AP talking sense

[theyin]

AP talking?

[JibMcdo]

Christ, if he said "we wont get promoted" people like you will be trying to spin it positive.

 

Taking the pressure off the players.

[eelpie]

Looking at it a different way, the closer we get to the end of the window without either:

 

a) Any sign of movement away by our key players (Lambert/Schneiderlin/Lallana); or

 

b) Antonio/Papa signing up with another club

 

the happier I get.

 

That's about it. We should know by now that Saints business is no longer done by trumpeting that we are desperate for certain players in x positions.

 

if we survive the window without losing Lallana Lambert and Morgan it will be the equivalent of signing them for the campaign. AP did say that he is looking for competition for the wide places so he is aware that we will miss not having P&A on the bench. And I'm hopeful that AP will find cover for Morgan and Rickie if the right player becomes available.

 

This is the first summer period for years that we can be positive. I'm enjoying it.

[JibMcdo]

"We haven't really nailed down how we play with the team yet, we've just let them get fit"

 

Alpine talking rubbish again.

[wild-saint]

Out of interest Alpine as you dont seem to be happy with the way things are progressing, what would you do if you were in charge?

[Chez]

Christ, if he said "we wont get promoted" people like you will be trying to spin it positive.

Christ, if he signed three players tomorrow you'd still moan about them not being signed before pre season.

[Chez]

Out of interest Alpine as you dont seem to be happy with the way things are progressing, what would you do if you were in charge?

 

apparently you don't need to provide an alternative it is just perfectly reasonable to just moan.

[The Kraken]

I can look at his comments from two ways.

 

He hasn't mentioned looking for a new CM, and I guess I would have preferred clarification, so can agree with Alpine's "worry" about it.

 

That said, Holmes still has an awful lot to prove in terms of being fit so can't yet be considered a proper replacement out wide, AP is right to say we are very short of depth there. But at CM it could be a massive kick in the teeth for Wotton (and maybe Puncheon) if he also came out and said we had no cover there.

 

That's the positive spin, anyway. But I guess we'll see before the end of August what will happen, I really can't see how we won't strengthen in such a key area.

[Saint Mikey]

By the way is Gobern injured as he and Dickson did not play last night

 

Gobern was released in the summer...

[View From The Top]

Christ, if he signed three players tomorrow you'd still moan about them not being signed before pre season.

 

The bloke is a class 1 c*** but credit where it's due, as a troll he's unsurpassed.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Gobern? The only other option I see is maybe Wotton in the holding role as a three with Puncheon, Lallana or Chamberlain in the role Mellis played briefly to good effect before he went away with England.

 

I can see another loan deal filling this back up CM slot. Maybe even Mellis again. if we are going to buy a CM then Sameda from Charlton for me.

 

Good shout.

 

Also, when AP says:

we have done that for sure with two very senior quality players and that is the competition we need in other areas, which we don't really have that at the moment.

I take that to include centre midfield.

[Barry the Badger]

Ridiculous.

 

It's not ridiculous though is it?

 

If, when we were in administration, somebody had've told you that by July 2010 we would have spent millions more than anybody else in the division, narrowly missed out on the play offs from a -10 start, won a trophy at Wembley, signed a whole new team containing many of the divisions best players, and were favorites to win promotion, but that you would STILL be moaning... you would have said that was ridiculous.

 

You just can't stop yourself and I don't think it will ever change no matter how succesful we become.

[shurlock]

Agree with Alpine's midfielder comments - most positions have seen real strengthening yet AP has only brought in one CM during his time at the club, Hammond. If anything we need two players, the box-to-box CM others have identified and a CM who is good on the ball. Everybody knows that we've looked clueless whenever Schneiderlin has been out. To assume that a player who is still young and raw, has a suspect temperament as well as a history of minor injuries (at least in his first season) isn't going to miss or go missing in games is a hell of a gamble.

[Convict Colony]

Ok to randomly add to this thread seeing as we will be having the same question about mystery buy's, does anyone know if they are any good, will they start or be back up this season until the end of the transfer window I thought I would so add to the stirring pot what will be the best formation (in your view to get the most out of the current players) and also most popular score this year ?

 

Last year 3-1 was the king but looking at the competition (which i think is less than last year) can we expect more goalfest's ? or tight consistent mourinho-esq win's 2-0.

 

I am going for 2 nil with from goal keeper to strikers (left to right), 1-4-1-3-2

[Saint Garrett]

We certainly do need competition for places in the middle of the park. I can see that coming in on loan with someone that we would see as 'too good for league 1'. Hopefully Pards can find someone to do that job as well as a winger that is capable of playing up front.

[Cabrone]

Agree with AP, we have a decent team now and we should only be looking to sign if we can improve playing staff.

 

If that means it gets more tricky bringing in new players then so be it, give me quality over quantity any day of the week.

 

Still hoping that we can get another quality CM before the season starts though.

[John B]

Gobern was released in the summer...

 

Thanks I thought that maybe the case bit of shame really - none of our youngsters seem to be making it at the moment

[Dibden Purlieu Saint]

We certainly do need competition for places in the middle of the park. I can see that coming in on loan with someone that we would see as 'too good for league 1'. Hopefully Pards can find someone to do that job as well as a winger that is capable of playing up front.

 

Haven't even really thought about the loan market. Would be worth looking at bringing a few younger players in as back up, as we did with Mellis last season.

[Hopkins]

Gobern was released in the summer...

 

No. He wasn't....

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10280~45372,00.html

 

Wouldn't actually mind seeing him and McNish being given the opportunity to step in at CM if we had problems with Morgan. It's the only chance they will have of succeding at this club for us so I wouldn't be suprised if we don't strengthen this area unless Morgan gets a long term injury and just stick with Gobern, McNish, Wotton, Puncheon etc being options for the short term.

 

Must stress that the possible back up signings of a CM and a Striker for Lambert will probably only be short term anyway. If you think about it, if we progess up a level this season into the Championship we are going to have to start improving our squad in these areas again and getting players who will challenge Lambert/Morgan etc for a starting place that somebody who is willing to be a back up in a league one side will not be able to compete in a team looking to challenge in the Championship.

 

Maybe using the youngsters such as Gobern/McNish this season as a short term, allows us to spend on better quality next season if we are promoted. If Morgan/Lambert gets injured long term obviously we have to go out and strengthen with quality asap and in the ideal world we'd do that now and bring in a team which can compete in the Championship to play for us now, but finding the quality of players required in the Championship to come and play for us in league one while not being guaranteed regular football is in reality probably quite tough.

[Chez]

Gobern was released in the summer...

 

are you sure? His profile and photo in the new kit are on the website http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10280~45372,00.html plus his name was not mentioned when others were released, plus he has another year left on his contract I think.

[saint1977]

One player we won't be signing is Joe Garner who has gone to Hudds. V.good player, not for us as too similar to Lallana who is even more gifted than Garner (he can also play the withdrawn forward role like Garner) and whose finishing really came on a ton last year but I'd have to make Hudds joint favourites with us. I'm pleased in a way as it reinforces Saints' desire to bring in only players of that calibre or better to keep us ahead of them. If we do bring in 2-3 more quality players, I think Weds are looking at the play offs although it depends on how Morrison fires.

[Chez]

Agree with Alpine's midfielder comments - most positions have seen real strengthening yet AP has only brought in one CM during his time at the club, Hammond.

 

but last year he had Schneiderlin, James, Wotton, Gillett, Pulis, Gobern, and McNish already at the club so perhaps was reluctant to bring in another player to effectively sit on the bench. He did actually bring in Mellis as well I might add.

 

With James and Gillett gone perhaps wages are not freed up, but perhaps he still needs to lose Pulis and Gobern to keep squad size down to respectable levels.

[saintmonkey1979]

I guessed it was, but just couldn't resist a bit of leg pulling

 

You rotter!

[Dibden Purlieu Saint]

You rotter!

 

Woah, guys, take your disagreements elsewhere. We should be talking about football, not throwing insults like that around...

[Barry the Badger]

I guess that Centre Mid must be a very difficult position to fill. We need to find somebody with real quality for this division but can't even guarentee them they will be first choice as Hammond is the captain and Scneiderlin is the nuts.

 

"Excuse me Nicky Bailey, I know you're too good for this league but would you mind awfully signing for us and then not being first choice?"

[Fan The Flames]

'Not in a rush to buy' is code for we are not willing to pay the market rate for a player. Lowe use to quote it all the time, then we would get in someone at half the price who is less than half as good.

[Barry the Badger]

'Not in a rush to buy' is code for we are not willing to pay the market rate for a player. Lowe use to quote it all the time, then we would get in someone at half the price who is less than half as good.

 

Or we would get Peter Crouch, everybody would moan that he was a cheap option going to be ****, and then he was bloody amazing!

[Shroppie]

I guess that Centre Mid must be a very difficult position to fill. We need to find somebody with real quality for this division but can't even guarentee them they will be first choice as Hammond is the captain and Scneiderlin is the nuts.

 

"Excuse me Nicky Bailey, I know you're too good for this league but would you mind awfully signing for us and then not being first choice?"

 

Nail hit firmly on head. Which is why we may have to rely on home-grown talent as backup.

[shurlock]

but last year he had Schneiderlin, James, Wotton, Gillett, Pulis, Gobern, and McNish already at the club so perhaps was reluctant to bring in another player to effectively sit on the bench. He did actually bring in Mellis as well I might add.

 

With James and Gillett gone perhaps wages are not freed up, but perhaps he still needs to lose Pulis and Gobern to keep squad size down to respectable levels.

 

True though the way AP pretty brutally released James, at one point the first name on the team sheet, speaks volumes to the lack of depth in our midfield. With James and Gillett gone, there's now less of reason to address this area. That AP chose to experiment with a really inexperienced/second-string midfield (McNish, Mills, OC, Holmes) in our first preseason games -surprising at the time- suggests he wanted to establish how much our fringe midfielders, not just our CM, can do a job, perhaps with a view to requesting extra funds.

[benjii]

Everyone on here knows that Wotton is not in the same league as Hammond and Schneiderlin and so if we have an injury to one of those two we will either lose quality in the middle or have to stick a "winger" in there to cover which disrupts our usual game and probably weakens the wing.

 

Everyone knows that. We all know that. Pardew knows that. It is known.

 

We have loads of money. We sign good players. The window is open. There are no holes in our starting eleven.

 

What on earth is there to be remotely "worried" about?

[Viking Warrior]

Or come on guys leave little old fatso Alpine alone , I dont agree with him being pedantic far from it, he just unfathomable.

He needs to know that we do care about him. and we do in a perverse manner. Even if he acts like a sarcastic scroat most of the time. I don't agree with his

negativty but he has the right to express himself. Occassionally I would like him to come out with something positive.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

everyone on here knows that wotton is not in the same league as hammond and schneiderlin and so if we have an injury to one of those two we will either lose quality in the middle or have to stick a "winger" in there to cover which disrupts our usual game and probably weakens the wing.

 

Everyone knows that. We all know that. Pardew knows that. It is known.

 

We have loads of money. We sign good players. The window is open. There are no holes in our starting eleven.

 

What on earth is there to be remotely "worried" about?

 

exactly!!!

[NickG]

Ummm ..... message posted 0818 saying interview was on at 0820 ..... you have discovered the secret of time travel.

 

Please PM me the next winning lottery tickets and i'll give you a 10% cut

 

I am posting this at exactly 16.27 to check the forum clock!!!

 

If thats right sports news was bit early!

[NickG]

yep forum clock is slow

[ericofarabia]

yep forum clock is slow

 

NC Out !!

[Saint Fan CaM]

Also, surely Pardew isn't thinking of using Pulis for the first team?

 

What we couldn't see was the huge giggle AP had when he mentioned Pulis' name.

[david in sweden]

Because no two injuries are exactly the same.

 

and no two people's body's are the same either.....

[david in sweden]

If Pardew thought Pulis had a part to play in the first team, he (Pulis) would surely have been in Switzerland, not playing Saints XI friendlies with the kids. Also, notice the praise that Pardew has for other players in that team - his only mention of Pulis is his shoulder!

 

He has to mention him somewhere ..Pulis' contract goes out next month... and I don't think we're likely to give a new 5 year deal !

I'm only guessing you understand...I'm not ITK on this one ...

[Saint_clark]

He has to mention him somewhere ..Pulis' contract goes out next month... and I don't think we're likely to give a new 5 year deal !

I'm only guessing you understand...I'm not ITK on this one ...

 

Why does he need to mention him? We released plenty of players so far without them getting a mention before hand.

[Professor]

Christ, if he signed three players tomorrow you'd still moan about them not being signed before pre season.

Correct. The close season signings have been inadequate and even if made now, it could be too late to avoid dropping points in the first few games.

apparently you don't need to provide an alternative it is just perfectly reasonable to just moan.

Correct, fans are entitled to criticise and do not have to do the manager's job for him in order to have that right.

But as fans are fickle, all Pardew has to do is win the first three games and the reaction will be very different!

[david in sweden]

Why does he need to mention him? We released plenty of players so far without them getting a mention before hand.

 

read his lips...Pulis is the son of another manager...keep on good terms with ..in case.

Mentioning the worry about the shoulder introduces an element of doubt about extending his contract (which we wouldn't have done anyway) but

it shows genuine concern about his future fitness...and we don't want to sign anyone with a bad injury record..do we ?.

SEE ...everyone comes out OK (except Pulis ) who shouldn't have been signed in the first place.

[theyin]

he is now.....

 

from http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2101350,00.html

 

"Talk of players coming in over the last few days has increased, but Pardew says that the approach has not changed in terms of how Saints recruit new stars.

 

"We don't say anything about players that we are interested in, and I don't want to comment on players that other people have mentioned because that is nothing to do with us. The only thing Southampton fans need to know is that when we come out with a message you can be sure it is a true message.

 

"We've been watching the market, there's not been much movement and we are trying not to pitch in too early as a better player may come available and we miss him. It's about timing, the fans shouldn't get too concerned, I know they are waiting for us to pitch in, but hopefully we will do that in the next few weeks when a lot of managers will be doing the same thing."