PokingFun

I really don't understand this constant quoting that we need consistency by people. We already have that at Saints in terms of management, players and performances. We are averaging almost 2 points per game since NA came into the building and there is no real sign of that stopping irrespective of the results versus Notts Co and Tranmere. The reality is we just need to continue to be consistent over 6 games at a time to get promoted assuming NA record continues and there is no reason why it shouldn't. Saints are very consistent now for a L1 club since Adkins came in. Simple as that! By the way, I agree with you on all other points.

Then again it may not be anything to do with that ..... success and failure is not ever purely down to signing new players, it's whether they fit in, hit form, stay fit, have an unbalancing effect on the squad etc. I think i will trust NA rather than you here SR as he is proving more than capable so far of getting plenty out of the current squad and I am confident that he will continue to do so regardless of new signings or not.

Cool, on what side of the fence are you sitting though my friend?! ;-)

I will be happy to wager that we do not lose the two games immediately following Man Yoo - care to have a tenner on it for fun / charity with me?

You sir are quite frankly not deserving of supporting Saints. What a load of rubbish you spout.

What exactly is our situation then Alpine? I just find your reaction to a couple of poor results as overkill. We drew against a well organised side at home and lost to a decent home side away (they have a record as good as ours at home virtually). Before that we achived 16 points from 8 games and have achieved 37 points under NA from 19 games. There, he has consistent results over a longer term at around 2 points per game so there is no situation to understand. Bring in three more players and guess what, we will probably still average around 2 points per game because thats about the best a L1 side could ever hope for.

Have a look at their home record, they have been beaten only 5 times out of 13 games at home which means they are certainly not cannon fodder. Our away record also stands up as pretty decent against our rivals who have all lost 4-6 games away themselves. People chuck around this stuff about beating "cannon fodder" away from home yet have no real idea of exactly how difficult winning at another teams ground is in reality.

Both of those records are excellent. Both achieve around 2 points per game. Also your maths is wrong for Pardew, its 39 points and the only difference between the two is one draw turned into a win either way. Statistically I would treat that the same on a small sample. The point is, if we continue at 37 points over the next 19 games we will get promoted in this league where no-one is achieving better than 1.92 per game. We are at 1.95 per game under NA according to your numbers. I would also argue that every team in L1 is inconistent simply because thats what you expect in the division due to the quality of players, even in the top sides. Around 2 points per game is as consistent as it usually gets in this league and should we continue that then we will achieve promotion simple as that.

Dagenham, Oldham, Nots Co away?

zzzzzzzzzzz

If this was to happen it would be tough titties on the club it happened to as they should have double that cover for each eventuality that might or might not occur during the course of a season .... ;-)

And if we haven't signed anyone on the first day / week or so of that window then there will be troubled times ahead I tell thee ..... ;-)

But what if the insurance being purchased is not fit for purpose? i.e. We buy an insurance policy to cover for these POTENTIAL eventualities but the cover bought does not adequately replace the element of risk we might lose or is so expensive that it does not offer good value for money ...... buying insurance for the sake of it is never a good thing. All well and good if we buy a midfielder that will improve us now (or at least improve the squad now) but buying one "just in case" an injury crisis occurs is both expensive and foolish in my opinion as there remains loan options if a crisis occurs.

It could be argued that last season was an exceptional one for Lambert and that he is now doing what he normally does in a season. It would be extremely difficult for anyone to score 35+ goals a season consistently in any league so you need to consider that RL will have a "normal" season this year which would be 20 odd goals. He is also more than just an goalscorer as we have seen in recent games and the team no longer relies on all its goals from forwards which helps too.

You've probably never known excitement in your life! Lallana - Injured but we don't know how long for. NA seemed to think sooner rather than later. Oxo - might not be sold - we simply don't know at this moment in time so we don't need a replacement. If he is sold then I expect NA / NC to get top dollar and replace. Punch - might not be sold, if he is then I expect us to replace as per Oxo. Hammond - short term injury by the look of it according to NA limited comments so far. Tranmere game preview says he hopes to have him available. Chaplow - is he injured? No mention of it anywhere at the moment. Gobern - agree not going to spearhead but won't need to and will provide "cover". Guly - Permanently signed and could play in a midfield role as that was his position at Cesena. He has also played in MF for us in some games. Butterfield - has been solid as a rock for us. Dickson - looked decent in CM and at LM when played there in games at St Marys. We simply don't need to strengthen the midfield at the moment. All teams get injuries from time to time. We are no exception but if a crisis happens there is still the loan window available which we can utilise. In theory, we would be very unlcuky to have a midfield lining up as you suggest and even that one would be better than a significant number in this league!! By the way, I said our midfield is strong, which it is, I didnt say it would get us promoted. The whole team including management will do that. I also dont worry too much about if so and so is sold etc as I am confident they will be replaced if it happens. I'm assuming we'll have to agree to disagree as you will never see a reasoned argument and moderate your opinion at all.

But this squad has significant strength in depth. Where on earth do you get the idea it has no strength in depth?

We already have a very very strong midfield FFS. We have dominated in midfield virtually every game I have seen this season (I have been to nearly all home games so am placed to comment) but early season we could not buy a goal despite creating chances and plenty of them. We have Lallana, Oxo, Punch, Morgan, Hammond, Gobern, Chaplow, Guly, Butterfield, Dickson all very capable of playing in midfield positions. That does not look weak to me at all. Alpine, you're a one trick pony, everything we do rests on signing more players in your eyes and then if were not successful its because the players weren't motivated blah blah blah. In defence we have very good players for each position plus the two keepers who are excellent for L1 level. Up front is the only area where we might arguably strengthen given Connolly's brittle nature and the slight possibility that LB may not be available at some stage but even then if we have Guly signed then we would only need a maximum of one player in my opinion and even then I would want it to be someone that can get in the side and push for a place rather than be cover. No-one is saying promotion is nailed on, most are simply seeing that the squad is strong enough to get promoted when you consider we are outscoring, outpointing and in a lot of cases lately outplaying opposition teams. I will say it again, if we do not go up it will not be anything to do with the strength of the squad's ability at all.

Agree, Huddersfield announced two injuries today ... one is to their goalkeeper who could be out for a while and is very highly rated. It happens to all teams.

Completely agree with you. In simple terms we only need to achieve an average of around 2 points per game for the remainder of the season and that will likely be good enough for promotion. Personally, I'm confident we can do this under NA even if AL has an injury that may keep him out some time. I also believe that NA / NC will not sell anyone without having an able replacement lined up that means promotion plans aren't jeopardised. NC has shown no signs whatsoever of being a man that will be bullied into any decision that is not to the benefit of Saints and I'm sure it will be the same with transfers as well.

Just a thought, but maybe Notts County performed admirably and above their ability on Saturday and we didn't play top drawer. It's football, it happens. Just take a look at Chelsea right now. No team is exempt from a poor performance or even several and its the same with injuries but you simply cannot cater for every possibility when planning transfer strategy. There is always an element of fortune involved in such matters. Remember, other teams will also experience similar issues at times when we are not and the fact still remains that we have been reeling in the leaders hand over fist so if we can strengthen fine, but i don't want to see players coming in simply for cover alone.

You simply don't know what is to happen and media speculation is just that ..... it doesn't mean we will sell! Certainly not without replacing anyway.

I think we should put out the youth team against Man U ..... ;-)

We won't win every game FFS.

But those question marks are yet to be answered with a firm result and I will be amazed and agree with you if we sell both players AND dont replace them but we have no need to sell so it will be on our terms if we do and I cannot see that NA and NC will put automatic promotion in jeopardy by selling these two and not replacing them. Also, if the OXO rumour in the paper today is true then it appears a loan back deal anyhow.

Yes it is and we still have the loan window. HTH.