Saint Fan CaM

Not atall IMO. Saga scored last...err, when was that? Spider might come good, but then again I am not convinced he has done anything of note to show he has what it takes for this league.

Still on -7pts and not winning or scoring enough. Things need to change - new players change things and AP's current choices are somewhat...ahem...limited.

Once again it seems us Saints fans will be underwhelmed - same old...

Good riddance to Saga I'm afraid. Part of the persistent problem - no passion for the team leading to sub-optimal performances and no goals. Can't afford to have a player like that whatever wages he's on.

LOL - v. good.

From 2008 ?!? Longer than Skacel and Jaidi put together! LOL.

Carsten Jancker? LOL... this from Wiki...not looking great and hope the rumour is not true. After poor performances, he was dropped in October 08, and agreed to join SV Mattersburg in the winter transfer window.[1] In June 2009 it was announced that Mattersburg did not want to work with Jancker any further because of his physical condition.

Carsten who? Source?

Looks like a load of dross speculation to me...

I will be disappointed if we finish below 15th to be honest. The team being assembled should be good enough to compete in this league - there's a particular ingredient that's missing and once that is sorted out we will start winning games and climbing above the real dog teams.

I don't miss the Prem too much. More than the Prem, I miss that feeling of going to a game knowing that there is every chance Saints will win and might score a hat-full of goals. The feeling that we will put in an extremely competitive performance. Hope and pride - something that has been missing now for far too long.

Depends what you mean by "quality" though. If you mean, players from Prem costing millions, then forget it. If you mean a player that has some skill and pace, is experienced in this league and can handle himself against tough opposition, then yes this is perfectly feasible. Money will only come into the equation when trying to persuade a player to come here in terms of salary/perks. There are some good players out there on frees.

True, although I think its termed emergency loans, so I am not sure how far this can be 'stretched'?

Completely agree P&M. I have stated before that its not about the money spent - its about the quality of the player in relation to the job at hand....i.e. the type of player needed to perform a particular task at the level being played at. It might also mean allowing the salary bill to expand a bit more to enable new players to come in before being able to off-load deadwood because contracts cannot be terminated. That's why I think Lallana, Mellis and Schneiderlin are luxury players that we cannot afford right now. We need pace and body strength on the wings and up-front and these guys do not provide that atall and they have been making up 30% of the team since day one. Something has to change for the squad to click more than it is and that is a new experienced striker and at least one winger. Actually, to think a bit radically, I think I would rather see Lallana played up with Lambert than see him on the wing.

Sorry - double typo there - should be ML. I do not think I was premature in my OP - I was setting out a hypothesis and a principle of sorts. I was simply hoping that we would not be taken for mugs again and thankfully so far it appears that we have not, although since the season started we are still underperforming due to not enough surgery being done to the 1st team in relation to the league we are in. And just to clarify, that does NOT mean I expect millions to be thrown at the problem - just enough to enable AP to turn the mentality of the team around or face a very, very difficult season. I have high hopes for today and the finishing touches to AP's plans.

This is Saints - we are Saints fans and we have become used to mediocrity and low ambition from previous regimes. Therefore I expect nobody else to come in. However, in my mind these are the times when I look to Markus and Nicola to excite me and remind me that they are the new future of Saints. It is now that they can REALLY start to say - we're here and we're making a real difference for our supporters by showing some real intent. In this sense, I am hopeful.

I hope Schneiderlin rots on the bench if he doesn't move on - nothing against him, this is just the wrong league and team for him now. End of story - he must go to enable us to move on.

If Jaidi signs, I think we'll not see a RB sign as Thomas has shown he can cover that position, Jaidi will free up Perry who can play at RB and James can also drop back there in an emergency. It cannot be seen as a priority. A winger/striker or two will certainly be a priority. We might also see a load of youngsters go out on loan to lower league clubs. Saga will secure a CCC loan - a loan because nobody will want to risk so much on a non-scoring striker - he really has not shown enough (i.e. score) to warrant his price tag/salary. We might see Scheiderlin go out on loan or even get sold, but something tells me he will still be around at the end of today. Unfortunately, we will still see the likes of Wotton and Pulis here at the end of the day also sucking up resources.

Saved me some typing there - completely agree.

Lallana was just an example, but a key one. Actually, I think there is a good reason we played better without Schneiderlin dropped to the bench on Saturday and its for the same reason. We need the RIGHT players in the team for our current situation. If we were flying high brimming with confidence then Lallana, Schneiderlin (and Mellis for that matter) would be great luxury players that could really turn on the style, however that is not what we need right now. What we need is a strong creative central midfield and two pacy, strong, fearless wingers. That will provide us with the attacking opportunities to score and win. Trying to take the ball central all the time will result in one-dimensional play that the opposition scouts will soon latch onto (if not already) and throw 10 men behind the ball to stifle our attacks. It happened in the CCC and its starting to happen now.

Not to mention some of the unpredictable aspects of this league like the rubbish, in consistent refereeing decisions. There are too many variables in this league IMO to say with certainty we will be slaughtered - we're not talking about really class teams now are we?

We should take some time to watch carefully how Charlton are playing - hoof it, tippy tap passing or a mixture of both. In short, what is it about a club as close to imploding as Saints were that gets them playing the tpe of football that puts them at the top of the league? Their results would indicate there is something consistent about their play. They are the form team in L1, but I do not think they will slaughter us.

I really do not think it has much to do with amount of money spent. It is more to do with the type of players in the team. Lallana is a good player, but for our current predicament he is next to useless because he is being played out of position - AP is trying to make him into a winger which he is not. It will take some balls from AP to drop certain players to maximise the teams chances. He has dropped Wotton, so I am in fact a little optimistic he will sort things out.

I think Alpine was talking hypothetically so to speak. And he's right - the team's mentality is such that defending = hit and hope. Many clearances get punted upfield to the half-way line - there's no-one there to pick it upbecause EVERYONE is putting in defensive duty (because the team are scared of getting done in the last minutes) - and hey presto the opposing team just put it back in the mixer ready for us to make a defensive ****-up...just give it enough time and a ****-up will happen.

There needs to be a significant turn-around in results, in player attitude, but mostly in AP's team choice IMO. I do not think Lallana has a place in the team for example - he is a luxury player that will not help to turn results around at the moment. He is not a winger and cannot produce a consistently dead-ball delivery and that's something we need badly. With Lallana in the team we will continue to produce the type of football that will not close-out and win games. James and Mellis are OK players, but again do not add the skills that the team needs (although I think James at DCM with Hammond getting forward more might be a plan). AP needs to drop the players that cannot do the jobs needed and then we might see some results going our way.