Frazer Richardson injury

[saintwarwick]

This is exactly why people like me are bemoaning lack of squad depth.

 

If Schneiderlin gets injured, we are going to have major problems.

 

Has the season started yet, do we have time to find other players?

[John B]

Has the season started yet, do we have time to find other players?

 

Obviously we have time to get in players but probably not enough for Alpine who seems to think we should have a massive squad to cater for injuries.

 

I would have thought we will get in another two or three players

[SuperMikey]

Would have been awful news a week ago, but with Butterfield now on the books I feel more confident.

Perhaps we can get a decent RB on loan from the Prem/CCC until January just so we definitely have some cover as there are question marks over whether Murty will return or not. Micah Richards anyone?

[NickG]

we could get a loan in if Butterfield gets injured rather than before.

 

Don't think we need another RB, and Butterfield may have been starting anyway!

[SNSUN]

This is exactly why people like me are bemoaning lack of squad depth.

 

If Schneiderlin gets injured, we are going to have major problems.

Nah, we're well covered in his position with Wotton and Pulis.

[patred44]

Hence why Butterfield probably only signed 1 year deal,and also probably as has already been alluded too,why the injury was not announced earlier.[until Butterfield was signed]. The club appear to have moved quickly here to sign a replacement,and have to be commended for doing so.

That sounds reasonable..

That is until you know George Burley wanted to offer him a contract and was told that Palace couldn't offer him more than we could..IN JUNE.

When he asked how far the deal was down the line, he was told he had already signed a pre contractual agreement, and would cease to be Palace player on July 1st.

Burley then signed David Wright of Ipswich as a replacement.

So it seems as if our right back was going to be Frazer with Danny Butterfield as a back up, as far back as 5-6 weeks ago.. Maybe someone at Saints is clairvoyant

[NickG]

heard GB saying someone had offered more - don't know if it was another team, or whether he had other offers

[The Kraken]

This is exactly why people like me are bemoaning lack of squad depth.

 

If Schneiderlin gets injured, we are going to have major problems.

 

Pretty much everyone recognises that we are still short of depth at CM and RM, also possibly up front, so the "people like me" comment is misguided. Where people disagree with your continual hand-wringing is that there is still a way to go before the season starts, the players brought in so far look extremely promising, and the majority seem to have faith that AP will bring in the players he needs in good time, either before the start of the season or before the end of the transfer window if necessary.

[alpine_saint]

How come the club reacted fast to the news of Richardson's injury by getting in Butterfield, but we have known since Schneiderlin's red card against Yeovil that we need CM back-up and nothing has happened ?

 

Are we really supposed to beleive that 3 months isnt enough time to deal with that situation ?

[John B]

How come the club reacted fast to the news of Richardson's injury by getting in Butterfield, but we have known since Schneiderlin's red card against Yeovil that we need CM back-up and nothing has happened ?

 

Are we really supposed to beleive that 3 months isnt enough time to deal with that situation ?

 

Who do you suggest we recruit for CM

 

Butterfield was out of contract but I doubt whether there are any decent out of contract CMs and trying to get one in League 1 may be difficult.

 

Bailey who we were apparently interested in went to Middlesborough andGillett went to Doncaster and James is going to Colchester so AP cant be as worried as you

Edited 19 July, 2010 by John B

[SO16_Saint]

How come the club reacted fast to the news of Richardson's injury by getting in Butterfield, but we have known since Schneiderlin's red card against Yeovil that we need CM back-up and nothing has happened ?

 

Are we really supposed to beleive that 3 months isnt enough time to deal with that situation ?

 

I dont know, but I'm sure it's not as easy as clicking your finger and saying 'you're signing for us'.

 

I would hope that we've enquirer about many players and for one reason or other just 3 players have joined so far.

 

So far.

[Chez]

How come the club reacted fast to the news of Richardson's injury by getting in Butterfield, but we have known since Schneiderlin's red card against Yeovil that we need CM back-up and nothing has happened ?

 

Are we really supposed to beleive that 3 months isnt enough time to deal with that situation ?

when will you ever get it into your head that its not championship manager. Getting the right player at the right price is far from simple. Anyone can sign a player, but do we want just anyone? Quite clearly we have gone for a number of players, some we have got, some we haven't. One of the main reasons we haven't is that we are trying to get Championship quality players into the club - Baily, Adomah etc. But Championship stadard players such as these tend to want to play in the championship or higher.

 

Instead of always sighing at the `lack of progress' why not enjoy the transfers we have brought in a little longer that 20 seconds you usually do. You're like my Mrs. "Ooooh I just love these expensive new sofas Chez. All we need now is a new carpet..." sigh

[The Kraken]

How come the club reacted fast to the news of Richardson's injury by getting in Butterfield, but we have known since Schneiderlin's red card against Yeovil that we need CM back-up and nothing has happened ?

 

Are we really supposed to beleive that 3 months isnt enough time to deal with that situation ?

 

Firstly, how do you know that the club "reacted" to Richardson's injury with the Butterfield signing? By all accounts on the other xfer thread Butterfield has been lined up for a few weeks now, and being as we had zero right backs going into the season is it really beyond your comprehension that AP wanted to bring in 2 players for the position?

 

Secondly, what is your obsession with getting in "any" player, just so that they are in and fill a gap? I would truly much rather the club waited and signed the right player, rather than someone of lesser ability but who could come in now. Yes, I (and most) would like a CM as soon as possible, and agree we need one for the whole season. While we are certainly a player light for a whole campaign at CM, we still have Puncheon and Wotton and even Butterfield who (while not being ideal) can come in and do a reasonable short-term job. So its not as if we have no-one who can play the position. And it's not as if our form fell off a cliff without Schneiderlin anyway, we won 2 and drew 1 of the 4 games.

[SFKA South Woodford]

Firstly, how do you know that the club "reacted" to Richardson's injury with the Butterfield signing? By all accounts on the other xfer thread Butterfield has been lined up for a few weeks now, and being as we had zero right backs going into the season is it really beyond your comprehension that AP wanted to bring in 2 players for the position?

 

Secondly, what is your obsession with getting in "any" player, just so that they are in and fill a gap? I would truly much rather the club waited and signed the right player, rather than someone of lesser ability but who could come in now. Yes, I (and most) would like a CM as soon as possible, and agree we need one for the whole season. While we are certainly a player light for a whole campaign at CM, we still have Puncheon and Wotton and even Butterfield who (while not being ideal) can come in and do a reasonable short-term job. So its not as if we have no-one who can play the position. And it's not as if our form fell off a cliff without Schneiderlin anyway, we won 2 and drew 1 of the 4 games.

 

Where exactly has Alpine said that he just wants players in and anyone will do?

 

He's absolutely right about Schneiderlin, Pardew should have known that he needed cover when Schneiderlin got that red card and the team had next to no creativity for the next few matches as a result. So more than three months is ample time to procure some cover for him, especially with Pardews expensively assembled scouting network, meaning that most of the work is already done for him. We all know that it will be a disaster if we aren't promoted at the end of the season, and Pardew knows that he will not have a job if we haven't gone up in the top two let alone via the play offs, so seeing as Cortese has put the resources at his disposal, is it not prudent on his part for him to have done his homework and with the aid of his scouts, have lined up more than two players who always looked likely to play at a higher level, as possible midfield recruits?

 

If Pardew waits until the end of the transfer window to get the players the team needs, I will be very angry with anyone who then comes out and says 'but the new players need time to gel and settle in' the team need to make hay whilst the sun is shining and pick up maximum points before the weather and pitches turn against them and matches turn into a hard slog on mud baths.

 

BTW, are you seriously saying that you would be happy to see a Saints centre midfield pairing of Wotton and Puncheon at any point next season, let alone for a run of matches?

[The Kraken]

Where exactly has Alpine said that he just wants players in and anyone will do?

 

He's absolutely right about Schneiderlin, Pardew should have known that he needed cover when Schneiderlin got that red card and the team had next to no creativity for the next few matches as a result. So more than three months is ample time to procure some cover for him, especially with Pardews expensively assembled scouting network, meaning that most of the work is already done for him. We all know that it will be a disaster if we aren't promoted at the end of the season, and Pardew knows that he will not have a job if we haven't gone up in the top two let alone via the play offs, so seeing as Cortese has put the resources at his disposal, is it not prudent on his part for him to have done his homework and with the aid of his scouts, have lined up more than two players who always looked likely to play at a higher level, as possible midfield recruits?

 

If Pardew waits until the end of the transfer window to get the players the team needs, I will be very angry with anyone who then comes out and says 'but the new players need time to gel and settle in' the team need to make hay whilst the sun is shining and pick up maximum points before the weather and pitches turn against them and matches turn into a hard slog on mud baths.

 

BTW, are you seriously saying that you would be happy to see a Saints centre midfield pairing of Wotton and Puncheon at any point next season, let alone for a run of matches?

 

To answer your questions....

 

In the transfer thread he started, he stated "If some of you are still not worried, you SHOULD BE.", which says to me that as we haven't signed a CM by now, I should be very worried. Why? If we haven't yet been able to recruit exactly the player we need, why is having a sub-standard CM in already better than waiting one, two, three weeks for the right player?

 

And as I've already said, most people (including me) recognise that we are short of depth at CM and need to make a signing there. I've never denied that. However, I balance that with the fact that the transfer window is open until August 31 and, if needs be, if might take all of that time to get the right player in. I'd prefer to have a player now, but it's no guarantee that it's the right player. If waiting a little longer means we get a player such as Danns, then it's a risk worth taking. Just because AP has had 3 months to recruit, it doesn't necessarily mean that the right player has become available yet, particularly when we are presumably trying to convince a Championship quality player to tale a dip into a lower league. As has been pointed out before, this isn't Championship Manager and transfer dealings when convincing players to drop a division can end up being somewhat protracted. It doesn't mean that all efforts are not being expended.

 

Also, with regard to your "gelling" argument, I very much agree. But I can't see it being an issue as it was last year as we already have a very good first team. Fonte and Puncheon needed no gelling time because they arrived in January into an already settled side. A new CM will do exactly the same.

 

And I think you're twisting my words somewhat for the "Wotton and Puncheon" pairing. What I said was that they can come in and do a reasonable short term job, just as they did at the back end of last season. They're not what anyone would consider a solution to the CM problem but neither can they be ignored from our list of options.

[NickG]

nope..still not worried.