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If you really think we don't need to buy...


david in sweden

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Yes we do, and it's about time people realised it

 

(1) Lambert for example. My Granny could have moved faster than he did v's Notts County, and her wheelchair is still in for service

 

(2) We had NO midfield once Chaplow went off, did you not hear the crowd voice their displeasure at OUR lack of trying to win the ball back

 

(3) IMHO Jaidi is past it, good in the air yes, but a Charlie Austen would run rings around him. ( Come to think of it, so would my Granny )

 

Unless Cortese intends to invest NOW, we are in for a Great Big SLUMP, IMHO

im

 

one 0-0 in that great run!

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Just to be on the safe side and assure us of automatic promotion, this is what we need:

 

4 more strikers

4 more wingers (or 3 if one of them can operate on either flank)

2 defensive midfielders

2 attacking midfielders

3 centre backs

2 left backs

1 right back

Another reserve reserve keeper (just in case, but we could always rely on emergency loans for this so not a priority)

 

all young, but experienced, in-form, playing at a higher level and keen to come here. Totally agree.

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unless multiple players leave or are crocked for season this squad is easily good enough. Improve if we can but don't need to. One draw to the in form side in the league is not a reason to panic buy.

 

We are still 2nd in current form averaging over 2 points per game

Nick's rose tinted glasses might have prevented him seeing that virtually all the Prem giants are in for AOC. Now, that doesn't mean Alex will leave, but he might and it might be that Puncheon, who could be the replacement, might want away as well. Lallana's absence showed on Saturday and he might be out for a week or two, or could it be the month or two that some have speculated?

The problem is that the club we can't wait to find out because by then the window could be closed. So, can the team still perform as well as it has, with two key players missing and how much of a gamble should the management take? Missing out on promotion is not a disaster, after all its only football, but how will fans feel if we have to start another season this autumn in this league, this time with Brighton having gone up!

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im dreading the reaction to when we lose another game....(which we will more than once)

 

probably go back to saying we need 5/6 new player again..

 

We'll be undefeated in january, so when we lose another game people will start saying "we needed more players in the window, we won't go up now".

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I take it you mean Lalanna, Puncheon and Chamberlain?

 

Puncheon hasn't played any part in the "synergy" we have supposedly lost and Alex is still here. One 0-0 draw after winning 5 on the bounce and we've lost it? Ridiculous.

 

Yes - we've lost two key components to that "synergy" (Lallana and Chaplow) so it's not ridiculous. You are being ridiculous if you are suggesting that their absence has not had an effect on the manner in which the team play and compete. It was so blatantly obvious in that 0-0 draw that I can hardly believe anyone not seeing what is so obviously a problem.

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Yes - we've lost two key components to that "synergy" (Lallana and Chaplow) so it's not ridiculous. You are being ridiculous if you are suggesting that their absence has not had an effect on the manner in which the team play and compete. It was so blatantly obvious in that 0-0 draw that I can hardly believe anyone not seeing what is so obviously a problem.

 

everyone knows he will be/has been missed, no one will despute this, but we are not a one man team. We are lucky to have Lallana in our current position, he should be playing in the Championship at least and is head and shoulders the best player in this league. But other teams manage to score goals without the best player in the league, why should be be any different? I trust NA to come up with a play to get the best out of the players playing without him, he got S****horpe promoted twice with a team worse than we have and without a player of Lallanas ability.

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With vital players now out injured, lets review this after our next three games ?

 

I may be in a minority of one who dares to suggest that relying on PAST form, will see us though irrespective of how weak our squad becomes

 

Okay then so past form isn't a good rule of thumb to base the future on? So obviously with Man Utd being top and unbeaten in the Premier league this season it would be ridiculous to suggest they might win the league because West Ham might go on and win every game for the rest of the season and pip them to the title.

 

Under NA we have won 14 and drawn 4 of our 21 games, in this time we have had injuries and suspensions to key players and we will again. Given his record so far i completely have faith in him to keep this record going.

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some points

 

When is a squad to big? you've named five strikers how many do we need? yes **** could happen but the idea of buying more players just in case **** does happen seems wrong to me. As you point out we're building for the future so do we want to bloat the squad up with players we can get now or wait until the summer see were the club is (hopefully promoted) and buy then when we have more players to chose from. Panic buying in Jan seems a sure way to fill the squad up with wrong'uns to me, of course if a player of real quaility wants to join us now thats fine by me, but I imagine the best targets would rather see what league we're in come the end of the season first.

 

Sure I listed 5 srikers but you miss the whole point. Of the 5, Lambert, although improving isnt scoring as frequently as last season...Barnard could well be in jail soon...Connolly cant be relied upon at all, if he stays fit its a pure bonus....Guly, as it tands apparently only here til Jan 23rd, although it does seem likely he'll be signed.....and Doble, untried, a kid, and before you cite AOC as comparison, you cannot rely on a kid who hasnt scored a League goal yet!! Again...if you are happy to gamble our promotion on them alone then you sir are a ****!!!!

 

As for the squad size, I didnt even mention it and to answer your "point" that you asked as a question (!) a squad is too big when it costs too much in salaries and/or creates a bad environment and a split squad. I do not want to see "panic buys" or "long-term buys" that block the squad. E.G. and purely hypothetically, if we were to sign say Lee Bowyer for 6 months, that would/could be a great move BUT sign Lee Bowyer on a 2 1/2 year deal and I would think thats a bad move!!

 

You make a good point about there being better targets available when promoted and probably more of them too, but without two or three fresh BETTER players NOW I think we are taking a big risk on being promoted come May and relying on a lack of injuries and suspensions.

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im dreading the reaction to when we lose another game....(which we will more than once)

 

probably go back to saying we need 5/6 new player again..

 

You may think that this clamour for reinforcements is a reaction to Saturday but I for one (and indeed others on this thread) have been saying the same thing since the start of the season.

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so basically...saints would need the most expensive, talented and largest squad in division 3 history JUST to go up...

 

DAvis, Bart

Dickson, Harding

Frazer, Butters

Fonte, Raidi, Martin, Seaborne

Lallana, Holmes

AOC Puncheon

Hammond, Morgan

Chaplow, Gobern

Guly, Lambert

Barnard, Connolly, Doble

 

Thats 23 players, hardly a big squad let alone the biggest. You can list others but they arent part of the squad, they are either on loan or just kids. Or called Tommy Forecast!

Of these 22 the ones in bold are injured leaving 19 players to call upon. Reinforcements required.

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Nope. Not enough emphasis being given to the injuries we are picking up in combination with media speculation about at least 2 of our midfield.

 

You simply don't know what is to happen and media speculation is just that ..... it doesn't mean we will sell! Certainly not without replacing anyway.

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(1) Lambert for example. My Granny could have moved faster than he did v's Notts County, and her wheelchair is still in for service

 

I hope your Granny is alright and gets her wheelchair back all sorted. My Gran is also wheelchair bound and her chair broke a few months back. It was a real pain for all of us. She couldn't get about and got quite grouchy and we had to put up with her rages. Eventually she got it all sorted and things are back to normal and my Grandad will take her down to the next home game!

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When Burley was here it drove me mad that we could all see the holes - in our defence - and he did nothing but buy midfielders. At one point I counted ELEVEN central midfielders and not a single winger... And we had to suffer a thumping by Crystal Effing Palace for him to realise what Stevie Wonder could see.

 

So here we are, recognising that the weakness is a lack of a creative midfielder and pursuing a striker...???

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DAvis, Bart

Dickson, Harding

Frazer, Butters

Fonte, Raidi, Martin, Seaborne

Lallana, Holmes

AOC Puncheon

Hammond, Morgan

Chaplow, Gobern

Guly, Lambert

Barnard, Connolly, Doble

 

Thats 23 players, hardly a big squad let alone the biggest. You can list others but they arent part of the squad, they are either on loan or just kids. Or called Tommy Forecast!

Of these 22 the ones in bold are injured leaving 19 players to call upon. Reinforcements required.

 

Connolly isn't injured is he? He has been on the bench a fair bit lately.

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Yes - we've lost two key components to that "synergy" (Lallana and Chaplow) so it's not ridiculous. You are being ridiculous if you are suggesting that their absence has not had an effect on the manner in which the team play and compete. It was so blatantly obvious in that 0-0 draw that I can hardly believe anyone not seeing what is so obviously a problem.

 

Just a thought, but maybe Notts County performed admirably and above their ability on Saturday and we didn't play top drawer. It's football, it happens. Just take a look at Chelsea right now. No team is exempt from a poor performance or even several and its the same with injuries but you simply cannot cater for every possibility when planning transfer strategy. There is always an element of fortune involved in such matters. Remember, other teams will also experience similar issues at times when we are not and the fact still remains that we have been reeling in the leaders hand over fist so if we can strengthen fine, but i don't want to see players coming in simply for cover alone.

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Just a thought, but maybe Notts County performed admirably and above their ability on Saturday and we didn't play top drawer. It's football, it happens. Just take a look at Chelsea right now. No team is exempt from a poor performance or even several and its the same with injuries but you simply cannot cater for every possibility when planning transfer strategy. There is always an element of fortune involved in such matters. Remember, other teams will also experience similar issues at times when we are not and the fact still remains that we have been reeling in the leaders hand over fist so if we can strengthen fine, but i don't want to see players coming in simply for cover alone.

 

Notts County won away at Sunderland in the FAC cup two weeks ago, they are no mugs. As you say, maybe they played above themselves and we were definitely below par. That said though we still missed 3 or 4 good chances and should have won. We wont win every game FFS.

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Notts County won away at Sunderland in the FAC cup two weeks ago, they are no mugs. As you say, maybe they played above themselves and we were definitely below par. That said though we still missed 3 or 4 good chances and should have won. We wont win every game FFS.

 

Completely agree with you. In simple terms we only need to achieve an average of around 2 points per game for the remainder of the season and that will likely be good enough for promotion.

 

Personally, I'm confident we can do this under NA even if AL has an injury that may keep him out some time. I also believe that NA / NC will not sell anyone without having an able replacement lined up that means promotion plans aren't jeopardised. NC has shown no signs whatsoever of being a man that will be bullied into any decision that is not to the benefit of Saints and I'm sure it will be the same with transfers as well.

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You may think that this clamour for reinforcements is a reaction to Saturday but I for one (and indeed others on this thread) have been saying the same thing since the start of the season.

 

Bingo, I don't know why when people mention strengthening the squad others have to come out with this patronising 'wrist slitting' stuff.

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Think a club should plan its transfer strategy on one average performance after numerous good ones, and speculation on the internet about players leaving or their injuries - can't think of a better way for them to plan

 

so basically...saints would need the most expensive, talented and largest squad in division 3 history JUST to go up...

 

Pathetic

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I think we need at least another couple of signings. My main worry is midfield. When things click we do alright. But when they don't we just fall down. Games like the Notts County one have happened a few times and personally i think that is down to lack of depth in that area. If everybody is fit and on form obviously we don't have a problem. But as shown at the weekend if Lallana isn't playing and Alex is having an off day we sort of grind to a halt. Our bench at the weekend was Bialkowski, Harding, Butterfield, Seaborne, Gobern, Barnard, Doble. Gobern being our only real midfielder. If we have that bench for the rest of the season i think we should worry a little. The other player i think we need is a pacey striker. Someone who can get in behind the defence to do 1 on 1's with the keeper. We don't really have a front man like that in the team. More of your holding type players. It would be nice to have someone we can launch it to and try and counter attack fast.

We will not be going the rest of the season without injuries/suspensions.

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Just a thought, but maybe Notts County performed admirably and above their ability on Saturday and we didn't play top drawer. It's football, it happens. Just take a look at Chelsea right now. No team is exempt from a poor performance or even several and its the same with injuries but you simply cannot cater for every possibility when planning transfer strategy. There is always an element of fortune involved in such matters. Remember, other teams will also experience similar issues at times when we are not and the fact still remains that we have been reeling in the leaders hand over fist so if we can strengthen fine, but i don't want to see players coming in simply for cover alone.

 

You're right in the sense it's only one game. But it's not. The drop in form when Lallana is out of the side is blatantly obvious if you care to check the stats. And now we've got both Hammond and Chaplow injured we're having to rely on the likes of Gobern who unfortunately is not up to the standard needed to obtain auto promotion. We need a striker to replace Barnard who will be seeing time soon (perhaps the Hereford French 21 yr old guy) and a CM/wide player who can step in and stake a place in the side while Lallana, Chaplow and Hammond are out (e.g. Ryan Harley is that man IMO).

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Bingo, I don't know why when people mention strengthening the squad others have to come out with this patronising 'wrist slitting' stuff.

 

Me neither. But this childishness seems to be affecting even the most unlikeliest of people...

 

im dreading the reaction to when we lose another game....(which we will more than once)

 

probably go back to saying we need 5/6 new player again..

so basically...saints would need the most expensive, talented and largest squad in division 3 history JUST to go up...

 

Our midfield is potentially on the brink of collapse, yet instead of discussing what real measures the club should take, all we get are supercillious comments.

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Me neither. But this childishness seems to be affecting even the most unlikeliest of people...

 

 

 

 

Our midfield is potentially on the brink of collapse, yet instead of discussing what real measures the club should take, all we get are supercillious comments.

 

key word is potentially. Adkins will know whether Puncheon and Ox-C are staying. He will also have a better idea on Lallana's and Chaplow's fitness. If those factors are all negative then I agree we need to get someone in, but if they are not (and we can only honestly judge on facts and where we are now) I don't think we do

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What we need are more players who would be willing to sign to just act as back-up in a league one squad. That way when we go up we will have a nice big squad full of league one level players on nice new contracts, when we could be filling the squad with new Championship level players who would be willing to move to us by then.

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What we need are more players who would be willing to sign to just act as back-up in a league one squad. That way when we go up we will have a nice big squad full of league one level players on nice new contracts, when we could be filling the squad with new Championship level players who would be willing to move to us by then.

 

I agree, the ideal model for the five year plan to get back to the premier league, which has 3.5 years left, is to have a squad of 40 players, a league one level squad full of back up players on 3-4 year contracts, all drawng £5k-£7k a week but not good enough to play at championship level, in fact most of them will hardly play anyway as they will only be back up or cover players incase of injuries or suspensions to our first XI. THis is much better plan than than 22-24 good players, good enough to play in the championship and above on £7-10k a week. I've seen this model somewhere before and it worked brilliantly, that team got relegated twice in four years and went into admistration, i think we should do it again.

Edited by Turkish
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I agree, the ideal model for the five year plan to get back to the premier league, which has 3.5 years left, is to have a squad of 40 players, a league one level squad full of back up players on 3-4 year contracts, all drawng £5k-£7k a week but not good enough to play at championship level, in fact most of them will hardly play anyway as they will only be back up or cover players incase of injuries or suspensions to our first XI. THis is much better plan than than 22-24 good players, good enough to play in the championship and above on £7-10k a week. I've seen this model somewhere before and it worked brilliantly, that team got relegated twice in four years and went into admistration, i think we should do it again.

 

What you are sarcastically saying is not untrue, however those of us who consider the state of the squad a risk at a crucial time in the campaign are not suggesting a huge increase in numbers - we're talking two players that will be ready for the NPC.

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What you are sarcastically saying is not untrue, however those of us who consider the state of the squad a risk at a crucial time in the campaign are not suggesting a huge increase in numbers - we're talking two players that will be ready for the NPC.

 

It is a case of getting the balance right, as i've said many many times, a couple of top quality additions would be more than welcome, but signing players no better than what we have and in reality likely to be worse just to act as cover is pointless. What sort of player is going to come here as "cover" for Lallanas injury for example? knowing they'll play for 6 weeks then might not play again this season? What we need are good players which enable us to change formations and systems to suit the match, opposition and conditions. People are slating Gobern, he is our 4th choice central midfielder, is a better player going to join us knowing they will hardly kick a ball for the rest of the season? In fact if someone is happy to come here and sit on the bench you have to question if you'd want them as part of your squad in the first place. There is a big difference between being a good player used as part of a squad and a player being signed as back up to the first team.

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It is a case of getting the balance right, as i've said many many times, a couple of top quality additions would be more than welcome, but signing players no better than what we have and in reality likely to be worse just to act as cover is pointless. What sort of player is going to come here as "cover" for Lallanas injury for example? knowing they'll play for 6 weeks then might not play again this season? What we need are good players which enable us to change formations and systems to suit the match, opposition and conditions. People are slating Gobern, he is our 4th choice central midfielder, is a better player going to join us knowing they will hardly kick a ball for the rest of the season? In fact if someone is happy to come here and sit on the bench you have to question if you'd want them as part of your squad in the first place. There is a big difference between being a good player used as part of a squad and a player being signed as back up to the first team.

 

Why should we not bring in someone who can challenge for a place in the team? It's not about sitting on a bench - it's about being part of a squad that can challenge whatever circumstances prevail. If we were to follow your line perhaps Chaplow would not have joined - is he better than Morgan or Hammond who at the time were pretty much certain to start a game? IF we were to sign Ryan Harley for example that would be a perfect and shrewd move for player that could do a job in the NPC, but would also have the flexibility to cover across midfield if needed.

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Why should we not bring in someone who can challenge for a place in the team? It's not about sitting on a bench - it's about being part of a squad that can challenge whatever circumstances prevail. If we were to follow your line perhaps Chaplow would not have joined - is he better than Morgan or Hammond who at the time were pretty much certain to start a game? IF we were to sign Ryan Harley for example that would be a perfect and shrewd move for player that could do a job in the NPC, but would also have the flexibility to cover across midfield if needed.

 

Which is exactly my point. We need players good enough to go straight into the first team and fight for a place and be used in a rotation system. A lot seem to bang on about cover players incase of injuries, suspensions etc. ONes to sit on the bench collecting a wage, i dont know what sort of player people think will join a league one club to do that but they sure as well wont be better than Martin, Buttefield, Connolly, Gobern etc. Chaplow is a classic example of a player coming here to inprove the standard of the squad and first XI. My line of thining is to have a squad of 22-24 good players and I've said numerous times that players better than we have are welcome, if we can sign Charlie Austin and Ryan Harley, brilliant, they would improve the first 11 and the standard of the squad, but signing "cover"or "squad" players, which will undoubtedly be worse or at best no better than what we have to sit around in case of injuries is not the answer. You end up with a massive squad full of average, unmotivated players and we all know where that has got us before.

Edited by Turkish
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I really don't think many are advocating the purchase of cover players, what div 3 side can have that luxury and besides thats what the researve team is for. People are more concerned about bringing in targeted players that will strengthen the first team, players of the Fonte ilk, who could go elsewhere but choose SFC because they understand our potential. So maybe it's worth trying to pull one of them in now instead of the summmer, it may be a bit more costly but it's the safe thing to do. Our squad will be up there with the best buy if you have the cash and the promise of possible promotion then I why not use it.

Edited by Fan The Flames
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