PaulGilchrist_76 Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 If we buy an expensive striker (4 - 6 Million say) then we would be obliged to play him week in and week out. DC would probably be the fall guy and judging by his recent form, this would be a shame. There is also the risk that the new striker does not fit in straght away! However, DC is injury prone. Who'd be a manager eh? I would like to see a back up for RL because no-one in the squad seems to be able to fill his role in the team. A powerful CB is top of the wish list. If we got these three more players in, the squad is then top heavy and I would expect Mills, Puncheon, Dickson to be shipped out. Possibly Martin and Forte to go out on loan? I know people on here will say that we don't need 3 more players now but while it would be a luxury, it would make us 'bomb proof' for the rest of the season and really send out a statement of intent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 The way we are playing at the moment, I wouldn't mind in the slightest if we didn't sign anyone up. We can always shore up in the January window if needed. Thoughts... I care. I am not 100% convinced by the back 5 yet. Thankfully, the front 6 seem capable of compensating any shortcomings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 I would like to see a back up for RL because no-one in the squad seems to be able to fill his role in the team. First of all, I don't think there is a someone that could do the job AND be happy to just be a back-up to RL. We already have Connolly and Barnard who are fairly similar in style; the strikers we're being linked with (Rodriguez, Maynard) are different again, and you could see them them playing with either Lambert or Connolly/Barnard, so it opens up a lot of different options. If we did have to cover for Lambert then out of our current players the only person I could see to getting close to doing it is Guly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 It's a 50 game season. We need a pacy striker and a CB. Gorkks and Rodriguez would be perfect Its a funny thing, but I was reading the Burnley bit about their new striker Zavon Hines, who is probably being brought in because Rodriguez is on his way out, and I couldn't help thinking that this Hines guy (who I know nothing about) would probably have been a better proposition for us right now that Jay Rodriguez. He has pace, is hungry to play and he is a damn sight cheaper than Rodrigues. Yet one has had a single half-decent season in this division and one hasn't. Given we already have a decent strike force what we need is someone who can be gradually brought in and is ready to play when we have a crisis. At the moment, there is no way that NA would drop either RL or DC, so whoever comes in will not get a sniff of first team action for a while. WE deffo do need another striker, but it seems silly shelling out multi-millions when what we need is a young, hungry pacy striker who would be happy to develop and be ready when we get to the PL. Maybe that was the thinking with Forte but I just get the feeling he is not going to develop much beyond where he currently is. We also definitely need a new CB, have said it all along, thats not a slight on Martin or Seaborne, but Jaidi is probably not going to last beyond this season, and already we are seeing that he is not available due to injury. Beyond that I think we would be foolish to bring anyone else in, we have strength in depth in every other position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulGilchrist_76 Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 First of all, I don't think there is a someone that could do the job AND be happy to just be a back-up to RL. We already have Connolly and Barnard who are fairly similar in style; the strikers we're being linked with (Rodriguez, Maynard) are different again, and you could see them them playing with either Lambert or Connolly/Barnard, so it opens up a lot of different options. If we did have to cover for Lambert then out of our current players the only person I could see to getting close to doing it is Guly. Yes, I agree with you about Guly. I think there may be a player - either a youngster or an older player who could do a job and be content with being a squad player as back up to RL. Might take some finding though! As is i said, who'd be a manager? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 At the moment, there is no way that NA would drop either RL or DC, so whoever comes in will not get a sniff of first team action for a while. WE deffo do need another striker, but it seems silly shelling out multi-millions when what we need is a young, hungry pacy striker who would be happy to develop and be ready when we get to the PL. That's not really true, Connolly has been taken off around 60 or 70 minutes in the games so far. And that's with only Steve de Ridder available to replace him. I get the feeling NA is extremely reluctant to risk Conners with 90 minutes of football, which is not a great place to be with a supposed first choice striker. Any new signing is immediately going to be pushing for a starting position; Connolly has been doing well but in now way will have cemented his place in the side as Lambert has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsk Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 If we buy an expensive striker (4 - 6 Million say) then we would be obliged to play him week in and week out. DC would probably be the fall guy and judging by his recent form, this would be a shame. There is also the risk that the new striker does not fit in straght away! However, DC is injury prone. Who'd be a manager eh? I would like to see a back up for RL because no-one in the squad seems to be able to fill his role in the team. A powerful CB is top of the wish list. I think this is part of the reasoning of going for JayRod. As a 22 year old I don't think he would complain about being on the bench for Saints as opposed to the main man for Burnley. I feel he would fit in very well being used as and when required whilst developing as a player. Certainly, I think he would be a better fit than Maynard who would want to be first choice all the time. And with Byrnley having bought 2 new forwards this week I think he may well soon join us. Similarly, now that QPR have been taken over and Warnock now has money to spend perhaps Gorkss will realise he is soon to be wayyy down the pecking order at QPR. He didn't make the squad, let alone the team, for their match and now Warnock is talking about buying 5 new players - one of which is rumoured to be Onuoha. So, hopefully by this time next week we will have those two on the bus and will be fully complemented for the season. (Of course, i also expect to see Puncheon and Mills depart, and possibly Dickson out on loan.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 18 August, 2011 Share Posted 18 August, 2011 If we buy an expensive striker (4 - 6 Million say) then we would be obliged to play him week in and week out. DC would probably be the fall guy and judging by his recent form, this would be a shame. There is also the risk that the new striker does not fit in straght away! However, DC is injury prone. Who'd be a manager eh? I would like to see a back up for RL because no-one in the squad seems to be able to fill his role in the team. A powerful CB is top of the wish list. If we got these three more players in, the squad is then top heavy and I would expect Mills, Puncheon, Dickson to be shipped out. Possibly Martin and Forte to go out on loan? I know people on here will say that we don't need 3 more players now but while it would be a luxury, it would make us 'bomb proof' for the rest of the season and really send out a statement of intent! As much as I hate myself for saying it, I'd rather pi5$ off Connolly by dropping him (as he's 34 and at the evening of his career) than Lambert or even Barnard. Lambert's undroppable anyway really, and as such a back up to Lambert would be pointless. I would expect a first choice striker in to partner Lambert, and hope that both the new signing are professional enough to wait for their opportunity, and that Connolly is professional enough when he does get dropped to fight for his place back in the team. The new signing would have to wait though, as, at the moment, Connolly, too, is undroppable. There's a lot of punctuation in that sentence, my English teacher would be turning over in his grave. (If as suspected, he did eventually go mad and blow his brains out.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintBobby Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 There's no point. If you want new players, sign them in June. After that, there's no point. No point at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 (edited) If we buy an expensive striker (4 - 6 Million say) then we would be obliged to play him week in and week out. DC would probably be the fall guy and judging by his recent form, this would be a shame. There is also the risk that the new striker does not fit in straght away! However, DC is injury prone. Who'd be a manager eh? I would like to see a back up for RL because no-one in the squad seems to be able to fill his role in the team. A powerful CB is top of the wish list. If we got these three more players in, the squad is then top heavy and I would expect Mills, Puncheon, Dickson to be shipped out. Possibly Martin and Forte to go out on loan? I know people on here will say that we don't need 3 more players now but while it would be a luxury, it would make us 'bomb proof' for the rest of the season and really send out a statement of intent! Connolly is not injury-prone...it suggests that he is always getting injured (ala Darren Alderton and Kieron Dyer) and that is not the case. Connolly is, on his own admission, as fit as he's ever been and let's admit it..doing his job of scoring goals. He's being selected on merit. Although he has suffered a couple of (different) injuries that kept him out for longer periods, he's had a long career and played lots of football. Having debuted in 1994, he's played well over 400 league games (including 2 successful seasons in Holland) and netted over 150 career goals, as well as being capped 41 times for Ireland. He has had a number of injuries in that 17 year period, but since returning to England (2001) has only once played less than 38 games a season. (He was injured when at Wigan 2005, and played only 19 games that season.) see Wikipedia. I think it extremely unfair for him to be branded by some people as " injury-prone " when he played so much football, and his stats. show that .. had he been a Saints player from the start.. he would be in our top 5 for apps.... and goal scoring. Edited 19 August, 2011 by david in sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry the Badger Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 DC is not injury-prone...it suggests that he is always getting injured (ala Darren Alderton and Kieron Dyer) and that is not the case. Connolly is, on his own admission, as fit as he's ever been and let's admit it ..doing his job of scoring goals. Although he has suffered a couple of (different) injuries that kept him out for longer periods ...he's had a long career and played lots of football. Over the past few years he has been prone to injury, he a long term problem and then quite a lot of smaller layoffs after joining us. He has returned from injuries a number of times for us, each time finding his way into the first team before getting injured and losing his place again. If you take his entire career then no, he has not been injury prone, but since his big injury he has struggled to get a good run going and that is why people label him so. Stop getting so worked up about it. Of course, we all hope that this time the good pre season has really set him up for an injury free season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 (edited) Over the past few years he has been prone to injury, he a long term problem and then quite a lot of smaller layoffs after joining us. He has returned from injuries a number of times for us, each time finding his way into the first team before getting injured and losing his place again. If you take his entire career then no, he has not been injury prone, but since his big injury he has struggled to get a good run going and that is why people label him so. Stop getting so worked up about it. Of course, we all hope that this time the good pre season has really set him up for an injury free season. Well, I am a little " worked up about it " - as you put it. TRUE - he has had injuries in recent years, and TRUE older players take a little longer to heal than those who are younger but his "absence" has not been as common as many suggest. He was not fully trained and had no pre-season when he came - ON A FREE TRANSFER in 2009 - . It took him a couple of months to get up to pace and when he did eventually play he scored 6 goals in 12 starts and was injured in Jan. Fortunately we signed Lee Barnard and there were few players - fit, or otherwise, who could have displaced him with his sensational goal tally at that time, although when Connolly was back, and available on the bench for the last 14 games with little chance of displacing the on-form LB. season 2 - He played or was on bench for 9 games before injury but was back on the bench by January for 10 games. From March he was on the bench for the last 10 games again with Barnard still in top form. Fortunately, Connolly was fit and available - when Barnard was injured in April and DC came in and scored 3 times in the last 5 games. The thing I'm most concerned about now is Barnard's fitness. He was injured 4 months ago - in April, but still isn't fully recovered or fit enough for the bench - let alone play. Whatever Connolly's age, or history ...his pre-season performances and goal-a-game form is surely something to be relished but I think the thing that angers me most is the " sick humour " behind the " back from the dead " songs that our own supporters sing to him. It should be clear to most people that David Connolly is a class act by any definition of the meaning. He has already won a medal in this League and played in the Prem. and we may be more grateful to him than we think by the end of the season, especially if he maintains his present scoring form. Age is no barrier for a good player. 38 year old Kevin Phillips released by Brum, scored twice for his new club this week. That is a warning bell all CCC managers will listen for. Edited 19 August, 2011 by david in sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 There's no point. If you want new players, sign them in June. After that, there's no point. No point at all. Rickie Lambert, signed 10 August, scored for us 11 August, first of 36 goals for the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 Rickie Lambert, signed 10 August, scored for us 11 August, first of 36 goals for the season. I'm guessing Bobby was being just a touch sarcastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 Southampton to beat Leicester to sign J Beckford , Adkins keen on signing beckford he helped S****horpe win league 1 in 2007 (which he was on loan from Leeds ) , Also as to the CB rumours Matt killgallon or chris Baird on season long loans hmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 (edited) We have no striker cover at the moment Exactly the point I've been making (and being criticised for) since May. Whilst some people continue to insist that David Connolly is " injury-prone" . He has been fit, and on the bench since March and fortunately fit to replace Lee Barnard in April. He scored 3 in the last 6 games (incl. one of the two at Brighton) and scored in every start in pre-season and in the 3 league games so far. Lee Barnard ...on the other hand ...was injured in April and is still not fit !! That gives me real cause for concern. After 4 months ..I could understand it if he was on the bench trying to play " catch-up" with Connolly, but he's not been named for a game once yet. Problems ? A good start to this season, YES. ..BRILLIANT in fact ...but with 43 games left... I'd like to have more striker options..in the event of .. .!!*^##// Edited 19 August, 2011 by david in sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sussexsaint Posted 19 August, 2011 Share Posted 19 August, 2011 We should get Stanchion from Ipswich , cracking assist for them on Tuesday apparently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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