January

[pressingon]

I’ve read some posts hoping that if we can keep in touch till January we can bring in better players and maybe push on and stay in this league. If we are still bottom three in January could we reasonably expect Morgan, Adam or Sir Rickie to stay loyal if the likes of Everton/Fulham/Newcastle etc came calling? I except that if we go straight back down we may well lose them but hope they can see the season out at St Mary's whatever happens.

[Saint Garrett]

We need to be out of the bottom 3 with a bit of room to spare by January. Look at our fixtures !!

 

 

January 1: Arsenal (H)

January 12: Aston Villa (A)

January 19: Everton (H)

January 29: Manchester United(A)

February 2: Wigan (A)

February 9 Manchester City: (H)

February 23 Newcastle (A)

[Window Cleaner]

I’ve read some posts hoping that if we can keep in touch till January we can bring in better players and maybe push on and stay in this league. If we are still bottom three in January could we reasonably expect Morgan, Adam or Sir Rickie to stay loyal if the likes of Everton/Fulham/Newcastle etc came calling? I except that if we go straight back down we may well lose them but hope they can see the season out at St Mary's whatever happens.

 

I think I could quite reasonably say that come what may none of the 3 players cited will be playing in the NPC next season. Whether any or all of them will still be with us on the 1st February isn't so easy.

[pressingon]

I think I could quite reasonably say that come what may none of the 3 players cited will be playing in the NPC next season. Whether any or all of them will still be with us on the 1st February isn't so easy.

 

This is why promotion was such a double edged sword. If we don’t make a success of it not only will we lose millions but more importantly (to me) lose at least our 3 best players including SRL our most popular player since Le Tiss and NA our most popular/successful manager since Lawrie Mac. Quite a price to pay.

[lordswoodsaints]

Any players looking to kick on in their careers need to move away from saints in January IMO and I wouldn't blame them,we are Fookin atrocious and if nothing changes between now and the end of January then we are heading straight back down again.

If they have got their heads screwed on they have already lined themselves up for a decent move to a more stable club who will use them to their full strengths.

[Mowgli]

It's an interesting question. All three are PL quality plus Gaston, Clyne, J Rod and Davies. Which makes you wonder why we cannot survive with them. A couple of good defenders in January would help! I don't think that they will have too much chance to demonstrate their true loyalty as Don Cortese will hold them to their contracts unless a really silly offer comes in. And that's how it should be. Morgan and Adam of course have already shown great loyalty by playing with us in Div 1. Rickie loves it here too.

[Saint Garrett]

I do think we only need a good Left Back and a more experienced solid CB. Possibly a RW, but think we should have enough in attacking positions to last through this season.

[This Charming Man]

We need to be out of the bottom 3 with a bit of room to spare by January. Look at our fixtures !!

 

 

January 1: Arsenal (H)

January 12: Aston Villa (A)

January 19: Everton (H)

January 29: Manchester United(A)

February 2: Wigan (A)

February 9 Manchester City: (H)

February 23 Newcastle (A)

 

We'd be lucky to get a point out of that lot.

[pangy]

LOL,Good luck to any team that wants to buy our first team players in Jan,can you imagine NC letting them go ?? Jan market is notoriously inflated as it is,no doubt he would want at least £10mill up front for SRL

[Rebel]

So do we stick or twist in January?

 

We spent £30 million or so in the summer in a so far failed attempt to make the step up to the premiership to bridge the gap in quality if you like. And according to the rumours there was more money on the table to spend.

 

If things continue as they are - we are going back down - I'm pretty sure of that.

 

So do we stick with it and spend a lot more money in January in an attempt to stay up? Bring in players like Michael Dawson in defence. Problem with that is January is a time for inflated transfer fees and inflated wages. We'll also have to overpay players to persuade them to take a risk on relegation. And it might not work anyway and leave us running at a massive loss in the Championship. That's if the players don't abandon us in the summer - and probably for less than we paid for them.

 

Or do we twist - accept we are probably going to get relegated - and bring in players that will stay with us when we get relegated -on Championship wages - and give us a great chance of getting promoted again? Players like Curtis Davies, Scott Dann, Matt Phillips and Charlie Austin.

 

I guess there is an outside chance those players could keep us up!

 

Which players should we be looking to sign in January? Should we plan for relegation and aim for promotion again next season? Or should we go out all guns blazing to stay up up this season - and take the risk of financial meltdown if we do go down.

 

Will we be able to keep hold of players like Lallana, Morgan, Yoshida and Mayuka if we do go down.

[pangy]

If we are adamant we are going to play 433 we need a decent winger and a attacking left back

 

Matty Phillips for the winger and abroad for a full back

[Turkish]

LOL,Good luck to any team that wants to buy our first team players in Jan,can you imagine NC letting them go ?? Jan market is notoriously inflated as it is,no doubt he would want at least £10mill up front for SRL

 

The same goes for incoming players as well though. That's why I'm not pinning my hopes on players we needed coming in then as well. Still, at least we can be grateful we've got a chairman that doesn't get pushed around by other clubs or pay over the odds.

[Halo Stickman]

So do we stick with it and spend a lot more money in January in an attempt to stay up? Bring in players like Michael Dawson in defence. Problem with that is January is a time for inflated transfer fees and inflated wages. We'll also have to overpay players to persuade them to take a risk on relegation. And it might not work anyway and leave us running at a massive loss in the Championship. That's if the players don't abandon us in the summer - and probably for less than we paid for them.

 

For the reasons you've outlined, I imagine anyone we get in January is likely to be a loanee (with perhaps an option to sign on a permanent basis at the end of season)

[lordswoodsaints]

From what I have been hearing from my journo friend ,Adkins 'shook hands' with a few players in the summer but none materialised into actual signings as they were rejected in favour of other players so I'm guessing Adkins (if still here) wont have too much say in who comes or goes in January.

[Legod Third Coming]

Yesterday's results render January almost irrelevant.

 

If we don't win on Monday, we start to look detached...

[Glasgow_Saint]

I have already started planning for the championship next season (booking hotels ect)

[adrian lord]

A New Dawn Fades...

 

but...

 

 

The Championship was far more fun than this ****. And not just because we were winning every game. Loved the midweek awaydays to places like Peterborough, with terraces, muddy carparks and non-glory hunting opposition fans you could have a degree of respect for.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

I don't see a firesale of players come January in any circumstances, but 'Stick or Twist' will soon become the question on our current form.

 

But this key decision needs to made in early-mid December, not sometime in January. A single digit points total on Xmas day and this season is already a lost cause in my opinion. In that unhappy circumstance we might as well batten down the financial hatches and prepare for the Championship.

 

Even 15 points by Boxing day may not be enough.

[norwaysaint]

If we survive this season, I don't think it'll be the January window that does it. It needs to be an improvement in discipline and tactics. We rarely seem to get what we're hoping for in the window and I feel like we often finish it disappointed and with comments about how it's a rubbish time to buy players anyway. I think to get any really good players, players who'd settle in quickly and make a real difference, we'd have to give in to silly demands and if we refused what they wanted in the summer, why would we give in to worse in January?

 

Also, in January, we were a successful team on the verge of moving into the big time, full of potential, now we are struggling relegation favourites, will we attract better players than we could then?

 

Like others have said, I'll just be happy that there probably won't be an exodus from our squad. I predict that we'll probably get a new LB, who we will end up uncertain of whether they're better than Fox, maybe one other player that we pay over the odds for.

[Mr X]

So do we stick or twist in January?

 

We spent £30 million or so in the summer in a so far failed attempt to make the step up to the premiership to bridge the gap in quality if you like. And according to the rumours there was more money on the table to spend.

 

If things continue as they are - we are going back down - I'm pretty sure of that.

 

So do we stick with it and spend a lot more money in January in an attempt to stay up? Bring in players like Michael Dawson in defence. Problem with that is January is a time for inflated transfer fees and inflated wages. We'll also have to overpay players to persuade them to take a risk on relegation. And it might not work anyway and leave us running at a massive loss in the Championship. That's if the players don't abandon us in the summer - and probably for less than we paid for them.

 

Or do we twist - accept we are probably going to get relegated - and bring in players that will stay with us when we get relegated -on Championship wages - and give us a great chance of getting promoted again? Players like Curtis Davies, Scott Dann, Matt Phillips and Charlie Austin.

 

I guess there is an outside chance those players could keep us up!

 

Which players should we be looking to sign in January? Should we plan for relegation and aim for promotion again next season? Or should we go out all guns blazing to stay up up this season - and take the risk of financial meltdown if we do go down.

 

Will we be able to keep hold of players like Lallana, Morgan, Yoshida and Mayuka if we do go down.

 

Yoshida could stay, championship player at best, people will say he's good enough for the prem as we all wanted him to be the answer but he's not

[lordswoodsaints]

Surely last January we should have been preparing for life in the prem yet nearly a year on we are talking about buying players to a) save us from relegation or b) prepare us for life back in the championship.....if we didn't prepare for the prem what the hell makes you think they will be prepared for a relegation scrap.