Saint Fan CaM

lol - I think the less I say about that, the better!

You see - just as I was saying - sloppy journalism at its worst!

Watch out - Scudamore's about.

Tell you what, let's meet up on Saturday - you can buy me a beer and tell me your bestest joke. OK?

I wasn't having a pop at you BTF - I think I must have got out the wrong side of bed and stayed there today ...so, err, sorry about that... :confused: :oops:

Err, where pray tell is the humour in that article??? If it's there, I'm afraid I don't see it...all I see is another cheap jibe.

Strange one indeed if only for one month - presumably we're not playing 'em during this time. Can't be bothered to check their games, but perhaps MKDons are playing the teams at the bottom of the table and agent Gobern is there to score loads to effectively assist our struggle upwards?

So Markus played hockey at Uni - so what? Hardly a 'background' in the sport really is it!?! Pathetic, mud-stirring journalism IMHO.

As I said above, when a manager picks a team, he does not pick 11 individual players...he picks players that will compliment each other particularly in specific areas of the park. I would imagine therefore that Gillet does not match with another CM player as well as others. Also, the following might apply when considering players ahead of Gillet... a. Schneiderlin - cost more, therefore 1st pick b. Hammond - better leader, bigger presence c. Mellis - has played mostly on wing, but possibly a loan condition that he sees a minimum amount of time on the pitch. I wonder actually whether Gillet could be well suited to right wing role if he worked on his crossing. He has the motor and tenacity IMO to give it go.

Who exactly got that money - The player? The club? Who? Wonder who would get the vote now if it was re-cast - I expect it would be Papa as he seems to be getting the limelight at the moment.

My take on it is that the CM pairing is crucial and AP is finding the best pairing which perhaps does not include Gillet at the moment. Trying to explain the different permutations at a reserves match might not be the most enthralling issue that AP has on his mind, so he gives TFC the easy short answer, which nevertheless has an element of truth to it.

Chance would be a very fine thing...

Nah - £25 for centre stand is good for non-ST's. Keeps out the riff-raff and yobbos.

I would like to confirm The Fat Controllers OP. AP was available for anyone bothered to go to the match to have a discussion. He was stood not 6 feet from us in the bar watching SSN. Very approachable - nice, normal guy and clearly into his football in general. It's amazing how many different aspects of the club, its officials and the players you pick up from being a few feet (or less) from them, rather than watching on a TV screen, listening on the radio or indeed even watching from the stands at SMS. A completely different perspetive TBF.

Good summary above...my five-penny worth to add to this would be... Stand-out players would be Jaidi, Gillet, Mellis and Holmes. Papa was OK - hard working and wants the ball, but to me he seems a bit of a raw talent. Other players were OK but nothing to write home about - even Pulis put in an OK shift, although the game largely seems to pass him by. Paterson is a weird one - flashes of a good player about him, but I cannot see him making it as a top L1 striker let alone someone capable of pushing on to the CCC. I noticed sometimes when challenging for an aerial ball he doesn't even bother to jump. IMO he will end up missing more than he scores - IF he ever gets into a position to score....in fact I will go as far as suggest that Lallana is a better strike option up front with big Ricky. Anyhow, nice to meet with Sad Saints Fan and The Fat Controller. Must've been mad driving up in that rain (although it was reasonably pleasant in Hungerford). Oh yes, apparently AP told The Fat Controller that he is looking at two more signings - Camara will not be one of them!

Nice to meet you this evening Sir - I concur with your overview. Are you going to tell them about your chat with AP?

You've got one back - will be going, but your phone number was wrong.

I think I am worse. When travelling east on the M27 and I get some horrible little chav in a beat up fiesta (or whatever) tail-gating me or generally driving like a tw*t, I instantly consider that person to be of P*mpey stock and let forth a torrent of abuse. Can you refer your doctor to me please?!

Err- whats the ground like? Is it under cover? The weather looks like being a bit sh*te. Depends - I might consider the journey (and offering a lift) if getting drenched is not involved!

TBH, I completely agree with the sentiments of this post. Now is the time to start showing some true worth.

I think this is the key point of your post TBH. Why should we not expect a win? Let's face it, AP has had enough time with the squad (even Jaidi) now not to be able to use the 'gel theory'. You might expect most of this team to compete in the CCC surely, so why not run all over lowly Yeovil? This Saturday the excuses must stop - I fully expect a win and I see no reason why I should not do so. In fact, I urge ALL Saints fans at the game to expect a win and support the team with that in mind - perhaps a strong positive vibe might have an effect, who knows???

I understand what you're trying to say there, but to be fair Delap was of a higher standard in relation to the Prem than Pulis is to L1. I am not exaggerating atall when I say Pulis would find his level in a Sunday league team. He really is THAT level. Mind you the sentiments are the same for both these players. When we were in the Prem, Delap was a player that was below the standard we SHOULD have been aspiring to given the heights we started to achieve under Strachan. He should have been replaced with someone better. He was not and continued to be selected. This was repeated with too many other players in the squad and consequently the 1st team as a whole performed at a standard that was always going to fail to stay up - failure was pre-determined by lack of investment in the playing side. In the CCC, the same happened again - instead of signing players that would grace teams at the top of the table we started signing players like Pulis. What happened next was inevitable once again. Thankfully, the decline appears to have been arrested although thanks to our really lowly position on negative points, I suspect its been tough for AP to get the players he needs.

+1...

Err, I have seen Pulis play and I can honestly say he is one of the worst players to ever pull on a Saints shirt - useless is a word invented for him. Molyneux I am not so sure about actually - I think he could do an emergency job for us. Wotton is just not good enough and we have too many CM options to need him anyway. His wage could be put to MUCH better use.

It is a good question and one I am not wholly able to answer. Mainly because AP was quoted as opposed to being interviewed. My take on what was said, based on the context of the piece, was that it was financial constraints. Why would he not want a larger squad, when we're hardly bursting at the seams with talent?! I think it basically stems back to the comments from Markus and Nicola saying that the club would be run as 'self-sufficient' - i.e. we've reached the wage ceiling. Now if true, I actually find this a little remarkable given we've offloaded Rasiak and his supposed salary, not to mention quite a significant number of others out the door too. Looks like Papa and Jaidi better be the answer to our prayers, because if not AP could find himself up a creek without a paddle.