Andy Carroll pulls out of squad.. Lambert in?

[Appy]

I agree about that Lambert won't get his chance, no matter how many goals he scores or how much he deserves it, Hodgson is worried about going back into "the dark ages" despite him clearly doing it anyway.

 

I'd like to think Clyne,Cork and maybe Rodriguez will get their chance if they carry on their form of the last season.

[Sour Mash]

As I said, footballs all about opinions, and nowhere did I say that he was much better right now. He certainly can be a much better player than Lambert is and my point on who most people would sign (if they weren't Saints fans) still stands.

You agreed with Window Cleaner's post that Welbeck is much better than Lambert. You ask any manager in the country - would you rather have had Lambert and his performances and goals last season or Welbeck and his contribution. Anyone sensible knows the answer to that.

[Smirking_Saint]

I agree about that Lambert won't get his chance, no matter how many goals he scores or how much he deserves it, Hodgson is worried about going back into "the dark ages" despite him clearly doing it anyway.

 

I'd like to think Clyne,Cork and maybe Rodriguez will get their chance if they carry on their form of the last season.

 

So would I, its important to remember the more able players you have the more chance they will be called up, it isnt that certain clubs are trendy, its because they have more players of the right ability able to play together and suit a system.

[Smirking_Saint]

You agreed with Window Cleaner's post that Welbeck is much better than Lambert. You ask any manager in the country - would you rather have had Lambert and his performances and goals last season or Welbeck and his contribution. Anyone sensible knows the answer to that.

 

Your entitled to your opinion

[Sour Mash]

Your entitled to your opinion

*You're/You are.

[Smirking_Saint]

*You're/You are.

 

Thanks

[Chez]

I rate Ricky and Wellbeck. Welbeck has looked quite good for England at times. First half in Montenegro he was our best player.

 

England are **** because they don't have decent dribblers in the side. Chamberlain was ****ing terrible. Why players that hardly play for theor cliubs get straight into the England side I will never know. Class is important but sharpness, form and confidence does matter.

[UpweySaint]

I rate Ricky and Wellbeck. Welbeck has looked quite good for England at times. First half in Montenegro he was our best player.

 

England are **** because they don't have decent dribblers in the side. Chamberlain was ****ing terrible. Why players that hardly play for theor cliubs get straight into the England side I will never know. Class is important but sharpness, form and confidence does matter.

 

Fair point the ox was poor but he has looked good in an england shirt on previous occassions. Often being one of the few genuinely willing to run at defenders and try to make things happen. Hopefully next year he'l cement his place in the Arsenal side and that will put him in good form come the summer.

[tajjuk]

Carroll is a far better player than Lambert, whether anyone chooses to admit it or not is another matter. If I had the choice of Carroll or Lambert as princial striker at Saints it would be an absolute no contest. Plus Carroll's defensive contribution is by far superior.

 

Even with my Saints hat off thinking as objectively as I can about this I can't honestly how you can come to this conclusion.

 

Carroll has just TWO better qualities than Lambert IMO, he's slightly more mobile and he's 6 years younger. That's it.

 

Carroll is essentially a one trick pony, he's tall and big, he's the player that lots of people think Crouch is/was but isn't.

 

Lambert is a much more complete player, he's a better finisher on either foot, he has a far superior footballing brain, he can see and find a pass, he has much better technique and first touch and he can take set pieces as well. I even think Lambert is better at heading. He's also better at bringing people into the game.

 

Simply Carroll has had a season in a team playing to his strengths and he has managed just 7 goals. Take away his one fairly decent season where he scored 17 goals in the championship, he has a measly 28 goals in 119 games. The guy is not a goal scorer, he's a lump that teams put up front to bounce balls off. He's more likely to get booked than score a goal, and that's if you can get him on the pitch in the first place considering he's always injured.

 

Swap Lambert for Carroll in our team and we would have been relegated.

 

It's also why it's clear that Roy doesn't watch or know much about Lambert because he lumps into the same category as Carroll, and Holt. He has a far superior all round game compared to those two and is not a traditional target man, if he plays in a similar position to anyone in the England team it's Rooney, he drops into the same spaces, holds the ball up looks to play people in.

 

Lambert has scored as many goals in the last two years as Carroll has in his whole career.

Edited 31 May, 2013 by tajjuk

[stevy777_x]

Welbeck now out for the Brazil game leaving defoe and rooney as the only fit strikers.

[itchen_dan]

This article just about sums up our chances under Hodgson.

 

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22743974

 

"One of the areas where we've been, to say the least, unfortunate, is in the choice of front players and the availability of front players."

 

Daniel Sturridge did not make the trip to Rio after damaging ankle ligaments in the 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Wednesday, while Danny Welbeck has not recovered from a knee problem.

 

Lack of front players? He does realise there are players such as Lambert, Rodriguez, Le Fondre etc all sat at home who would be chomping at the bit to give international football a crack when he'd rather bodge it and play a winger up front. It's a friendly Roy! Give players a chance! It's quite incredible really. Feeble excuse.

[Wes Tender]

Carroll has just TWO better qualities than Lambert IMO, he's slightly more mobile and he's 6 years younger. That's it.

 

 

I agree with all of this, but Carroll actually has THREE qualities that Lambert hasn't, although the third is not exactly what you might label as a "better" quality.

 

Carroll has the ability to fall down like a sack of spuds whenever a defender breathes heavily on him, conning numerous referees to award WH free kicks in dangerous areas. I really cannot remember another player who was built like an Ox, but who could be floored as easily. Perhaps the ponytail is a clue; he's really more suited to the Womens' game.

 

Lambert is far too honest an individual to fall down every five seconds and has defenders climbing all over his back, pulling his shirt, holding him down, but he stays on his feet and gets nothing from the referees.

 

As such, he is useless to the England team, who rely on divers to gain them an advantage.

[UpweySaint]

Welbeck now out for the Brazil game leaving defoe and rooney as the only fit strikers.

 

BBC has defoe as doubtful too ..

[lordswoodsaints]

I don't know why England and the FA are given space and time on this forum......who really gives a **** about England when the national team is supposed to be made up of the best English players in the country picked by a manger who is not out of touch with the modern game left alone to do his job without interference from individual members of the FA who have their own agendas.

The England setup causes more problems for smaller clubs because it unsettles players,it breeds a culture of 'you won't play for England regardless of how good you are unless you are playing at a one of the top 6 clubs of a more fashionable club'.......you don't really believe that wellbeck,Defoe,sturridge or any of the other average players in the England would get a sniff if they played for us,Norwich,stoke or WBA do you?

England is a joke and unless the culture changes then we will win **** all and I'm glad about that.

[simo]

Im having so much fun on the bbc comments pages about lambert I think about 80% of people on there are bemused as to why the likes of welbeck and defoe have been called up ahead of him , the other 20% are mainly united fans and thoses who aren't seem to think Ricky is and I quote "a head on a stick type player who only fits in with the long ball game"

[CaneNero]

Hodgson is a joke. CRAP team selection and CRAP tactics we are not going to win **** under him.

[Barry the Badger]

the other 20% are mainly united fans and thoses who aren't seem to think Ricky is and I quote "a head on a stick type player who only fits in with the long ball game"

 

Had this ongoing argument with a toon supporting relative, who thinks lambert is a **** Andy Carroll.

 

I started by giving the assist stats, plus his passing figures, he argued you can't prove anything with stats.

 

I found videos of him creating goals for others, he said top strikers need to create goals out of nothing.

 

I found videos of him creating goals out of nothing (villa at home being a good example), he said I was cherry picking.

 

Some people cannot understand that he's actually a footballer, because he's a big lad that's played lower leagues.

[Batman]

They were just talking about lambert for England in light of every being injured

 

He was quickly dismissed that he needs to produce this season for the next 3 to have any chance

 

Really??

[Turkish]

Even with my Saints hat off thinking as objectively as I can about this I can't honestly how you can come to this conclusion.

 

Carroll has just TWO better qualities than Lambert IMO, he's slightly more mobile and he's 6 years younger. That's it.

 

Carroll is essentially a one trick pony, he's tall and big, he's the player that lots of people think Crouch is/was but isn't.

 

Lambert is a much more complete player, he's a better finisher on either foot, he has a far superior footballing brain, he can see and find a pass, he has much better technique and first touch and he can take set pieces as well. I even think Lambert is better at heading. He's also better at bringing people into the game.

 

Simply Carroll has had a season in a team playing to his strengths and he has managed just 7 goals. Take away his one fairly decent season where he scored 17 goals in the championship, he has a measly 28 goals in 119 games. The guy is not a goal scorer, he's a lump that teams put up front to bounce balls off. He's more likely to get booked than score a goal, and that's if you can get him on the pitch in the first place considering he's always injured.

 

Swap Lambert for Carroll in our team and we would have been relegated.

 

It's also why it's clear that Roy doesn't watch or know much about Lambert because he lumps into the same category as Carroll, and Holt. He has a far superior all round game compared to those two and is not a traditional target man, if he plays in a similar position to anyone in the England team it's Rooney, he drops into the same spaces, holds the ball up looks to play people in.

 

Lambert has scored as many goals in the last two years as Carroll has in his whole career.

 

Utter horse s*it.

[Turkish]

The best we have done in a world cup since 66 our squad contained players from Derby, Villa, Forest, QPR, Marseille, Rangers and even Wolves. Yet these days the only players who get picked are ones who play for the big clubs, even if they are just squad players. Who got it right, Bobby Robson or the others who have failed at every tournament since?

[Crab Lungs]

FWIW, this is my squad if I had to choose 23 for the WC.

 

GK's: Hart, Foster, Forster.

RB's: Walker, Clyne.

LB's: Cole, Baines.

CB's: Dawson, Cahill, Jagielka, P. Jones.

MF's: Wilshere, Lallana, Carrick, Parker, Britton, Walcott, Lennon, Cork.

ST's: Rooney, Sturridge, Defoe, Lambert.

 

Standby; Bunn, Shawcross, Smalling, Westwood, Dyer, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Crouch, Le Fondre.

 

Edited 2 June, 2013 by Crab Lungs

[The9]

The best we have done in a world cup since 66 our squad contained players from Derby, Villa, Forest, QPR, Marseille, Rangers and even Wolves. Yet these days the only players who get picked are ones who play for the big clubs, even if they are just squad players. Who got it right, Bobby Robson or the others who have failed at every tournament since?

 

To be fair, the "successful" clubs (in the terms of who constituted the top 6) in those days was also a lot more distributed, even though there was a "big 5" in the 80s they were the best-supported and biggest name clubs not necessarily the most successful, and they didn't always have all the best players.

 

There were also far fewer foreigners so Robson also had a lot more English top tier players to pick from and a broader range of options, and the nature of the far lesser tv coverage also meant that the biggest sides were less likely to even know a player was doing well enough to feel he was worth signing (and the scout system was a lot less effective than watching hours of video like you can today). So he had to pick from more teams because the best players played for more teams - how often nowadays can a side come out of the Championship and win the top division like Forest did a couple of years before Robson took on the England job ? The likes of Villa were challenging for the Prem in the early 90s, but it just doesn't happen any more.

 

As a sign of the times, Mark Wright joined Liverpool not long after the 1990 World Cup, having proven his ability at international level. Nowadays he'd probably already be with City or United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool long before he got to a World Cup.

[Dig Dig]

Hodgson complaining about lack of English Strikers but he's left the top scoring English striker from the highest division in the land at home, even when most of the other strikers get injured.

[hypochondriac]

Hodgson complaining about lack of English Strikers but he's left the top scoring English striker from the highest division in the land at home, even when most of the other strikers get injured.

 

And also compares him to holt. That is such a lazy comparison from the manager it is beneath contempt.

[The9]

Hodgson complaining about lack of English Strikers but he's left the top scoring English striker from the highest division in the land at home, even when most of the other strikers get injured.

 

That is all about systems, our system plays to different strengths to that required by England. It then comes down to a straight choice between Carroll and "another target man" and he chooses to pick the younger player on that basis, for better or worse. There's not much point him calling up a player he has no intention of using for the hell of it, when he'd have to change the team's system to incorporate him successfully and then change it again in the next year or two when that player most likely falls off the cliff physically.

[Katalinic]

And also compares him to holt. That is such a lazy comparison from the manager it is beneath contempt.

 

Agree. Lambert has far more to his game than Holt - tells us everything we need to know about how closely he has watched him.

[The9]

And also compares him to holt. That is such a lazy comparison from the manager it is beneath contempt.

 

He did basically say on Sky Sports that even Holt and Lambert would agree they were more of a Carroll type than a Defoe, Sturridge or Welbeck. He also managed to make it sound like they were inferior in doing so.

 

As far as I'm concerned, if Sturridge is fit he should play, failing that I'd have Defoe, Darren Bent or Crouch in there with Rooney in the hole, Welbeck as a squad member until he categorically proves he's as useless as he seems to be. I wouldn't touch Carroll with a 50 foot pole unless they decide to play direct and forget the pretence of passing it in the final third, he's an utter donkey who lives off crosses and whilst he can kill a long ball, he's terrible facing the opposition goal with the ball at his feet. Crouch is MUCH better than Carroll at what Hodgson wants him to do as an alternative type of player.

[Katalinic]

That is all about systems, our system plays to different strengths to that required by England. It then comes down to a straight choice between Carroll and "another target man" and he chooses to pick the younger player on that basis, for better or worse. There's not much point him calling up a player he has no intention of using for the hell of it, when he'd have to change the team's system to incorporate him successfully and then change it again in the next year or two when that player most likely falls off the cliff physically.

 

I actually think most of our players would struggle to adapt to the current England system. This says more about the system than our players imo.

[Dig Dig]

That is all about systems, our system plays to different strengths to that required by England. It then comes down to a straight choice between Carroll and "another target man" and he chooses to pick the younger player on that basis, for better or worse. There's not much point him calling up a player he has no intention of using for the hell of it, when he'd have to change the team's system to incorporate him successfully and then change it again in the next year or two when that player most likely falls off the cliff physically.

 

What's the best approach then, having a system which you use regardless of the players available or do you pick players based on form and find a system which works for them?

 

In addition, Roy was banging on earlier about never imposing systems on players so in his own words, the system shouldn't be relevant.

[The9]

I actually think most of our players would struggle to adapt to the current England system. This says more about the system than our players imo.

 

Can't disagree with that - though the media needs to take it's share of responsibility for making it SO difficult for an England manager to do anything even remotely unconventional.

[Window Cleaner]

Agree. Lambert has far more to his game than Holt - tells us everything we need to know about how closely he has watched him.

 

Surprised that Hodgson hasn't tried Gary Hooper actually, is he not English ? I'd certainly give Hooper a chance before Lambert.

[The9]

What's the best approach then, having a system which you use regardless of the players available or do you pick players based on form and find a system which works for them?

 

In addition, Roy was banging on earlier about never imposing systems on players so in his own words, the system shouldn't be relevant.

 

I think you need a system that suits the players you expect to be available, it's slightly different for major tournaments when you get about a month beforehand though as they're yours to retrain for that period.

 

It does pose a problem with in-form players though doesn't it, especially when their abilities are supported by the players in their clubs but wouldn't be in the England squad ?

[Katalinic]

Surprised that Hodgson hasn't tried Gary Hooper actually, is he not English ? I'd certainly give Hooper a chance before Lambert.

 

Don't disagree that players such as Hooper deserve a chance - the friendlies last week and tonight would have been a good opportunity but sadly we went with the usual players and the usual style of football.

[Dig Dig]

I think you need a system that suits the players you expect to be available, it's slightly different for major tournaments when you get about a month beforehand though as they're yours to retrain for that period.

 

It does pose a problem with in-form players though doesn't it, especially when their abilities are supported by the players in their clubs but wouldn't be in the England squad ?

 

The most irritating thing for me is that in one friendly we will play Theo Walcott on the right of the front three and then the next game, play Milner there instead. Two completely different players expected to do the same role. This England team lacks any real identity, the usual suspects get games no matter how they are playing and there is absolutely little or no desire to challenge the status quo and doing something different.

[Window Cleaner]

Don't disagree that players such as Hooper deserve a chance - the friendlies last week and tonight would have been a good opportunity but sadly we went with the usual players and the usual style of football.

 

Well apparently Hooper was going to be called up for a recent'ish friendly against Sweden but Celtic said he was injured and wouldn't make it. Perhaps Woy is w®ancunier (don't know if you use that word in England ).

[Smirking_Saint]

FWIW, this is my squad if I had to choose 23 for the WC.

 

GK's: Hart, Foster, Forster.

RB's: Walker, Clyne.

LB's: Cole, Baines.

CB's: Dawson, Cahill, Jagielka, P. Jones.

MF's: Wilshere, Lallana, Carrick, Parker, Britton, Walcott, Lennon, Cork.

ST's: Rooney, Sturridge, Defoe, Lambert.

 

Standby; Bunn, Shawcross, Smalling, Westwood, Dyer, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Crouch, Le Fondre.

 

 

No johnson ? No welbeck ?

 

Britton ? Parker ? Lambert ?

 

Still, its too early to name a squad, another whole season of football, Lambert wont be first choice next year.

[Smirking_Saint]

I think you need a system that suits the players you expect to be available, it's slightly different for major tournaments when you get about a month beforehand though as they're yours to retrain for that period.

 

It does pose a problem with in-form players though doesn't it, especially when their abilities are supported by the players in their clubs but wouldn't be in the England squad ?

 

I tried to explain this fact a while ago, it was largely ignored..

 

You also cant flood a team with players not used to playing together, as basically, they will find it harder to play together, hence why you pick the bulk from teams that have the most english players of int ability

[Batman]

I tried to explain this fact a while ago, it was largely ignored..

 

You also cant flood a team with players not used to playing together, as basically, they will find it harder to play together, hence why you pick the bulk from teams that have the most english players of int ability

fair point

I still have no idea what Cleverly brings to the party mind. No doubt he will play later and do nothing of note and go back to man uniteds bench

 

the more we as a nation continue to look to the top 4/5 for the bulk of our players, the less likely we are going to move forward. more and more foreign stars are playing for those teams but picking from their benches is not really the answer

 

didnt chamberlain get called up for the full england squad before playing 5 games (or even 1 game) for arsenal? if so. what happened during his transfer that transformed him into an international player that was not there at saints?

[The9]

fair point

I still have no idea what Cleverly brings to the party mind. No doubt he will play later and do nothing of note and go back to man uniteds bench

 

the more we as a nation continue to look to the top 4/5 for the bulk of our players, the less likely we are going to move forward. more and more foreign stars are playing for those teams but picking from their benches is not really the answer

 

didnt chamberlain get called up for the full england squad before playing 5 games (or even 1 game) for arsenal? if so. what happened during his transfer that transformed him into an international player that was not there at saints?

 

What happened (as with Walcott) was that the England manager noticed that someone else had decided he was good enough for a top 6 squad.

 

Agreed re Cleverley too. And Henderson to a lesser extent. Leon Osman has done much more than either of them.

[supersonic]

Lambert isn't good enough to play for England. He may have got 15 PL goals this season, but in reality he isn't international standard.

[CWD]

I just don't understand why neither Wenger nor Hodgson will play Theo up front. He just isn't a winger IMO.

[Appy]

FWIW, this is my squad if I had to choose 23 for the WC.

 

GK's: Hart, Foster, Forster.

RB's: Walker, Clyne.

LB's: Cole, Baines.

CB's: Dawson, Cahill, Jagielka, P. Jones.

MF's: Wilshere, Lallana, Carrick, Parker, Britton, Walcott, Lennon, Cork.

ST's: Rooney, Sturridge, Defoe, Lambert.

 

Standby; Bunn, Shawcross, Smalling, Westwood, Dyer, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Crouch, Le Fondre.

 

 

Parker?

 

Jesus christ.

[Depressed of Shirley]

Lambert isn't good enough to play for England. He may have got 15 PL goals this season, but in reality he isn't international standard.

 

And unfortunately, nor are Welbeck, Chamberlain, Defoe, Carroll or anyone else English. we are a crap team managed by a dinosaur. I hope we don't qualify for the WC, it might make some people at the FA wake up. Look at Shrek's recent performances and argue that he is of the standard required to compete against Germany or Spain.

[The9]

I just don't understand why neither Wenger nor Hodgson will play Theo up front. He just isn't a winger IMO.

 

It's an interesting thing that he was miles better as a striker than right midfielder even when he was with Saints. Much as he was "the next big thing", he was miles more effective up front, always offered a threat and often just looked wasted on the half way line, at least against Championship sides. Plus being up front removed a lot of the decision-making from his game and made him rely more on his instinct, which I think is still a problem he has even today.

[Dig Dig]

What is international standard?

 

Surely the standard is all relative to the available players for each country?

 

I find it very odd someone might not be good enough for a very poor underperforming side when they're performing well in the same league as all those players.

 

Exactly, our standard is as good as the players we have available.

[The9]

He's proven he's good enough, regardless of recent form.

 

But why should we compete with Germany or Spain? They're rare top sides that have developed for years and probably expect to win tournaments. England are miles from that. There's nothing wrong with getting to a world cup and trying to get to the quarter finals perhaps. Just have to get the most out of what you have....which we never manage. Plenty of other nations accept their limitations and produce good performances without moaning on endlessly about dominating and winning things.

 

Pretty much any of the top 12 teams in the world could win the World Cup with the right amount of luck and timing - I think England's best chance of the past 40 years was 2002, and God only knows what Sven was doing against Brazil's 10 men.

[Scoobysaint]

I know he won't ever read it, let alone reply but had to send Woy a letter. . . .

 

Dear Mr Hodgson

 

May I be as bold as to start this letter with two direct quotes from you,

“We would like a stronger pool of front players to choose from, so when one or two get injured we still have (some) left.”

“If you look at the Premier League most of the strikers are foreigners.”

 

What I find so remarkable about these statements is that one of the joint top English scorers in the Premier League last season was Rickie Lambert, a player in his debut season in the top flight with a team that was expected to bravely battle against relegation. Lambert managed to score an impressive fifteen goals in comparison to Danny Wellbeck (1 goal), Wayne Rooney (12), Jermaine Defoe (11), and Andy Carroll (7). Southampton do not have the players to create the chances that these “goalscorers” get from their teams and yet Rickie Lambert has significantly outscored them.

 

I fail to understand how you can state that the striking pool is small and the options are limited. The only limiting factor is your lack of vision, belief and trust in players that don’t play for one of the “big” teams. I was desperately hoping that your reign as England manager would lead us away from the unsuccessful years of only picking players from the top six clubs. Unfortunately it appears that, as so many before, you lack the ability to look at player form and ability without looking at the club badge first.

 

I hope that you reconsider your selection policy in future squads but more so than that, I hope you start to think a little more about the sweeping statements that you make so offhandedly. Stating that the Premier League lacks quality strikers is a massive disservice to players such as Rickie Lambert, players who you are willing to belittle but not willing to give them the opportunity they richly deserve by calling them up to a squad .

With regards

 

Scoobysaint x x x

[The9]

Anyway, Bra v Eng anyone ? http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?45171-Brazil-v-England&p=1706950#post1706950

[VectisSaint]

I know he won't ever read it, let alone reply but had to send Woy a letter. . . .

 

Dear Mr Hodgson

 

May I be as bold as to start this letter with two direct quotes from you,

“We would like a stronger pool of front players to choose from, so when one or two get injured we still have (some) left.”

“If you look at the Premier League most of the strikers are foreigners.”

 

What I find so remarkable about these statements is that one of the joint top English scorers in the Premier League last season was Rickie Lambert, a player in his debut season in the top flight with a team that was expected to bravely battle against relegation. Lambert managed to score an impressive fifteen goals in comparison to Danny Wellbeck (1 goal), Wayne Rooney (12), Jermaine Defoe (11), and Andy Carroll (7). Southampton do not have the players to create the chances that these “goalscorers” get from their teams and yet Rickie Lambert has significantly outscored them.

 

I fail to understand how you can state that the striking pool is small and the options are limited. The only limiting factor is your lack of vision, belief and trust in players that don’t play for one of the “big” teams. I was desperately hoping that your reign as England manager would lead us away from the unsuccessful years of only picking players from the top six clubs. Unfortunately it appears that, as so many before, you lack the ability to look at player form and ability without looking at the club badge first.

 

I hope that you reconsider your selection policy in future squads but more so than that, I hope you start to think a little more about the sweeping statements that you make so offhandedly. Stating that the Premier League lacks quality strikers is a massive disservice to players such as Rickie Lambert, players who you are willing to belittle but not willing to give them the opportunity they richly deserve by calling them up to a squad .

With regards

 

Scoobysaint x x x

I'm sure he'll appreciate the kisses at the end. Probably the only bit he would read.

[Smirking_Saint]

I'm sure he'll appreciate the kisses at the end. Probably the only bit he would read.

 

It was a decent sentiment, but unfortunately flawed, Rickie isnt good enough.

 

Much like the norwich fans clamoured for Holt last year...