Smirking_Saint

Unfortunately this isn’t really the way we play, which is an issue.. perhaps its a fault with our scouting staff missing this or perhaps we assumed he could adapt Either way I agree somewhat with MLG that so far he hasn’t impressed too much I do think there is a player there, like most strikers he’ll likely have form linked heavily to his confidence and his does seem low.. but he is also likely being played out of position, in a tougher league, with a different tactical approach

A CB is a CB in the same way as our wingers/No.10s are wingers No.10s Salisu is our best, Bednareks form has declined greatly over the last 18 months, Stephens cannot be relied upon consistently and Simeu is still unknown Similar levels of mediocrity are to be had in our wingers/No.10s but S Armstrongs return is a big bonus, still agree we need another

I don’t really see the point tbh, Small is chomping at the bit for a start apparently, he is behind Perraud… we then have KWP that gets his RB berth back.. Stephens can plsy their in an emergency I mean… if we have the money and means then why not ? But Id still probably rather see a new No.10/Inside Forward and a proper CB to partner Salisu

Maitland-Niles is the only that springs to mind

How does this guy consistently fall upwards

Ones better than we have, other than Salisu they’re all far to prone to mistakes and lapses in concentration and even Salisu is young and rash at times An abundance of average CBs still isn’t good enough

Exactly my point, we aren’t signing a keeper in Jan unless a spectacular deal comes up or we lose either Forster or McCarthy They’re also, imo, not our immediate priority tbh We need a No.10 and a CB more than we need a GK right now

Pretty much my thoughts, as much as we need a GK I can’t see us signing a third senior keeper.. especially if Cab is coming in till the end of the season No.10 would be my priority, then dare I say it a CB as I lack any solid faith in Stephens/Bednarek But agree regarding a DM, we only have 1 pure DM and thats Romeu

Why would he avoid Utd ? They’re in turmoil right now but they’re still arguably the biggest club in the world commercially, and have a huge pull

Maybe be can say we bought the wrong striker and swap him for Armstrong

I see MLG is still allergic to avoiding anything he can remotely be pedantic about

In what way was Hojbjerg dodgy 😂 The year he left he was statistically the best DM in the prem and pulling similar numbers at Spurs

What exactly where you expecting

Surely our No1 priority position is another CB ? Salisu is our defacto no1 in that area but behind him there are too many potential issues with Stephens, Bednarek and Lyanco Obviously beyond that its a Gk (I think this can wait until the summer as we are unlikely to add a 3rd senior keeper And then probably another No10

A lot of negativity around Semmens not coming out and outright saying we would now be hige financial powerhouses… that was never going to be the case regardless of ownership wealth due to FFP I imagine the club has already been in touch regarding potential transfers, and as such, those targets clubs may now want more purely because they now know we’ve been taken over, surely its just Semmens keeping his cards close to his chest regardless For me, im more than happy we have been taken over with zero leverage and the club seems to be in good hands with reasonable mid/long term strategy and a good leadership team.. that plus any balanced spending/player retention is surely a much better option for us right now Besides… if they can get the multiclub strategy correct I imagine that in itself opens doors for future investments

That ruling hasn’t been ratified yet I don’t believe

So ignoring all the pontificating about who lives in the biggest shithole I take it there is zero rumblings around whether anybody is interested in little old Saints ?

6/10 for me Reduced the quality of the first 11 but improved the squad which was much needed and in reality the quality isn’t greatly reduced We shifted the dead wood, signed sime smart young options and hopefully are in a position to build on any success this year in Jan/2022 Stephens worries me… an injury to Romeu worries me.. but all in all we’ll be fine Im not sure what the bedwetting is for, of course Id of liked a marked improvement in CB or a better replacement in CM but we are skint and still managed to hit our targets this window

Not sure why he doesn't mention Stephens but KWP definitely needs to take a portion of the lame, he leaves his man completely unmarked but Stephens effectively runs PAST Wilson... I mean he is literally looking at him and yet still fails to pick him up

Im 'slagging' stephens because he isn't good enough to be our first choice CB for reasons that I have explained, both Wilson and DCL lost him for both goals far too easily and far too often he is caught ball watching I really don't care if it is 'cool' or not (an odd way to explain consistent critique but there you go), if I see a consistent deficiency Ill comment on it and Stephens has exhibited his over and over. Tino and Salisu aren't exempt from blame, they just aren't a part of this conversation

I don't have enough history of either Tino or Salisu to formulate a proper view of either yet, but arguably Tino looks a revelation at 5m and Salisu looks like he is a very steady young CB Stephens however has consistently had games like he did against Newcastle... an excellent reactive CB and very good one on one defender, but fails to spot danger or mark effectively as highlighted with the DCL and Wilson goals I'm not slagging Stephens for the sake of slagging Stephens, he just isn't good enough, especially like you say with the burden imposed on our CBs by the system

I was certainly worried but I think we have goals in us, especially if we can get S Armstrong back into the mix, we’ve been creative enough so far Our issue will be defensively and Im not convinced AT ALL that JS has turned any sort of consistent corner.. but we’ll see My ‘optimism’ is more to do with a lack of quality around us, I feel it could be another ‘we got away with it’ season and Ill take that !!

I think we are strong enough this year tbh, added to the fact there should be enough below us to keep us safe; I think there’s plenty of potential candidates 👇 Norwich, Newcastle, Wolves, Saints, Brighton, Palace, Burnley, Watford, Brentford will all be there or there abouts and I think we have goals this year Norwich, Watford and Palace would be my picks with Burnley, Newcastle and maybe even Wolves if they continue their profligacy

I can’t see us doing anything other than a loan now, but CM back up must be where we are looking if any such deal arises

Unfortunately if true then we are in trouble IMO, he is very much a ‘good enough’ CB far too often and is likely only really good enough to play as back up Hd had a fantastic game against Man Utd, but realistically was at fault for both goals against Newcastle and the DCL goal against Everton Ive said before, he is far too much a ‘reactive’ defender, and is decent in a recovery tackle but time and time again is either caught out of position, does not track his man or misses the danger.. this is arguably exaggerated by our high risk football but this is the tactics we play If you cannot mark your man effectively, you won’t make a consistent PL defender, and Jack has shown this time and time again