derry

For the whole of last week he was just waiting to sign but all that changed after he played on Saturday and was asked to stay and help their bid to make the play offs.

Brian Howard is one of the best ball passers anywhere in the football league. He would have given us a dimension we just don't have.

I don't know the fee, but Reading paid £500k for him, he signed a new 3 year contract last summer until end of season 2013. He is on a similar contract to that reported being paid to our highest earners. I know the exact basic figure. Contrary to opinions on here he lost his place after injury/suspension and as Reading have been on a good run playing defensive central midfielders he wasn't able to get back in until last Saturday. After the game the manager asked him to stay and in the light of no offer from Saints he decided to commit to Reading. There is no doubt that Stephens is a much cheaper option as far as a loan is concerned as there is no way that Oldham would be paying anything like the salary in Brian Howard's contract. He also hasn't the experience, stature or leadership that would be provided by Howard. Then he isn't coming and is not available as we missed our chance to get him last week when he would have signed. Stephens is probably on a par with our other two midfielders and it is doubtful whether he can come in and lift probably the worst performing part of the team in a way that Brian Howard could well have done. We are scoring the majority of goals from set pieces and produce little from play. A major problem.

Brian Howard. Yes!

Good jump.

It will be interesting to see whether the witnesses/victim/friends get collective amnesia. It's taken a long time to get this far.

Whether he is a good signing only time will tell. Before he signed I wanted a leader/playmaker brought in, but now that he has signed I just hope he is as good as his press.

Not according to one of our best players.

There is quite a bit of what you say, makes sense to me. Would I leave him out? Is he doing it in the box? I think the answer is probably no to both questions. I'd like to see him make more effort as a striker than a part time playmaker drifting out wide.

Jesus H Christ, even one of his own players slaughtered him because he was doing nothing to try and lift the players at Hartlepool. The player said that he was the only one trying to get things going and how bad it was. Hammond is no leader, he might be wearing the armband, but there it ends once he has tossed up.

Hammond is no leader but much improved lately. Chaplow is way off the pace at the moment. At least two thirds of our goals are coming from set pieces, we really aren't producing much from central midfield and need reinforcing there.

I'm spitting chips at the moment. It's not the player himself, it's the fact we have gambled on a cheap option from Oldham. We are playing poorly in central midfield and are crying out for a proper leader/playmaker with experience to get us over the line. Gary Jones, captain of Rochdale, 33 years of age, proper playmaker and leader with 14 goals wouldn't be a gamble, Howard wasn't a gamble but this 23 yrs old in his first real season is a gamble.

I saw both the Oldham games and nobody stood out for them. Benchwarmer?

A 28 year old that his club want to keep, on a good contract until the end of the 2013 season. How the hell do you know Stephens has a bright future he was anonymous against us for Oldham he has a long way to go to satisfy the aspirations of this club. If he stutters in his first match he will be slaughtered.Guly, N'Guessan and Forte have been really wlcomed when they first came.

It's not resentment it's us gambling with the second automatic spot taking the cheap option. Is he even going to be good enough if we get promoted, because this is a ten match gamble with a view to permanent transfer otherwise he wouldn't be coming for only ten games.

A cheap option for us but a lot more money for the player. If he wants to go, the rest is history. So who is he going to replace?

So where are all the halfwits that were underwhelmed with Brian Howard, a good Championship player who lives locally and Reading didn't want to let go. Of course Stephens must have had a blinder against us last time we played Oldham.

So do I Nick, we should have signed Brian Howard last week while we had the chance. He proved on Saturday that Reading would be silly to let him go in their present circumstances. The idiots on here who rubbished him didn't know what they were talking about as usual. He is a good player and would have improved us no end. I think we hacked him off with the way we enquired then did nothing. I think we didn't realise that he was a supporter and wanted to come and by doing nothing made him feel after his original enthusiasm he had just been used.

Charlie Wayman was Saints best player and top scorer. I think it was 9 points clear but we just couldn't score, if I remember correctly even Alf Ramsey was tried at centre forward in desperation. It didn't work and we couldn't score enough goals. Football is a funny old game, one minute you are flying the next minute you can't buy a goal. I won't be happy until it is all done and dusted provided we are promoted.

Frankly yes until we went two goals ahead and they gave up.

You just don't get it, do you? The away support is right up against the Itchen, you are on the other side of the ground, away supporters are all singing, consequently the away support is very noisy in the Itchen, on the other hand the Northam doesn't come through. You might be the noisiest part of the ground to you. but you are not as loud as you think. You are the noisiest Saints support, but it was much better when blocks 1-3 sandwiched the away support and mirrored the Northam singing. As for the list of teams that sound louder than the Northam in the Itchen, nearly every home game until the team gets well ahead and shuts them up. Do you get it now?

It doesn't matter what you think because I'm telling you what I hear in the Itchen and that is the away supporters who are right up against Block one. It doesn't need many more than were there on Saturday to blanket out the Northam where I am in block 5.

You might think you are making a lot of noise but you aren't making enough to drown out the away support which is next to the Itchen and drowns you out most of the time.

What you lot in the Northam can't see is our supporters are tucked into one corner, a great swathe of empty seats then the away supporters in the other corner and you are only heard when the away supporters shut up now and again.

I know it will be unpopular but all these ditties that nobody knows and because of the away supporters become a meaningless drone in the Itchen and the other end of the ground are never sung by anybody else. If you were really interested in making a loud supportive noise then 'the Saints go marching in' sung slow or fast is the Saints song and has the best chance of being sung by the whole ground. That way there could be a really loud noise supporting the team and drowning out the away support rather than a few hundred being drowned out by the away noise. The present practice dilutes the potential of a really loud noise. Forget all the ditties and sing the Saints song loudly.