Saint Charlie

I think now we all know he will go (apart from my mate Roger who thinks I am being negative - hi matey) that it would be nice for him to maybe leave it there with the comments as he has clearly said a few times (all in France) what his ambitions are, so its not like he needs to let any clubs know he is available. I guess he is maybe a bit nervous after last summer, but he will sure get his wish this time.

Top player who needs to play in the big games. Will make a massive difference to whoever signs him.

Four Saints players from U18 to First Team out with knee injuries where the prognosis is/was approx a year. Really bad luck.

Good article on it from a well connected source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/11495289/.html Seems all those who get fed info from Saints (Peace, Blackmore, Wilson) are saying 9-12 months.

If I had written this Clarkey then I would get hammered by Roger (hello!) etc for being way too negative. Massive blow but surely he will feature next season at some stage. Certainly need to bring in a proper keeper though.

For the last time, Boruc will never play for hs again.

Big blow in the position we have the weakest depth.

The loons talking about Cech. LOL. He will be going to a big CL team and we have a no1 anyway. What we need is a no 2 keeper better than the collection of no 3's that we currently have.

Too many variables to know I think - whether it needs surgery or just immobilising, and whether there is damage to surrounding tissues and the extent of that, if any. When Saints comment on it they might give more of an indication, but as with Jay (and even Toby recently) you never quite know.

Haha, thats a good one. On the flip side JWP and Maya are good pals by all accounts.

These types, Given, Friedel, Schwarzer are good no2 keepers because they are old enough to be happy with playing a few games and prolonging their career but also good enough that in their peak they were top PL keepers. Thats where they differ from Davis.

It should do if Davis is crap over the next few games. Especially with European games early in the season.

The award for lacking originality. Plus Osvaldo isn't in our squad.

Lets hope we get him then and a bigger team (shudder) doesn't ruin our plans.

Bit of fun alert. Simple question: who within the Saints squad is the unlikliest friends combo? Which couple of lads seem least like to invite each others families round for dinner? Based on nothing but stereotype and your own opinion. I will say Gazza and Steve Davis. Just don't seem like they would be best pals.

This is a good point and it will also depend how Davis does - although if we are serious about pushing on then clearly we need a better backup keeper.

Defo will need a new no 2 keeper in the summer as they will quite possibly play as a no 1 for a decent portion of the early season. Out of interest, when I had a minor knee injury last year the physio said broken kneecap is the worst knee injury pain wise, after injury and during rehab. Don't envy him one bit. Massive blow.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/6384200/Fraser-needs-Forst-aid.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3011264/Fraser-Forster-ruled-rest-season-breaking-knee-cap-Southampton-s-win-Burnley.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 Possible broken kneecap and 6 months out... Pretty sure we would have been in for a no 2 keeper anyway but with early Europa action likely I would imagine its a dead cert now.

Haha. They have his style of play down to a tee.

He also shanks at least half his crosses out of play and has a poor first touch. British fans love the kond of committed player Long is and there is much to admire, but he is very limited.

Agreed until the last bit. Long at £12m was and is and always will be poor value. Tadic & Pelle have both contributed a lot more over the season than Long. But what if Long had been given more minutes? Well, there is a reason why he hasn't. He isn't overly good (apart from at chasing the ball and closing down).

Roge, are you there....?

Hello again. What is depressing about him staying next season and hopefully being injury free? Is it not a fact that if he was about to be a free agent he would have lots of options? For someone who hates negativity (which my post wasn't) you spend an awful amount of time replying to my posts rather than creating your own positive content. We all want JR to come back as he is a class act and would be a great option for us. But if he doesn't want to sign a new contract (which has been on the table for months allegedly) then there isn't much Saints can do but sell him or lose on a free transfer. Unless you have other suggestions?

Most likely scenario IMO is that Jay tries to stay next season to get fully fit and not have the pressure of a big money move on his shoulders as well as returning from injury. He would then be in a great position as a relatively young, English, high quality free agent and if he comes back from injury well, would have loads of options and a good season behind him. Saints on the other hand would probably find that the worst scenario and would either want him to re-sign with us or sell him.

68% of your posts since the start of 2014 are direct replies to me so obviously I am interesting enough!