Where are the weak points?

[Professor]

Pardew can't go public on which players are not up to first team standard without demoralising them even more, but on the Forum we are not constrained and a lot of views have been expressed already. So, who is not really worth a place at the moment, and who might be brought up to standard with more coaching?

 

My own disapointment is Mellis, who looks like Pardew's one weak signing so far. We've all seen the publicity about Chelsea's academy not doing too well and I'm afraid that IMHO Mellis looks like one of the failures....

[Glasgow_Saint]

Missing pace, rather than weak player(s) imo. Back up is short too.

[explorer saint]

Mellis, Thomson, & Patterson.

[krissyboy31]

The right side without Murty is a problem, as is the general lack of pace.

[Saint_clark]

Until you have the complete squad you will always have a weakness. Going by such standards, I still think we need another CB, a RB, a winger for each side, another CM and two more strikers.

[shurlock]

A partner for Hammond in central midfield and the right balance up-front. Think RM and LM will sort themselves out now that Mills (and Holmes) has returned on the left and we have the possibility of Papa Waigo or Lallana on the right.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

A potential weak point that seldom gets mentioned is the goalkeeper situation - should Kelvin Davis recieve a serious injury I suspect neither Bialkowski (certainly) or Forecast (probably) will be anywhere near good enough .

Edited 7 September, 2009 by CHAPEL END CHARLIE
Brain fade

[Smirking_Saint]

Think we lack pace, lack creation, and don't think Saga is the right foil for Lambert

[Saint_clark]

A potential weak point that seldom gets mentioned is the goalkeeper situation - should Kelvin Davis recieve a serious injury I suspect neither Bialkowski (certainly) or Fortune (probably) will be anywhere near good enough .

 

I'm prepared to give Bart another chance. He showed he has the ability when he first came in, however after his injury (and his first two displays a couple of years ago V Palace and Peterborough in the CC) completely destroyed his confidence.

Hopefully under a new GK coach he will turn it back round again.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

I'm prepared to give Bart another chance. He showed he has the ability when he first came in, however after his injury (and his first two displays a couple of years ago V Palace and Peterborough in the CC) completely destroyed his confidence.

Hopefully under a new GK coach he will turn it back round again.

 

I hope you're right - I saw him play preseason and he was shocking to be brutally frank , the lack of confidence you mention seemingly getting worse rather than better .

[Andy_Porter]

Lack of strength, power and pace.

 

Hopefully Jaidi and Waigo will sort that out.

[saintsmike25]

A potential weak point that seldom gets mentioned is the goalkeeper situation - should Kelvin Davis recieve a serious injury I suspect neither Bialkowski (certainly) or Fortune (probably) will be anywhere near good enough .

 

Who is Fortune?

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Who is Fortune?

 

Opps ! - Forecast of course . :smt053

[NickG]

Until you have the complete squad you will always have a weakness. Going by such standards, I still think we need another CB, a RB, a winger for each side, another CM and two more strikers.

 

CB?

 

Jaidi

Trottman

Thomas

Perry

 

Lancashire

 

Wooton

 

Do you want a squad of CBs?

[NickG]

posted on reserve thread;

 

 

"Lee Holmes played 90 mins.

 

Think result on Saturday would have been very different with this team

KD

Murty Jaidi Trottman Harding

Papa Schniederlin Hammond Holmes

Saga Lambert"

 

don't see much weakness there - maybe another option for RW/striker to allow Papa and Saga to be varied. maybe playmaker depending on form of Schniederlin.

Defence fine.

[aintforever]

By far the main problem is pace up front, with Lambert and Paterson/Saganowski the opposition can just play a high line, there is no one to get in behind and Lallana can just be shut out the game.

 

I'm hoping Papa can transform the side, I would definitely look to get in another fast striker as back up as well.

[Gorgiesaint]

We don't have any strength in depth at the moment, as shown up front on Saturday, but then thats not surprising given Pardew is still working out who his best eleven are.

 

The one place we do have cover now appears to be CB - Jaidi, Trottman, Thomas & Perry - so getting Lancashire out on loan to a L2 or Blue Square Premier team should be a priority. Otherwise in an ideal world we should be looking as strengthening in all other areas. That said, we need to make sure that we only bring in players who will add to the quality of the squad i.e. they're better than we've already got.

 

And surely Pulis must be able to go out on loan somewhere....

[NickG]

disagree, think the squad is well covered in many positions - we don't want/need a huge squad - more case of getting this one performing to its potential

[St Chalet]

Not sure about weak points, the minus 6 ponts is the real issue.

 

As others have said I think the new signings + Saga, Holmes and Mills will make a huge difference.

 

Watch Saints turnover Charlton and then lose to Torquay in true Saints fashion!

[revolution saint]

We don't have much strength in depth but then which div 1 clubs do? We've been crying out for width though but on the left side if 2 from Harding, Holmes and Mills can stay fit then we should be OK. On the right I think Lallana will play better than wide left. We could probably do with some pace in that position but it's a hope and not a necessity. Waigo up front (if he's as good as we think) should be enough with Lambert.

 

I don't think we've actually got that bad a squad now and hopefully Wally Downes will help in the same way Snodin did (we've seriously missed him). Charlton may come too soon but now that the transfer window has closed I'd expect Pardew to start to get the best out of his coaches and his team.

[Window Cleaner]

posted on reserve thread;

 

 

"Lee Holmes played 90 mins.

 

Think result on Saturday would have been very different with this team

KD

Murty Jaidi Trottman Harding

Papa Schniederlin Hammond Holmes

Saga Lambert"

 

don't see much weakness there - maybe another option for RW/striker to allow Papa and Saga to be varied. maybe playmaker depending on form of Schniederlin.

Defence fine.

 

 

If you want Morgan to become a playmaker it's very simple, give him a shirt with 10 on the back, it's like superman going into a telephone box and rippng off his city suit to reveal his blue zoot suit and red pants.;);)

[Thedelldays]

we have a better squad than say...20 teams in this league..IMO

[Saint_clark]

CB?

 

Jaidi

Trottman

Thomas

Perry

 

Lancashire

 

Wooton

 

Do you want a squad of CBs?

 

Trotman is on loan, Lancashire and Wotton are sh*t, Perry need to be replaced as he won't be playing for much longer and I don't rate Thomas as a promotion quality player.

[NickG]

Lancashire and Wooton are there are 5th and 6th choice - prem sides don't have that many so shouldn't be required.

 

Are you suggesting returning Trottman to sign someone - probably inferior?

 

Perry should last if used as 4th choice!

 

Disagree about Thomas, think he is more than decent CB for this league (and possibly CCC) so again as 3rd choice more than adequate.

 

Would not be surprised if many promotion seeking sides would jump at Thomas -for first 11 let alone 3rd choice.

 

Doubt very much whether the club see this as area needing strengthening - unless there is a gem available on permanent.

[Saint_clark]

To clarify, I was not talking about signing all these players as soon as possible. I'm saying that's who i'd like us to sign ready for our promotion chasing squad next year.

[NickG]

fair enough.

[Rattlehead]

The main weak point, as I see it, is that we are complete t*rd.

[Bailey]

We're a tad light up-front, and I still think we could do with a right-midfielder. However, Waigo could be the solution to both these problem areas, but as he's un-tried it's hard to say how his move here will work out. Fingers crossed he's a success though.

 

I also think we're short of options at right-back. Should Thomas pick up an injury, we don't have much cover and I'm not convinced by Lloyd James in that position. Murty is likely to be out for some time so maybe a loan acquisition wouldn't be out of the question?

 

Other than that, we're looking pretty decent on paper. Our first XI is strong, especially for this division, and with a little more time, I have total faith in Pardew to start getting results on the pitch.

[BigShadow]

 

don't see much weakness there - maybe another option for RW/striker to allow Papa and Saga to be varied.

 

Hopefully, that role will be filled by McLaggon in a couple months.

 

Hopefully.

[PaulSaint]

Squads good. Biggest weak points are belief & luck, not had any really since 2003?

[Leicestersaint]

Lack of pace down the flanks. Lack of creative midfield play. Not enough shots on target.

[Saint Fan CaM]

I am not so sure it's down to individual players as such now, although hitting the opposition on the break is not a phrase in Saints training manual I would suggest. My personal belief is that our problems stem from the type of players held. There are some that just don't compliment each other....there's a lack of balance. And this contributes to a lack of belief in the tactics and team.

[70's Mike]

When Jaidi, Holmes and Papa are playing we won't have any weaknesses.

 

Bold statement which may come back to haunt you

[david in sweden]

Pardew can't go public on which players are not up to first team standard without demoralising them even more, but on the Forum we are not constrained and a lot of views have been expressed already. So, who is not really worth a place at the moment, and who might be brought up to standard with more coaching?

 

My own disapointment is Mellis, who looks like Pardew's one weak signing so far. We've all seen the publicity about Chelsea's academy not doing too well and I'm afraid that IMHO Mellis looks like one of the failures....

 

 

...now we prepare ourselves for an onslaught of replies citing Saints players that "someone " loves to hate ".Truth is that players who are injured, or out of form don't do it all right as soon as they're back, and this is the largest turnover in playing staff in the clubs 124 year history !

 

It 's taking time to get 8 new players working like a well-oiled unit, and the mention of Mellis is an example. Like all Academy players (in his case Chelsea) in team who train and play together week in /out for several seasons and naturally look good in a well-structured team....but we 'aint there yet !

 

You are probably right about Mellis, but thats not to say he won't improve in a few months. Looking at all the loan players we tried last season, very few were really good enough because they weren't experienced at playing in sides other than their own " nursery side ".

 

AP seems to know what he's doing - and it's not his fault because nervous players miss chances and can't put the ball in the net (see last Saturday).

 

WE don't need more players - we need more luck !

....if we must buy ..get one more striker !

[david in sweden]

posted on reserve thread;

 

 

"Lee Holmes played 90 mins.

Think result on Saturday would have been very different with this team

KD

Murty Jaidi Trottman Harding, Papa Schniederlin Hammond Holmes

Saga Lambert"

 

don't see much weakness there - maybe another option for RW/striker to allow Papa and Saga to be varied. maybe playmaker depending on form of Schniederlin. Defence fine.

 

 

You're probably right Nick, except that Murty was still injured, Jaidi unavailable, Papa not match fit, Holmes still recovering and Saga on international duty.

 

Our forward line was pathetically weak (and inexperienced). You can only play Lallana or Paterson if they have a tougher/bigger man to play off. Lambert is a goal scorer - but not a one-man strike force.

 

Once Mills, Holmes and Murty are back fit and playing, (and we don't have to rely on Lancashire as third choice CH)....

we'll have more options.

[Capel Saint]

The first 11 will look pretty strong when Jaidi and Papa are in the squad. Still think we could do with a strong CM to partner Hammond or as back up for injuries/suspensions. Also would like another striker depending on Saga's state of mind and whether he is willing to knuckle down and help Saints or still wants away. Possibly another winger, again to cover injuries and suspensions.

 

The only other problems are pace and the quality of service to the front two strikers. The team as a whole should work on their crossing for the two strikers as it was woeful against Colchester, especially Mills in the second half. They need to cut out this hoof ball and get the ball on the deck. Hopefully this will improve as the squad gels and Pardew and the coaches can get them playing better.

[LostBoys]

James Mellis Paterson and Thomson are not ready for full time stints in this league. The jury is still out on Lallana. I agree the situation will resolve itself when Jaidi and Papa can play and Murty Holmes and Saga 'return'. I also want to say that I think Thomas is formidable at defensive right back.

[Saints67]

I think we need a right back as Thomas is solid but he's no right back. He's also a tad injury prone so we'd be left with full time midfielder/part time right back Lloyd James and he doesn't always inspire me in the RB position. In the Football League, loan deals are allowed once a week has passed following the closing of the transfer window which I believe is tomorrow. Therefore I think this is where AP needs to strengthen. He also needs to send out on loan Jamie White, Ollie Lancashire and Anthony Pulis for starters.

[red&white56]

A partner for Hammond in central midfield and the right balance up-front. Think RM and LM will sort themselves out now that Mills (and Holmes) has returned on the left and we have the possibility of Papa Waigo or Lallana on the right.

 

I agree with the partner in central midfield - did Steve Williams have a son who plays football ?

[Toadhall Saint]

A creative MF - we haven't got one so therefore a weakness.

[aqbadger]

Saga needs to pull his finger out, he just doesn't look like he cares. He should be scoring one in two in this league. Either that or we loan him out and get someone with some hunger in.

 

A creative MF, as Toadhall said, would solve a lot of our problems, but is there anyone out there we can bring in on loan..

[badgerx16]

This is just begging for the sort of answer WGS would give, something along the lines of "Where ? Between the players' ears !"

[Clapham Saint]

Squads good. Biggest weak points are belief & luck, not had any really since 2003?

 

+1

 

We could also do with another wide right option though.

[Doctoroncall]

I am not so sure it's down to individual players as such now, although hitting the opposition on the break is not a phrase in Saints training manual I would suggest. My personal belief is that our problems stem from the type of players held. There are some that just don't compliment each other....there's a lack of balance. And this contributes to a lack of belief in the tactics and team.

 

Generally agree and hope DW can address the team play with AP, although a bit more pace upfront wouldn't go amiss.

[West End Saint]

we have a better squad than say...20 teams in this league..IMO

 

I would agree the squad is more than good enough for this league I dont think we are far away from being a very good side.

 

We must find a way of playing to get the best out of Lambert feed the Lamb & he will score so we need to provide width & decent crosses.

 

Kelvin

James Jaidi Trottman Harding

Papa Morgan Hammond Holmes or mills

Lambert Saga

 

Bench Patterson Lallana Thomas Bart Melis Mills

 

That team for me would do the trick just need the massive dose of confidence a few wins would provide & we will be ok.