saintbob40

Exactly that.....

Cork as full back and we are doomed, we become far too loose in the centre without him and Spurs will run riot. That said I do not fancy a CB playing makeshift full back against Bale and Lennon. Without Shaw I think we have a major problem.

A no.1 Centre back to win aerial duels who can play out of defence and doesn't have a triangular foot. A striker as good if not better (and certainly 5 years or more younger) than SRL (cost....gulp ). Ideally a full back who can play both sides and a right winger who is not a lazy bastard and tracks back.

...but not the stairs!

I have got a feeling that SRL may not be the first choice striker next year. In which case either cork or Morgan and of the two I see Cork as showing more leadership skills on the pitch. Much more vocal ......

Tactical sub....... Mistake. We do not function without him.

Turning the thing on its head, I think that Morgan and Cork look better players in the higher league. One year older, more football played less hoofing (with a couple of notable exceptions), more time on the ball....??

Jack Cork's return from injury.

Problem is that football violence is usually accompanied by high quality video shots which fill up the vast hours of news time in the media. Hence it gets played over and over again and the mole hill becomes a mountain. A few balding, paunchy 40 somethings who should know a lot better give themselves a little excitement in their otherwise nondescript and drab lives by throwing badly directed and techncially poor haymaker punches in the direction of like minded individuals. Not really the big deal everyone makes out and happens every Friday night in City Centres up and down the country on a much larger scale. But yes they are pathetic creatures who should have stopped all this nonsense in their late teens (back in 1983 perhaps when it was a lot cooler). That said I like the tribal nature of football and the undercurrent of violence that comes with it which creates the atmosphere of a match that most of us love.

(August 2012).....Jack Cork is overrated and is not a key member of the team and we can function more than adequately without him....

Put a bit of beef on him so he can hold the ball up a bit better and tell him not to have such sticky feet...i.e he should give the ball a bit earlier.... and he will be very very good! Presently he just shows flashes of what he could be so still a work in progress but worth persevering with

She hated football and its fans and was adept at selling school playing fields . She was quite good on spitting image though and seemed to inspire some decent music. How about a minutes Mexican wave?

Check the stats and then ask yourself who has made the most difference this year. It should be Cork and Shaw as there insertion in the team turned the team around.

I just hope he will police their scrums and line outs properly as they are one of the most aggressive, nasty cheating rugby teams in the division. Academy of football once upon a time........ Good to see a team who have found a novel way to sell their soul!

I too think Porky Chinos is doing an eggsellent job.

So we have a world class centre mid pairing. Get Cork extended pronto! Lets hope they can perform on that cabbage patch of a pitch at Reading.

So since Cork and Shaw have been in the team that has provided 30 points from 21 games. Transpose that across a whole season and that would be 54 points which wouldnt be far off top 7. The Poch factor is also interesting given we have taken points from Liverpool, Everton, Man City, Chelsea and frightened the life out of Man U at OT during his brief reign. This is also a young and developing squad so should improve. I think we need a big ball playing CB who can be the no.1 CB for headers with Yoshida sweeping up behind and back up for Cork/Morgan at DM. Provided that we can finish off the job this year and we can get Boruc, Cork and Shaw pinned down on long term deals then I think we will be a real force to be reckoned with in the coming years.

Losing either of them would make life difficult as I do not see Davis or JWP as naturally fitting into the 2 in the 4-2-3-1 formation as they are more suited to the 3. Cork has been the glue that has held everything together and is IMHO, despite the eye catching nature of some of Spider's performances, the more important to the team. My player of the season but not the type of player that wins such accolades.

Shame he moves a bit like a marquee. Perhaps more of a beer tent signing........

This squad plus perhaps a back up holding mid and a commanding big CB who can play a bit......Europa league next year. Lets try and stay up first though......

Stoke at home....possible rugby scrum...!

We don't have any (credible) holding midfielders behind Cork and Morgan. I don't look at either JWP or Davis as acting in that role i.e the 2 in the 4-2-3-1, they are more likley to be used in the middle of the 3. You only need to look at the goals against and points for columns of the first 11 games to realise that is the case.

Get Cork and Boruc sorted out and Shaw signed in July and we have the makings of a top 10 side. We have a lot of young, very good down to earth players who appear to be happy to learn and improve and most importantly turn out for the Saints, work their nuts off without any delusions of playing for Real Madrid.

Looking forward to our Dad's army (Cole, Parker, Lampard, Carrick, Gerrard, Rooney (...well he looks old and likes women of a certain age)) performing in the heat of Brazil (if we get there of course......). and Glen Johnson is a fatty btw..... Lets send our cavalry straight at the cannons ........as bloody usual

An oral agreement to agree....hmmmmmm....Dan Gosling at Everton anyone? The danger for Shaw is that if he does go to a big club he could end up playing 10 games a season rather than 40 and his development will be stunted if he doesn't play. JWP sitting on the bench every week is not particularly helpful to him either and he should probably get out on loan.