Watched Sunderland easily beat Ferguson's mob. Just shows what we need to do if we achieve promotion. Demonstrates that we need premier level players with experience not unproven players from the lower leagues if we are going to survive at the top. Lets hope Nigel brings the right players in. Lee is a good start!
That's why I think we've changed our targets. The PL is a serious possibility and the type of player we want to sign on a 2-3 year contract has changed as well.
Don't compare P'boro to us.There is a gulf in class between us and them aswell. Saints need atleast 4 or 5 new players from now to september that are premiership class.
Good, PL first teamers will be out of our range. We just have to find the gems and make them work for us.
I sort of agree with you. I'm not surprised that he's doing well in the Premiership, because he was doing very well with Swansea in the Championship. But going back to when he was with us, then yes I'd have struggled to see a Premiership player in him. There is a gulf in class between a side like Sunderland and a side like Posh, but that's largely because the former are not a weak Premiership side and the latter are not a strong Championship side. The gap between the very bottom of the Premiership and the very top of the Championship is much smaller, albeit there is still one and thus squad strengthing would be required for the promoted teams (whilst Norwich and Swansea haven't overhauled their squads like QPR have, between them they have still added the likes of Vorm, Graham, Morrison & Bennett)
At the same time though, there are still gems that you can pick up from the lower leagues at the right price that have performed in the Prem. eg Pilkington for Norwich and Phillips for Blackpool last year.
But I bet if they'd played a month or so back before O'Neil went there the result would have been different. Hard to judge now.
Far too much of this 'need to buy a premier league squad' being spoken about. Top 3 or 4 in the Champ are on at least equal terms with the bottom 4 in the Prem. If they met in a cup game and both fielded strongest sides I dare say that Saints and West Ham would easy be favourites to beat Blackburn, Bolton or Wigan!! We don't need to buy a squad or even half a squad of 'better quality players' to stay in the Prem. We just need to improve our poor areas. Those are Right wing and cover, cover for strikers and probably cover for right back. Some utility players wouldn't go a miss. We also need to improve the variety we play tactics wise. We are pretty predictable at the moment and whilst still trying to play flowing passing football it is pretty much a case of full backs crossing it in to Lambert or wingers cutting in and trying to thread a needle through the centre. Reminds me of a certain hapless former Leicester and England Manager whos only tactic was give the ball to Beckham and at the half way line put a 50 yard ball into the box for the well renowned heading ability and aerial strength of the giant of a man Owen!!! We need to mix things up. Sometimes play the direct route, sometimes go through the middle, sometimes play the wings but mix it up and keep the opposition guessing throughout the match.
I think that our starting XI of: SKD Frazer, Fonte, Jos, Fox Chappers, Morgan, Cork, Lallana Guly, Lambert would survive in the Premier League IF they stayed fit and suspension free all season, the midfield in particular has it's best days ahead with an average age of about 24. Of course the whole squad needs strengthening and if we go up we will want to do more than just survive, that's why I think that we will see quality coming in this month.
Indeed, strengthen is the key word. Not 'replacing'. To strengthen is a must. We have to have backup all over the pitch and also room to rotate if situation allows. That meaning if we are fighting at the bottom we have no option but to field our best 11 every game. If not then we can give some players a rest now and again so they can complete the season without exhausting themselves. That is the thing we see at the moment. We have used so few players for a reason. that reason is that our first 11 are a superb team. Bottom half Premier Quality IMO, however outside of that first 11 (apart from a couple of players) we start to drop dramatically down the quality scale. Some because of ability, some because they are young and still developing however we do not have options really outside of that 11-15 to rotate. So yes we need to strengthen the squad for the Prem (and for the run in of the Championship) however we DO NOT need to replace 4 or 5 of our first team. From the looks of things in the youth setup and academy and also of those playing in the cups this season we could have 2/3 youngsters make the step up next year (meaning 10 or so appearances, first year increasing as they develop) and then another 2/3 the year after. Looking promising for us so we don't want to park a bus full of moneygrabbing 'big names' or aging 'superstars' in front of their progress. Portsmouth nor Harry Redknapp are not the role models we follow!!!
Nigel has shown with our left backs and central midfield that he can manage a squad effectively and keep players competitive and rotate them when necessary. I'd like to see us bring in; Left Sided Central Defender - Cover for Jos as we must fear Seabourne is out for the season and head injuries are hard to judge, plus Radhi is on his last legs. Bigger Striker - Providing the signing of Lee goes through, with Connolly and finally Guly we have players that can contribute alongside Lambert, but no one who can effectively replace him. I think this is where our money should be spent and the rumour thread has plenty of candidates. Left sided midfielder - De Ridder, Chaplow and Guly can all operate on the right but we have no serious competition for Lallana. When he was injured Chaplow did a decent job as cover but his energy means he was great cover across the midfield. Holmes is clearly on his way out so I think a decent left footer would serve us well. Someone who can operate on both flanks would be an advantage as he can then swap with Adam. A bit of pace would not go amiss, I don't want much lol or just Gareth Bale. Less pressing issues Right back - BUtterfield has had an injury prone season and Stephens is just that bit too young Goalkeeper - Sadly question marks over Bart and in recent weeks Kelvin has fumbled some strikes. No keeper is perfect but I expect us to look into this sooner rather than later.
