I can't believe a word of this. Anyway, Lee Barnard is back in training and could be on the bench against Watford. The fact that he recently signed a new contract would tend to mean his future at the club is NOT in the balance.
I would suggest some journo said "James, would you like to go back to Saints", James said "yes" and that was the fact behind the article.. having said that on a short term deal as a back up why not but unless injury plays a part i cant see him starting any more than forte.
According to Adkins Barnard won't be back in the next couple of games. My guess is we will see him after the international break. Depending on his court case that is!
No, no, no. This was in the Echo yesterday (I did not buy it, my nan brought it round). They had pulled a quote out of Beattie from that MLT game (I assume) and turned it into a two page transfer rumour. Oh and a further page on how all Saints fans think Nicola Cortese is wrong in the MLT saga and bad for the club, backed up by comments from punters on the Echo website. The Mirror have kindly turned it from "Beattie wants to rejoin Saints" to "Saints want to sign Beattie".
Totally mixed up about Beattie, one minute i think it's a good idea next i dont want him anywhere near the club. I used to be indicisive but i dont think i am any-more.
Would it be such a bad move to sign him for a year? I don't think it would, he may be getting on a bit but I think he could be cover perhaps to give Ricky a break now and then. Trouble is it is in the two most unreliable papers, next to the Daily Fail, can we believe it. Nothing on the OS I guess?
I am disappointed by anyone who wants to slate Cortese for the way he runs the club. I was skeptical regarding some of the rumours when it comes to him being involved in bringing players to the club but I think he is got everything near on perfect so far! Matty is a legend however I don't think he is, dare I say it, the sharpest knife in the draw! He done some wonderful things and the fans that got to see him in his prime are of some of the luckiest fans ever as I doubt they will ever see anyone especially at St marys with that raw talent again. This being said Matty is part of the history and club policies are club policies, if NC says everyone pays then everyone pays, I think stories like this just put niggles into our club that's flying high and they could do without them, whatever the case if Matty is a true supporter he should do the decent thing and refrain from commenting on the matter any further! With regards to Beattie I definitely think a short term deal to prove himself cannot hurt anyone, if he causes any grief he goes if he doesn't do well then he doesn't play but if he gets back to half the player we have seen him be then we will all be singing his name! I loved beatts, don't know if anyone remembers seeing the big banner at FA cup final " and the beatt goes on"? As a friend of mine we all went with made that!
I was told that Beatts spent a week or so training with us about a month a go and Cortese poo pooed it. He said 'we are going forwrd not backwards'. I would love to see how he gets on in a couple of training games and take it from there. A 6 month deal perhaps?
I don't really understand why anyone would be against the possibility of this happening. As the above post says, a short-term deal can't hurt anyone. Especially if it's a pay-as-you-play deal. Beattie is without a club, and hence isn't earning. So it's not like he's in a position to demand 20k per week. It's plainly obvious that we're short on the strikers the moment one of Lambert, Connolly or Barnard are unavailable. We've spent all season so far without an out-and-out striker on the bench. And even though Barnard is seemingly ready to return, none of us know what the futures holds. Any of them could get injured at any time, and we'd be back to square one again with no striker on the bench. Give him a deal. Let him build up his fitness and attempt to prove to us that he is worthy of a permeanant contract. If he were to score just 3 goals for us between now and January, I would consider that a good, and justifiable, return.
I loved Beattie when he was here but he couldn't score a goal in the scottish league so he may struggle in the championship which is probably of the same quality if not better than that league.The only aspect in which i see it would be a good signing is having another big man who can hold the ball up if lambert was injured,other than that i don't think he's anything we haven't got already.I'll let Nigel be the judge on this one i think.
Depends what we are looking for. Currently, we do not really have any cover for Lambert. Do we buy or have someone with experience as temporary cover. I cannot see him being picked ahead of or alongside Ricky but if he's happy to be a sub and give Ricky a break now and again then why not?
I'm slit on this subject... 55% of me thinks bad idea, had injury problems, part of the old club set up etc... 45% of me thinks good back up I wouldn't mind seeing someone like him follow in the Murty footsteps of doing coaching behind the scenes at Southampton Maybe Pay-as-you-play deal, however I prefer Barnard a lot more
Previously, I said No, to a scenario where Beatts would return. But I would be happy with a Pay-as-you-play contract. Providing he was properly fit..! On the Cortese/MLT debate, and the report from the Daily Echo - I popped across to the tiny online article, to see if there were any replies from fans. I noted that 8-9 out of 10 opinions are pro Cortese, and several said the media were making more news out of it than it merited. Scroll down the page and have a look for yourselves: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9271309.Le_Tissier_and_Cortese_in_war_of_words/?ref=mr There's also a small separate article about Beatts too.
Same old Beattie always scoring!! I'd like him as cover. Warnock always talks about getting that extra 5% out of players who have something to prove...think Beatts falls into that category now. He loves the club and would always give 100%. Worth a punt!!
It's a good idea on paper. But Beattie (or his agent) would never buy it, because simply put, he wouldn't be playing that often. If we signed him tomorrow he wouldn't get a game for months. Also, I just looked through a discarded copy of the Metro on the Soton-Cardiff train, it makes the Echo look like the Financial Times.
I'm even more split! 75% of me wants Beatts back. 23% of me REALLY wants Beatts back 6.7% of me is a little concerned that he'll rock the boat 2.1% of me can't count
