James

Holmes should have made it 2-0, terrible miss.

Sounds like he's made a good start already! Maybe he's being lined up for a start vs Cardiff?

WHey Lee on for Barnard. Let's see what he looks like.

Yes, but they've also got Noel Hunt, Simon Church, Matheiu Manset and Adam Le Fondre at the club already. So with Roberts they've got 5 strikers at least. They won't be in for Sharp.

Yeah they signed Jason Roberts and Tomaz Cyska (sp) who both play in a forward role so I'd find it difficult to believe they were signing Sharp too - hope not anyway as I want us to sign him. If we did the squad would look really strong.

Surely if our business was finished he'd have said so. Also, 'watch this space' tends to imply there will be something to see. Hence, the interpretation that we might be in the market for someone else. That's certainly how I saw it.

I think/hope it's sharp they are talking about.

It's because he wanted the no.8 shirt but it was already taken if I recall.

It'll just be the normal pre-match press call - they are always held on Thursdays. Wont be Sharp signing but Nige might be asked about it.

An extremely accurate assessment.

Its being discussed on Northstand Chat at the moment - not from football rumours but a lot of talk on Twitter. Could be a load of rubbish though, I can't see any reason why they would want him!

I find him pretty frustrating to watch to be honest - agreed he's done better away than at home where he only gets a short time to impress. If he could cross he'd be our most dangerous player by far but he just can't. He has pace and runs at players which is a definite plus but his decision making and crossing is just atrocious. He's definitely more of an off the bench impact man and when all our players are fit he wouldn't be in my first XI. That being said, I think a lot of the flack he is getting started after he didn't square it against Blackpool to give us the win!

Not necessarily if newspaper reports were true - for example the Mirror yesterday. Although I agree we just don't know the situation. Also as for being a low risk gamble, it is a risk as there's every chance he hasn't actually changed and merely wants to use this as a shop window opportunity thus unsettling the squad again with his Mr Big attitude. He hasn't settled at any club for a reason, let's hope this is the time he changes his attitude for the better.

I agree we'll see - if they turn out to be 4 quality players for us then I'll eat my words. I never said anything about 'spunking money' everywhere - just would have preferred an investment in solid Championship quality players (e.g Sharp etc) rather than 4 unknown quantities who may or may not be good enough but have no track record to speak of (bar Jos who had of course played for us before).

It is a good thing, but if we carry on doing that then we won't sign anyone! Obviously the buying club has to pay a premium but it seems we aren't prepared to move forward with anyone. Puncheon coming back may be a good thing, but at the start of the season when we were on a role would ANYONE on here have wanted him back? I don't think so. We are desperate, because we don't have a good enough squad once we lose a few players - bringing Punch back is a cheap option to appease the panicking fan base. Given that only yesterday Puncheon was slagging of NC and threatening to call in the PFA - I find it highly unlikely that in the space of 24 hours all resentment and misunderstanding has been put aside. NA stated that Punch would never play for the club again, and the only thing I can see that has changed the management's mind is a desperate need for new bodies because we can't get anyone else in.

Dont disagree, but it is a risk to only have one target who we might not even get our hands on if promoted. It would be irresponsible not to have other options in mind (ones which I'd argue more achievable). The fact is we haven't been promoted yet, Puncheon may have a point to prove but it doesn't disguise the fact that we've clearly failed to land the players required for the promotion push and in my opinion this news stemmed from the panic surrounding the shambolic showing on Monday. If today concludes our business then I'll be very disappointed as I don't think we've done enough.

No but, there are plenty more fish in the sea bar Hooper. For example, if Sharp was available for £1.5m then I'd take him in an heartbeat - the fact is all we have to go on this window is the players signed and a couple of paper reports about a big bid for what was in my opinion an unrealistic target. I just think we must be a bit desperate if we are resorting to bringing back a forgotten man, if our primary targets weren't available surely we should have had a back up plan? And I doubt Puncheon was it at the start of the window.

The point is, we were never going to realistically get Hooper - there are targets out there who were achievable and would have improved the squad but we seemed to put all our eggs into one basket. Now we're desperate enough to bring back one of the most temperamental players in Saints history, who was told he'd have no future at the club as a back up. Nobody wants Pompey style transfers, but I have to admit I'd expected more than a loan signing who didn't look impressive, an unproven striker and the return of Puncheon!

No doubting that when he wants to be Puncheon is a good player - would probably be deserving of a spot in the first eleven when in good form. But, to me this all seems a bit too convenient given our worrying performance against Leicester. I think it looks a bit desperate, when I said I wanted new faces post Monday Puncheon wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I was one of those who didn't buy the scepticism about our financial situation but I am beginning to think we don't have as much as we'd all like to think. We haven't been able to secure our targets and so have hastily bought Puncheon back in. So far this window we've signed Jos (who admittedly cost a bit), Lee on a free, Falque on loan and then brought Punch back in from the cold. Not exactly significant investment befitting a team with ambitions for the Prem, even with our horrendous injury and suspension problems. I hope Puncheon comes back in and does well for us, but I remain a bit worried that this move merely papers over some of the cracks that have begun to show in January.

Especially if the rumours about Sharp are to be believed.

Just been on the Donny forum and they don't dismiss it out of hand as apparently the Mirror got some previous Billy Sharp news spot on. Maybe the guy knows what he's talking about.

Who is posting that though? Could be anyone. Interesting that some posters suggested rumours he was in the stands last night just hours before the Mirror ran the story. I hope to god the rumours are true as boy do we need him after last night.

The booing at half time was a complete joke - disgraceful really, after the treats we've been served up at SMS this season the players surely deserve a bit of slack during this rough patch.

That's fair enough - but I don't think we need to sign two new CBs - just one would be enough but we won't even get that. My point about Hooper is that when you bid for a high profile (for us) player at a big club like Celtic you've got to respect the fact that the deal is not likely to come off. For this reason we can't put all our eggs in one basket, we need to have other options on more realistic players. I'm all for aiming high, but if aiming high and missing means we don't get anyone then that would be ridiculous. I'm starting to think we should have got Jutkiewitz - at the price he was going for he would have been a good young addition with room for development. Anyone would have been better than Guly/Connolly tonight.

We need a ball playing CB - Martin puts us under too much pressure due to his lack of composure and skill on the ball. We need two - one to play now and another as cover as I don't think Martin is ready to step up full time if we get a long term injury.