david in sweden

I think..has signed for QPR !

..do you think we have a " young " squad ?. When AP signed Seabourne (22) and Harding (25) and then Dickson (23) and suddenly I felt they were a bit "younger " (not TOO young )..because they all had good experience. Since NA's arrival we've gained... Chaplow (was 25) and Forte (then 24) and now we've gained Cork (22) and De Ridder (24). In the existing team; Alex, of course only 17, Schneiderlin still barely 21 and Lallana 23. OK! Butterfield is already 31, Connolly now 34 and Jaidi is 36 (surely his last season)... but Kelvin's 34 is fairly average - for a goalie. Ted Bates often quoted his famous phrase " the right blend of youth and experience" so my question really is,... Do we have a " young squad ? "..or ... (answer might depend on if you are a teenager reading this... or a 30 year + fan.)

Well in his case, I'm sure all fans would feel happy if he went up and took a " pot-shot" once in while, whereas the average full-back's shot often end up in Row X.

I agree in principal Duncan, but the majority of last seasons team will be on the team sheet again on Saturday, and must know each others playing style quite well by now. It's surely a good idea to " experiment " given the possible scenario of losing key players for longer periods. It's good to know who might be a " stand-in " in sudden emergencies. Better done in practice games than when 3 points are at stake every game.

I have to admit that I have a small question mark on that issue, too. Now we are talking about "serious" football. Coming up against clubs who have been in the Premiership for a few seasons. Of course, players come and go but getting goals v. Barnsley or C. Palace... isn't the same as scoring at Birmingham or West Ham. I know that Barnard looked good scoring last season, but (as for some other players) THIS season may be the turning point in their careers.. Are they potential Premiership class...or did they find their true level LAST SEASON? I'm pleased for Barnards sake that he has got the security of a 3 year contract extension, but only time will tell if it is a good investment in club terms.

The other factor to consider is Barnard's " unfinished issues with the Judiciary" - he still has to go to court again, I think. Things like this must weigh on his mind, and although we (naturally) have sympathy for him, rather like the Dave Jones situation (managing a struggling Prem. side with a court case hanging over you).... is not the best ground for a highly-focused work life. --in this case a front line striker who needs to score every match. If Connolly is the in-form player PLAY HIM.. every game you can..and if he stays fit and keeps scoring ..fine ! Don't force him to play " 96 mins. every game," but bring Barnard off the bench after an hour and let him prove his form and get the odd goal or so. That way you get the best out of both players with the best "result". Connolly needs games and Barnard doesn't need the "extra " stress.

.....better late than ..n... hope Cortese gets a good deal for him.

I think it's far too early to think of dumping Kelvin- just because someone's taken another look at his birth certificate. It's fairly well accepted that keepers mature much later in their careers and 35 is surely quite normal for a good keeper. I recall former Arsenal keeper Pat Jennings (turning out for N.I. in internationals) when he was past 44. Peter Shilton was still in goal for England in a World Cup when he was 40. More recent names like Kasey Keller and Maik Taylor are much nearer 40 and still playing and not forgetting Edwin van der Sar (who walked away from Fulham in his mid 30's) and then had 5-6 glorious years at Man Utd...the fact that he has now retired is his own choice and not a lack of form). I think Kelvin's form last season was one of the key factor's in our success, and to think of dumping him now is ridiculous. As for Bart as his replacement? ..I'm not totally sold on that idea, either. I know the " romance " of the 18 year old Polish kid comong to the club and standing in goal in a few games was nice, but 4 ..5 years later?...he has still only played a dozen or so games (not HIS fault) but if you are seriously considering him as a possible Premiership standard goalie ? ..I'd like someone with a better track record. TBH. I would think that (former goalie Nigel Adkins) might be thinking the same thing, too.

from time to time there is an obvious "shortage " of good players (in various positions) in the market. Example: If you wanted a top class keeper NOW - who would you bid for ?..there are very few available at the best of times. I think that Mills' fee (£5 million ?) reflects an auction situation rather than a club buying a VG player, and even fewer central defenders are British players with League experience. Hence the influx of foreign (tougher ?) central defenders in many sides.

Not for me. I agree totally. Obviously for a striker in his thirties (DC is 34) injuries are harder to come back from and take longer, but by all accounts Connolly looks sharp and his very presence on the field shows he is in a class on his own. If he gets the luck to stay fit he could be a significant scorer this season. As I recall Kevin Phillips was " thirty-something " when he joined us some years back, and did well. He moved back to the Prem. after we were relegated but even last season he spent lots of time on the Birmingham bench (aged 36 ?)..and still came on as late sub. and scored on numerous occasions.

wrong side...? few players are totally one-footed..except maybe someone like our legendary 1960's winger John Sydenham...who had the sweetest left foot but only used his right leg to balance on...(joke) Obviously truly left-sided players are rarity...but as only one person in four is left handed, even fewer of those are also left-footed. There are some obvious advantages to changing wingers / wings...think about it tactically-speaking. A left-sided player playing on the right is more inclined to go INSIDE a defender, rather than running the sideline before centering. Strachan moved Fernandes (a leftie) over to the right wing and used exactly that tactic with great success, because right /left sided players have a natural tendency to move one way when tackling someone, and are caught out when the attacker goes " the wrong way". Take a look at old videos of Mick Channon, and of course Matt Le Tissier turning defences inside out because they can go one way and then the other. Having lost out with the first tackle, full backs especially find it hard to recover. Terry Paine (a right winger) having tormented his left back opponent, occasionally enjoyed the occasional foray over to the left where he would do the same to the right back, too. Looking at the line-ups in the practice games, nothing surprises me as it is the ideal chance to test new ideas / formations / partnerships which may come in useful for future matches. Its surprising how, even successful teams, use one formula in their attacks and are reliant on one/two players. I'm sure some managers dream of finding another ** Joe Payne in the squad, and like to experiment. ** Joe Payne played in the late 1930's for Luton at half back (attacking midfielder in modern terms). Prior to one game, the team had numerous injuries and Joe was forced into wearing the No.9 shirt as no one else was fit. Luton beat Bristol Rovers 12-0 that day and Joe Payne scored TEN of them ! That feat remains a League record to this day. The sort of story that comes out of the old boy's comic papers - was'nt it )

I watched him in the Man.U cup game and it looked like he had lead in his boots. on a televised game a while back (which one)..he was foolish enough to hang a red scarf high up in the netting behind him, and guess what...the opposition scored and the ball was right in line with the red scarf..not good judgment.

AGREED ....especially on pre-season form.

Sure ! Great ! ....and all those enthusiastic words. good about De Ridders speed and Jonnie Quick too ...but do they score 20 goals a season ? ..I don't think so ... (even if they are good in assists).... I want a striker who can finish like Barnard and Connolly. If we sign a striker ..I want a 20 goals-a-season man! OK ..I'll settle for 18 ....in his first season.

Of course it's better PR to spread out the news of signings rather than coming up with 2 or 3 at a time ...isn't it? ....and of course tactically good not to sign someone on the eve of a game .

If he's Tunisian - it would surely be French - wouldn't it?. He wouldn't have been able to leave leave Tunisia on a Swiss one. ....and he'd certainly pass the qualification as a current international player.

Agreed ! start off with Connolly... and have Barnard on the bench for the first hour. Keep going until you see how it works for 5 games. I don't think either would care if they played 45 mins. each and both got a goal.

58 goals in 93 starts ..even allowing for shorter sub. apps. is good. in fact... anything near 0.5 goals / game is VG. Look at older stats. even the big scorers rarely do better than 0.33 per game.

Ryan Doble may be a good prospect, but he's hardly likely to EXPECT a regular spot when he hasn't made a proper debut yet or even scored a first team goal ! . " Looking good "...and finding the back of the net regularly are quite different things. Going back several decades - many of the "star" players took time to get established. Both Channon and Shearer made memorable debuts but neither of them became a permanent fixture in the team for almost two seasons afterwards. Likewise with Steve Moran and later even MLT. Lambert has a good goal tally because he scores regularly - look at his stats. He's rarely gone more than 3 games without scoring but strikers can be notoriously unpredicable... in form and that's hard to legislate for if you lose points every week. I recall 1965-66 when Martin Chivers scored 30 goals - by the end of February and then failed to find the net in the last 12 games!. In James Beatties' fantastic season, 2002-03 he failed to score in the first ten starts but still ended up with 23 League goals by May.[/b] We can hope that Lambert injury is "only a twinge " that will be get better, and that Barnards brush with the judiciary doesn't have dire consequences and a loss of form by anyone won't leave much leeway..does it ? YES ..I'd like another striker, Nigel.

...of course and FIFA have already started to legislate for squads for minimum numbers of " homeland " players. For Saints that is a rare blessing, as we have the best Academy in the land, and it is already producing the goods, so we will automatically have youngsters on the bench, and we already have a good number of established British players in our squad. I can't agree with your other point, though. No subs at all could be a real killer. Of course we older types can remember the heroic days when the likes of Terry Paine, Jimmy Gabriel and Cliff Huxford pulling on the green jersey in emergencies (pre-1966 when subs. were introduced) or the brave player who soldiered on despite his injury rather than go off - and likely worsened the injury...but in those days red and yellow cards didn't exist and there was more tolerance from refs. for the shoulder charge or ankle tap...nowadays goal celebrations, or a wrongly placed swear word can have disasterous consequences. No... I think we must have subs. Whether it's 5 or 7 is immaterial really when you can only use 3. The League ruling (for only 5) was (apparantly) - a relief for those cash-strapped clubs who couldn't afford to carry bid squads, and whilst some clubs need the subs. to cover injury problems, other may use it to change the playing formation. See how often subs. come on and score...Connolly did, Jo Tessem did, Wright-Phillips scored more as a sub. than when picked from the start, and I can recall that Tony Funnell and Steve Moran seemed to score quite often when they came off the bench.

As you stated, we have (apparantly) unsuccessfully bid for two strikers, - so we must still have that as a priority before season start, and it appears more likely that we may sign a foreign striker ... if the rest of NAs wish list now excludes the two targets who are not coming but would the THIRD choice really be a good bet ...now that Sharp and Maynard are out of the picture ? Cortese's overseas contacts haven't been so bad - so far - have they ? Papa Waigo was a " one-off " but scored goals and was entertaining, and now that Guly has settled in I think most people think he is a good buy, so maybe Nicola has another one up his sleeve.. we'll see next week.

...does that go for teenage murderers, too ? should THEY not have to accept their responsibilities..? saying we understand why ..(something happens)...is an intelligent response..suggesting we use it an an excuse ..is not !

Again, most of yr. message is right but if ANY of the key players you mentioned above were out for a longer period everyone would be changing their underwear by HT. We were absolute cr*p when Lallana was out for those games last season. I hate to have to play a month or more without ANY of the others. Sorry, but the more the merrier. Makes for good competition and gives insurance in case of the unforseen. Anyone who doesn't like it ... (example : Puncheon) is welcome to go.

Agree with most of that post Vectis, except for the last bit. Age has nothing to do with maturity or coming to form. I'd hate to have to play an untried 19 year old as a sub. in a crucial game because the rule book said so. Too complicated.