benjii

I'm with Pap on this. A low tax economy with benefits massively reined in and a "no riff-raff" rule in my neghbourhood would suit me down to the ground.

Exactly, and I think it's the same scenario with Damiao. I think he would probably join us but why would he not wait and see who else is interested? We are now targetting a calibre of player around which squads are built and substantial investment is made. We could go out and pick up half-a-dozen Delaps, McCann's or Higginbottom's and get all our business done "early doors". We could probably even sign half-a-dozen players from La Liga for around £2-3million each "early doors" and one of them might turn out to be great and to have been massively under-priced but the chances are we would end up with a squad of roughly the same ability as it already is. No doubt someone will start blathering about Michu or something. Well, I don't think anyone denies he worked out great but it doesn't mean a bunch of other cheap signings also will. Yes, there are bargains to be had and we have had plenty of them (Clyne, Boruc, Cork, Punch (£250k FFS!)) but we are clearly in the market for a striker who we are confident can perform at the very top level. Moaning that we haven't yet is like moaning at someone who wants to buy your house for waiting until they've sold theirs.

To be fair, it's a bit unnecessary to be a knob to Alpine over this. His general antics are not really relevant (although it would be bloody fun if a player enquired whether he is "Alpine Saint").

Sorry but this is just plain wrong. He holds people off quite well.

The Mail's website is a lascivious, leering paedo's paradise. Barely a day goes buy without some picture of a child flashing some leg/bum/tit for the cameras. It may not be porn but it is clearly intended to attract people who want to rub one out over a child.

No, he wants to criminalise possessing porn depicting rape! What a joke! No one is going to look best pleased with a fire extinguisher and a pineapple up their hoop and a bag over their head but I don't really see the harm. In all seriousness, I think this is ridiculous. If they are willing actors then what does it matter what they are depicting? Why draw the line at porn - surely the depiction of rape full-stop should therefore be banned? And murder. And anything else that might unhinge a nutter. Nonsense.

Guly is quite hot too.

Shipperley has fat eyebrows.

Nice to see people like Mayuka obviously being a real part of the camp despite not having had much game time last year. Shame Gaston is missing all this stuff though.

Agreed. He's not brilliant but I think he would be competent at Championship level with a decent partner, particularly in a team that wants to build possession from the back.

If we're signing a striker I want it to be someone who is manifestly at a higher level than Rickie and Jay Rod. Bent might still be able to do a good job but personally I would sooner give Jay an opportunity as the central striker. If we can bring in an Osvaldo, Damiao etc then great. If not, I would go with what we've got.

Interesting to see if Jay Rod gets a crack as the front focal point or whether it's Guly with Jay Rod on the wings.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/welcome-the-squad-back-on-10th-august-919547.aspx Reasonable prices IMO. I will go if any of my friends (I have well over 100) are keen.

That's Banega and Ramirez's job

Whilst "lightweight" is a bit over the top I think this is why we signed him. If we are playing a team at home and likely to have 60%+ of the possession then there's a good chance Wanyama will be on the bench IMO, especially if we are still looking at adding Banega as well (and assuming Morgan is staying put). Where we will probably hope to really see his value is when we think MP's agressive defending style is going to be the key factor in a match or in tough away matches. He will also be a useful front shield for knock-downs against teams that like to whack it up to a target man. It's about having a good mixture of attributes and the ability to "change things". One thing our squad really missed last season was the ability to throw on a player who would make a difference and give the opposition a new problem. If he's "worth" £12.5 million remains to be seen but you can see why we wanted a player of his ilk given our approach to defending and pressing.

"pre-Madonna" always makes me chuckle and feel despondent at the same time.

Did you read my post? Those were examples of forwards with a contrasting style to Dzeko. It was not a list of players that LB must be able to handle. You also appear to have entirely missed the point about "competition" as opposed to "reserve". My point was that Fox can handle a certain type of attacker. We could get a LB for a few million much more competent at handling a wider range and giving Shaw some genuine competition. So, to your answer your question: "not necessarily". But it was a stupid question.

Replace "cover" with "competition" then and there is a valid argument that reinforcement is needed IMO. Obviously we shouldn't be deliberately signing a left back who is worse than Shaw just to sit them on the bench but IMO, we will be in trouble if Shaw misses a lot of games ("trouble", not in the sense of relegated, but we will struggle to get where we want to be). Our system needs full-backs that are comfortable getting into advanced positions, carrying the ball and running at people, if needed and also have the pace and engine to get up and down quickly. At RB, Cork is arguably solid cover for Clyne and Chambers seems to be well rated and, having previously been a midfielder, should be comfortable enough getting forwards. Yoshi is clearly not up to playing full-back adequately in our system and I'm surprised people keep suggesting that he is. So, RB is ok. IMO. LB, however, is a different story. If Targett was felt to be nearly ready he would be in Spain along with Chambers, Turnbull and Isgrove and not up in Middlesbrough or wherever the others have gone. Fox - well he's ok against a certain type of attacking player, the same way Hooiveld was good against Dzeko but would usually get murdered by Suarez or Rooney, for example - really is not adequate for the type of full-back game we will demand. He doesn't get far enough up the pitch and his defending is too bad. His greatest virtue is that he is by far the best taker of a corner we seem to have (I will be pulling my hair out if we allow Lallana to take them again next season). In conclusion - if Shaw got a lengthy injury we would struggle to meet our aspirations. And, forgetting lengthy injuries for a second, even a 3 game ban or a small injury could be enough to make the difference between say 8th and 14th at the end of the season. If we are willing and able to pay £20million on a striker then we should also be looking to buy a LB who can compete with Shaw. Shaw is great but he had a few dodgy games last season and we should not be relying on him playing 40 games this season at his age and given the physical demands we will put on our players.

Valencia have just signed Romeu for a year from Chelsea.... Banega leaving?

I have hilarious and brilliant one: He's black he's quick we've got a massive Vic Wanyama...Wanyama It's like Jones K. never left.

Big Vic knew.

Not sure why the mods don't deal with Turkish. If he ****ed off this site would be so much better.

I hope he's actually good. I'm not convinced at all.

Needs some chicken and a fishing rod IMO.

Actually, I think people just get fed up with people like you repeating the same half-a-dozen posts over and over and over.... And ruining the forum.