Chez

They are not the attributes to describe Sulemana (or Orsic).

So? Everyone knows how transfers work these days. Jones has described it himself. The manager lays out the attributes he is after, then the scouting team present some options and they decide which to go for. Obviously the manager can provide his own options, as he will have done with Bree, but managers don't spend time scouting like they used to - especially with so many players coming from abroad. They are reliant on scouting teams. That's the same everywhere. Are all Prem managers yes men? Of course not. And neither is Jones.

Have you found other sportsman in your supply in the past then?

I think he might want: "Yeah, we are clearly in panic mode now, as time is running out and we have not managed sign the forward we want yet. The question has been, do we throw more money we don't have at the problem or go for a player we are not convinced about? The players we have are clearly not good enough, hence we have lost so many games over the last year. I'm in agreement with the folks on Saintsweb forum, if we don't bring in a striker I don't think we will stay up."

you wrote `attacker' not striker. Does that mean you'd be happy with a guy like Kamaldeen Sulemana or does it need to be a Che replacement/partner?

Let me know when you have an ear lobe photo.

Jones made it pretty clear a week or so ago that an attacker (winger) was more likely than a striker, so since then I've not expected us to sign a striker, but I did think we would sign Jackson. With that transfer blowing up, should we manage to bring in the next option, I could live with that - what choice do fans ever have? Yes, we need a striker, but a winger that can create, won't do us any harm. I'm also wondering whether Mara might be the one to take these extra chances the likes of Sulemana might provide. Any attacking talent added would be good.

fans on the interweb put spanner in transfer works, again.

I assume it's too late to go back to the Argentinian well? To me, that seems to be the ideal market for us in terms of talent to cost ratio. Argentinian league has no money, lots of young players that are skillful but with a bit of bite and a season or more in senior football. Now we have one, why not three?

he's signing for Bolton, I think.

the screen shot shows one set available in those front four rows, so I am guessing it does. Pretty good away support. It's a monster trip. Really hope we can rewarded with a display and result as we were at Liverpool.

I thought we got away with it in the first leg, but are we still in the tie? Of course we are, though how we will score and keep a clean sheet I will never know. Having said that, it will probably end up a goal fest, with a last minute winner taking us to pens, which we win and then it becomes the greatest away day since Fratton in 84...I'm loving this bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape by the way. I notice that we have completely sold the original four blocks of seats now and they are selling tickets in half of the next block of seats along. I think each block holds about 550, so about 2200 sold and maybe 250 more available. I suspect that will be it though. Not a bad effort, considering the distance and lack of optimism around right now. It didn't look like Newcastle sold all their 3200 tickets, which perhaps shows what a bloody long trip it is, especially midweek.

and how did Gabbiadini play? Still making lots of dangerous runs off the shoulder of defenders that midfielders fail to see?

You wanna bet?

On the basis of that one game, he'd be absolutely perfect. like you say though, no chance.

if you wage goes from £8k a week to £50k a week, do you really see it as a drop in level? This is what all middling players are striving for - a move to the Prem and a Prem wage.

It all went wrong with the Neymar transfer. Until that point, the fees were obviously ludicrous, but his transfer pushed the needle into outer space. I thought it was money well spent for PSG, because he was a rare talent and they had to pay a premium, but the problem was, every other fee seemed to go up by 50-100% in line with this new transfer fee ceiling. Transfer fees always rise, but this time it wasn't down to the usual, more money available in the Prem due to bigger TV deal, it was just a `fake' unsupported (financially) shift in prices. As a result, everyone in the Prem has spent far more than they can afford and for clubs without billionaire owners, these fees are not realistic. Because of the cliff like drop if you fall out of the Prem, there is little choice but to pay. Other nations are far more pragmatic and largely run within a suitable budget. They can buy cheap and sell dear and they know Prem mugs like us will have to come calling.

yep. Pacey, skills, and lots of dribbling. Looks pretty two footed, a little lightweight, but much more in control of the football than Djenepo and Edozie.

Sure, but he could play for our B team this week, without a pro contract and tear his ACL and ruin his career. All he'd have to show for it is some Saints fans `feeling sorry for him'. We are talking about a contract from the likes of Chelsea here that will be absolutely huge and impossible to turn dow, as was the case with Dibling. OK, so the pathway to the first team is almost impossible, but he isn't playing first team football here either for a year or two. If that is the case, then you may as well be earning a bucket load while you progress. When Shields came, he didn't just bring senior players, he got the club to buy in some serious youngster and also to pay serious wages in first pro contracts. With his departure, has that philosophy changed at all? Another question is how highly do Saints rate him and does our financial model/strength allow us to compete with the big sides. Most likely not.

Fair enough. The first chance was simply a massive fuck up by Newcastle. Che didn't actually do much other than stay onside. The one from the corner, yeah, I think you have a point there. Strikers have to get in those positions that matter. We don't create many chances, so for me a guy like Mara, that possibly can get us up the pitch with a turn and dribble might benefit the side as a whole. We've been looking for someone like that to bring in. Maybe he can do it. If we dont bring in a striker, which looks unlikely, I'd give him three or four starts.

Ralph did too. Perhaps he has been turd in training and taken a while to settle. What I saw last night is exactly the player we need. He held it up well, showed decent strength and a great first touch under pressure, he won a fair few headers (more than Che does) but then showed some genuine skill on the ball to get out of tight space and even beating players and looking a real threat. I saw some pace too and he didn't just run with the ball, he did it off the ball. I also thought his work rate was decent and when he pressed, he sprinted to actually generate some pressure. Che also presses (he ran pretty hard between three defender at one point last night), but in general its at a plodding pace that has no impact on the ball handler. The overhead kick was audacious, but shows he is confident. We need to embrace that. I'd start him right now. I've still got that finish against City in my mind. Is that the norm or the exception? If he finishes like that, then I really don't know why he hasn't replaced Che sooner. That said, we haven't see a lot of him, so don't really know what he can/can't do.

can't get it out of my head. Show him far and then smash it near in that huge `McArthy-like' 😉 gap. Also, I was disappointed that Mara was taken off and can't help wonder if he would have tucked it away. I guess Mara might not have been in the same unmarked position, but he looks a fair bit quicker, so would have had more time to get his head up (if that was needed), set his feet and bury it. We will never know. Would have been a different game and tie.

I thought the fee was all agreed, as were personnel terms? The player just decided not to come because he had expected Man United to come in for him as they were linked all summer. Is that not accurate?

Was the general waving off of DCC (be honest, if the roles were reversed, we'd be laughing) because of the absolutely horrific tackle that got his first yellow (a great yellow for us I should point out as they'd have been two or three on one otherwise), which looked pretty barbaric. Or was it another reason?

You are right. I was far too negative. He did fuck all in this game, but it's his first start and once he settles in that will be the time to assess him. What did you think of him by the way?