The Kraken

I genuinely can't listen to that again; so cringeworthy.

I would have hated it had he come here, and would have gone to less games than I already do had he been appointed. But if he had come and been allowed to do things his way, he'd have kept us up with little trouble IMO. But then I'm not someone who puts a huge amount of stock of playing in the Premier League in any case; I hope we stay up but I won't be too bothered if we go down either. So I'm very glad he's not here.

He should be, yes. But given that we've already spent £7M and £3.5M on two players who aren't considered first choice players, anything could happen.

Alan Brazil is either still drunk or massively hungover when presenting, so often makes little sense. My favourite one from him was concerning John Thaw's death: Alan Brazil: "I was sad to hear yesterday about the death of Inspector Morse, TV's John Shaw." Mike Parry: "John Thaw, Alan." Alan Brazil: "Do you know, I've been doing that all morning. John, if you're listening, sorry mate."

My guess is that Butland's true ability level lies somewhere in between those two yardsticks. Just my guess though. Seriously though; I'd have enormous reservations about this signing. If Boruc had turned out to be in his Celtic prime then it would make more sense. But we're crying out for an experienced and reliable head in there, Butland isn't it for me. And quite where it would leave Gazzaniga is a guess; fairly small transfer fee but significant enough nonetheless, and it looks like he'd be the third choice keeper. Very odd.

Quick google search throws up this thread on one of their forums: http://www.smallheathalliance.com/read.php?1,1111569 "Is Butland the most overrated player in Blues history?" Its a mixed bag of answers. This one sticks out for me: "Butland is potentially the best keeper in the world. At the moment though there are gaps in his game, he's learning his trade with us. He's nowhere near the finished article, but how can we expect him to be at 19?"

Ha ha, I listened to that and turned it off, it was utterly cringeworthy! Brazil is such a p*ssed up ignorant old lush, and with the braindead Irani next to him its often car-crash listening.

Agreed. Kelvin has been a good servant but is not a Premier League keeper; and even if we go down would probably not be the answer for us in the Championship. Its worth keeping Boruc as he's probably the better of the 3 we currently have. As I've said though I don't think that makes him the answer for the rest of the season, we need someone more reliable IMO.

Was he f*ck. Go back and read the match threads from his first few games. I read them earlier; hardly a cross word said about him when he played at centre back. At full back, yes and justifably so. Not at centre back (even the Arsenal game he attracted little negative comment). Unless you can point out some other sources where, as you claim, he was written off by loads of fans? Here we go. Arsenal post match reaction thread. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?40074-Arsenal-6-1-Saints-Post-Match-Reaction&highlight=arsenal+post+match A thread started on Yoshida after his first full game against Villa. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?40187-Yoshida&highlight=yoshida First comment: "I thought he was excellent today. Wont win everything in the air but very combatative and reads the game well. Very calm and composed, looks like he might be a class player for us." And plenty of other similar comments. What a liability.

March and April will be massive for them; 8 league games, and 7 of them against teams that occupy the current bottom 8 along with QPR. By then they should have bedded in some new signings and could well be well on their way to safety. That's how I see it anyway.

Only a matter of time. QPR are nowhere near as bad a team as their position would indicate, and 'Arry will get them together. They'll also spend a fortune this month, I think they'll stay up comfortably. And if we're going to stay up we should only rely upon ourselves and not get all emotional with what happens between other teams. If we can't finish the season with more points than sides like Reading, Villa and Wigan then we don't deserve to stay up.

Kenwyne Jones once outjumped the keeper's reach with a standing jump to score from a corner at St. Mary's. It was phenomenal how high off the ground he got with zero run up. When he fancies it he's absolutely ridiculous in the air, totally unplayable.

Jack Cork. He's made the midfield noticeably stronger since he returned and put in 8/10 performances in pretty much every game he's played. Rickie Lambert has stepped up to the PL really well too, plus Morgan, so they'd be my top three.

Here's the interview. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11688/8373506/Billy-Sharp-says-Nottingham-Forest-want-to-sign-him-permanently

Not according to BS in a recent interview; he said he wanted the security of knowing that he couldn't be recalled midway through the season.

Irrelevant question; he is contracted to Forest for the season without a release clause so could not be recalled even if we wanted to. And he doesn't seem to want to return either, given the nature of his recent comments in the press. It seems like he's hankering for a permanent move there, as his missus is rumoured to be unkeen to move back down south. He would also be third or fourth choice striker here and get limited chances to play; and he's probably not good enough for the Premier League in any case IMO. So in short; no.

Ideally a new keeper. If there is no new keeper that arrives then Boruc; he's the best of a bad bunch.

The amount of bold and underlining in this thread is giving me a migraine. By the way, Dave; you probably want to include our point against Arsenal yesterday.

Its possible I suppose, but I'd very much doubt it. Lampard is a clever man and well educated; he's also completely loaded and won't need to continue in employment in football just to make ends meet. It's unlikely he's got any coaching badges at the moment. I'd suggest a career in the media may be his first step, unless he truly has a desire to be a football manager (can't see him wanting to just be a coach or assistant to be fair). He'd have plenty of offers from Sky and the BBC, surely; and that's a much easier gig than the demands of footy. Before 'Arry went to QPR I'd have suggested that Lampard wouldn't ever play for any other club than Chelsea. With Redknapp there its possible. And if Juinor Hoilett can reportedly attract £60K a week wages, I'd suggest there's enough flexibility to allow them to get close to Lampard's financial demands. Maybe....

QPR are chucking more money than sense at player wages, so they'll naturally be a more attractive option for a lot of players. That they're even being mentioned in the same breath as Frank Lampard just highlights the level of their overspending.

Not really; I find it much more value to laugh along instead.

I thought he looked ok at the start of the season; decent when introduced against Man City and good against Man Utd. But then his performances flattened off a bit. The West Brom game was a particular low point for me, he looked off the pace and too reluctant to get amongst it all. Yesterday he looked much different, very keen to get in and break up play, and also supported the front line quite well too. Hopefully plenty more of that to come.

I wasn't sure of yesterday's line-up with Cork at right-back; especially so with Richardson left on the bench. That said, Cork played a blinder and it worked out well. Not sure where that leaves Richardson though.... Guly at LM was a good move too, gave the midfield a lot more solidity. Substitutions were understandable enough too. So in retrospect no complaints on yesterday, and Steven Davis did a bit more to suggest that Morgan and Cork don't necessarily have the starting midfield berths all to themselves.

Incorrect. I'm saying he's not the right answer at this point in time. That he is well below par in terms of condition and shape than previously in his career. And that, at this point in time we may not have the time to stick with him in the hope that he regains his previous form. A HUGE difference. If you got your way, we'd give Boruc his 8 games to see how he does. Then, if we decide that he's still not up to it, the transfer window is shut so its too late to make a decision. As said, the interest in Butland would suggest that the transfer committee may not see Boruc as the long term option. I agree with them, it seems as if you disagree with both them and me. So be it.

I've seen him play plenty of times for Celtic, so I'm more than aware of him. Which is why I've commented that the keeper we're seeing now is a shell of the player he was (and he is more overweight than he's ever been). Boruc was the right type of signing; experienced, not too old. He just arrived miles out of shape and hasn't hit the ground running at all; I suspect due to the nature of his signing very little scouting was done, there simply wasn't the time. The booing/mocking by SFC fans was entirely stupid and unnecessary but it just adds to him being a bundle of nerves. And, as has been said, for him to still be out of shape at this stage of the season is unforgivable. I don't see much difference in any of the three keepers we have now, none are noticeably better or worse than each other. Gazza should be kept and nurtured for the future, KD is IMO simply nowhere near good enough for the PL, and Boruc isn't doing it and doesn't look likely to IMO. Given that we're rumoured to be back in for Butland it suggests Adkins doesn't see Boruc as a long term choice either, so I think I'd be inclined to go with the manager for this one (although I'm unsure if Butland is the answer either). But Borucg being the (slightly) better option of the three we have now is not the same as him being the right choice for the rest of the season; it just shows the paucity of genuine options that we do have at this time.