saintbob40

When dinosaurs walked the earth, plod, plod ,plod......

Its the use of the squad that concerns me and in particular the likley CM pairing. With Cork back in and competition/cover for Lambert I think we would do very well. As it is though we don't have the striking options and MS+VW could well be a disaster unless MS can adapt his game to play the Cork role. VW doesn't make space to receive the ball like Cork does and we will end up going long and being one dimensional.

Cork and Shaw coming into the team last year saved us. MP now looks like he is going with VW and Morgan and presumably will persist with this for a while rather than management admitting a huge expensive mistake. VW is the big lump many posters wanted in the centre and Cork has been overlooked by many the same way he was last year when Davis arrived. VW is a very different player to Cork and is more similar to Morgan. I do not see this partnership working and the impact of relegating Cork to the bench will have a profound impact on the way the team plays. I can see us struggling until Christmas and perhaps beyond and I would forget about Europe.

Good call but strange that MP hasn't played that formation so far, nor have Cork, Wanyama and Morgan played together at the same time.

Having watched VW play it seems pretty apparent he is not a busy show for the ball, pass the ball technical player like Cork who suits our short passing game. VW and Morgan are similar players and i doubt will work as a pair unless we go more direct and play a bit of hoof ball.

Yes he was like a rock............in that he didn't move much. The days of midfield enforcers are long over by the way. Sad but true.

Very good result against a CL team. Solid in the first half although lacked In the final third especially without Clyne and Shaw. jWP lost out wide and Adam anonymous. Second half- who gave VW the multi pack of McCoys deep ridge crisps....... As a CM he is a very good sidescreen. Much better with pace up front and superb finishes by Mayuka and Lambert.

How about without Cork providing protection as appears to be the plan. Not sure VW is that type of intelligent player who reads the game and fills in where needed with calm assurance. He's seems to be a big unit who might smash people every now and then. Perhaps more eye catching but likely to be a smaller contribution. Our CBs without Cork in front of them worry me.

Seems quite keen to raise his profile all of a sudden............

We will likely start with Morgan and VW in the centre. It will take about 3 games for our fans to realize this doesnt work (as we are not a second ball team but in fact a team that plays a cultured short passing game and these two players are too similar) It will take about 8 games for MP and NC to work out they have tried to fix something that wasn't broken and put Cork back in. How badly we do in these opening games will depend on how we have fixed the real deficiencies in the team. That is the centre backs and having a credible alternative to Rickie Lambert ( who disappeared in a number of games last year where he was faced with strong and quick CBs). A much easier start to the season may also give us a false sense of security. Personally I am uneasy with this Summers business(so far) and could see us in a similar position to last year by Christmas.

VW does not make himself available for the ball like Cork does( so a lot of aimless long balls) and generally does not get through the same amount of work as Cork and Morgan. Consequently we were out of possession a lot. Don't think Morgan and Wanyama will work as well as Morgan and Cork. MP hasn't tried all three together with either Morgan or VW in the 3 of the 4 2 3 1 which surprises me. Ugly game.

should be like a normal game in the SPL for VW.....

This one could run and run..............

Why not set up the press conference in the lap dancing bar?

Better off going out on loan and playing 40 games in the Championship rather than sitting around for 10 minutes here and 10 minuites there. Needs to learn his trade. He's not a holding mid anyway....

Cesc Fàbregas? I think it may depend on the car in question.......

Cork and Morgan-each around a million or so but able to see off Man City , Liverpool and Chelsea and made Man U look like a pub team in the second half at Old Trafford. As for Wanyama £12-it is a huge amount of money for somebody untested at this level week in week out. Even is he is the player people think he is (based on a couple or so of champions league games last year) can he work within our system and settle into our team?

VW and his agent need Saints to appear to be on the go to get the best deal from Everton. Stalking horse and nothing more. Cardiff were wise to it....

Lukaku for Shaw anyone? Game of Thrones styleee.

grumpy, disruptive, thick and money mad-sounds a bit like my first wife!

Take a look at this..... http://www.eplindex.com/29962/epls-underrated-midfields-tactical-stats-comparison-europes-elite.html ...and I wonder how good Morgan would be in another partnership ( think back to the first 10 games of last season). The balance works very well at present...

He already believes he is better than us. How will he then feel if he can't dislodge Cork and Morgan from their starting positions. Let's not forget that they were possibly two of the best young CMs in Europe last year (functioning as such as a pair)and they will only get better with last year's experience under their belts. Cue grumpy, disruptive African on bench with money hungry agent fueling the fire. Cork and Morgan are proven and this guy is not proven week in week out at this level. We need a defensive midfielder back up but I for one am not sure about this bloke, at this price, with this attitude and this agent!

Game plan...press and stop them playing out of defence...they go long and our mammoth CBs clean them out.

Three way poker....first one to blink.

Cork and Morgan> than Wanyama at a lot, lot less. 20/30k p/w v 50/60 p/w....and Cork and Morgan are proven at this level (e.g Chelsea (home and away), Liverpool, Man City at home). Wanyama had a couple of decent games in the CL and then went back to playing pub teams for the rest of the season-that makes him unproven in my book and 12m is a lot for an unproven player...who also looks like a bit of an arsehole at present. We should spend the cash on a centre forward as SRL looked like he was wearing diver's boots towards the end of the season.