KelvinsRightGlove

Have I once said Cork is the finished article? Also, what Batman says. People were crying out for a new DM, myself included, as it was painfully clear past of Jack Cork we were light. We strengthened, and yet now it's an issue. Pretty much the same with Lambert/Osvaldo.

Hard to take anything beyond this point seriously to be honest.

Interesting post. Against the grain on here, and not what I expected if I am honest. I do agree JP, like Gaston, was frustrating. I disagree on Gaston, there have been times when his effort and desire have been clear to see - Villa & Arsenal at home and Fulham away last year he was involved in everything. I think he suffers from the price tag, which wasn't his fault and the fact he is South American. Just because he doesn't run around like a headless chicken he is useless. That's not to say he isn't faultless, or ever has a bad game. I just personally think the stick he gets is way over the top. Also, on his day, Gaston is equally (I'd be more inclined to say more so) of terrorising top defences, he played v well in some of ours wins against some of the big boys last year, Liverpool particularly. I really though the game was crying out for Gaston yesterday.

Why are we so short sighted when it comes to fees? We haven't paid that money for him to be here for just a few games. He is 21, with a 4 year deal. It is clear that the club will hope to develop him during the course of that stay. The club are paying for his potential, not necessarily what he is going to do right now this very moment in his first couple of games.

You got me. I actually hate football.

Would you rather have had puncheon than gaston?

So outside the "big boys" there are no good players?

Do people never learn. He has played four league games FFS. Yes, he didn't have a great game yesterday. But it is far too soon to proclaim him the messiah or write him off yet.

Christ, are you alpine and Glasgow going to be demanding his return now too?

Haha, he is so useless. Doesn't do anything.

In fairness he's what 24? Practically infantile for a cb. Plenty of time for him to curb that yet. As I would say to those laying into big vic already, it is still very early days. But so far he has done enough (easily) to suggest he can be a very good cb for us, potentially for a good few years. It's nice not sh!tt!ng myself every single time the opponents have possession in our half

This is pretty much the gay equivalent of "I'm not racist, but...". What is 'it' you don't want rammed down your throat? What gay person has ever tried to ram anything down your throat? Shame Saints aren't doing much on this issue. Homophobia, like racism has no place in society, let alone football. Don't really get those that say football is an open-minded cross section of society, it clearly isn't. Football can be a really positive influence, so yes, football clubs absolutely should take the lead. Whether rainbow laces is the way to go or not is debatable, but it's something at least.

Shocker

I'm confused, your profile says you have been on here since 2008, yet this comment suggests you are entirely new to the place. Barry, Turkish, Glasgow et. al live off this.

That is exactly what you are doing! It's a fair enough point, but certainly in our 2 home games, both opposing teams have literally set up camp outside their own area and been happy to risk absolutely nothing. What has changed is that we look a lot less vulnerable to the counter attack which we were punished by so frequently last season. Yeah, we have only scored 2, but we have also only conceded 2 as well. Which is, in my opinion, some progress at least. As I said above, it at least gives us a solid platform to build upon, if we are keeping it tight at the back, we are at least a lot more likely to be in matches, and only need an odd goal to win. Funny how quickly things change, we spent the majority of last season bemoaning our in ability to keep it tight, whilst we were pretty decent at scoring.

I know it's frustrating, but we have played 4 teams that have pretty much parked the bus so far. It will be interesting once we play a few teams that open up a bit and actually look to play football a bit. At least we aren't paper thin at the back now. As someone (I forget who) pointed out on another thread, the league in general seems to be a bit dull this season. Few chances and even fewer goals. You can tell Jose is back, everyone just seems to be setting up to not lose. Hopefully things will open up as the season progresses. It's still early days, but I would much rather we were tighter at the back, creating a few chances that haven't been put away. It's a decent enough platform to build upon as the season goes on. J-Rod is a decent enough player, and once we get going, I feel confident he will too. I'm guessing MP feels this too, as he must be one of the most permanent fixtures of "the 3" since he took over.

Did you watch the game yesterday? We created several clear cut chances - the clearest of which (Osvaldo's), I'm pretty sure J-Rod created.

Blimey Jeff, you do love an outlandish OP. He had an off day yesterday, but he really wasn't that bad - not even our worse player yesterday. For the first couple of months after MP's appointment he was one of our best players. As others have said I think there is a decent player in there too. That said, I would also like to see Gaston get some game time, preferably with Osvaldo - and dare I say it, instead of Rickie. I know it is almost a sacrilegious statement, and he will probably just go on to prove me wrong (half the point to some extent) but he has been poor for a while really. I'm also intrigued to see how Gaston and Osvaldo would link up. A front 4 of Jay, Gaston, Lallana & Osvaldo is potential a lot more mobile and fluid.

/Saintsweb

Sounds familiar

Is it just me that really isn't that bothered about the kit?

Saw him support the Stones back in June. Was actually quite enjoyable. Good mix of his own stuff, with a few Smiths classics chucked in for good measure. Guessing that was a typo, and you mean Leeds, is it in the refectory? I was a Leeds Uni student. Be prepared if it is refec - it gets seriously warm in there.

I'm all for women working in football, g'warn girls!

Hmmmm, Pete Doherty reminds me of a bit from Doug Stanhope's stand up shows. Basically, he should have died. I used to try and defend him, or stand up for him. But now, he is frankly just embarrassing. Working for drug money. It's a shame because there is some talent in there, but I fear it's just been destroyed by too much smack. I once saw Babyshambles at Brixton, and it has to be said they were great. But I also saw them in Manchester, and it was awful. Hopefully, you get lucky and catch him on a good night.