Saint Fan CaM

Yes, yes, yes, yes. No.

Kept me seat. When you get a seat as good as mine you don't give it up easily. (:

No. He said he'd been his mate for the last couple of weeks, taking him from his hotel into town. The club will have wanted someone to buddy up with him to show him around etc. and make him feel at home and Cork got the duty. Would have thought this would be down to Hammond or Kelvin, but perhaps as they're family men? Or perhaps Cork is staying at the same hotel as him at the moment - that would make more sense?

We should NEVER sign a player with a surname like that...never. That is all.

Mmm, this season is going to be a very tough call. There will be some big surprises at both ends of the table I feel. We could have a good but not spectacular season and finish between 8th and 15th with the squad. Sign a top CB who really connects with Fonte and you can notch that up 4 places though.

Cannot see Cork and Morgan starting together. If anything it will be Hammond and Cork.

All round I would chose Davis. Bart's is OK, but the mistake tonight was an extremely poor and fundamental error for a goalie which left me with concerns over his handling - OK it was just once, but it was the nature of the error.

He's good, however it's the CM combo that's important and for me the best matched pair is Chaplow and Cork.

I don't what we paid for him (£1m?), but on tonights showing he's got to worth £8m at least given his experience in years. Seriously right up there with Chamberlain I would suggest.

We just need a top CB to partner Fonte - that's all and we've got a fantastic squad that can make a big impression on the NPC. I don't care if don't go up - I just want this squad gell, develop a strong team spirit and stay together. Slowly, slowly catch the monkey. (;

Maybe, but I thought he looked a bit out of his depth to be honest. I'm not writing him off as I've liked some of his L1 performances, just think he needs more experience to cut it at the level we're aspiring to. Having said that, I do think we need a new CB alongside Fonte - while I thought Seaborne gave a decent performance tonight, IMO there is a still too much of a gap in class between Fonte and his present partner options. I hope Adkins has a class player in mind as a 1st choice starter or I think we might struggle to contain some of the pacey strikers in the NPC.

Had a pint of the 'ale' tonight - it was acceptable in terms of taste - just. But @ £3.50 I'm afraid to say it is very poor value for money. I can hardly believe there's no lager on tap - only bottles and they're £3.50 too! Weird on one hand and a rip-off on the other if you ask me.

Pretty much flat 4 for both halves, but it was the 2nd half that saw the team really come alive IMO. De Ridder and Butterfield looked like they had played together forever. And Chappers and Cork were fantastic also - easily our strongest CM pairing I would say. Hammond for me is fourth choice CM now - cannot see how he will be able to retain the Captains armband frankly - his ball retention and particularly his distribution is not bad, but not quite as good as Cork, Chappers or Morgan.

I think quite simply that we are one CB away from a top 6 place. We REALLY need to do better than Seaborne, Martin and even Jaidi to partner Fonte I'm afraid. The amount of time it's taken to sort this out is a slight concern, because gelling your first choice CB partnership this late in pre-season is really not ideal. WBA cut us open through the left CB position at least twice this evening as their turn of pace was just too much and they represent IMO the standard of attack we will be facing in the top 10 of the NPC this season.

De Ridder - top class. Cork - really good. Seaborne - surprisingly OK. Martin - not ready (and may never be at this level or higher). Overall, we dominated possession throughout, but until De Ridder and Butterfield came on, we struggled to create too many real chances. These are my highlights. I would hope for the following team to start against Leeds.... ..................... Davis Butterfield Fonte Jaidi (or Seaborne) Harding De Ridder Cork Chaplow Lallana --------- Lambert Connolly

Absolutely - and how he managed to get some of those balls in from the byline I'll never know - looked like lost causes, but he found the extra inch to squeeze the ball into the box AND at pace!!! I've not been this excited about a new Saints signing for a long time TBH - the price of the ST was worth it just to go back and watch this guy take apart defences in NPC.

Steve De Ridder was absolutely top, top class. If he keeps up performances like that OxO could be losing his place (if he stays) - he was THAT good. I would say even better technique than Lallana on the wing, but not so sure about his scoring ability at the moment. Could be an all time Saints favourite though. Probably the best debut from a Saints player for MANY years.

Yes agree. However, we need to see how he fairs in the Championship before really casting a judgement. So far so good.

He was sold to QPR for £250k not so long back. Why should we release Puncheon for that amount of money? A player that has NPC and Prem experience in a rich vein of form. Not doubting his ability, but reading between the lines it would appear that he's another player that's finding it difficult to settle at a club. ): No thanks.

OMG! Dreadful. So who's going to 'foot' the bill for this mistake? Somebody won't 'have a leg to stand on' and will have to pull up...err, well something other than his/her socks. Below par - coat?

MUCH more like it.

Here's one for you - we'll not sign another midfielder or striker before Saturday. In fact looking at the options up front and the fact we can only bench 5 players, I can't see the squad being expanded beyond one more signing - probably at CB.

You have to be kidding?! You mean you want a journeyman, unsettled, unsettling runt who is rejected by all the clubs he gets a chance with? Puncheon may have something about him (overrated by some here), but he clearly finds it difficult working with Managers and/or others. And he would not be the 1st player in history to be shunned because of attitude issues. Anyway that's not the type of player I want to see in an England shirt. I want to see players that have come through their parent clubs and stuck at it, playing proper football and continuing to show some respect for the club that has nurtured them. I want to see the breeding ground clubs protected by ensuring ALL academy products MUST stay until their 21st birthday (and put two fingers up to Europe employment law). I want to see this countries football ideals get back to skill first, rather than money first.

You know what? I think Connolly might find himself a little bit more fitter this season now he's back in the NPC. The signs are all there that he could have a really good season and be very influential. In fact, I'll stick my neck out (in the spirit of the other thread) and predict he will be our best striker this season. There - that'll set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Sounds like agent talk to me...wouldn't be surprised if his reputation is now well and truly preceding him.