Toon Saint

Back on the Astori front, he's been at fault for both of Italy's goals conceded tonight. They drew with Haiti 2-2. As said above, the fella seems pretty error-prone. Do we really want him?

If we are trying to sign him then its likely to drag on for quite a bit longer. Astori is in Rio with the Italian team at the moment - they play Haiti tonight in a friendly and then play confederations cup games up to at least the 22nd of June. Can't see any deal being struck until late June at the earliest. As for whether he is worth it, who knows? As an Italian defender supposedly coveted by AC Milan you'd think he'd be fairly handy. But his stats don't make for great reading. By Jan of last season, he was considered the most error-prone outfield player in the top 5 European leagues, one place above our Jos. Imagine the havoc those two, played together, could wreak. http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/i8p0b6r00u69gbekopyj6g/Show/Player-Focus-Error-Prone-Outfielders

My psychiatrist's been telling me this for years.

It seems the badger has been bristled. Rather than ranting ad hominem why don't you focus on what I actually said? I'm not advocating a Stalinist crackdown on social media, just suggesting he might take a bit more care. The fact that Shaw felt he needed to favourite the @talksaint tweet about him staying is just proof of how things can spiral. I don't think he has tweeted anything 'awful' just unnecessarily vague and cryptic - i.e. the 'confused' tweet after Adkins was sacked - which has on a few occasions now, prompted a load of nonsense and bed-wetting on twitter.

Good to see. I wasn't overly worried about his Man Utd tweet (especially given its non-content) but a bit more care in how he uses Twitter wouldn't go amiss.

Ha, I did LOL at this.

OK so if I followed your line of logic my reply would be: 'if you don't like what I wrote then ignore it or don't reply'. That of course, is not constructive and just closes down discussion, which I thought forums like twitter (and hopefully Saintsweb) are supposed to facilitate. Believe me, I'm not overly concerned with his twitter account (I noticed this through the #saintsfc tag not through obsessively stalking his twitter account) but there is a definitely a broader point about the use of social media by players here, even if you do speak on behalf of the 'majority'. Obviously, twitter enables a great bridge between players and fans but there is a balance to be had. Shaw's recent replies to some inflammatory tweets about him sunning himself in Barbados while the U21's were getting battered by the ilk of Norway were, at best, ill-advised; at worst, immature. The fact that the DM have devoted columns to Shaw's professed love of Chelsea via twitter, would suggest that he needs to be more on his guard.

Ah, the classic reductive 'don't follow him' reply which engages with precisely nothing.

I was referring specifically to his twitter updates, which come across a little attention-seeking at times. He is hardly likely to use official Saints media channels to make covetous glances at other clubs is he? I'm sure he will stay this summer, but he is creating an unnecessary side-show. I realise he is young but maybe someone at the club should have a quiet word.

A bit of brouhaha breaking on twitter regarding Luke Shaw's latest tweeting activities, in which he supposedly 'accidentally' posted the @ManUtd_PO tag. This fella caught him out but Shaw claims it was merely his phone posting on his behalf while bobbling about in his pocket. Accident or not, (and I highly doubt the former), the guy needs to get a bit of a grip on his social media activities. I for one am a little fed up with his cryptic updates - unless he is that slow, he must be aware of the press interest they generate.

Why the rush? Another two years playing regular prem football and he still won't have reached his 20th birthday. If we aren't matching his ambitions by then, fine. Sell him to a top 4 club for a handsome fee. He only needs to look at the development of Walcott, Chamberlain, Bale in the first 1-2 years after leaving us, to realise he would be best served by regular football. IMO can't even see Chelsea paying a 17/18-year old £100,000 a week, nor do I think we could get £15 million for him if he is yet to sign a professional contract. Would the figure not be sorted by a tribunal?...This is all hypothetical anyway, I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't have posted articles on the OS about him committing his future to us, if Cortese wasn't certain of keeping him (don't recall us ever doing anything similar with Chamberlain anyway). It would be an awful PR gaffe if he were to then leave.

Zero pace, turns like a double-decker lorry, passing isn't the best, a mid-level Championship player at best. Some good memories of his goal vs. Leeds in first game of our Championship season, as well as him jeering the Brighton fans when scoring against them in L1. Apart from that, he won't be sorely missed. I've got quite a few Brighton fans as friends who dismiss him as a bit of a liability this season.