[drewks]

Was going to start a thread about this myself today.  With the utmost respect for the service players like Brunt and Olsson have given us over the years, over the last couple of seasons they haven't looked like leaders on the pitch at all.  Their body language every time we hit a setback was awful, and they rarely seemed to influence players around them positively.  (I always felt Scharner was a far bigger leader on the pitch than either of them, and we really missed him when he left).  The difference with Fletcher and Lescott on board is immense; going 1-0 up last night, for the first time in ages, we didn't hit the reset button and start dropping off.  We hunted for the second goal, got it, and when we finally did drop back to defend, we didn't look likely to concede at all.  Fletcher is Pulis's voice on the pitch, and it really feels like the mentality is starting to change as a result.

Really well put, Ska'd.
I think it's also a bit of a masterstroke for TP to haul in the senior players - I think it was Foster, Lescott, Brunt and Fletcher (would've had Mozza in there too myself) to get them to pull together and show support and encouragement to the rest on the field. Used to be done naturally, but there we go. IMO this is going to be the single most important thing to get us out of trouble - team spirit, determination and all playing to each other's strengths