Chez

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.

I haven't read that we got an early settlement on the Jones deal (just that we had got £4.8m so far), just Bale and Walcott, not that it matters as any future payment would probably already have been factored into our current spending.

note I said `in terms effectiveness' For what its worth Sunderland hardly lay 100's of chances on a plate though do they? BTW he's got 7 already this season and he has been linked with several of the big boys including Chelsea, Spurs and Villa. Stern hardly set the world on fire at the top level. I recall both Brum and Sunderland getting rid as soon as they had goen up. I know we lost several players that summer but losing Jones hurt us massively in both attack and defence (both areas where we subsequently struggled showing what an important player he was for us). IMO he does so much more than just score goals, he leads the line, wins headers all over the park, he works hard across the line and he is also extremely good defensively at set peices. I'd take Jones back over Bale or Walcott (obviously only if he was committed to us - which sadly he wasn't). Stern...well, I thought he was lazy and an inadequate replacement for Jones. I'm not sure if it was just anger at the way Jones went on strike, but there were fans on here laughing at the fee and saying he was average. Average first touch perhaps but if you want a big number 9 then he's your man.

can't recall any other player taking such a liberty against Stam. Qual-i-ty

more of a cult hero than a legend in my eyes, although the goal against the Skates alone means he will always be a fans favourite.

the £6m fee was too low and I said so at the time. Even with that terrible side last season we would have done well with Jones leading the line. Losing him was a killer blow that we have never recovered from. John couldn;t lace the lads boots in terms of effectiveness. There is no mention of a sell on fee on the OS, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. Its a Lowe ploy to reveal such things to appease disgruntled fans, and I'm not sure the board at the time had the fans baying for blood.

I think a fair few Saints fans are the same to be honest. Having said that all the great escapes are bound toi have rubbed off on even the most pessamistic fans.

They didn't want him and we offer more money and a 3 year deal. I simply can not get my head round that at all. I know running a football club is not CM but this deal does not stack up.

he came on on Saturday. I for one won't miss him if he goes. He is not good enough at this level. Plymouth fans respect what he did for them btu even they knew he was not up to CCC football.

wasted so much time with Pekhard and Robertson. Patterson should have played in all the games those two appeared in. BWP should also have played up front offering genuine pace. As regards McGoldrick I am glad we have stuck by him, but he needs to get in the box far more IMO.

let me add to the post win feel good factor. Jose Semedo - Charlton's best player when we played them at the Valley IMO - is out for two months. Won't make or break our surival but every little helps.

pretty sure he signed for Barnsley in the summer (as apposed to a loan).

pretty sure he signed for Barnsley in the summer (as apposed to a loan).

even back then (perhaps especially back then) we were more likely to conceed 6 than score 6. I recall a 7 goal thumping at the Valley on the first day of the season, one in which we took about 8 games to get off the mark.