Ross Stewart

[coalman]

If he instructed his agents to use the technicality to get out of the extension then he really doesn't want to be here. All the best Ross. Sorry we only got to see half a season of you in 4 years. Hope your next club are as accommodating as we were.

[Ted Bates Statue]

2 hours ago, EssEffCee said:

Wishing a serious injury on him? Really?

Weird cunt.

Yeah, and I'm going to lend @Dman my voodoo doll.

I'm sure the Loch Ness Drogba will cope just fine with all our best wishes... too bad we never got that song going for him,

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Disappointing really. I wonder if he will get a better contract elsewhere. 

Time for BBD to step up !

[SotonianWill]

2 hours ago, EssEffCee said:

And we certainly didn't treat his injuries out of a sense of loyalty to him, we had no choice

We did have the choice as we signed him.

[HarvSFC]

Good player when fit. However, 9 league goals over three years is more than replaceable. Larin was one behind Stewart's three year output after half a season.

Also agree with the club's stance that he maybe isn't good enough for the Premier League. We've seen him up there and he seemed a bit lost at times, bullied. Isn't your archetypal tall striker in that he'll battle with and occupy centre-backs like Larin does, nor does he have amazing pace, so a more physical striker would also be of benefit to us going forward. If the recruitment team can get this one right.

Good moments this season, but his Saints career has ultimately been very frustrating. Seeing his name on the bench in a lineup graphic, only for it to be announced 20 minutes later that he's had to pull out of the squad due to injury, or that Stewart's "two weeks away" every week for four months.

[BARCELONASAINT]

1 hour ago, ecuk268 said:

Is it possible that Tonda could do something with Downs to make him into a half-decent player?

BBD seems to have done Ok at Derby and scored goals for Blackburn, maybe he'll improve here under a different coach.

We still need to strengthen whatever happens to those two.

Tonda is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!

[SNSUN]

Disappointing yes, after a season where he showed he was over his injury issues but I'm not deflated by him being released. Aside from the fact he'll probably join another Championship team and could be a handful to play next season. But we signed Larin who I like to numb this news plus it now means we have to go and get another striker to join Cyle and Cam.  Getting that decision right... we need someone more Larin than Downs. 

Shame Parrott is being touted to top flight clubs as his record at AZ is great. 

[davefizzy14]

3 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

Think people may be reading too much into this. Yes he's out of contract so to all intents and purposes he's gone, but think there may be more to come on this, but nothing will happen until Scotland exit the WC (so quite soon 😉). Those slagging him off as being disloyal etc need to consider the facts (as known), the Club has not apparently covered itself in glory over Ross, albeit with mitigating circumstances. I know one thing we need someone like Stewart, mush as I like Larin he won't play 46.games in a season.

Are you saying then that we may still be in talks with Ross's representatives over a new contract? I want Ross to stay.

[saint michael]

It feels a bit disloyal after looking after him for years when not playing but I don’t think he’s as good a player as he thinks he is. We will soon find out

[benjii]

3 hours ago, Mozz said:

I'd go Hearts.

Ambitious, in CL qualifiers next season and have just lost their main striker (Shankland) to Rangers.

But presumably will pay way less than us?

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, saint michael said:

It feels a bit disloyal after looking after him for years when not playing but I don’t think he’s as good a player as he thinks he is. We will soon find out

There simply is no loyalty in football from either side these days, so it will simply be down to the fact we have not offered him what he wants and thinks he can get elsewhere, be that more money, more years or a higher standard of football.

You can't expect him to accept a fiver when someone else is offering a tenner just because he has been injured in the past. It's not his fault he is has been injured. At a stretch we can be blamed. Us overplaying him after a long time out was part of the reason he got injured. 

I think he is a better player than most Saints fans think he is. 

[VectisSaint]

3 hours ago, saintant said:

Can't see Hearts being in a position to pay him more than us.

We aren't paying him anything, so that's a moot point.

[kevdoh]

4 minutes ago, Chez said:

There simply is no loyalty in football from either side these days, so it will simply be down to the fact we have not offered him what he wants and thinks he can get elsewhere, be that more money, more years or a higher standard of football.

You can't expect him to accept a fiver when someone else is offering a tenner just because he has been injured in the past. It's not his fault he is has been injured. At a stretch we can be blamed. Us overplaying him after a long time out was part of the reason he got injured. 

I think he is a better player than most Saints fans think he is. 

I don't think he is better than most of us think. He's a decent championship striker, when he's actually not injured. Struggling to think of what he could have lined up as a better option than staying put. He surely will be signing for someone in the next few days, as the potential of getting injured at the world Cup and be left with no options is a real possibility. He would earn more here on a one year than he would in Scotland on a 2 maybe 3 year contract, so really intrigued to see who takes a punt on him that would offer a better deal. Time will tell

[saintant]

13 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

We aren't paying him anything, so that's a moot point.

We're paying him a lot more than Hearts will as he is contracted to us until the end of June as far as I know.

[Chez]

8 minutes ago, kevdoh said:

I don't think he is better than most of us think. He's a decent championship striker, when he's actually not injured. Struggling to think of what he could have lined up as a better option than staying put. He surely will be signing for someone in the next few days, as the potential of getting injured at the world Cup and be left with no options is a real possibility. He would earn more here on a one year than he would in Scotland on a 2 maybe 3 year contract, so really intrigued to see who takes a punt on him that would offer a better deal. Time will tell

Ipswich and Hull can offer PL football and will have the parachute payments, enabling them to offer him high wages for three years. We have one year left of our parachute payments so probably can't outbid those two. 

[Chez]

If you get injured playing international football, can you make a claim for lost wages? I think the club can, but as a free agent, could the player do so? Obviously he wouldn't have a contract beyond the end of June, but could he seek an amount similar to his wages to the level he is getting now for as long as he is out?

[Baird of the land]

50 minutes ago, saint michael said:

It feels a bit disloyal after looking after him for years when not playing but I don’t think he’s as good a player as he thinks he is. We will soon find out

What comes around, goes around. Club was pretty disloyal in trying to leave it to last minute in the hopes that we could ditch him if we got promoted.