Grant Holt - confirmed on loan

[SoccerHQ]

I did imagine Holt was shite and looked well past it at prem level last season then? I know he scored a pen v us but he didn't score many goals last season really.

[Brend'Watkins]

Maybe Lambert knows how to play Holt to get the best out of him. He did all his best stuff under Lambert so it could be interesting.

[Ads]

Neither did Norwich.

[Monty]

I think the comparisons of Holt with Heskey or even Harewood are inaccurate - he's not paid enough, not first choice and not on a long term contract. He is, in fact, Lambert's Pires, which is a fine, low-risk, short-term deal, with not much to lose. The only issue I have is how much it says that Houllier's Pires signing was Pires - Lambert's is Grant Holt.

[SoccerHQ]

Pires was a waste of time. Great player but not for us and he kept mouthing off to the press every 5 minutes. Just another Ginola.

[Monty]

Pires was a waste of time. Great player but not for us and he kept mouthing off to the press every 5 minutes. Just another Ginola.

Oh yeah, but fine in theory.

[Concrete John]

I think the comparisons of Holt with Heskey or even Harewood are inaccurate - he's not paid enough, not first choice and not on a long term contract. He is, in fact, Lambert's Pires, which is a fine, low-risk, short-term deal, with not much to lose. The only issue I have is how much it says that Houllier's Pires signing was Pires - Lambert's is Grant Holt.

They both needed to get someone in quick to cover injuries and went with a player they already knew that was available.  To be is says more about their managerial backgrounds (Houllier in France and Lambert English lower leagues) than it does about their footballing philosophies.

[Monty]

I think the comparisons of Holt with Heskey or even Harewood are inaccurate - he's not paid enough, not first choice and not on a long term contract. He is, in fact, Lambert's Pires, which is a fine, low-risk, short-term deal, with not much to lose. The only issue I have is how much it says that Houllier's Pires signing was Pires - Lambert's is Grant Holt.

They both needed to get someone in quick to cover injuries and went with a player they already knew that was available.  To be is says more about their managerial backgrounds (Houllier in France and Lambert English lower leagues) than it does about their footballing philosophies.

Maybe those backgrounds have influenced their footballing philosophies, but you know Didier Deschamps is closer to Lambert than Houllier, and Brendan Rodgers is more like Houllier like Lambert. No, the point is that when Benteke's missing, what Lambert is really concerned about is having someone else to hit with long balls.

[Concrete John]

I think the comparisons of Holt with Heskey or even Harewood are inaccurate - he's not paid enough, not first choice and not on a long term contract. He is, in fact, Lambert's Pires, which is a fine, low-risk, short-term deal, with not much to lose. The only issue I have is how much it says that Houllier's Pires signing was Pires - Lambert's is Grant Holt.

They both needed to get someone in quick to cover injuries and went with a player they already knew that was available.  To be is says more about their managerial backgrounds (Houllier in France and Lambert English lower leagues) than it does about their footballing philosophies.

Maybe those backgrounds have influenced their footballing philosophies, but you know Didier Deschamps is closer to Lambert than Houllier, and Brendan Rodgers is more like Houllier like Lambert. No, the point is that when Benteke's missing, what Lambert is really concerned about is having someone else to hit with long balls.

I have no issue with him liking a big number 9 in the side.  We are hitting too many long balls at the moment, but my personal theory on that is the midfield is so ineffective and static that we're simply unable to pass our way through sides.  The links to Defour and Hoolahan seem to suggest he sees the way to fixing this lies in the transfer market and not the training ground.

[Ron Manager]

For those posters commenting on Holt's girth you should be reminded of Micky Quinn when he played for Coventry in the top flight. Couldnt stop scoring could 'Sumo'. Apart from that he might be the only signing Lambert will make. Best not to be critical until you have seen what he can do for us!

[fbriai]

To be fair, Pires was 37 when we signed him and wasn't actually on anyone's books, as he was training with the Arsenal having been released by Villareal.

Holt is 32 in comparison and, although he comes from a team in the second tier, he has at least played a bit this season.

[Monty]

That would be fine if we were 'doing a Swansea', passing the ball around forever but never getting through. We're not though, and there's no use having Defour or Hoolahan or Zinedine Zidane in the side if all that's going to happen is the ball flying over their heads in the general direction of a big guy. There's little doubt we need to do something in the transfer market, but we really do need to work on the training ground as well, and if Lambert only does one and not the other it's not going to be good enough.

[Concrete John]

I'd rather they try a long ball than pass it around forever if they're never going to get it through.  When we have it at the back their are so few options and lack of genuine movement.  The point being that if you have that step up in quality in midfield that would give us the forward passing options we badly lack right now, leading to less long balls.

[Monty]

I'd rather they try a long ball than pass it around forever if they're never going to get it through.  When we have it at the back their are so few options and lack of genuine movement.  The point being that if you have that step up in quality in midfield that would give us the forward passing options we badly lack right now, leading to less long balls.

That's not how it works though. Swansea have a worse midfield than Man United, but they move far more off the ball and keep it better. It can look blunt, but then it can work really well as the FA Cup win proves. The point is the training ground stuff really matters, and even when you have much, much better players if you do less work in training on passing, on movement, on learning where to go when someone else goes somewhere, difficult stuff - if you don't do that work, it'll show.

Case in point - the midfield we had under Martin O'Neill. There was some technique and ability there, and a midfield three of Petrov, Barry and Milner could have been a match for anyone. But a combination of a rigid and outdated formation and no evidence practicing pass-and-move led to us being a one-dimensional counterattacking team. You can have as good players as you want, but football is a team game.

[N'ZMAV]

Our movement is shit, and our players aren't very clever. That's about it really....