The Kraken

You're the best

I defer to your amazing contacts

What a claim to fame :lol:

Did you get Man City tickets? I think the club said they would prioritise those who've had tickets for the Wigan game and City game.

Not even a place for Rod Wallace, Theo, Oxo......

I'm giving up on being the MLG of this thread and going with it

He wasn't a youngster with Saints though, he was into his thirties when he signed for us. Ah sod it; this thread title can be read all sorts of ways!!!

For me I think its The Ox; I can see him being a top Premier League star for many years yet. And Gareth Bale of course. Although Shearer is the obvious stand-out answer, probably the best overall player in Premier League history IMO.

Also remember seeing him for Eastleigh a few years after being released by Saints. An absolute class act at that level but had lost most of the mobility which previously made him the player he was.

Yeah I know, I can see it could been read both ways!

I was at QPR when Hughes played an absolute blinder, scored both our 2 goals (in a 2-2 draw) and thumped the post with a curling 25 yard effort late on. Shortly after he was horrifically injured and that was that. Real shame.

I'm pretty sure the question was meant to imply "who was the best young Saints player you saw who went on to great things". As KK joined us when he was closing in on his 30th birthday I'm not sure he counts.

Keegan?! i think you need to read the question properly, Mike.

Cheers for that. Just highlights that Schneiderlin actually played slightly further forward than Ward-Prowse and MLG was talking ill-informed nonsense. Also shows what a defensive job Puncheon did.

No.

Together as one.

I think you're pushing this, and I've already told you why I disagree with you. If he's playing in the hole its going to be very difficult for him to also play as the furthest man forward, however intelligent he is its two different roles and field positions that you're talking about. I've seen enough of Rickie Lambert to form my opinion on this and I simply disagree with your assessment.

I agree, which is why I find it slightly bizarre that we prioritised him as a signing and spent an awful lot of money on him when we clearly have other more necessary signings to make to establish ourselves in the division.

I'd disagree with your assessment. While he sometimes drops deep he is quite clearly our target man. Our predictable but often unstoppable technique last season was a long diagonal ball to the far post for Lambert to head either on goal or back across for his team mates. It was predictable but stopping it from happening was another thing entirely.

Well I watched the whole Swansea game, and I disagree with you. You'd be asking Lambert to play a role that is alien to him and IMO one which doesn't play to his strengths at all, while also nullifying his main threat of being a focal point in the opposition area. You may find others on here who'll agree with you, othes have previously said that RL could play in the hole, I've consistently disagreed and still do.

Lambert is nowhere near as mobile as Michu, they are two very different players. And IMO Lambert is absolutely at his best when he is the main target furthest forward and can either header/shoot himself or pay off to supporting players coming in from behind. Playing him deeper would negate his main threat in and around the area, and therefore nullify his effectiveness.

35 years old so it would have to be a cheap, one year contract.

While that's undoubtedly true (apart from the 4 times bit, closer to slightly more than double) I still find it surprising that we seemingly prioritised the signing of Rodriguez. I agree he may need time to settle, and could well be one for the future, which kind of reinforces my opinion that its a bit of a bizarre major signing for us right now, when we're looking to establish ourselves in this division as quickly as possible. You'd also say that Clyne is one for the future but he's been able to come in and immediately have a very positive impact. I don't think you can say the same of Rodriguez yet.

Where can these graphs be found? More than anything I'd be interested to see where JRod appeared throughout the game, in comparison to Puncheon on the other side.

We had more than 50% posession against wigan, therefore its more valid to look at the formation when we were actually in posession.