think we might be getting a bit carried away with SRL. Undoubtedly the single biggest reason we have got back to back promotions, but....

 

Now over 30

Before last season had never played at L1/L2 level

In pre-season he looks woefully over weight and slow

I think him pulling a Holt maybe a pipe dream.

 

With Sharp on fire in pre-season, us spending over £6m on Jay Rod and Lee looking as if could be a decent player I think this season may be the one the unthinkable happens, Lambert gets dropped from the starting lineup.

 

Jesus write him off before he has had time to prove himself. Really can't understand our fans writing of the main reason we are in prem without a ball being kicked.

[This Charming Man]

SRL will bang in 15 this season, J Rod will fail, Sharp will score 3/4, Lee won't be up to it and we'll be forced into the over-priced January market out of desperation for a proven goal scorer at this level.

[The9]

just had a fiver each way with Ladbrokes.com on PL Top Scorer

 

I think this excellent value, basically 20/1 to finish in the top 4. I guess if we have a good season it will be down to his goals, worthwhile bet in my opinion (each way)

 

I think you're mental.

[Crab Lungs]

I think you're mental.

 

You're very critical of Lambert.... Why? Did he rough you up in a LoW game back in the day?

[Roger]

The9 are u actually a saints fan? Ur absolute mad.

[Glasgow_Saint]

what odds on Guly?

[The9]

You're very critical of Lambert.... Why? Did he rough you up in a LoW game back in the day?

 

I just don't think he's suited to the Prem, and has gone as far as he can go. I can see how his skillset could prosper in the Championship but I just think the Prem is a step too far. You have to be mobile and able to create things for yourself to succeed as a striker in the Prem, and I don't think he will be able to.

 

The defending against headers is better, the opportunity to build attacks which end in eventual balls to the far post are much more restricted. He might be better suited to a role in the hole to use his longer range passing to link with midfield and his long range shooting to threaten from deep, but I don't see him on the end of many rapidly-built tap-ins next season - which I can see for both Sharp and Rodriguez, who are more mobile and sharper in the box.

 

As for LoW, he'd have been about 14 at the time. .

[The9]

The9 are u actually a saints fan? Ur absolute mad.

 

I'm a season ticket holder, and I have an opinion which I'm actually able to support with examples rather than just empty insults, if that's ok with you.

 

Er, "I think you're mental" aside.

[Roger]

I'm a season ticket holder, and I have an opinion which I'm actually able to support with examples rather than just empty insults, if that's ok with you.

 

Er, "I think you're mental" aside.

 

I'm a season ticket as well. I seem to remember u saying the same thing about rickie last season. Have u not learnt? For me he is our most skilful player and makes more than any player too.

[Thedelldays]

I just can't see how a player who was so good in the NPC would not de well in the prem.

[beatlesaint]

If we play one up front, Rickie in other words, he will struggle to get to 10 goals i think. Better centre halves will mark him out of the game and he wont be able to come deep cos we will then have nobody up front. So he will be isolated, tightly marked and just not as effective as the last few years.

 

I hope I'm wrong but this new formation doesnt sit well with me I'm afraid.

[Thedelldays]

If we play one up front, Rickie in other words, he will struggle to get to 10 goals i think. Better centre halves will mark him out of the game and he wont be able to come deep cos we will then have nobody up front. So he will be isolated, tightly marked and just not as effective as the last few years.

 

I hope I'm wrong but this new formation doesnt sit well with me I'm afraid.

 

What new information?

[Glasgow_Saint]

I just can't see how a player who was so good in the NPC would not de well in the prem.

 

and yet some players who were so bad will now be good!!

[Saint Malc]

SRL will bang in 15 this season, J Rod will fail, Sharp will score 3/4, Lee won't be up to it and we'll be forced into the over-priced January market out of desperation for a proven goal scorer at this level.

 

This is the most valid thing I have read regarding the over-priced January market. QPR thought that they could do the Premiership on the cheap last season and ended up paying well over the odds in January just to scrape in on the last day.

 

However, from what I've seen during pre-season, I think that J Rod will be a success and Rickie will prove to be better (because of his football brain) than a lot of people think. We desperately need some pace out wide though. Clyne is pretty swift but I mean in a more attacking position.

[Cheese on Toast]

I think if Nige has any balls, Rickie won't be a nailed-on starter and I think sharp and rodriguez will have a much more successful season than him

[This Charming Man]

I think if Nige has any balls, Rickie won't be a nailed-on starter and I think sharp and rodriguez will have a much more successful season than him

 

Hi Dune.

[The9]

I'm a season ticket as well. I seem to remember u saying the same thing about rickie last season. Have u not learnt? For me he is our most skilful player and makes more than any player too.

 

I did say the same thing, and his previously unattained levels of fitness helped him to the success he had - but he's a year older, starting to go past his peak, his strengths at Prem level are more likely to be in creating and not scoring goals and unlike last season, he doesn't look really lean and relatively mobile.

 

Plus I'm pretty sure most people would agree that "standing the ball up at the back stick for the big man" probably isn't going to get us as many goals as it did in League One and the Championship, not to mention that the places where they've decided we're a one man team will be all over him like a rash.

 

For all of those reasons, plus the fact that we've signed 3 strikers in the last 8 months, I'm inclined to think he'll be a lot more of a peripheral figure by the end of the season, and it's very difficult to score goals when you're not on the pitch.

 

I don't even think 20/1 to finish in the top 4 scorers is good value for Lambert.

[Miltonroader07]

A fool and his money ???

[stinhk]

Why not? As a lurker on the site it seems that consensus opinion is of a lower mid table finish for saints, RL's stats are comparable to those of GH's this time last year, actually slightly better. I think it does depend how he takes to a 433, if indeed that's the way we're going to set up.

[Cheese on Toast]

Hi Dune.

 

Who?

[The9]

Ok, let's take it in a different direction. Two Saints players have previously made their way into the top 4 Prem scorers in a season : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Premier_League_goal_scorers_by_season

 

Matt Le Tiss in 1993/4 (25) and James Beattie in 2002/3 (23).

 

A reasonable comparison with the extraordinary talent of Le Tiss seems unfair, so how about we run a comparison with Beattie's "golden" season and look at the relative merits of Lambert now and Beattie at his peak ?

 

Beattie was 24-ish at the time, fairly similar to Lambert in build and style, also took free-kicks and penalties, and seemed to get much of his new-found ability (compared to his previous seasons) from the superb fitness levels Strachan had for all of our players and ability to be in the box at the right time as well as winning the ball in the air and bringing teammates into the game with his link play. In short, his improvement over previous years was because he was able to link, create AND finish moves, and he was ALWAYS in and around to finish chances, in a side which was in the top half of the Prem for most of the season.

 

How do they compare ?

[The9]

Why not? As a lurker on the site it seems that consensus opinion is of a lower mid table finish for saints, RL's stats are comparable to those of GH's this time last year, actually slightly better. I think it does depend how he takes to a 433, if indeed that's the way we're going to set up.

 

For all the comparisons with Holt (who I think is more mobile, faster and sharper), Holt only finished 8th top scorer last season.

[The Kraken]

Like others, I made the mistake this time last season of questioning whether RL could be as effective at Championship level as he was at League 1. Last season I thought his all round game actually improved, and he kept scoring goals too. This time round I'm more than willing to hold my horses and wait to see what he can do; instinct tells me he will succeed. When we played Pompey in the cup as a League 1 side he completely bossed them about and on another day could have easily got a couple of goals. And our team to support him is immeasurably better than then. The centre backs even for the top sides are really not going to relish playing against him, and he is a great penalty and free kick taker.

 

Plus in pre-season last he scored only 1 goal, which led to many to write him off. I think he'll be a star.

 

Besides, what's the uproar in putting a £10 bet on?! Are forum users so poor that wasting £10 on an optimistic bet is deemed so tragic as to question someone's sanity?

[Noodles34]

my basis on the bet is:

he was the top scorer for the last 3 years - there is absolutely no doubt that the guy knows where the goal is.

last season we saw a big change in SRL, to me he was almost playing a Rooney role, dropping deep and running channels, it improved his game without losing any goals etc. There were a number of games whereby imho he was MOM, not because of his goals, but all round play, vision and passing. This will be crucial in the PL.

I haven't seen him pre-season, if he has gone back to being overweight and slow ala 2 seasons agos post AP, then we might have a problem. And it could be a big problem, because I cannot see Sharp being a bit hit in the PL. Too small and not strong enough, he's got no chance, 5 or 6 goals maybe, and who knows what Jay Rod will be like.

Lastly, it wont take much tofinish in the top four, Clint Dempsey was forth with 17, Holt was 8th with 15. Is SRL better than Holt? If you think he is, then it clearly makes this bet (based on historical facts) good value and as worthwhile a gamble as a gamble can be.

[Fan The Flames]

For all the comparisons with Holt (who I think is more mobile, faster and sharper), Holt only finished 8th top scorer last season.

 

A narrow view on the stats there. Two more goals and he would have fininshed 4th.

[Noodles34]

Premier League 2011-2012 - Top ScorersPos. Player Goals Team

1 Robin van Persie 30 Arsenal

2 Wayne Rooney 27 Manchester United

3 Sergio Agüero 23 Manchester City

4 Clint Dempsey 17 Fulham

4 Yakubu Aiyegbeni 17 Blackburn Rovers

4 Emmanuel Adebayor 17 Tottenham Hotspur

7 Demba Ba 16 Newcastle United

8 Grant Holt 15 Norwich City

9 Edin Dzeko 14 Manchester City

10 Mario Balotelli 13 Manchester City

10 Pa**** Cissé 13 Newcastle United

12 Steven Fletcher 12 Wolverhampton Wanderers

12 Danny Graham 12 Swansea City

14 Jermain Defoe 11 Tottenham Hotspur

14 Rafael van der Vaart 11 Tottenham Hotspur

14 Frank Lampard 11 Chelsea

14 Daniel Sturridge 11 Chelsea

14 Luis Suarez 11 Liverpool

19 Javier Hernández 10 Manchester United

19 Peter Crouch 10 Stoke City

19 Peter Odemwingie 10 West Bromwich Albion

22 Darren Bent 9 Aston Villa

22 Steve Morison 9 Norwich City

22 Nikica Jelavic 9 Everton

22 Gareth Bale 9 Tottenham Hotspur

22 Danny Welbeck 9 Manchester United

27 Anthony Pilkington 8 Norwich City

27 Matt Jarvis 8 Wolverhampton Wanderers

27 Theo Walcott 8 Arsenal

27 Nani 8 Manchester United

27 Heidar Helguson 8 Queens Park Rangers

27 Ivan Klasnic 8 Bolton Wanderers

27 Scott Sinclair 8 Swansea City

27 Shane Long 8 West Bromwich Albion

27 Nicklas Bendtner 8 Sunderland

36 Jonathan Walters 7 Stoke City

36 Sebastian Larsson 7 Sunderland

36 Mikel Arteta 7 Arsenal

36 Dimitar Berbatov 7 Manchester United

36 Bobby Zamora 7 Queens Park Rangers

36 Stéphane Sessegnon 7 Sunderland

36 Franco Di Santo 7 Wigan Athletic

36 Gylfi Sigurdsson 7 Swansea City

36 David Hoilett 7 Blackburn Rovers

36 Jamie Mackie 7 Queens Park Rangers

46 Victor Moses 6 Wigan Athletic

46 Juan Mata 6 Chelsea

46 David Silva 6 Manchester City

46 Pavel Pogrebnyak 6 Fulham

46 Thomas Vermaelen 6 Arsenal