Still two Cb's and a Lb for me, one Cb who is first team ready and another who is younger and will improve in time. Fox, Martin,Seaborne, De Ridder, Chaplow and Butterfield all to go, we have so much dead wood it's crazy. Give Richardson until the end of the season then i'm afraid he has to go as well, he is getting on and injured alot atm. Forgot to say get rid of Hooiveld as well.
Yesterday was an excellent performance. All I'm saying is that we aren't in the clear yet. The back 5 is fragile. Am I the only 1 who gets that sinking feeling when Gazza takes that extra touch from a pass back?
Nothing has changed for me. The defense has gotten better, but also played against a very weakened Newcastle and a rather bad QPR. The goal this year might be to just stay up, but the long term goal is still to improve the club and defense is still the weakest spot. Any time there is an opportunity to improve, you should take it. The improved play just means Saints have a little more flexibility. Before the last two games, I would have said Saints needed to bring in a veteran player at or near their peak and at whatever contract cost. Now I think they have more room to maybe get a younger (but Premier League-ready) players on a long-term or take a half-season loan/short-term deal for an older veteran with maybe a season's worth of gas left in the tank. If Saints continue to play solidly throughout December, then perhaps they can continue the current plan of targeting younger players. But one way or another, the defense needs to improve-- if not for this season, then for next. It was nice to see Gazzaniga (bar the one awful mistake) and the defense play a solid game, but it's still just one clean sheet against a bad-looking side. The save he made against the header was fantastic, but other than that to me he just played the way one should expect. IMO, we are so used to everything going against us that when something doesn't we feel that everyone must have played incredibly when in fact it was just a bit of luck turning our way. The defense and goal keeping was never as bad as some people made it out to be. They are also not now as good as some people here seem to think. Still need a CB for certain. Would like to get an LB in if money allows. If Friedel is available for a half-season loan, I would definitely take him as well.
