Chez

Fulham play in the Premiership against world class oponents showing up his lack of pace and height, we play in the CCC where world class players are few and far between. I doubt Rangers will buy Baird - they have massive financial problems hence willing to sell any of their players. They might loan him though.

I can't see Spurs signing Surman, he's not an arry player at all IMO and after Nugent and Bale both flopped in front of him I think he would be weary iof a CCC player. Arry looks for finished items rather than work in progress, plus he is looking at £10m midfield signings from Wigan. Lallana is different IMO as he is more in the Wiltshire/Ramsey mould. Whether anyone is willng to pay the £5-6m Ramsey costs is another matter.

see post #43. I would expect Brum to sign him should West Ham be open to a deal. As much as I liked Quashie when he was here, his display at QPR when he decided he was going to leave still leaves me fuming.

they all seem just, well just a little beyond 2nd bototm in the CCC. Baird's connection with the club make him a candidate. Another thing to consider is that players going on 4 month loans won't really want to move from the North to Southampton if they can help it n- and there are plenty of northern CCC sides as alternatives.

you've ruined my day.

faced with a similar choice - being a reserve at a premiership club on a premierhip wage, or POSSIBLE first teamer at a CCC on a CCC wage, I'm not sure what I'd do. the fact is we should have got him and Cranie signed to long term deals and then loaned them out for full seasons at a time with the assurance that they were wanted here in the long term. If they were given the right length contract, assurances and appropriate wage for their ability and potential they would have been here now. Sadly we ****ed uop and left it too late to tie them down to a deal allowing them to get a better deal elsewhere. Shame.

I thought he looked good in the first team and was surprised that he was dropped whilst James continued, he certainly got stuck in - which I like a lot, and he seemed to have the pace required.

yep Pele would do it for me too (I suggested him on the HCDAJFU thread) and he would provide far better CB cover as well than Wotton/Lancashire. Damien Plessis might fit the premiership youngster bill.

The club is looking to keep Surman and Lallana (unless a `proper' offer comes in) and that's why Lowe is doing everything he can to offload Saga, Skacel and Euell. If those three stay then Lowe will have to consider much lower offers for SUrman and Lallana. Its as simple as that.

I disagree with this point. I know training is competitive but its in matches where players really stretch themselves to the limit as well as getting proper knocks from oponents.

on a further months loan that ends on 23rd Jan. Nafti is available and could do a job.

very very good point. As much as I like parts of Surman and Schneiderlin's games neither provides the right sort of protection for our back four nor hussles the opposition nearly enough. Any ideas who might fit the role?

I disagree about the Gillet sub in that game. It backfired but at the time it was exactly what i woud have done - take a tired McGoldrick off and get a defensive midfielder on. There have been successful substitutions, Preston away for example, 2-0 down, JP brings on Gobern and BWP and we come back to win 3-2. Away at Charlton we were being mugged by Charlton. JP brings on Pearce at half time and we never looked like conceeding. I'm not JP's biggest fan - clueless is a term I have used on a few occasions, but he does do somethings right.

you answered my question as I typed my question. I assume the deal will still go through.

he's out of contract in the summer as well I think? Has he done enough to get a new deal?

what if they get injured? Who is going to take them off our hands then?

it reads like an advert to me. He is out of contract in the summer so he needs a new club (he knows he won't be getting a new deal here). If he isn't playing in the side then no one can watch him and then when his contract ends prospective clubs are going to think to themselves, he hasn't been playing so how good can he be? That sort of thought leads to clubs offering lower wages. Telling the world he isn't getting games cos Saints need to sell (true of course) will explain why he has not been playing and can only help to add a few quid to his next contract.

we were certainly a little lucky to win but there have been plenty of home games where we have been unlucky not to win. You have to hope it evens out, but in the end the better sides (dominating games, defending well and creating more and better chances) win more games. IMO the league doesn't lie. We have dominated quite a few games, in others we have created more and better chances, but in a large number we have defended poorly and thats why we have not won more games.

I think the flip side of he coin is that his unusual formation may have possibly helped a very poor set of players look better than they really are. Hard to know for sure. But if we take the Man U game for example. We started 4-4-2 and were ripped apart. JP changed us back to the 4-3-3 and we improved slightly (at least competing) before we went down to 10. In terms of tactics I presonally think he has made a lot of mistakes, specifically the lack of long balls, not getting wingers taking on their men or getting to the byeline. But in the end its up to the players to impose themselves on games and perhaps they simply are not good enough. Some of his selections have bamboozled me but every single manager has done that over the last 20 years. If you work with players day in dasyu out you see something different to fans on a match day - thats the only was of explaining it. As for substitutions I have to say he often gets them spot on and does them as I am saying to myself "he looks a little tired" rather than 20 minutes later. Recent previous managers have been far too slow to react IMO.

the window closing is irrelevant really as its loans or nothing for us and you can do that after the window closes I think.

Thomson, Robertson and Pekhart also out. Jamie and Ryan Smith in. IMO we still need to sign another CB/RB and a right midfielder (to allow us to play 4-4-2 when required).

exactly what I have been saying all season. The lad needs time, and I'm talking about a couple of seasons, to develop into a decent player. What I don't understand is why so many on here are almost willing the lad to come up short.

he's one for right now IMO so long as JP isn't going to move him out to left wing like he did against Manu

pace, great in the air, brilliant going forward, decent in defence. What a terrific loan signing that would be. No chance.

he looks a very good player to me. Tall, pacey, strongm decent first touch and good work ethic. I'd start him every time.