Chez

what a great opportunity there, Mara calls for it, gets the ball he wants in the box but just doesn't do enough. We are looking better though.

unlike Alcaraz, who I know plays slightly further forward, when he passes, the ball goes somewhere near a Saints player.

I've got the skate on mine. Just spent five minutes describing how shit we were last season.

Lumley should be on that list. If McCarthy lets that in he'd be hung drawn and quartered on here. He basically just waves it past him. Embaressing.

he's been shite, as has several others.

...FFS mara FFS ....don't fucking watch it (and leave it for Bellis) Rothwell, get there and bloody deal with it.

his `matt le tis' running style is going to frustrate the fuck our of me until he beats three men and curls one in the top corner, which he looks like he might have in him.

Alcaraz especially. Simply not tidy enough. Adams and Mara have not been good enough either.

fuck me Che Adams is having a mare so far.

Can't find goals per minute, but can tell you how many minutes between goals. I've not idea what would be considered decent. 2018/19 335 minutes per goal 2019/20 377 minutes per goal 2020/21 363 minutes per goal 2021/22 370 minute per goal 2022/23 210 minutes per goal (thanks to 6 cup goals. It was 775 minutes per goal in the league)

you might be right, but i think it's possible we enquire about more than one player at a time.

You never really get swap deals happening, but I like that idea - although I think we will need the explosiveness of Sulemana if we go up. Steady Eddie's are no good in the Prem.

If he didn't get a bad hamstring injury I think he'd of played more this season for Palace. I saw him at fratton park last season. He scored a lovely goal, showing great composure to come back on to his weaker foot and curl one into the far corner. He's tall and thin, but stronger than Edozie and he could be the next Zaha. I think he has a far higher ceiling than Benson for example. The only issue is we might fall in love with him but not be able to sign him in the summer.

Brilliant feet, takes players on and makes things happen. Proper twinkle toes, two footed and with plenty of pace. You will love watching him play.

a "yes please" from me too. He was very impressive at Charlton last season.

if any of those are effective on the right, sure, there is no real need to bring anyone in. When it comes to keeping players happy, I'm not overly worried. It's a dog eat dog world. Play well and they get the shirt.

Loans also suit from a league transition point of view. As great a move it was to buy Billy Sharp (and there is an argument that he should have got a proper chance to play in the Prem for us), his face didn't fit once we went up and the £2m or whatever it was, was never recouped, as a transfer fee anyway. If we go up, it will be nice to have a few `empty squad places' that we can fill with genuine Prem quality players and not just the `inbetween (prem and championship) guys like Rothwell, Fraser...

I'm guessing this is in reference to Owen Beck, but that certainly won't be until the summer now he's played for Liverpool and Dundee this season.

He might get injured. If that happens, do we have a replacement that is going to help us win every game from here on in? AA has done well, and we don't want to ruin the balance of the side, but strenghtening when you are already strong is no bad thing.

I said previously that I thought there was no chance Bournemouth would let Brooks leave (he's always in match day squads and often comes on), and I still think that will be the case, however he certainly seems very keen just to play, wherever that might be: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68102324 Perfect player for us. Great touch and vision. Get him in on loan, make him a Saint, help us go up and then twist Bournemouth's arm to sell in the summer. If they do loan him, I'd of thought that means his time is up down there.

RM just needs the talent at his disposal. I know there are always good players in the youth team, but there certainly has been a lot investment (£1m on at the time 16 year old Meghoma and SAA and sizeable first pro contracts contracts) and subsequent hope that the latest batch would produce a Premiership level player or two. There still might be.

If they are good enough, they will force their way in, as JWP did when we got promoted. They may all want minutes in matches, but the manager will see how they manage at championship level every day in training. If you don't hold you own, impose yourself or shine there, by and large you aren't going to on match day.

seeing an old thread like this pop up is similar to seeing a famous old person's name trending on twitter. Your first thought is `have they died?'. Gad that is not the case. I see he has scored a grand total of 19 goals in 127 games since he left us.

we done sir. I remember and played football with Neil. Did he play for any local non league teams after departing Saints?

I too am disappointed to lose young talent, but I don't think you are really putting yourself in the shoes of these guys and understanding the decisions they have to make. Chelsea offered Jimmy-Jay more money than you can imagine - it was simply impossible to turn down. To say he `demanded ludicrous money to stay' is not fair. It's a free market. Saints had a choice. Pay ridiculous money to keep top talent, or accept defeat and sell...for a huge amount I might add. It was a no brainer decision for him to make. The simple matter of fact here is we attracted some of these very talented youth players by offering very good contracts ourselves. People and policy have subsequently changed, and those young players are not being given money, perhaps beyond their worth, to stay. Saints has a budget and that budget just does not match Chelsea etc. I am not saying these guys are making the right moves for their career, time will tell, but if you are going to play in the reserves or sit on the bench, you may as well be at a club that pays you more to do so. And in some cases a lot more. They are young guys too. If it doesn't work out at Chelsea or Brighton, there will be opportunities down the pyramid - I know of one club that is more than happy to buy unwanted Chelsea/City youth talent. I understand your frustration, but money talks in this game. It's worth pointing out that we benefited from raiding less rich clubs with the likes of Lallana and Walcott. And now it's up to us to have the scouts and people in place to do the same.