Saint Charlie

Will Buckley causing a threat for Sunderland, exactly the style of option we need. Will take people on and asks the defender if he is up to the task of stopping him.He cost £3m I think.

JWP is miles off being a senior England Intl.

For a start a player like Townsend is in a different league to Forestieri and McManaman - and we obviously feel we can get him. There must be another Tadic out there somewhere, afterall we have 20 scouts assessing thousands of games in Europe.

Some of the names people are suggesting just arent of the quality needed, especially if yoy want someone to consistently create and score at PL level.

Its not his ability that people are questioning, but where he plays in the team. The two games so far he has been played too far forward which doesnt suit his attributes. Would be like Man Utd playing Carrick just off Rooney, and asking him to receive the ball with his back to goal. JWP lost the ball too many times with his back to goal because its not his game.

I'm not Wes, but I will be speaking to him in a week.

I look forward to asking you in a week then.

But you would say his best position is as a deep lying playmaker not a number 10, yes?

Please name a worse one then Wes?

Koeman said again post match that we want another attacking player, probably a winger.

WBA definitely had better bench options than us. Would have thought it was them who had spent north of £50m!

His stand out is his technical ability. In the Brighton friendly he hit some lovely crossfield balls to Clyne. But Morgan can also do that and is far better off the ball. But no team with JWP playing off Pelle will score many goals so hopefully they sort it out. If anything Davis and JWP swapped over would play to both strengths a little more. He was bullied today and isnt a creative player but a tidy one. Tidy players dont open up PL defences. Centre midfield is an area that hasnt got any worse since end of last year when he couldnt get a game. Not sure why Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Davis and JWP all start at home?

His stand out is his technical ability. In the Brighton friendly he hit some lovely crossfield balls to Clyne. But Morgan can also do that and is far better off the ball. But no team with JWP playing off Pelle will score many goals so hopefully they sort it out. If anything Davis and JWP swapped over would play to both strengths a little more. He was bullied today and isnt a creative player but a tidy one. Tidy players dont open up PL defences.

Special mention for us, the crowd. We were awful today. Symptomatic of the poor summer we have gone through, but even so...

JWP as a no 10 should never happen again. No point buying Long and playing him right midfield. Tempo so, so much slower than under Pochettino. Incoming players just nowhere near the level of those they replaced, although Tadic is a good player. Pelle was woeful, not helped by tosser fans jeering in his first home game. Also, to any fans that mocked the idea of Townsend, maybe they can see now why we are crying out for someone that actually carries the ball forward and commits defenders. Today, we were so easy to defend against. A huge contrast from last season where our movement, tempo and positivity were hard to handle. Lallana to biggest miss by far, please lets no pretend JWP can do that role, he can't.

JWP not, and never will be an no 10 player. No point shoe horning him in just because he is the last remaining Academy player good enough to start. He cant play with his back to goal, doesn't go past a man and hasnt got a goalscoring instinct. Play him in his proper position, or not at all.

Wonder if the OP still holds the same opinion?

So....

I watched the game and have seen Cropper on other occassions. Just giving an opinion, not slagging him off. He won't make our first team.

Nice advertising for Sky Bet.

Not specifically this game. He will never play for our first team. General thoughts...the gap between this and first team football is huge. Most of these under 21 sides wouldn't win the Conference.

GK, Forster/Boruc apart is a poor position for us!

Cropper is awful. Not sure why we bothered giving him a contract extension. GK a big area of weakness for the club as a whole. No pipeline whatsoever.

All of those players are better than Davis, some quite considerably so. Many have been consistent PL performers for a number of years. Davis hasn't had one good PL season.

He doesn't owe Saints anything. They could and should have offered a new contract ages ago.