S-Clarke

I just do not know why he doesn't rate Gillett? I think he's the one player in our team who can offer that bit of ''bite'' and just get on oppo's nerves as he's always on your tail... tonight could have been a perfect opportunity for him. Wotton has had more than enough to prove he's ****.

Confirmed lineup.... Davis Murty, Perry, Thomas, Harding James, Wotton, Mellis, Lallana, Saganowski, Lambert Subs: Bialkowski, Lancashire, Gillett, Schneiderlin, Thomson, Paterson, Gobern.

Interesting..... why has this not been announced though? Weird takeover.

just reading their forums, it's like the pinnacle bid it's so untrue. On Monday their local paper/station said....''Deal to be completed within 48 hours'' yesterday they said it would be completed by close of play ''today'' and now...their breaking news is fantastic... ''No announcement today - hopeful (yes - hopeful...) of an announcement tomorrow. Distin has expressed a desire to leave and the club have accepted a bid. Tommy smith also coming in for £1.5m.'' The whole thing is just cracking me up tbf.

Bid accepted for Distin from a ''premiership club'' apparently (according to ''sky sports sources'' anyway) and they're apparentley close to finalizing the contract for Eugeen Bopp - as well as bringing in Tommy smith (as mentioned above) Exciting times.

So how else can we bring in pacy players with the ability to beat people? experienced players can't do that..

Trust me - you'll retract that statement when you see him. He's exactly what we're crying out for.

Signed a new contract with them iirc

A player pard's has been after since day 1. Pacey, Tricky, can play left/right and has a bit of bulk about him too iirc - he played a fair bit last year for City, and they were reluctant to let him go. I would hazzard a guess that this is part of the deal to take one of our Poles to Leicester

I don't think Holmes really wants out - but there is an opportunity there.

His exact words were ....''by the time the end of the window comes, hopefully it can put a bit of clarity in 3 or 4 players minds that they're here now and they can knuckle down and focus for us. After all - we pay them very good money to play football for us'' At a guess, Greg, Saga, Morgan...?

More players on the way according to pards...just listened to him on Saints Player Not 'exactly' word for word what he said, but i'll summerise it below. Pretty straight to the point....''will there be movement before the end of the transfer window?'' ''Yes, there will be players coming in and possibly going out too. We are moving closer to 2 players coming in at the moment. We have a top scouting system in place now and that's already bearing fruit as we have been made aware of the players who are available and who we believe can do a job. We have to remember that the emergency loan window carries on for us, so if we don't get our targets before the end - we still have an opportunity. But we need to make sure that we are right on the button and waiting to swoop between now and the 2nd - we do not want to miss out on good players who end up at championship and league 1 clubs - who we believe can do a job here. Hopefully by the time the 2nd comes we will have a settled unit and the 4 players who are a bit unsettled at the moment can knuckle down and realise they can do a job for us. It’ll be a busy 7 days.''

Correct Trotman played and scored for PNE in the last round and Hammond came on as a 73rd min substitute for Colchester.

Pard's was spot on with his assessment of Pato, that early miss completely ruined his head for the game Also illustrated at how mentally fragile these young lads are. He's a good talent, not exceptional, but he can certainty do a job for us. He didn't give the Milwall back 4 any piece on the opening day and showed great composure for the goal.

...not forgetting that before yesterday they lost to BRENTFORD and drew against Exeter. Patience is required. Well be ok in the end.

They finished last season quite well, top half of the form table iirc. they didn't come down on the back of a run of defeats...like us and norwich, and we're both struggling to adapt.

****ing awful. What a world we live in these days. Really hope he's ok

Preston rate him v highly and only wanted him to come here to get games - they want him in their first team. I cannot see them selling unless we're talking 1/2m

I'm not saying that at all, i just think it's a little misguided to be talking about other managers just 4 games into his regime. He's got alot of work to do and i don't envy him one bit. This is probably one of the hardest managerial jobs at the moment...trying to balance the expectation of the city/fans with the realism of the situation. His interviews have been spot on, everything he's said has been spot on. His signings have been spot on - they've mirrored exactly what we say we've lacked and what he's admitted we've lacked. He's come out today and is saying we don't get wide enough...which is spot on. I cannot remember the last manager we had who was so open and honest about the setup and actually willing to make the changes.

If that's true, then i don't give a **** if they're ****ed off. They've been pampered for too long, and it's about time someone has actually come in and set down his rules for once. If they don't like them - go.

I knew it wouldn't take long. Clueless.

I heard Pard's say that on SaintsTV...very interesting i felt too. I hazard a guess he was implying the future of the 2 poles. Regarding Charlton....i don't think they've lost many players (maybe 1?) and another aspect of why they've started so well is because they've kept the same structure in place from last year. And actually, in terms of form, they finished the season (last 10 games) last year as one of the best teams. So in a sense, they were mentally relegated quite early..so they just started preparing for L1 before anyone else, the pressure was off them i guess. In that sense...it's given them a couple of months head start on us. Obviously we haven't had that luxury and we will be playing catchup for a few more weeks yet i fear. I know who i blame for that, but i'm not going to post it in this thread.

Harding is quality, what a coup to get on a free. I agree re: pace though, reading Pard's comments though he's identified that we don't use the width enough....now as we don't really have wingers at the moment, i hope that he'll now go out and grab some pacey wide men.

Charlton came down, they kept the majority of their squad and most importantly they kept their structure, coaches and manager. They had a pre-season and the players actually knew who was going to be taking them forward... They were also relegated well before the end of last season - and ended the season quite well, playing without pressure. In a sense they've been planning for this division about 2 months in advance of us. How some people expect us to come down and completely hit the ground running with half a team full of new guys and new manager, new backroom staff, new scouts, new chairman, new owner....then you need your heads seeing to more than the ''happy clappy's' IMO. Have some perspective and look at the larger picture, rather than just short snapshots. See where we are after 10 games, I'll wager that we'll be on positive points by then.

Watch it Nick, you'll be labeled a happy clappy - and they just talk rubbish apparently. but i agree. it's only 4 games FFS.