Chez

first season he scored 5 goals. Second season he scored 0. It was the third season when the goals started to come. Goals are not everything though, BT ran his heart out and the did count for something.

Beattie struggled for goals in a side that didn't create a lot. He looked very rudimentary too. I am not sure many saw a player that would eventually smack freekicks in from 30 yards, so writing off young strikers is risky. However, BT's workrate and physical presence far exceeded what Downs has showed to date. He at least put himself about. Not to mention he was playing in the top flight not the championship.

Now is the time for us to make a half decent offer for Olabade Aluko and include Baz as part of the deal.

we are talking about a guy that has managed to make it in professional football. You don't disintegrate because Adam failed at the the top level Armstrong ribs you on Monday becuase you missed a sitter.

I agree. Roeslev didn't impress me at all. Very average. And he got a four year contract. That seems too long to me. His agent has got a great deal there. Jelert was no where near good enough IMO. Not sure who scouted him, but what did they see? As much as we needed a young CB with the physical attributes, Quarshie didn't look the most assured with the ball in the full games we could watch online prior to his signing. He could still come good, but I suspect we will see a few horrible errors along the way.

Confidence is massive, especially with strikers. If a player loses it, then do they have the mentality to regain it? It can take a while, perhaps requiring a move and a step down in level perhaps. Clubs usually just don't have the time to wait for a player to find his feet again. No sure if his loan helped him. If he isn't smashing the ball in left right nd centre in pre season training, then you have to ask when will it happen?

How he would be better off if he had stayed with us? In the last three years he has earned far more than he would have at Saints. A lot more. Since he left, he has got a fair bit of football under his belt and if he gets the move, will be in the same league we are.

If you get injured playing international football, can you make a claim for lost wages? I think the club can, but as a free agent, could the player do so? Obviously he wouldn't have a contract beyond the end of June, but could he seek an amount similar to his wages to the level he is getting now for as long as he is out?

Ipswich and Hull can offer PL football and will have the parachute payments, enabling them to offer him high wages for three years. We have one year left of our parachute payments so probably can't outbid those two.

There simply is no loyalty in football from either side these days, so it will simply be down to the fact we have not offered him what he wants and thinks he can get elsewhere, be that more money, more years or a higher standard of football. You can't expect him to accept a fiver when someone else is offering a tenner just because he has been injured in the past. It's not his fault he is has been injured. At a stretch we can be blamed. Us overplaying him after a long time out was part of the reason he got injured. I think he is a better player than most Saints fans think he is.

Hearts total wage bill is about £16m, maybe a fraction more. Ours was about £80m in the 23/34 championship season. It might have been lower this time around, but still a different world. I doubt Hearts pay anyone more than about £5k a week. Two years at Saints on £20k a week would equal 8 years there.

Yeah, Downs, BBD and Archer in fact. We are well stocked with strikers who offer less than the one-game-in-two-Stewart.

yeah, Downs was fit all season. Availability is the best form of ability. At last we get to speculate on striker signings all summer assuming the club don't think Archer's career is back on track after his slight uptick in form and Swansea goal?

Really? Wouldn't their budget for wages be pretty small compared to ours?

He had a bad run of injuries, but that doesn't mean he is injury prone for the rest of his career. That said, the club certainly had to be very careful about overplaying him and that does hamstring you somewhat. If we sign the right guy, then we could be in a much better position, but from what I saw of him last season, there aren't too many that can do what he can and are willing to play in the championship. Downs was obviously a big failure, but I guess Larin worked out well.

I'd of thought being seen as second choice behind Larin, not seen as good enough for a PL contract and perhaps most impotrantly, the opportunity to earn more elsewhere would be the main reasons...but who knows?

maybe, but he had pace, height and finishing ability which is a rare combination. Also, we may have to pay a transfer fee for his replacement, which restricts spending elsewhere. A new signing will itself be a gamble (they all are). At least with Ross we knew he could actually play. Big hole left in our strike force. We looked like we were well set there...

Very annoying to have finally have seen what we paid for on transfer deadline day three years ago, only for him to depart so soon after. Is there no way the parties agree a deal in the coming weeks or is this a definitive "all potential deals are off"?

We all knew he was a top player and if we have survived would perhaps be able to ask for similar money. I guess two seasons in the PL shows that he is not a flash in the pan, not to mention he can do it at a different club. Plus he scored a couple of blinders, which really helps you get noticed. Just shows that he made the right move leaving us. Would United be calling if he had had a decent season with us in the championship? I doubt it.

Plays like he's 5 foot 6.

agreed. He's poor. Not sure of his actual height but he makes the goal look massive. No thanks.

far too lightweight. Really poor piece of scouting whoever brought him here.

Doubt it. If someone in the top flight wants you now, you can't afford to miss that opportunity. Why wait a year and take the chance that we miss out and maybe the offer is no longer there next summer? The difference in money is usually massive...the prestige... etc.

If we lose THB, Charles, Baz and Edozie this summer, do we restock from the Man City youth team or has the Bundesliga 2 replaced it as our resource or choice?

So, basically a THB transfer is in the works, he's has said he wants a move, but the low-ball offer we have received so far wont cut it.