Winchester Red

Having been a supporter of my beloved saints for 40 years now (christ, where did that go) I've witnessed many signings that have had direct effects on the performance of other players. One example was Chris Marsden. Never a big name and for me always a solid performer but never a superstar, but, bloody hell, he made Wayne Bridge look good and actually be good. (Not sure if he was signed before Wayne broke through or after). Dejan Lovren appears now to be another. We spent £8m on him and he looks great, but the effect he has had on Jose Fonte has been stunning. Fonte's turned from bring a 6/10 prem defender into 8/10 (my opinion obviously). These 2 examples are where a player supports another to make him better, but can a transfer be judged a success if the signing himself doesn't achieve what was expected himself, but spurs on another? It could be that the player that directly benefits is the player that keeps the new signing out of the side. An example might be, say, if Lallana's form could be directly linked (I know, impossible) to the signing of a very expensive foreign player. Lallana then fears for his place, puts his foot on the gas and goes on to fulfil his undoubted potential, but keeps the said player out of the team and he then never makes his mark. Is that still money well spent on the player that was signed? Also, is it worth retaining the said player purely to keep the performing player on his toes? The examples I've used aren't the best but I'm sure get the gist of what I'm asking. Should the indirect benefits of a new signing be considered when judging if it has been successful?

Can't change a winning team. More of the same please.

With us?

Firstly I can't understand why any 'supporter' takes such negative views against any player Secondly, I don't understand why the same posters need to keep repeating the same view again and again and again

Great article on the Sky Sports website entitled 'Saints in Style' Jamie Redknapps thoughts on today, which echoes Gary Neville's thoughts from last week. Bayern Munich comparisons and the future of the England team Sorry can't do linky thing

All over. Good result given that the average age of our team looked to be about 16

3-3 89th minute equaliser for us by Sam Gallagher

Where did you read Liverpool top? (Not doubting you) The version I read said Arsenal top, but made a point of saying Liverpool ahead of Man U

You misunderstand. Arsenal came out top. They had the highest average league position. which was 8th. Nobody was ahead of them

Since the formation of the leagues, so what's that? 80 or 100 years? Even Arsenal, who were top, had an average position of 8th Portsmouth were 30th

...as you predicted

Although I agree with most of the above, I can't see the players losing confidence whilst the results keep coming. One loss in all comps so far this season, how can they be anything but confident?

Bloody great performance

I know there are load of streams listed, but does anyone know the one that works best?

...... (Edit - Seems easier than ever to get repeating posts on this forum - I definitely only clicked it once!)

What....? You mean they won't be able to value their current squad at £30million either??????

I think they're going to score more tonight than the skates have for the whole season so far!

I'm dead chuffed for the Frattom locals tonight. Must be brilliant seeing the home team score so many goals for a change. Back to reality come the next home match no doubt

John Salako making us sound really good in the opening 10 minutes Wish I'd gone now :-(

West Ham are flying 2-0

There's no one at St Mary's so we obviously need a match thread

That ought to be more than strong enough to win this comfortably

Simon Peach thinks Chun is starting

Shows how much it's a results driven business. Boruc makes a finger tip save from a Gerrard free-kick and then Gerrard takes a wild hoof at Lovren's header and it goes into the roof of the net. Result 0-1 Saints - Everyones happy and Saints played a blinder Whilst in the alternative universe, Gerrard's free kick creeps in off Boruc's fingers and then he clears off the line from Lovren. Result 1-0 Liverpool and all on here would be doom and gloom, and yet every other element of the game is identical. I know it's emotional but a little balance wouldn't go a miss. Also, why does there need to be a worst player to have a go at? Earlier on this thread someone was defending VW and saying JRod was worse. We've just won 1-0 at Anfield. Were any of them really worth being singled out as non-performers?

Good call!