The summer signings

[Concrete John]

My major concern is the bad smell coming from the reserves.  Having shoved Hutton and Warnock out of the frame so completely it would have been good to have found them at least temporary accomodation elsewhere.  Will any of our reserve team have functioning legs by the time those 2 have finished with them??

I think you can still loan players to the Championship?  Might be best for all concerned if we did this with them.

[QBVILLA]

7/10.

During the MON years we were moaning about signing overpriced PL players and not finding the lower league/overseas cheap deals other clubs seemed to be able to find.  Well, that's what we've now done and suddenly we should be going for more PL experience?  Ever heard the phrase "Can't do right for doing wrong?"

In truth a balance is probably what's needed, but we already have a lot of PL experience in Bent, Gabby, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Given and Dunne.  Remember it's not just about the new signings!

The two losses had some panicing a bit, but PL stuck to his transfer philosophy and literally 'kept his head while all around lose theirs', which really impresses me about him.

Have a look at this forum at the opinions of the players you've mentioned there as our experienced players.With the exception of Bent they've all been getting plenty of criticism.A couple of experienced players added to the unproven lads would have made me feel more confident as you say, it's about the balance.At the moment we're unbalanced. Today's back four highlights that,

Lowton   Vlaar  Baker  Bennett

Barely ten Premiership appearances between them and they're up against Cisse and Ba today.That is a concern for me and whilst I agree players need time to settle, we need to get them settled pretty sharpish or we'll be playing catch up.

Tomorrow.

Good point

[QBVILLA]

My major concern is the bad smell coming from the reserves.  Having shoved Hutton and Warnock out of the frame so completely it would have been good to have found them at least temporary accomodation elsewhere.  Will any of our reserve team have functioning legs by the time those 2 have finished with them??

I think you can still loan players to the Championship?  Might be best for all concerned if we did this with them.

Believe so.Think we may end up covering their wages but it's best for all concerned to get them out.

[john e]

i'm happy with the incomings, and also with the seemingly new direction and policy of the manager and board to bring in players who will hopefully develop into great players for us, some of them pretty quickly.

the one i have most reservations about is Benteke, who does come over a bit lumbering,
 i will say that Lambert and his team must have watched him and if they think he can make it at this level then so be it, i just hope we havent bought ourselves another lump of lard

[Dr_Fegg]

I went for an 8 on the basis PL is building a team not just a squad.

All the players bought in will have been "employed" by this manager and will want to play for him. This will either motivate the inherited squad or if it doesnt it'll show him who's not up for the challenge.

This might take 2 or 3 years but if we give him time this could be exciting and bring some enjoyment back to VP. I can even see a cup run or 2 (next year).

[Mister E]

Good work chaps.  We have covered all the bases, maybe excepting a winger but if PL doesn't want to play them then furry muff.  GK, LB, RB, CB, CMx2, STx2 (one in the reserves but bought for a pittance) and all on an outlay of £25m - James Collins.  Delfouneso on a season long loan to Rat Boy in the Championship, sink or swim time sunshine.

My major concern is the bad smell coming from the reserves.  Having shoved Hutton and Warnock out of the frame so completely it would have been good to have found them at least temporary accomodation elsewhere.  Will any of our reserve team have functioning legs by the time those 2 have finished with them??

I don't believe all of our signings will stick, at least not initially, but we now have options which we were sadly lacking in the first 2 weeks, our bench looked piss poor against Wet Spam and the Toffees.  We need Gabby, Dunne (the experienced not fat version) Albi and Carruthers fit and we have a squad folks. 

Fine work indeed.

You're right about getting Albie and Carruthers back to offer more options on the bench; particularly have high hopes for the latter.

Lambo's biggest challenges are: (i) to find the right blend - this could take a while, so our results could be ugly for a while; and (ii) injury to the experienced squad members - if we lose one or more of Ron / KEA / Bent / Holman to injury I think we'll be in trouble.

Incidentally, I think that Holman might actually be the one newbie that delights us most; he has an eye for the right pass and reads the game well.

[johnny from donny]

think some of our youngsters will be loaned out when the window  reopens, johnson, burke & carruthers  would benefit from a good few more competetive games. We will have to subsidise wages for the full backs so we may as well keep them (especially since pl has said he can't fault their attitude)  i would  give it 8/10

[jembob]

I've voted 7 but would like to have seen an experienced presence in midlfield. Overall though I think that we've got a decent number of potentially excellent players. It may take a while to get everything working, but I'm very positive about the medium and long term.

[dave.woodhall]

I particularly liked what someone mentioned a few days ago - when one player wasn't available we moved quickly for another. It's a long way from the time we tracked Benni McCarthy like a lovesick teenager, begging Celta to drop his price. 

[Boz]

I particularly liked what someone mentioned a few days ago - when one player wasn't available we moved quickly for another. It's a long way from the time we tracked Benni McCarthy like a lovesick teenager, begging Celta to drop his price.

Yes, we had a plan B, far cry from MON's days

[midnite]

Im quite surprised with the high numbers people are giving, we have not signed one proven Premier League footballer. Indeed most of the signings are people we have all never heard of.
I would dearly love to share your optimism but i just dont, hence my vote of 1. We NEEDED experience. In reality history proves that most of our youngsters (most of our team) wont make it.
If history is to be proved correct then we will be playing Championship football next year.
Lets hope we can rewrite the record books eh.

To be fair . I had heard of Sidwell , Shorey , Beye , Warnock ,Harewood ,  Heskey and Hutton and look where that had got us.

Indeed. Arsene Wenger doesn't do too badly out of buying players with no premiership experience either.

[Concrete John]

'no PL experience' really is becoming the new 'we don't shop outside England or Scotland', isn't it?

[ez]

I'm satisfied Lambert knows what he is doing. When this pays off he's is going to be a very sought after manager.

[ozzjim]

By October Gabby and Dunne will be back and Albrighton not far off, which is 3 extra players, all who can be excellent performers if used correctly. I think there is enough now for us to start picking up points after the internationals. Get up to 20 ish points by Christmas and we will be ok come the end of the season. Much less and it will be tough. We need 4 from Swansea and Southampton realistically. A bonus one tomorrow would be lovely.

[PaulWinch again]

I'm pleased with all the players that have come in, now it's up to them to produce.