Is this what transition looks like?

[pauliewalnuts]

Maybe we'll bring in that playmaker in January?

I hope we're working on something in that department, because I honestly think it is going to be an absolutely crucial factor in the way things go for Lambert. That's not to say we're going to get relegated if we don't buy one, but that it's a position that, if we fill it well - and soon - will have a massive influence.

[Monty]

It's the single thing which would improve us the most. I've been a little disappointed in the rumours (such as there have been rumours) because of this, because they've all been dribbly wing-forward types. We need a real midfield creator, not another Tonev.

[pauliewalnuts]

Not only the creative midfielder, but fucking hell, how much do I wish we had Petrov in there, with his experience and wise head these days.

[Monty]

Or indeed a certain loanable midfielder from Manchester City. I was against it at the time as he looked completely past it, but he's having something of a rebirth at Everton.

[Chris Smith]

Our good form last season coincided in us being able to play a fairly settled side, something which, due to injuries, we have been unable to do this time. How many of the back 4 on Sunday, for example, would be first choice under normal circumstances?

People will argue that it's a squad game now, which is true, but when your changes are forced rather than through choice, any planning goes out of the window and you are constantly working on a 'make do and mend' basis. Under those circumstances it becomes all about grinding out the results until the situation improves.

[PaulWinch again]

Maybe we'll bring in that playmaker in January?

I hope we're working on something in that department, because I honestly think it is going to be an absolutely crucial factor in the way things go for Lambert. That's not to say we're going to get relegated if we don't buy one, but that it's a position that, if we fill it well - and soon - will have a massive influence.

Yep a playmaker is vital and has been for some time and ideally someone with a bit of experience and ready made quality.

[ChicagoLion]

Disagree, its not a playmaker we need, it is someone who can stop the opposition from walking through our midfield.

Someone has to get the ball for a playmaker or at least help us get possession of it.

Our midfield problems are because they are very very lightweight

[pauliewalnuts]

Our good form last season coincided in us being able to play a fairly settled side, something which, due to injuries, we have been unable to do this time. How many of the back 4 on Sunday, for example, would be first choice under normal circumstances?

Hmm, true, but then again, Lowton on the bench, and a midfielder at RB doesn't help. I think Clark is also not far off a first choice, unless we're assuming Okore is the natural starter in that position.

The defence has actually been OK - I thought it was on Sunday - the problems have been elsewhere, where we've not really had significant injury problems.

[PeterWithesShin]

I have no doubt that if he was fit Okore would currently be first choice.

[pauliewalnuts]

I have no doubt that if he was fit Okore would currently be first choice.

But in his place, Clark has actually done very well this season.

We've actually improved on last year in defence, so I'm not really sure that that (well, injuries there) is a valid reason for our poor form. It seems to be mostly in the middle and up-front that we have had problems. Certainly, in the middle, we've not really had enormous injury problems.

[supertom]

Disagree, its not a playmaker we need, it is someone who can stop the opposition from walking through our midfield.

Someone has to get the ball for a playmaker or at least help us get possession of it.

Our midfield problems are because they are very very lightweight

I would say it's both that we need sir. Because lets be honest, Delph is our only decent midfielder at the moment. KEA won't get any better. Westy and Sylla might, but aren't close to it yet. We need two new players in the middle. I think we've got one of the poorest midfields in this division. Two new faces would improve us no end.
We'll be fortunate see one in during the upcoming window though.

[ChicagoLion]

Disagree, its not a playmaker we need, it is someone who can stop the opposition from walking through our midfield.

Someone has to get the ball for a playmaker or at least help us get possession of it.

Our midfield problems are because they are very very lightweight

I would say it's both that we need sir. Because lets be honest, Delph is our only decent midfielder at the moment. KEA won't get any better. Westy and Sylla might, but aren't close to it yet. We need two new players in the middle. I think we've got one of the poorest midfields in this division. Two new faces would improve us no end.
We'll be fortunate see one in during the upcoming window though.

I cant disagree with that, I thought Syllas end of season performances looked like we might have solved part of the problem. Delph is the only one that looks good enough at the moment in the rihgt system I think Westy could do a job.

[LeeB]

Disagree, its not a playmaker we need, it is someone who can stop the opposition from walking through our midfield.

Someone has to get the ball for a playmaker or at least help us get possession of it.

Our midfield problems are because they are very very lightweight

I would say it's both that we need sir. Because lets be honest, Delph is our only decent midfielder at the moment. KEA won't get any better. Westy and Sylla might, but aren't close to it yet. We need two new players in the middle. I think we've got one of the poorest midfields in this division. Two new faces would improve us no end.
We'll be fortunate see one in during the upcoming window though.

I cant disagree with that, I thought Syllas end of season performances looked like we might have solved part of the problem. Delph is the only one that looks good enough at the moment in the rihgt system I think Westy could do a job.

I agree, I think the third man in midfield has been our achiles heel since Lambert arrived.

I'd be happy enough with Westwood and Delph plus A.N. Other. When we stem the flow through midfield, we keep the ball better and look far more dangerous.

[not3bad]

Or indeed a certain loanable midfielder from Manchester City. I was against it at the time as he looked completely past it, but he's having something of a rebirth at Everton.

Aye, Barry would be perfect for us, I have to say.

[Dribbler]

The original post question asked if this is what transition looks like, and in a way I would say no, one of my biggest gripes against Paul Lambert is that he didn't really attempt a transition as such from where we were when he arrived, to a new model of football. What he's attempted is more a massive upheaval and drastic policy change of the likes that has probably never been attempted in the Premiership before, certainly not successfully.

Yes we all know where we were when he arrived, with a fairly dysfunctional squad that was costing the club far too much money in wages compared to turnover. But we did have some good quality experienced players here and in my opinion he was too quick to just alienate them and throw the baby out with the bathwater. I know there may be a lot of good reasons why he might want to do that, from stamping his authority and mark on the side, to getting rid of disruptive elements, changing our style of play and ethos, and lowering the wage etc., but a good manager should be able to undertake a good gap analysis, and take where he is and what he has and transition to where he wants to be in a sustainable way. That will usually involve working with elements you don't want in the short term to maximise the stability and effectiveness of the longer term transition and goal.

Paul Lambert took a massive gamble by alienating and striping the club of some of it's more experienced players and relying pretty much on inexperienced youth of untested and questionable premiership quality. Even then, given the arguments about whether those experienced players would have done (or were doing) more harm than good, he still had the option of getting in a few new experienced players, but we had all the quotes from him that experience doesn't necessarily bring anything youth couldn't. For one thing though, experience brings experience which is a value in itself, and of course whilst experience doesn't make a player a good player or the right player, a good player with the right attitude and experience can be invaluable, and I'm surprised Lambert couldn't have found even a couple of those with the right fit to improve us and provide more stability in the transition.

At the moment we are transitioning from a young, inexperienced side of questionable quality to a young inexperienced side of questionable quality! Paul Lambert's premise for improvement seems to be that those players blooded last year, would get better this year, and at the same time carry all the new inexperienced players of questionable quality he brought in the summer until they could adapt.

That premise has shown to be false so far, we scrapped through by the skin of our teeth last year, even with our great run at the end of the season. But the players that in general performed well last season haven't hit those standards, others don't seem to have progressed at all and most of the new players have yet to adapt and bed in well, if they will at all.

As a team we undoubtedly seem to have a good ethos and ethic and so have progressed in that sense, and our results despite our often poor performances I think give testament to that. But i'm really not sure that will be enough in the long run to progress us in any real sense. Yes good football teams are good 'teams',but they also have good players in them.

I love the policy and  overall ethos of investing in young inexperienced players and developing them, but trying to build a (successful) team on nothing but this is risky at best and impossible at worst. Especially in the Premier league. For every success story that develops there will probably be another couple of relative failures, so if you buy say 6 or 7 players a summer, maybe only 2-3 at best will make the eventual grade. I say eventual as most of them will take time to get to that level too. So you can see that if that is the case, it really is going to take a long time to build and develop a good side, if that model works at all and it doesn't seriously break somewhere along the line.

So Lambert's gamble worked last season, and we stayed up just, but i'm not so sure it will continue to pay off. I'm not sure what the criterion is for success this season, staying up? Mid table security? Not that I think mid table will feel a secure position during the season, as I expect the gap between midtable and relegation to be relatively small and therefore keep everyone up to 10th probably on their toes until the end.

We need a few experienced heads to come in a bring just a little bit of nous and composure to the team, and to act as role models for the 'youngsters' to learn from. One of the best ways to learn is to be able to play next to and with an experienced quality player on the pitch, and we don't seem to have that enough. Though Vlar seems to be stepping up to the plate this season and doing just this for our defence. We could do with the same in midfield for sure, and possibly even in attack.

I've not even mentioned Lambert's tactics yet, which I hope will transition and develop too. I've also not mentioned possibly the biggest factor underlying all of this, Randy Lerner's financial transition, from a relatively free spending owner seeking a top four spot and the rewards of European Champions League football, to a seemingly penny pinching miserly owner. We all know that a financial transition had to be made and we were operating a financially unsustainable model, but did it have to be made so sharply and now that it would seem we are getting to a good place financially, especially once we shed the last of the more costly players at the end of the season, will we begin to see a little more (financially sound) investment in quality again, or are we going to maintain our more cheapskate approach in developing players?

Anyway, in answer to the question, is this what transition looks like, well in my opinion it's what transition looks like when transition is undertaken in a non organic manner and too abruptly. No doubt there are good arguments to say that this is what we needed and we had no choice, but I think there are good arguments to say we could have undertaken this whole transitioning business in a smoother manner too. I'm still not sure what we are transitioning too, and whether we will be successful with it, I fear only if both Lerner and Lambert  start to transition a little in regards to their attitudes on finances and experience respectively, will we start to be successful.

My last thought is, if only this model had been undertaken at the start of our '5 year plan', where could we be now!