Someone said earlier that he was injured in training and needs an operation. Probs just rumours though
Before today's game, Solent were saying he was injured in training and that it was a re-occurance which will result in an op - we shall see, no doubt NA will give further gen COYS
They were saying on the Solent commentary that he might need an op. If that's true, he might not feature again this season, which could mean we've seen the last of him as a Saints player. I think that's really sad if so.
Arrested last night I hear. All jokes aside I assume he is injured. A blow as we are short of goal-scoring options at the moment to say the least.
I was worried about our striking options when Barnard was half fit. If what people are saying that he could now need an op, then we heavily need to invest in the January window. JMO but i can see Connolly being out for the forseeable future too if his injury is the same injury that has greatly hampered him over the last few years. So that leaves us with Lambert who seems to be recovered from the knock he had. And Guly who is doing a good job upfront but is not a striker. Forte is not in Nigels plans and will be off the bus if we can find a buyer (why did we get him on a 3 yr contract?). I know there has been much talk on here about strikers, but i think we need to invest in two! Sharp and a pacey youngster with great potential. I would also suggest that we need another winger, someone with pace like de Ridder but a more accomplished player that is ready for 90 minutes now. Snodgrass would be great but probably to pricey. It will be a great shame if Barnard doesnt get the chance to proove to us that he can mix it in the championship (at full fitness i think he probably could), but if we want to win promotion we need to be proactive in the January window
Problem is if Barnies having a op, by time he is back to fitness etc. It would be very close to his court date, unless they have moved it again.
This is part of the reason i think we need 2 strikers in January. We have 1 fit striker (luckily its our goal machine), but even so we need to strengthen, we need attacking options if we are to to get promotion. There are a lot of games between now and the end of the season.
It's not rumour. As someone else said on this thread, he's marked down for an operation. Reported by Radio Solent, and they get the proper whispers off Saints.
Cortese must push the boat out in January. We are so close..don't want to blow it now. I know Cortese likes value for money..but now is not the time to worry about the odd mill. We need at least 1 top-class striker (preferably two).
Even if we don't get a single point from the 3 games left in 2011, we will be no lower than 6th in the league in January. Nigel's target has always been top 10 in Jan, so we have already achieved that. I believe this means that Cortese WILL push the boat out. We still have about £8 million left from the AOC money, plus any extra funds Nicola can get hold of from the Liebherrs, so we might be in for an exciting January window!
We have Jake Sinclair in the U18s who fits that description. I presume you meant someone with more first team pedigree.
Adkins said yesterday for the first time that he wanted to win the title. First time as far as I know that he's come out and said it.
Yes indeed. Someone of that mould that is ready for first team action now, i assume that Sinclair is not quite there yet? I cant say that i know much about him at all so maybe he is ready to be given a chance. What are your thoughts on Sinclair?
Get him in there - better an inexperienced young flying machine than Morgan playing out of position! I remember this debate with AOC and look how that turned out!
Younger brother of Scott Sinclair at Swansea, so he's got football in his genes. He's top scorer for the U18s so far. He is quick and skillful and a good finisher judging by some of the clips I've seen. He looks impressive, but the u18 defenders are **** scared of him, so that may not be the best barometer. He's likely to play in the FAYC at SMS tomorrow evening along with the others.
Yes Jake Sinclair is VERY highly rated by the management, but further up the pecking order is Ryan Doble & Sam Hoskins who would do a job
My assumption at not seeing Barnard in the squad was that Adkins didn't want to risk Lambert's injury flaring up early on, and so having to make an early change - because Barnard still doesn't appear fit enough to play 60 or 70 minutes (and hence instead, Reeves was named). But it does now appear that he's injured again and needs an operation, and in that case I do agree with those people who say we now need two strikers next month; a Sharp/Maynard/Rodrigues type, as before, and also now a Phillips/Adebola/Howard (ie a really cheap, short-term option, but who is vastly experienced and is someone you can throw on for the last 15 minutes to grap you a goal)