Saint Fan CaM

After posting on another thread this morning, I got to thinking about the unlikely scenario of us getting into a play-off place and actually winning the final. What players are good enough to remain as a first team choice and so how many new players would be required in-bound? My initial thoughts are… GK - Rambo back (if possible) or new GK, Peretz 2nd choice CB - 2-3 new players required with THB retained as back-up FB - with decent CB’s there’s a chance that Bree and Welington could suffice, however I think we’d need another FB capable of both sides DM - 2 new players required. Downes not good enough and Charles/Jander only OK as backup. AM - Scienza, Fellows and Azaz could be OK, but we’d need at least one more decent player that could operate across the field. Striker - at least 2 new players required - none of the current players are good enough. So for my money that’s 9 new players required - almost an entire team - and I don’t think Spors or SR have what it takes to make that happen. And if we don’t go up this year (unlikely), the chasm in player quality is only going to get bigger, particularly as SR start selling off our best players (history tells us that’s inevitable).

I think Cyle Larin is a loan with option to buy also, although I don’t think the fee was disclosed?

Simple. We didn’t spend enough money on enough EPL quality players. We thought a lucky play-off win was indicative of being ready for the Prem, which was of course stupidity of the highest order when you review our results in the previous Championship season. To cap it all, we had a smug twat of manager who thought he could get our sub-standard squad to pass the ball like an elite Man City.

I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, even if SR are rubbish. It’s not too hard to remember the clusterfuck of a season we had just LAST season. It truly was horrendous. It’s easier to re-build a squad going up into the Prem, but when we went down with a bloated squad of largely rubbish, there was a massive re-build to be done over what will end up being at least three windows. The huge test for SR will be improving the squad further in the summer without losing our best players, but for now we need to be content that slowly, Eckhert has a slimmed down squad that’s more suited to the way he wants to play to get results.

He’s been a decent servant to the club, but it’s clear that he’d become stale and his time here was over. Good luck with Wolves…you’ll need it!

Welcome to Saints with a heavy dose of scepticism thrown in - not your fault - it’s SR’s seeming wish to completely destroy this club in a slow and painful downward spiral. You’re just trying to do a job and find a home for a short period. As Saints fans well give you the benefit of the doubt all the while you bust a gut on matchday. Stroll around and expect abuse. A goal or two early doors will be most welcome and somewhat unexpected.

Not sure stating that SR set a super low bar when it comes to CF’s is demonstrating any form of allegiance to them. I’m as sceptical as many on here, but there is a rationale and balance to the argument that the guy may actually bring some benefit to the team, remembering that this is the January window and we’re hardly pushing hard for promotion. What will be interesting is the terms of the deal - if there’s an option to buy then we’ll know SR hands are all over this and it’ll end badly.

Oh and another point on Larin. Nobody seems to consider that his drop in form may have something to do with the other players he’s been playing with. How many times have some on here observed how players that are not performing for us, go on and have great seasons at their new club? Larin MAY experience a better return with better players such as Azaz, Leo and Fellows around him…who knows?

Why? He’s been playing football, so a couple of training sessions and he’s ready. I mean how long does he need to be told “the goal is that way - put the ball in it”?

My take on this is that AA was likely to go and despite his history, he is not going to excel further at Saints - his day is done and particularly given the style of play Tonda seems to prefer with 4 at the back. When it comes to tall mobile CF’s, SR set the bar super low, so this guy just needs to demonstrate a little more movement, a little more hold-up play and a little more goal threat than the U-21 youngster to be considered a success. If he manages to stay fit and prove himself of more value than Stewart then I guess we’ll be saying that Spors has uncovered another useful asset. Everything screams a waste of time and money, but let’s see if he meets the above criteria before writing him off.

On the face of it SR are doing exactly what I’ve been predicting they’ll do - reduce overall squad quality by selling AA and brining this guy Larin in. If true it would be to form and the likely outcome is not particularly pleasing. However, there may be more complexity at play - perhaps AA wanted out and/or didn’t see eye to eye with Eckhert…perhaps Larin could be a good alternative to Stewart…perhaps we keep Archer who is given a more wing based role per Fellows? And perhaps this guy brings a new approach that we need. He’s certainly more experienced relative to other younger players which is something we’ve been missing. His video clips show he knows where to be in the box to score goals. Let’s hope he comes good.

Bye Joe. Thanks for all the…errr…strolls.

It’s extremely disappointing that SR have allowed this striker in/out situation to progress right to the end of the window. But then that’s what we’ve seen time and time again…depletion of squad quality. Why the hell would any of our best players want to stay in the summer if they get better offers?

A really convincing win. Get a top striker and we’ll be uncatchable. 😜 Tonda giving the Ref some right stick…rightly so. Three decent pen claims and you’d expect at least one to be given.

Welington is so fucking much better than Manning. 110%

Good God - this Ref is shite

Very good team performance today. Ih fuck - Manning on. Why?!?

Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio! 🤣

Yep Baz lets that in

Ref is determined to hand Stoke a lifeline.

Cynical foul by Stoke player and no card - dick of a Ref

Peretz gets card for time wasting - fucking clown of a Ref

Starting to look a bit leggy in midfield - need Charles on.

Ref ignored a tug on Scienza which then turned the ball over. Eckhert making changes too early?

We need another goal. Now please.