Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 10:30 am  

Vea is a replacement for Manu He's after a good Half back so not putting pressure on Walsh and Lomax coming back Amour & Walmsley have had an increase in wage Some of our young forwards have been re signed and are on extra money We still have cap money spare http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/sai ... _priority/

Vea is a replacement for Manu He's after a good Half back so not putting pressure on Walsh and Lomax coming back Amour & Walmsley have had an increase in wage Some of our young forwards have been re signed and are on extra money We still have cap money spare http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/sai ... _priority/

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:18 am  

Should hope we have cap room. The squad is still very average.

Not keeping Willie Manu is a mistake. Simple as that. Vea isn't as good as him.

So who is replacing Sia then? Burns? So weaker in the pack (Which gets bullied against the big clubs) and better in the halves?

Burns and Vea in for Manu, Laffranchi, Sia, Wheeler and Gardner again doesn't seem to tally to me. Appreciate the kids have got a bump, but none of them look like superstars, all edging slowly towards the 'solid' category that 95% of young players never emerge from.

It is so evident how SL is degrading by the season. It'll be semi pro again shortly at this rate.

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:55 am  

Saddened! wrote:

Should hope we have cap room. The squad is still very average.

Not keeping Willie Manu is a mistake. Simple as that. Vea isn't as good as him.

So who is replacing Sia then? Burns? So weaker in the pack (Which gets bullied against the big clubs) and better in the halves?

Burns and Vea in for Manu, Laffranchi, Sia, Wheeler and Gardner again doesn't seem to tally to me. Appreciate the kids have got a bump, but none of them look like superstars, all edging slowly towards the 'solid' category that 95% of young players never emerge from.

It is so evident how SL is degrading by the season. It'll be semi pro again shortly at this rate.

<sigh> and if we had kept Manu youd be complaining about giving a 2 year deal to a 35 year old. Vea's stats are very impressive all things considered, but it appears some on here are willing to give him a chance purely because hes coming from London.

We have a better and more resilient a squad next year than this. As it stands a 25 man squad will probably look like:

Lomax
Makinson Turner Jones Swift
Burns Walsh
Amor Roby Walmsley
LMS Vea
Wilkin

Hohaia Thompson Masoe Beaumont

McDonnell Dawson Percival Hewitt
Richards Flanaghan Savelio Wellens.

A quality prop to replace Beaumont/ Richards or a quality second row and push LMS back up to the front row and were looking very strong indeed.

Cap wise I'd guess:
McDonnell + Kid upgrades = Clough + Gardner
Burns = Laffranchi
Vea = 0.75 Soliola
Amor/ Walmsley upgrades = 0.25 Soliolas money + wheelers money

Which leaves Manu's money (supposedly a lot) free for a replacement. Hopefully with some more extensions coming too (Jones and Savelio). I get the feeling Saints cant win - fans complain that theres too many gaps in the squad and its too imbalanced, Saints address that and were weakening areas

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:01 pm  

Whilst you make some valid points at times Saddened, there are also times like now, when you come across as a boring, negative ar$ewipe.

Chill out and see who we bring in as a whole for next season.

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:10 pm  

Are we receiving a transfer fee for Soliola?

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:14 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

Should hope we have cap room. The squad is still very average.

Not keeping Willie Manu is a mistake. Simple as that. Vea isn't as good as him.

So who is replacing Sia then? Burns? So weaker in the pack (Which gets bullied against the big clubs) and better in the halves?

Burns and Vea in for Manu, Laffranchi, Sia, Wheeler and Gardner again doesn't seem to tally to me. Appreciate the kids have got a bump, but none of them look like superstars, all edging slowly towards the 'solid' category that 95% of young players never emerge from.

It is so evident how SL is degrading by the season. It'll be semi pro again shortly at this rate.

You don't half talk some nonsense Saddo!

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:16 pm  

roader wrote:

Are we receiving a transfer fee for Soliola?

We didnt announce we were, but that doesnt categorically disprove the possibility? Why?

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:22 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

We didnt announce we were, but that doesnt categorically disprove the possibility? Why?

Just that he had one year left with us. Unless the last year was an option.

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:30 pm  

roader wrote:

Just that he had one year left with us. Unless the last year was an option.

He was under contract for this year. I get the impression we were happy for him to go on compassionate grounds because he wanted to return to his family. It doesnt rule out a deal was in place, but equally I'd imagine its unlikely in the circumstances.

Re: Brown's comment's : Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:19 pm  

saint87 wrote:

You don't half talk some nonsense Saddo!

You say this, but I'm always proven right. Back when we were good, I said the recruitment was awful and would soon cost us. I said we'd go 10 years without a trophy (A proper one, not the shield) and we're well on target to achieve that.

On this recruitment issue, I had excluded the fact that we might sign more players, I'd allowed my scepticism to set in. IMO we are another forward away from improving the squad and I highly doubt we'll sign two more players. But IF we do, I'll admit we'll be stronger.