Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:37 pm  

Bollox we're spending the full cap.
We've space for another couple of players, I don't doubt that.
I remeber before they announced Gidley being convinced it was too late and thinking they we're going to move Hooper into the centres to save money. We often announce a signing quite late on, I think Perry was the same.

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:50 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

Bollox we're spending the full cap.
We've space for another couple of players, I don't doubt that.
I remeber before they announced Gidley being convinced it was too late and thinking they we're going to move Hooper into the centres to save money. We often announce a signing quite late on, I think Perry was the same.

perry announced 15th of june last year, but as you say its far from too late for a significant signing, LMS was only announced on the 3rd of september last year

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:06 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

perry announced 15th of june last year, but as you say its far from too late for a significant signing, LMS was only announced on the 3rd of september last year

I think everyone knew that lms was coming a good few month before 3rd September. Same with Gilmour and fozzard, we knew they was coming but wasn't made official until September.

My point is, we was being linked with players but at the moment we are not.

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:06 pm  

We could be spending up to the cap!

This does not mean we are spending £1.7 or .6 million, what ever that is at the moment. The cap is about 50% of revenue as I recall as well as the £1.6 max. Well revenue from the fans is definatley down this year, whether that means revenue from sponsors and sky and marchandise is enough to make £3 of revenue I don't know.

Personally I just think we are a bunch of panic monkey's who cannot cope with the cycle of sport. The nature of SL makes it a cup competition not a league competition, so even in years where we have done relatively well during the season, ie finishing top, we have still come away without the title as it boils down to one off games in the playoffs.

Our last trophy was 3 seasons ago now. Yet in each of the last 2 seasons we have finished above the cup winners. 2009 by some way 2010 by points difference. This year we are behind by some 3 matches on Wigan and Warrington, in a season where our biggest earners have bearly been on the pitch. Pryce, Eastmond, Perry, all been out of the team for lengthy periods and could easily be pulling down £300 - £400 k between them.

Effectively we did invest in our halfbacks and we did plan ahead, but I've yet to know a season where the primary half back pairing have been unavailable to the team for 90% of the season (if not more, I've not done the figures). Perry was our big forward signing for this year and basically has added very little mostly due to injury.

I think Pete has a point over the centre position but that's about as far as I would take it. I think Saints where hoping to replace talau from within, the young lads where given oppertunities but no one had the quality to step up. The centre position was trialed with verious 2nd rowers, then last season we invest in an international centre and he goes and gets knackered 2 games in for the whole season and by the time he returns , he's suddenly a 2nd rower.

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:12 pm  

You say that saints wanted to replace talau from the youth team but it didn't work out. That's the risk with going with to much youth. If wheeler, makinson, lomax, Gaskell, foster ect don't make it, then where do we replace them from?

It's great we are bringing young kids thru the system and it would be great if we didn't need to sign players and all players was replaced with youth but it's not that easy. For every 10 or so young lads I bet only 1 or 2 make it.

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:29 pm  

Just for info from 1 - 17 first team games this year, our 1 - 17 have played 237 games between them, Eastmond has played most of his as a sub.

Warrington 1-17 have played 262 games all season

Wigan's 1 - 17 have played 268 games all season (that includes Gleeson sold mid season and Fielden out injured same as Pryce)

You can make up what you like about stats, but for me our 1-17 have not been on the pitch enough to win those 3 games that we are short on Wigan and Warrington. If you could take the money for Eastmond and Pryce and buy 2 more half backs, that where not learning the trade then we may just have have had enough about us to be a game or 2 further on. Certainly in the Warrington games our half backs where our weak spot.

Lomax and Gaskell have done well, but especially for Gaskell it's a rookie season and to better 90% of the half back combinations in SL in your first season is no small feat. So they are not finished articles like Finch, Deacon, Lululi , Briers, they are a couple of seasons behind Myler and look what he did last year to this year.

I for one don't think the board have been slacking off on recruitment, I just think it's been a year where we've not been able to deploy all our assets as much as we would like.

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:36 pm  

St pete wrote:

You say that saints wanted to replace talau from the youth team but it didn't work out. That's the risk with going with to much youth. If wheeler, makinson, lomax, Gaskell, foster ect don't make it, then where do we replace them from?

It's great we are bringing young kids thru the system and it would be great if we didn't need to sign players and all players was replaced with youth but it's not that easy. For every 10 or so young lads I bet only 1 or 2 make it.

We tried youth for Talau for 1 season Tyer and it did not work out, that was it, after that it was Gilmore and Flannery and then we bought Soliola, who then got injured (go figure).

Gaskell was not a plan for this year, neither was makinson, Lomax and Wheeler would have had spells ideally this year. But lets not say we are replacing with youth when that is basically untrue. They are filling gaps created by injury to in Eastmonds case an unwillingness to play.

How many youth players in our 1-17... there is 1 Wheeler.

You can moan that after the 17 are youth players but that's the same for every team it's the rules. You must have 8 players trained from within in your squad so most of the 18 - 25 are going to be from within the Saints youth structure, the difference is we are using them alot more due to injury where as the likes of Wire and Wigan can put 1 in for a few weeks and see how they go.

Sorry Pete I think you are seeing replacement by youth were as I see we are coving injury with youth. Lets not forget Foster did not get a game for the first few rounds until we had to move everyone around.

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:57 pm  

steve wrote:

Who was the last player Saints sold? PROBABLY Gary Connolly in the late 80's (can't exactly remember). Big Mac has never sold a player and anyway if you listen to St Pete we dont have any players the wolfs would want. You at the all stars are going to make some difficult decisions over the next 2 years like replace piggy, your entire front row and full back - good lucK

vinnie anderson

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 3:40 pm  

Fantastic Mr Catpiss wrote:

vinnie anderson

Gleeson?

Re: Confirmation we spend up to the cap... : Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:23 pm  

Fantastic Mr Catpiss wrote:

vinnie anderson

Didn't sell him - he left at the end of his contract after he didnt make the CC Final or GF team of 2006.