Saint Fan CaM

It would be the ultimate humiliation for the skates if they went into admin, we got the bye and then went on to Wembley! Utter dream. However, as someone else said above, it does not matter if we lose in a way - they are Prem and we're L1 - so no disgrace. Their team will probably be decimated by then, players left will be peeved at not being paid on-time again...etc etc. We need to enter into this one just happy that we're on the up and they're on the down and enjoy what will be an immensely enjoyable days footie.

My Missus came running downstairs thinking I'd really hurt myself I was screaming so much! What an amazing draw!!!! And to come out at home right at the end of the draw - even that was exciting! Very winnable fixture.

We can do this. Their top goal scorer is on 6. Their defence is shaky. If James and Wotton can do an outstanding job today the result will be ours, but that will be the difference as their strength is in their midfield. It would not surprise me to see Barnie and Connolly start (to give Lambo a rest) with Antonio and Holmes on the wings. Hopefully we will see Harding back. So team could be.... Davis Thomas Jaidi Perry Harding Antonio James Wotton Holmes Barnie Connolly Bench: Lambo (or possibly Saga), Mills, Bart, Gobern, Lancs

Please, please nobody boo the guy - he's bound to score if that happens. Keep him sweet and he'll relax and get lazy. I will be ignoring him - he moved on and so have we. Abuse for Keane though is well-deserved.

From the sound of it, Barnie will be partnering Lambo up front which is a mouth-watering prospect to say the least. I think Rickie will be scoring a few more goals now too because defences will just not be able to handle the pair of them AND the likes of Lallana, Antonio and Waigo pitching in too. Overall excellent signing - shows the intent has not gone away (far from it!) and all we need now is as I've been saying for a couple of months is a strong attacking central midfielder. THANK YOU once again Markus and Nicola for supporting AP and giving us something to cheer about. COYR!

Is he good enough? In the right mould as it were for Saints? Not entirely convinced myself, but would not be disappointed if he came here. Clearly AP has not shown an interest yet.

Getting hot with your cousin is not good TBF.

Agreed with this. Wotton and James will never be good enough to compete in CM with many teams we'll face, let alone the top 8 teams. AP and NC - its time to act and get another CAM into the mix while Hammond mends and Morgan chills.

With Hammond and Morgan out AP and NC had better get signing PDQ or we'll be dropping games left right and centre. James and Wotton are not going to win us enough games...particularly Ipswich.

Antonio or Fonte would get my MOTM. Both superb tonight. Lallana did not impress me too much - he held the ball too long on more than one occasion. Wotton - dunno - not good enough, but we win with him in the side?! Ref a complete and utter noob-head. And why did the black lino give a free-kick when Antonio was shielding the ball at the end in the corner - he got pushed around by 3 players FFS!!! Overall a good result - just hope all those yellows and Morgans red don't mess up the next few games.

Was a time given? Nothing yet @ 5.05pm. :confused:

Pretty good summary. I'll simplify it - they're royally screwed!

Get behind the grizzlers FFS! (Sorry, don't really mean that, but not seen it on here for a while and it's kinda fun).

Oh dear. That is all I have to say.

I think James will almost certainly be placed at RB again as Jaidi, Seaborne and Otsemobor are all out. We'll probably see Lambert up front on his own, with a five man midfield of Holmes, Lallana, Morgan, Wotton, Antonio. Score : 1-2 Saints.

As I have said before, I think AP has been misquoted here. He has said that Saints would not value Stock the same as Donny, but he has not said that a bid has been made. That article does not quote AP directly at all, so someone is playing games. Very strange for the OS to put such a blatantly obvious link to a player we're supposedly only tentatively linked with - recent previous 'jokes' have tended to be about Saints players I think? So just perhaps....

Wigley.

One other thing Glasgow is missing out on and something I mentioned some weeks ago. As soon as you approach the top 10 clubs in ANY division, you will start to find progress more difficult. Why? Because those clubs are there for a reason. This season finds the top 10 clubs pretty much all in good form and it will be quite a hard task to break into the pack. We certainly need to win games against teams above us to stand a chance of play-offs IMO.

You may be right - I am sure this figure was the accepted one though. Even Lowe bandied it around I think.

Sorry, but ALL I can see is press speculation. Not ONE direct quote from AP in any of those rags. And I think AP has been mis-quoted regarding Stock - he said very carefully that Saints valuation of the player would not meet Donny's. That is a million miles from confirming that a bid had been made, rejected and that we were not going back for another try. Having said that, how many times have we heard a manager state that no offers have been received, only to then be told later that the player is on his way?

Get the gist, but that's not entirely reflective. You should also add... (a) started with - 10 points, (b) show the number of games each player has been available to AP for (as above), © started with a club almost in ruin with a squad with little self-belief and no pre-season to speak of. Then perhaps the question might be fair. Incidentally, under those circumstances I would answer your question with an emphatic "YES!".

We will win both legs. You heard it here first.

Has AP actually stated that we have put an offer in though? Please find a quote if he has. I think he has said he likes the player - that Donny don't match our valuation of him. But I am not sure he has actually said anything about making a bid. So O'Driscoll might be perfectly correct in what he is saying.

Look Markus and Nicola have a 5-year plan. For that reason AP will be here for at least two years/seasons. After that he may be here for more - depends if the business is running well (i.e. if we get to the play-offs but lose in the final should he be sacked? I think not). However, I suspect he will need to be in CCC breaking even by the end of the 2010-11 season for his job to be completely safe. After that who knows? If possible I would support him for as long as possible because I think he is good fit for the club and unless things are going horribly wrong longevity in the managerial position is a good thing.

Absolutely key point made here. We rarely score from a fast break to the byline and a great cross putting the oppositions defenders under pressure. With Holmes and perhaps Antonio, we have that option...BUT you've GOT to get players into the box to capitilise - we don't have the attacking skill in midfield to do it - Schneiderlin can't seem to hit a barndoor with a banjo.