MarkSFC

they will struggle to make the play-offs come May.

well said...

depends who/what you class as a reserve! I would definitely play Martin to help him with his development.

That crossed my mind earlier whilst listening to the game. "Adams not playing....dont win when he doesnt play" thoughts....... But NA has the qualifications to deal with that as he hasnt had to until these last two games.

Hard to say Trousers but the important thing not to lose sight of today is that Brighton also lost. The importance thing is not to lose ground on them, all that's happened is that it has bunched up again in and around us. We still have the game in hand so would/still be 2nd. Mind you P'Boro have one in hand on us and would/could be a point ahead. Still 21 games to go so a long long time yet!!

just realised Saint_Clark may mean that Puncheon is the unprofessional C***!!!!

League Games WITH Lallana starting: PL 17 W 11 D 2 L 4 (2H,2A) GF 41 GA 14 League games WITHOUT Lallana PL 6 D 2 L 4 GF NIL!!! GA 7 plus two games coming on as sub 1-0 win and 1-1 draw and that was the score when he came on both. You could cite "other reasons" the facts are that in 8 games where he didnt start we have only scored twice and won one and drwn one. NEW SIGNINGS NEEDED FFS!!!!!!!

which is why the squad isnt good enough..........

now listen to what he actually said in full and Im sure you'll withdraw that!

Exactly................case closed.

I would be amazed if we go the rest of the season without a loan or two in. Your "option to buy" clause a you put it would make no difference because both player and club would have to agree on permanent terms anyhow. I do think your point about loaning to same division is right, in fact didn't it used to be that way? Remember though that loaning a player out can benefit then and player when things aren't going quite right for whatever reason, I.e. Puncheon. Looks better than before he left.

instead of the continual "we should sign", "we shouldnt sign", "we do need to sign", "we dont need to sign" threads I thought I would start a "what if...." thread. So, IF Saints were to sign FIVE players this January who would be your fantasy choices? The only rules are that they are realistic in the sense that it is theoretically possible for us to sign them. i.e.Rooney, Tevez, Terry, Given and Giggs would be 5 fantasy signings but clearly not possible however optimistic!! So my 5 are: Joe Lewis Andros Townsend Chris Martin Papa Josh Wright

I'd be very happy if we signed Chris Martin.

actually he worked for Vodafone in Salisbury at the time.....

But you miss the whole big picture! Saints are building to compete at a high level in the Premier League asap. We have money and can therefore do it far quicker than most. You compare us to Brighton. Well their whole strategy is clearly built around getting into the Championship and being competitive there. They will sign players of a standard that is league1/championship standard and they will use several loans. Im sure they will aim to get up to the Prem but if you are building a ground that only holds about 22K you are not looking to be a big fish. I suspect that the board at Brighton would be happy with consolodation in the NPC for a year or two and if the play-offs happen or even automatic promotion one year then they will be happy as it will earn them enough money to exist for many many years or probably pay back their owner his £80million!! You also say if,if,if and thats the point. only a couple of months ago we were in those exact positions. Spending 2/3/ or even 4 million this window would not make the slightest dent in the overall scheme based on NC's comments and even if some prefer to see that as panic buying it only is if the players do not fit into the overall strategy.

The reason for signing Austin in my mind is to play him in most games. I think he could be great alongside Lambert or Guly, and not too bad with Barnard. Signing him or A.N.Other striker form me is to a) go straight into the team and b)improve options and c)be good enough for the Championship. I find your whole attitude to signing players and the quality of our team and squad very strange. Your standards seem very low.

another aspect to signing players is actually to improve the players you already have. Players that are "dead certs" to start each game need players in the squad to put pressure on them to keep up their standards and/or improve their standards. Players who stand out as good in some teams are only "found out" when someone better arrives. As we move up the leagues we will see the team and the squad change quite a bit. At this moment in time the only players who I would say COULD start in the TEAM in the Premier League are "possibly" Fonte, "possibly" Lambert, "possibly" Lallana, and "probably" AOC. In the PL if all these together with Frazer, "maybe" Morgan, Guly, possibly Bart, were part of the squad that would be fine. Unless any of them improve substantially they wouldnt get in a top 6 PL team nad seeing as that is NC's target at least, then the team and the squad will be very different in 2-4 years time.

Maybe you're right but he wasnt on the bench on Saturday so assumed he must be!! Not sure he can be relied on though unfortunately

DAvis, Bart Dickson, Harding Frazer, Butters Fonte, Raidi, Martin, Seaborne Lallana, Holmes AOC Puncheon Hammond, Morgan Chaplow, Gobern Guly, Lambert Barnard, Connolly, Doble Thats 23 players, hardly a big squad let alone the biggest. You can list others but they arent part of the squad, they are either on loan or just kids. Or called Tommy Forecast! Of these 22 the ones in bold are injured leaving 19 players to call upon. Reinforcements required.

You may think that this clamour for reinforcements is a reaction to Saturday but I for one (and indeed others on this thread) have been saying the same thing since the start of the season.

Sure I listed 5 srikers but you miss the whole point. Of the 5, Lambert, although improving isnt scoring as frequently as last season...Barnard could well be in jail soon...Connolly cant be relied upon at all, if he stays fit its a pure bonus....Guly, as it tands apparently only here til Jan 23rd, although it does seem likely he'll be signed.....and Doble, untried, a kid, and before you cite AOC as comparison, you cannot rely on a kid who hasnt scored a League goal yet!! Again...if you are happy to gamble our promotion on them alone then you sir are a ****!!!! As for the squad size, I didnt even mention it and to answer your "point" that you asked as a question (!) a squad is too big when it costs too much in salaries and/or creates a bad environment and a split squad. I do not want to see "panic buys" or "long-term buys" that block the squad. E.G. and purely hypothetically, if we were to sign say Lee Bowyer for 6 months, that would/could be a great move BUT sign Lee Bowyer on a 2 1/2 year deal and I would think thats a bad move!! You make a good point about there being better targets available when promoted and probably more of them too, but without two or three fresh BETTER players NOW I think we are taking a big risk on being promoted come May and relying on a lack of injuries and suspensions.

The opinion that we are 'fine' and the squad is ok is one that lacks forsight. It is 'possible' to still get promotion or even win the league with the current group alone. However it is a risk. Since the summer when I and others voiced concerns about lack of signings we have only added Chaplow and Guly - as long as Guly stays! Only 6-8 weeks ago we looked vulnerable when certain players were injured and or suspended together with some not on top form. It does not take much to be back at that point. Signing a striker is absolutely paramount even more so given Barnards situation. To all those who say we don't need anone would you 'potentially' be happy to play upto 20 games with Lambert, Guly if he stays, very unfortunately injury prone Connolly and youngster Doble?! If you seriously are then you must be very clueless! I also think an out and put holding mid-fielder would be ideal preferably in his early 20s and although in knew nowt about him previously Josh Wright from Scunny sounds good. Maybe not a perm signing but a right footed right winger - unlikely, but Andros Townsend would be great - just to take the pressure and limelight off AOC a bit. He is young his form will drop and playing punch on theright completely changes our play and shape. Any established players we sign should be better thanwe have and although the summer would be ok if we can get a keeper and CB in now ready for the Championship only thenwould I feel confident that we can challenge next seasontoo without many additions by hitting the ground running. Those who say that other teams have gone up withcheaper squads and lesser ability miss the point entirely. Southampton is building a squad that can move up quickly to the Premier League, not one to just get out of League 1. Scunny are a classic example, good enough to get out but couldn't stay up first time and maybe dropping downthis term.

They actually said our best chance was from Puncheon but showed Jaidi's header......whatever, it was crap!!

I think you are being swayed by the media hype surrounding him rather than focussing on the coments of NC and NA!! The media love to pander to the so called "big clubs" or at least clubs in the biggest cities because after all they rely on ratings to sell advertising so need as big an audience as possible. Everything coming out from NA and NC around the club and players is positive and forward-looking. Imagine how much Sky and BBC and Murdoch would hate it if (and I realise its very very unlikely) Saints were to actually win the Premier League or at least be established top 4 for many seasons?!! They would hate it because the worldwide fan base of Saints fans is no where near that of Liverpool, Manure, Arsenal and Chelski! Maybe, just maybe NC (and MLs money) is the man to change things over the next 5-10 years and with any luck AOC will be the best player in the league playing for Saints!!!

isnt there anotther thread about him...?