Martinez content with more 'balanced' squad

And nobody cares if we only have 30% possession... and win!

He wouldn't have been my choice I admit, but now he's here, I will get behind him 100%, stranger things have happened, he could be the catalyst we need.

As long as he he gets MotM on his first appearance and scores a couple of goals. That'll do for me cocker!

Now, who are we laying next? :-)

I like Kone though. I hope he can make an impact in the second half of the season.

If we can get back to dominating teams in the middle of the park, and using the pace of Lennon Lukaku and Mirallas, we could get back to winning ways. MCarthy and Besic in the middle for me in the derby. Only problem with that is Besic is lively and risks getting sent off....

If he does pick one up at some time will there be a rash of posters on here telling us they always knew he was a liability?

Given the system we play, where exactly is Cleverly supposed to fit in? He'd be our 5th (yes 5th!) CDM, assuming Gibson ever makes it back on the pitch.

In Besic and McCarthy we already have two young decent CDMs – or is the plan to cash in on McCarthy and get Cleverly in as a 'free' replacement?

Too many times the RS have dominated the middle of the park, so let's hope we deny them on Saturday. We need to be up for it, all over the park. COYB.

Incidentally, when I saw the press photos I thought we'd signed Lord Sugar! If he is delighted he needs to let his face know!

It's our attacking wide play that has been so poor this season, it's great we've signed Lennon but we still need one more, Delboy would be a great addition in the summer.

BTW, a great link on the OS (the Ambassadors Blog) to a Beacher Report link and an interview with Unsy and Ledson.

The hard men of yesteryear wouldn't be on the field 5 minutes with the rules we now play under, the day of the hard man has gone for good.

Naismith has scored 2 league goals in 5 months since August, and hasn't provided a single assist all season in any competition. He's not had a shot on target for months and plods about but never gets a tackle in. He's a first division player IMO.

Still the position we really lack is a proper number 10. Someone with immaculate touch and vision able to make things happen in the final third. A silva/eriksen/oscar/mata/cazorla type. Not sure if Barkley is the answer but I know that Naismith isn't. Great lad and fantastic work rate but not sure we'll ever reach top 4 with him in that pivotal hole role....if that's still the aim?

Funny old thing the memory. Should get it checked out.

Not that I have anything against Lennon, I used to rate him, can't judge at the moment as he has hardly played recently....

...but looking increasingly likely that loaning Atsu for the season was a waste of time and money (for us, not for Chelsea!)

All we can hope that a new manager will be in place come summertime in order to avoid another no mark signing to go with the rest of this bloke's disasters.

My guess however is that it will probably be Lennon on the left and Mirallas on the right with Naismith just behind Lukaku.

Put it this way, if we are out of the Europa and in the bottom 4 post Arsenal game... surely he has to go then?

A season of great potential transformed,I hate seeing this great squad we have be put to waste, and the bite in the tail will be that if things continue as they are, come the summer we wont be able to hang on to out best players.

We will then have to go through the whole fucking scenario again aka Wigan.

We could have had a balanced team all season if he'd picked one.

If he picks one now and gets them going forward with pace, we'll pick up the points. Big if, though.

For the most part inconsistency and tactics have been a big part of the problem. The early warning signs were there after the first two games but RM has been unable to get things right after all this time.

He obviously has to show his confidence in the players and what he is doing but I think he has not shown anything that bodes well for the future.

I think most of us guessed it was going to be a last minute loan deal if anything in the transfer window and so it proved. Lennon will not be a saviour as he has been out of favour at Spurs but as he has experience, speed and trickery I think he will be a decent option but maybe just off the bench given the injury problems that Mirallas seems to get.

McGeady is a flash in the pan and Atsu hasnÂ’t really been given a run so why he was brought in is beyond me.

I am surprise Pienaar is still with the club but perhaps he will be gone in the Summer along with Alcaraz and Gibson.
These players havenÂ’t made a dozen appearances between them so why keep them on the payroll?

Having said all that, I am sure that if they beat the shite, all will be forgiven and forgotten.

No, the goalkeeper fumbled it to Lukaku so that is not an assist. Zero all season, all competitions from an attacking mid. That's a major reason why we're not doing well.

Just what you want from an attacking mid who doesn't score many goals.

Without his ball in...

I think that is too generous, the cross wouldn't have got to Lukaku without the goalie. Anyway that would be 4 assists in the last 3 seasons - a shocking statistic.

I like Naismith and he should play against the RS purely because he runs about a lot, which most of our players tend not to do. We'll get over run in midfield again if we're not careful, which is why Macca not playing is such a blow. Barry can't run so Besic is going to have a busy afternoon, as is Baines if the girl from Coming to America plays down his side – if not then Coleman will have plenty on his plate.

We're made for the RS – it's not just that they're better than us, we're just ripe for the way they play. Barkley does fuck all defensively, Barry is too slow and with our full backs pushed up it leaves our centre halves wide open to Coutinho, Sterling and the silly dancer. It'll be by the skin of our teeth if we get a result this weekend and Robles is gonna have to have a blinder.

Fair enough if you don't rate him, Clive, but I'm struggling to see a better option for Saturday.

After reading his stats, I have made a point of watching him closely fro the last few games, and have been appalled at how poor he is and how little his contribution. People are reduced to saying, yes but he runs about. Not sure that's true, but the idea is to do something with the ball, and the stats tell us he isn't.

How very true ... that "you can’t wriggle the facts to fit your agenda." And it is exactly what you and Clive are attempting to do in denying that didn’t count as an assist for Naismith because of your own ’agenda.’

That was Naismith’s assist all day long and only the most niggardly of person would deny that.

Perhaps his hard work is useful for matches where we expect to be under the cosh but too many times we have struggled to break down teams due to the lack of a genuine playmaker in that role.

I've said for a while that Naismith is ideal in the really tough games. He's a workhorse, a pest, and he has the occasional goal in him, all of that is invaluable when your backs are against the wall. When you're trying to break a side down though, I think he can sometimes look really poor. His touch and passing are pretty woeful a lot of the time.

I think some fans (of all clubs) have a tendency to see players as black and white. People used to say Naismith was absolutely awful, now they say he's our best player. The truth is he was never as bad as people made out and once they realised it everybody started going on about how underrated he is, perversely making him rather overrated. The same sort of thing is happening with Joel now, people made out like he was some sort of sunday league keeper and now that he's shown he's a reasonably capable professional you've got people making out he's Lev Yashin.