Saint Fan CaM

Good player - surprise signing...so which defender is on the way out?

Apparently he's on a bus to Blackpool. Or somewhere.

Forte will be a good signing for us. He has a chance to get into the squad pretty much straight away which means he'll want to impress. Seems to me like he has been constrained or not happy in some way at Scunny since NA left.

Let's hope you're right - lose Fonte and kiss promotion goodbye IMO.

Please not Fonte - the promotion challenge would be right off the rails if he went. In the top 3 most important players to this club IMO.

Hmm, assuming it's true can't see Martin being too impressed if he's blocked that move given the lack of appearances he's had under Adkins - Eastleigh to Prem in 2 seasons is not too shabby really. He'd be earning at least three times his current deal I suspect.

It matters not what previous managers think - if that was the case Chaplow would never play again if his previous manager had a say. Chaplow for me is the best and most likely choice because he would provide consistency in role potentially all the way through to the Prem. If he and Schneiderlin keep up their partnership even better still.

Just a thought - perhaps premature, but worthy of discussion. Chaplow is an articulate, hard working and skillful player that gets around all over the park. I've watched him - he talks to other players and likes to motivate. I think he could be a great Team Captain - better than Hammond who seems a bit...well...quiet, not commanding of the team and hardly sets the world alight with his very few interviews to date. Thoughts? Poll?

Actually, like they need it?! They have more dosh than some L2 clubs.

Good man.

I mentioned this on the match thread, but thought it worthy of mention here. I saw Guly leave SMS on crutches last night. It didn't appear that he had a leg or foot bandaged etc., so hopefully it's just precautionary. There were some photo/autograph hunters milling around him, so did anyone else find out how he is?

There is just one massive issue that we can take from yesterdays game - this team needs to get out of L1 to see it perform at it's best. Nothing else matters this season.

No need to get defensive - you THINK the Northam was loud because of where you sit. In the Itchen centre the MU supporters were loud enough to drown out much of the noise from the Northam. And anyway, my point was (as previously noted in other threads) that our support is nullified by the sheer fact that every large game our most vocal supporters are fragmented to other parts of the ground to make room for the visitors. THAT to me is just plain stupid and needs to be addressed by the club as a matter of urgency IMO.

We are L1 at the moment and they are the most successful club in the World. It's not his place to jiz over how well Saints played for 65 minutes. He was not really disrespectful so that's fine. When we have the depth of squad to match them, I feel sure that within the next 10 years we will be on level terms and beating them again. PS edit: I do believe the ref was spoken to by Ferguson at half-time though. Not that he had anything to complain about, but he does that to unsettle the ref and ensure when a decision needs to be made there is no question of him siding with Man Utd's opposition.

Very proud of the team - 1st half we could have been Prem opposition I thought. Got very leggy after 60 mins and Fergie knew it would happen which is when the supersubs came on a cut us a new one. That said, it was two sloppy passes from Dickson and Gobern that let the side down (and Gobern showed he is nowhere near the standard required for this team now). Outstanding performances were from Butterfield, Chaplow and Schneiderlin (surprisingly). When we left the ground a couple of players came out and Guly was on crutches for some reason - hopefully precautionary. New lad Dany hardly touched the ball when he came on which was a shame. All in all a fantastic days footie - got to shake hands with Nigel Adkins, Franny Benali and one of my heroes Mick Channon. Did the stadium tour before the match with Nigels A's Mum and Dad (very nice down to earth people) - he came into the corridor outside the changing rooms to take a photo of our little group on his i-phone! Jimmy Case did a little turn on the mic and we had John Motty Motson do a little bit of talking at the end to auction off his match notes (he was commentating for 5-live) - he got £600 for the Saints Foundation. Only one grumble and that was that from where we were the Man Utd supporters made more noise than us for large parts of the game. Northam was not at the races today, but of course it was half decimated. This needs to be corrected by the club IMO. Also, there were no chants for Markus which was a bit disappointing. Oh well. Proud to be a Saint today. COYS!

This. Make it so.

That's a great article. No judgements. No guesswork. Just the players talking about their club.

This.

Think we might see a few more bench appearances in the youth side for Mr Puncheon - he needs to learn he can't be a petulant little turd. Having said that, I would rather he did his sulking on Pardews time and budget so hopefully NC will sell. Even if he does well to start, he will sulk sooner or later - his reputation precedes him and it will only be a matter of time before he's sold again back into the CCC or lower.

Looks to me as if Cortese is setting out his and the club's stall ready to demonstrate we are a BIG club and will not be knocked around by any other club. If that's the case then hats off to NC - he really has shown us what a fantastic CEO he is time and time again. He's got so many decisions right and my feeling is there will be many more.

Pacy? I don't think so, however he can head the ball, is strong, can dribble with the ball and unlock situations (even 2 to 1 man sometimes). All in all, probably one of the best winger loanees we are likely to get in this window - only problem is there does not appear to be a buy clause if he does well and fits with the team. Welcome to Saints Dany...hop on the bus and hold on tight!

LOL - that's spectacularly good! LOL

This is the key question. The problem is we are 5-10 years away from being in a position to really be attractive enough to youngsters to stay. We need to be in the Prem challenging for a top 6 place, winning silverware and offering incredible personal contracts before we stand any chance of keeping our best. It's the dilemna faced by club academies that turn out top talent - there needs to be FA and FIFA intervention to stop a player from leaving his 'home' club until 21 years of age. That will sort this stupidity out once and for all.

Looking at the U-Tube clips, seems that most of goals are short range poacher type shots which concerns me a little as I am not sure we are as good putting balls into those areas. Looks a good prospect though and fast with the ball too.

It's being shown off at the Megastore and a couple of players will be there for autographs. Closest they'll get to it too I imagine! Not sure if this parading around is a bit pointless, but I suppose it's good for the kids. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2271782,00.html