positive and negatives a view from the stands

Ok will do a quick review on today's match as I saw it in a positive/negative style

Positives:it was an improvement although it was slight
it was good to have Lawrence back in the team as he looks dangerous when on the ball
Marshall looked better at right back and got forward more
we didn't just lump it forward maybe the penny is dropping.
negatives:ok here we go we are still not looking like we can score in a brothel
Duffy is beginning to look a liability again and continues to not have a clue how to header a ball
Olsson is he a left back or a left winger?he lets players cut in or drift past him far too easily
Rhodes is not the same player under Lambert he looks withdrawn and low in confidence and seems to be in most centre backs pockets
he had a couple of chances today but his whole body language was of somebody not happy at the club.

Well on the positives,Robin, the goal average isnt bad for a team near the relegation fringes......so probably PL needs to concentrate more on the midfield & attack rather than the defence-yes third defeat in a row but only 3 goals conceded........the goal difference is STILL positive.

Also I couldnt fault PLs team selection :Williamson may be a Division 1 or 2 player but at least he gives hundred per cent IMHO the worst 2 players at Bolton Henley & Guthrie were both dropped-the bench merely showing his lack of available options.

On the negatives the post-match interview PL gave blamed the ref.for not awarding a penalty to Akpan(judge for yourself on Sky Sports highlights) and "not getting the rub of the green",territory well traversed by his predecessor.

Lets hope PL has some creative input into the January transfer window and a well thought-out "Plan B" if current tactics continue to come unstuck.

One of the negatives is this site! How come the pages often seem so slow to open when every other site in the universe is fine!!?
Robin, I'm relieved to hear there was some improvement (although many posters on the LET site don't agree).
PL says he has now had a look at all the players and is able to form judgements. I'm a bit puzzled by that. Kilgallon? Spurr?Lenihan? O'Sullivan (on loan, I know)? The youngsters? How much has he seen them in meaningful action?
The biggest negative, obviously, is confidence. There was a typical bounce when Lambert arrived, but that soon got punctured. Now, it's hard to see how the current group is going to progress - especially playing a style that doesn't suit the team, and given the fact that the manager is hardly expressing much faith in them.
That means new blood, but PL has confirmed he is looking at the loan-market only. Hard to see miracle-workers springing from that source. Altogether, a depressing way to start the new year.
I bet the pla

Admittedly, I cannot comment enough upon your analysis Robin as much as if I attended as frequently as yourself. But on my only viewing of a 'PL team' was that they looked a fair bit more organised.
The only thing I find myself disagreeing with is 'JR looking worse under PL'.
I can only bore everyone to death with my 'should have cashed in on the back of last season'. He has not looked half the player (from what I have witnessed) for nearly the whole of this.
My view remains 'he has been sussed out', this in terms of his lack of any pace, his physicality lacking, and his need to have time on the ball, in a very specific area. This, coupled with his virtual sole provider on the park ie CC, makes him a very easy man to mark out of the game.
I have no idea if PL is going to be able to build a team around JR in getting around these frailties, but if he can - great. If he is not sure or confident it is doable and someone somewhere else thinks they can, that is the only way we are going

Your right Bob to a certain degree with Williamson he does give a hundred percent just a shame it's not in a younger man's body as very often he is under pressure when on the ball due to speed issues
looking at your team aucks not sure I would go quite that extreme but almost certainly go back to the original midfield pairing of akpan and Evans and Lawrence alongside Rhodes
the case with Duffy and Olsson I would monitor but I am growing less impressed by the week with them
Finally the curious case of jordan Rhodes was it the Boro interest that caused him to lose the spark or teams finally realising starve the supply and he isn't worth worrying about
I think a bit of both
no player wants to be fighting for mid table and when free spending Boro came along it was a great opportunity so naturally he felt aggrieved
defending against him has become alot tighter and the lack of supply only adds to the frustration
so going its a case of going back to the team when we were on a bit

To change the subject slightly, I would like to hear comments - from those of you who see a lot of games - on Akpan.
I have noticed, when reading reports and views in a variety of places, that he seems to attract widely different responses.
Paul Wheelock, for example, seems to think that he has been a very good signing who has brought extra strength and athleticism to the midfield (in a defensive sense), but I have also seem him described a number of times as clumsy and useless.
Reasoned views?

You`ve summed it up yourself , a good athlete who gets his foot in , but boy can he give the ball away !

By the correct midfielder he is ideal
by the wrong one totally useless
Evans and him worked due to akpan doing the dirty work allowing Evans to run
I am yet to see anybody else working alongside him.

positive - we are no longer in an embargo
Negative - we are all figuring out we are a rank average champ side - thats not changed one bit despite a change of manager. If anything, the style of play is a throw back to Allardyce. Its gone backwards. But we now have a striker who used to score goals because Bowyer knew how to use him (and Gestede) and now will no longer score any as we will never play to his strengths. Results have been awful, other than a few wins against a team in the relegation zone (and PNE). Performances are worse than under Bowyer.
And the real issue is - we sacked a decent manager who would've done no better or worse than Lambert. But Lambert is on alot more money.

A stark reminder for everyone knee jerking and kicking off everytime we lost a game ....demanding we get a new manager. We here we are on the back of a 3 match losing streak and simply treading water yet again.

We need a new striker, a whole new midfield. A new striker, and quite a few of the

Positive:welcome back champs you have been missed
negative:you return as grumpy champs.