The new players

[chivvy1664]

I cant get to any games at the moment can someone give me a run down on

 

Seabourne

Fonte

Otsemebor

 

Barnard

 

Some ratings would be good. what do you think of them?

[RedAndWhite91]

Seabourne does the job, as does Otsemebor. Fonte is top class. Barnard is finding his feet still, missed a sitter at Brentford, but he does give 100% and I'm sure he'll do good for us.

[Rob the Saint]

Seabourne and Fonte 8/10 today. Both solid, not really troubled.

 

Otsembor 7/10, looked good defensively but did not show much going forward.

 

Barnard 5/10, small player without much pace. Will take him sometime to blend in. The weakest of the Janauary signings on today's showing. Thank heavens he was substituted by Papa Waigo. The game changed totally when he came on.

[Tony F]

Seabourne and Fonte 8/10 today. Both solid, not really troubled.

 

Otsembor 7/10, looked good defensively but did not show much going forward.

 

Barnard 5/10, small player without much pace. Will take him sometime to blend in. The weakest of the Janauary signings on today's showing. Thank heavens he was substituted by Papa Waigo. The game changed totally when he came on.

 

Pretty much agree with these ratings, based on both Tuesday's and today's match (despite the fact that, as a team, we were mostly poor today and pretty average on Tuesday). If we have a lack of creativity in midfield in Hammond's absence, I would be v interested to see Fonte given that role and Jaidi partner Seaborne in the middle of defence.

 

Having said all that, I feel that Perry and Thomas (as well as Jaidi) can feel unfortunate as they were all "dropped" (or rested - depends on your point of view I suppose) after the Ipswich game - yet none had done anything wrong - in fact Thomes had gone and scored a pearler!!!

[goodymatt]

Barnard may not be playing to his potential yet, but he scored 17 before comin here, im sure that in a better team like ours once he gets one... more will follow and with that better performances. lets give him a lilttle longer to show us what hes got

[beatlesaint]

Seabourne and Fonte appear to be the long term partnership and as such its important for them to have games together. Fonte is class and Seabourne looked good today, I liked the look of him.

 

Ostmebor looks ok, fairly pacey and put in a couple of decent crosses. I prefer Murty personally when fit but thats no slight on Osty !

 

Barnard - umm, inaffective today, Papa definitely changed the game, but he does work hard and once he gets settled in I think he will come good although again, when fit, I would have Connolly ahead of him.

[NickG]

both CBs didn't put a foot wrong today but not really tested. Seaborne looks strong, Fonte class and positioning other players all of the time

[shurlock]

For those of you who weren't at Millwall or Brentford, just to remind you that Seaborne was awful. Put today in context - at home to the bottom team who are the second lowest scorers in the division.

[Saint_clark]

Fonte looked brilliant.

Seabourne looked very good (maybe the bottom team, but you can still gauge someones general ability).

Otsemobor looked a lot better than people had been saying previously, solid defensively and very good going forward (I said I would be happy with a right footed Dan Harding for right back, and looks like we got him).

I thought Barnard put himself about well, looked dangerous and had a couple of good chances - once he gets that first goal for the club to settle his nerves he will be a very good player for us. He's also a lot taller than I thought - about 2-3 inches smaller than Lambert i'd say.

[SuperMikey]

Agree with saint_clark above, Barnard needs a goal to settle himself in. He's looked alright so far, puts himself about a lot and never stops running, but he's had a couple of glorious chances over the last few games and he's not managed to hit the back of the net yet in a Saints shirt. Never mind though, it will come and i'm sure that he'll be a good player for us.

 

Fonte looks very good, very solid and dependable at the back, and he can also apparently be played at centre mid if need be, so that's a nice option to have. Not seen Seabourne play, but he's supposed to be the rough diamond type, so hopefully Pards can shape him into a good player for us. Otsemobor i've not seen either, but I think he's the kind of player that blows hot and cold in that he can be a match winner one game and a liability in the next. Still, it's nice to have a bit of pace in the defence, something we've lacked in the past.

 

Actually, who was the last RB or LB that we had who could be deemed 'pacy'? ??:

[Saint_clark]

Ostlund? He could run fairly quick...

[SuperMikey]

Not exactly blistering though was he? Maybe he would've been quicker if he had a haircut and a shave, perhaps he would've been more aerodynamic?

[Granadino]

Not exactly blistering though was he? Maybe he would've been quicker if he had a haircut and a shave, perhaps he would've been more aerodynamic?

 

Got pretty overweight towards the end as well as far as I recall! Shame to read that he announced his retirement last week at the age of 31 due to recurring injury.

[Neilza]

Otsemebor has been a steady eddy since he signed, solid and consistent without being outstanding. Fonte's positioning makes him too good for many L1 strikers but I'm not yet convinced by Seabourne. He played alright today but Stockport are very poor. Against Millwall, he headed accross the area, straight to the oppo, who then scored. For me, all too often he doesn't think about things. 3 times today, he had time to play a chip upfield towards Rickie but instead hoofed it out of play.

[Roger]

Next weeks team;

 

Davis

 

Ots Fonte Seaborne Harding

 

Punchon Morgan Hammond Lallana

 

Waigo Lambert

 

 

 

Subs; Bart, Thomas, James, Connolly, Jaidi, Antonio.

 

 

Or

 

Davis

 

Thomas Fonte Jaidi Mills

 

 

Antonio Hammond Punchon Holmes

 

 

Bernard Lambert

 

 

Subs; Waigo,Morgan,Lallana, Ots, Seaborne

 

 

 

Wotton, james and soon murty will all be in contention. We have so many options and should win nearly every game. Would play the first option.

[Genk]

Fonte is a class CB. Know's the game inside out and you feel very comfortable with him there.

 

Seabourne does a job. Quite impressed with his passing and distribution. Would prefer Jaidi to partner Fonte at the moment though.

 

Barnard hasn't settled yet. Ineffective today but I am looking forward to seeing more from him when we get the ball on the deck and play instead of hoofball.

 

Finally Otsemebor. Not a fan of him myself. I honestly feel more comfortable with Lloyd James there. However many will disagree, but that's just how I see it.

[Windmill Arm 2]

Barnard may not be playing to his potential yet, but he scored 17 before comin here, im sure that in a better team like ours once he gets one... more will follow and with that better performances. lets give him a lilttle longer to show us what hes got

 

Good point, but it wont take long for the usuals to start giving him and Pards a hard time.............

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Finally Otsemebor. Not a fan of him myself. I honestly feel more comfortable with Lloyd James there. However many will disagree, but that's just how I see it.

 

I agree. He doesn't seem to actually make many tackles. Although I suppose he did get an assist today.

[wild-saint]

its amazing how different people see different things.

 

i think seaborne is pretty good. positioning good, arial ability is good, very strong and goes in hard. A typical no nonsense CB however he isnt th player who will play it out from the back. Fonte is good in the air and has a decent touch and will look to play a decent pass out from the back

 

Personally I think they will become the first choice pairing as jaidi's career starts to decline with age.

 

For me otsemoboar has a decent touch but lacks agression for a fullback and certainly is far too laid back. IMO i would have Murty and James ahead of him.

 

Barnard as stated works hard has a reasonable touch and will score goals. I think in the the last couple of games both Rickie and Lambert have suffered from a lack of decent play through midfield. He will score goals at this level.

 

Overall Im happy with the signing but to me its clear how much we miss hammond out of the side. The man is our midfield workhorse who wins tackles, roughs up the oppositions playmaker, most importantly looks to be first to the lose balls and once he has posession plays it simply to our creative midfield players. A massive loss that wooton is not equipmed to replace due to his lack of mobility and poor range of passing.

[SuperSAINT]

Actually, who was the last RB or LB that we had who could be deemed 'pacy'? ??:

 

Good question.... Might be skipping a couple here, but I'd say Bridge? Arguments could perhaps be made for Ifil from Spurs who we had on loan.

 

its amazing how different people see different things.

 

i think seaborne is pretty good. positioning good, arial ability is good, very strong and goes in hard. A typical no nonsense CB however he isnt th player who will play it out from the back. Fonte is good in the air and has a decent touch and will look to play a decent pass out from the back

 

Personally I think they will become the first choice pairing as jaidi's career starts to decline with age.

 

For me otsemoboar has a decent touch but lacks agression for a fullback and certainly is far too laid back. IMO i would have Murty and James ahead of him.

 

Barnard as stated works hard has a reasonable touch and will score goals. I think in the the last couple of games both Rickie and Lambert have suffered from a lack of decent play through midfield. He will score goals at this level.

 

Overall Im happy with the signing but to me its clear how much we miss hammond out of the side. The man is our midfield workhorse who wins tackles, roughs up the oppositions playmaker, most importantly looks to be first to the lose balls and once he has posession plays it simply to our creative midfield players. A massive loss that wooton is not equipmed to replace due to his lack of mobility and poor range of passing.

 

Nice write up. I think you raise some good points there, but I think you really hit the nail on the head with the last bit about us missing Hammond. I don't think it's a coincidence that we've struggled without him.

 

Barnard will come good, he scored too many goals at Southend not too.

 

I wonder if we chose Seabourne over Ward just for his aerial ability. I wonder if we felt Ward was too similar to Fonte?

[NickG]

Fonte and Seaborne looked excellent and should get better.

 

Love the way Fonte is happy to overtake midfielders to intercept or take ball out - and without ever getting caught out of position

[Andy_Porter]

Fonte is just a class above. He's better than anyone in our squad and there isn't a defender in the league I'd swap him for.

 

From what I've seen of Barnard he just runs, don't really see what he offers that Paterson couldn't. Hopefully he just needs time to find his feet. Hasn't really looked dangerous but he causes panic when he chases down defenders.

 

Seaborne is a bit of a rough diamond, works well with Fonte and looks to be a leader. I'd rather play Jaidi with Fonte but I understand the logic in playing Seaborne and Fonte together.

 

Otsemebor hasn't really done much to impress me yet, I'd much rather have Lloyd James or Wayne Thomas at right back, Otsemebor to me looks far too lightweight and I don't really think his pace makes up for that.

[70's Mike]

Otsemebor imo he stood off the winger to much and let him put in crosses.

still early days

[NickG]

For those of you who weren't at Millwall or Brentford, just to remind you that Seaborne was awful. Put today in context - at home to the bottom team who are the second lowest scorers in the division.

 

only seen him yesterday and thought he was good, a lot of posters rated him in those games.

[up and away]

Fonte is class, no arguments about the rest, that will be worked out in time. I never really knew much about Bernard previously but I distinctly remember one post on here describing him as back up for Lambert. Will get goals, slow but works hard, that seems a perfect description of the player and what he should be used for.

 

Playing Lambert and Barnard together has to be the worst forward combination tried so far. It just does not work, play one or the other but not both. We have seen this so many times, that if we do not have pace in combination with Lambert it all gets too predictable and easily managed by the opposition defence. How many times Pardew has to witness this before it sinks in I am uncertain. Barnard is good back up to Lambert or may even deserve a start ahead of Ricky at times, but for kucks sake don't keep bringing both out of the box together.

[Andy_Porter]

Fonte is class, no arguments about the rest, that will be worked out in time. I never really knew much about Bernard previously but I distinctly remember one post on here describing him as back up for Lambert. Will get goals, slow but works hard, that seems a perfect description of the player and what he should be used for.

 

Playing Lambert and Barnard together has to be the worst forward combination tried so far. It just does not work, play one or the other but not both. We have seen this so many times, that if we do not have pace in combination with Lambert it all gets too predictable and easily managed by the opposition defence. How many times Pardew has to witness this before it sinks in I am uncertain. Barnard is good back up to Lambert or may even deserve a start ahead of Ricky at times, but for kucks sake don't keep bringing both out of the box together.

 

Spot on, we should either be playing with Lallana in behind Lambert or Waigo and Lambert together while Connolly is injured.

 

I'd go with Waigo personally, pace seems to destroy teams in this league.