Welcome Saint Sam

Phew, just in time to avert a meltdown!

This kid could be exactly what we've been short of for the last couple of seasons. A bit of a target as he's pretty tall but he's no oil tanker either and pretty quick across the ground.

Has done a couple of seasons in the Championship with loan clubs and been well liked by their fans. Had a cracker season at Blackburn in a pretty horrible side and did pretty well at Birmingham too but opportunities were a bit more limited.

He young at 22 so there's plenty of potential. No doubt if he does well for us the Liverpool scouts will be circling and we will make a tidy profit in a few years.

Expect he will be our impact off the bench, giving us a target in the air when we need it but could be one for the future and will get opportunities when CA hits the physio's table.

Welcome to Saints first team Sam, I'm sure you will feel right at home here.

 

Don't know how he'll do, but happy to give him a chance.
Still think last season was the opportunity, but another years experience could well make the difference.

 

I said a couple of weeks ago that Sam is probably a better striker than Rickie Lambert was at 22, and he turned out OK. I really want to see him get a good run, with our new creative midfielders supplying him, and see how he gets on.

 

Heh, this is likely given that Rickie wasn't a striker at 22; he was a midfielder prior to his arrival at Rochdale. Which explains his passing range, but if you ever see pictures of him in his Stockport days, nothing about his physique suggests midfielder.

 

Really!
His best season by a country mile was Blackburn where he scored once every four games, Birmingham was a goal every five and a half games and didn't score in thirteen games.
Don't think he will save us from relegation any more than our existing three front line strikers who proved below par last season

 

You have to admit that with that scoring record he'll definitely fit right in!

 

Alan Shearer scored 23 league goals in 118 games (about 1 in 5) before he left us just before his 22nd birthday.

I'm not saying that Sam is the next Shearer, just keeping a bit of perspective.

 

I like what little I have seen of the lad so far and think that he is a decent finisher.

 

Fully expected this to get closed but tongue removed from cheek, the lad has all the attributes we are looking for, he's proven he can play in tough leagues, he deserves the chance to play in the EPL. A few good crosses onto his head - and we played plenty of those last year and he could be away and never look back.

We needed far too many players this season than we were ever going to afford or be able to sign so looking at our academy was always going to be the best.
The math was always going to be One Mitrovic or MoEl + Armstrong. I think we've gone about this the right way even though I would have preferred to have all three of those players.

The point I was making stands, if we had signed an upcoming 22yr old from LaLiga with a decent scoring record (far better than Carillo) we would all be wishing him the best and giving him a good chance. Its shamefull if we don't do the same for a player we have brought through. He won't get us relegated on his own and If he can't cut it we are still 10-20m better off.

 

Gallagher doesn't have a decent scoring record, though. He scored a goal every 309 minutes in the Championship; that's a hair better than Long's scoring record in the PL with Saints. He can win the ball in the air, sure, but he's quite poor technically, and I'm really dubious that he is good enough to supplant any of our current strikers.

 

A few points:

- Shearer did improve his goal scoring but his early games were played in the First Division/Premier League while Gallagher has mainly played in the Championship/Second Division

- I don't think a goal scoring record of 1 goal every 5 games in the Championship over 2.5 seasons is proving you can play in tough leagues

- I think Carrillo might actually have a better goal scoring record, although I can't be bothered to check. Gallagher's certainly isn't "far better"

- If we signed a 22 year old who had scored 1 goal every 5 games in La Liga 2 then I don't think anybody would be expecting him to do much beyond play for the U23s

 

He’s actually quite good technically, can shoot with either foot as well as head the ball. You can’t compare his record in two mediocre Championship sides with what he could achieve with decent service in the PL. The fact is, none of us know, but he deserves a chance to find out.

 

There's more to technical skill than just shooting, and he gave the ball away more than just about anyone in the Championship last year. Perhaps he'll get better service here, though we haven't really excelled at that; he'll also face much better defenses. The list of strikers who find the PL easier going than the Championship is a fairly short one.

 

With respect Schad, how do you know that?....do you ever judge a player by what you witness with your own eyes rather than second hand opinions and stats?

 

Kane was complete dog **** when playing on loan, a young striker playing in struggling sides will not get many chances. I am hoping that an ex striker of the calibre of Hughes, will be able to improve him

 

I generally do both. I've watched Sam on more than a couple occasions over the past two years, and his control is quite bad. The stats simply back that up.

 

Just playing the friend of the devil here... why does he deserve the chance to find out? We have to surely rely on the judgement of 3-4 managers rather than just give them a chance.

If the manager thinks he’s seen enough to try him, then fine.

 

I do hold out hope for the last sentence of yours. That is a valid point.

 

The perfect situation is that Hughes thinks Sam is good enough, he gets his chance, bags 10-15 goals, save us a fortune and he sticks two fingers up to the NegHeads. I can then say, “I told you so, I always knew he’d make it.”



*there may be one piece of fabrication in my post

 

Kane is a special talent when it comes to goalscoring, but having seen him play multiple times now for Spurs & England, you can see why he struggled so much on loan. If he ain’t scoring, he ain’t really offering very much and a younger Kane would have been bullied out of games a lot more