saint michael

I don’t think Still would be here if he didn’t control team and shape. He clearly is starting to recognise how poor the team is at doing anything right, and that they seem to have an inability to learn from what I see. Biggest problem for me is that we continue to think we are geniuses in who's being targeted and bought. There seems to be a real inability to learn on this front too as we continue to buy players for a future that never arrives

What part of Downs game gives you hope so far?

But if that’s happening Downs says to Manning….get the fucking ball in mate…don’t just carry on doing it

Shouldn’t be impossible though CC. Think we all look for crumbs in the hope of improvement. Cant fault the loyalty and resilience.

The guy is shocking he walks around, doesn’t understand a strikers movement fish out of water. Thank goodness we didn’t pay much for him

We’ve got the clowns we could go full circus

He picks the team and he trains and coaches them. He is culpable of how we play and results. Playing Armstrong as centre striker as an example is same shit different manager

Yeah I agree. It worked well at wolves until they walked away from it. I don’t think this window can make the difference it needs. As you said, the slide is well and truly on

I just don’t trust they know who to buy. This insistence on buying players like Downs who they think they will make money on without considering how good they are NOW. Rome is burning

This is not going to be pretty against the blue mob

Seriously. How much has this team cost us.

They have all week to practice breaking down a defence and how to defend as a unit and still they can’t do it. Shows where the problem is

It’s soooo depressing watching saints these days. Oh I yearn for some normal footballers. This team is absolutely useless. Same old story crap gk and defence. A midfield who can’t create and insist on passing it back to the Cb or Fb and then forwards who don’t run or shoot or read the game.

Downs movement is clueless

Fucking shit team

No challenge in the middle

Who signed Downs. What did they see

Far too slow.

Don’t worry he will only need prem experience for 1 season

Key player attribute don’t you know

6ft tall is he going to be tall enough

We have already had chance of him but he was asking for a lot so we are waiting to see if the Beatles want the gig

Yeah funny that Russel. Might there be a common factor in causing the pain?

I recognise that it’s the business model. I believe that when it first started many years ago having a decent team that could be competitive was also part of the business model. I don’t believe it can be anymore even if they wanted it to. Increased cost of recruiting/ replacing, and as you say the self employed nature of footballers with no affinity to any club and driven by their own agenda is here to stay and getting worse. if you look at Bournemouth Brentford and Brighton they are already on that slippery slope. A few mistakes and they hit the same slope we are on, with no getting back. Wolves have already started on it

Like you say there are casms that are growing between prem and others on the pitch but also now off the pitch in player purchases. Brentford about to pay around £43m for Bournemouth guy. Makes the ability for us to keep anyone with potential impossible. Matter of time before someone desperate meets a fair price that saints agree. We then go on the next cycle. Heaven help us if we go up. Seeing how Sunderland do will be a real barometer.