I know that all Saint X threads go through a period where it looks dead and buried, but most of the time the evidence is weak. I think we can move onto the next target now then!
By the logic of this site, if it is a good sign when nothing happens, it becomes a dead cert when the player denies he is joining us.
We don't need him anyway, plus he'll probably need time to settle over here, etc. I'd rather see money invested in a striker and a winger.
While I always admire your optimism, Fran, I'm not sure. There are incredibly few realistic players I'd want us to sign in that position. Honestly, if not Banega as it seems, then I'd hope we won't sign someone there just for the sake of it. I'm disappointed about this but I guess it always was too good to be true.
Saint X threads have the same pacing as a generic three-act movie. We're now at the point where the protagonist, fresh from having his girlfriend walk out/family killed/getting betrayed by his sidekick, stands on a darkened balcony, drizzle coating his forehead, as he looks at an unfeeling skyline and comprehends his dire fate. Never fear; we're just a training montage and a stirring climax from wrapping this one up.
Indeed, but the problem is that at this stage usually the spanner in the works is an agent coming out and denying the move, or a journo say it's off or linking another team etc. etc., but in this case it is the player themselves coming out and definitively saying they want to stay at their current club. The one hope is that the article is bullhockey but that seems unlikely especially if it's true that it's on their OS. Never say never, players have made U-turns and whatnot before but it's a long long way from here, this is either going to be a three and a half hour movie or there will be some serious deus ex machina!
I'll be dissapointed if it's definitely off, but you have to respect his decision (if he has indeed made one) as it seems like he has made it for the correct reasons.
Might seem pretty definitive, but it can't be. Why? Because Saint X threads don't end with something as boring as "well, I've had a good think and I rather much like it here." Someone swooping in to steal him, sure, but this is too anticlimactic to be the final twist.
I think the problem here is that we clearly haven't been doing our part. So far we have a 2/5 success rate providing this deal doesn't miraculously reach a happy conclusion, the two successful ones being Saint Victor and Saint Gaston, where we racked up thousands of posts. Meanwhile Saint Davide, Leandro and Ever didn't really get off the ground and never reached the golden 1000-post benchmark, hence were unsuccessful. So I think we know what we need to do...
I don't believe so, we had one to welcome him once he joined but it was a little out of the blue with his name only popping up a couple times prior.
