SAVVY_MONKEY is very pleased with David Fox and Wes Hoolahan’s return to the starting line-up against Bolton.
Thankfully, the world looks a much better place than it did seven days ago. There`s been a lot said already about the shock exclusion of our talismanic club captain, and although that was (and still is) a huge talking point, equally as important was the emergence of a midfield capable of bossing the game.
The departure from the successful diamond of the previous two campaigns seems to be permanent and the logic of Lambert and Culverhouse looks sound; give opposition wingers room in the Championship and they mostly let you off the hook, but do this in the Premier League and there`s a real danger of ending up on the wrong end of a Rugby World Cup score.
Keen to utilise his new toys purchased in the summer, Lambert has turned to wingers Bennett and Pilkington to provide a balance between attacking impetus and defensive solidity in the middle of the park. Fine, except against West Brom and at times against Stoke it hasn`t really worked.
With West Brom, there was not quite enough guile open up a well-drilled and at-times brutal rear guard action, and against Stoke, we never quite controlled the game enough to create any comfort in the stands. Clearly part of this was due to being a man-down, but still the ball was given away with alacrity when perhaps a slower pace was needed.
Bradley Johnson is an excellent player who looks comfortable at this level, but there are some who`d say he`s too similar to play alongside Andrew Crofts. In the same way it`s hard to see Morison being the perfect foil for Holt – playing Crofts in the centre might not get the best out of Johnson.
Enter two of the most skilful players at the club. Rewind 12 months and David Fox found himself out of the side. Overlooked after the first game, he didn`t settle into the first eleven until early November, finding himself behind Smith, Lappin and occasionally even Stephen Hughes.
From November on he was superb, memorably setting up Jackson for our promotion-clinching goal. As Lambert says, ‘he has a habit of never giving the ball away`, and his distribution is top drawer.
Similarly, Wes Hoolahan is superb on the ball, displaying echoes of Messi in the way the ball seems glued to that little left boot, and he seems to have matured well with age, rarely running down a cul-de-sac as he once seemed to do all too frequently. I might go so far as to say that Wes is my favourite current player, if I could just get the Preston debacle out of my mind.
Wes and Fox bring a different dimension to the side. Perhaps in certain games this is just what we need, less of the spoiler more of the artist in the middle of the park. Not that they don`t put the effort in. Fox officially covered more ground than any player against Bolton and Wes wasn`t far behind.
Dropping Holt and playing Russell Martin at centre back were big stories, but the two Catalonian Canaries controlling the midfield could perhaps be the most important insight highlighted from last weekends` welcome victory.
OTBC.
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