Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:41 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

How did LMS get on?

Anyone?

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:46 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

Anyone?

well noone else seems to want to offer an opinion, so i'll have a go!
This is a huge shout, but i think he could turn out to be the best signing, not just for us, but for any club, he wont have cost the earth, could be here 6 years or more and already seems to be flourishing in a much better team. As i said, a huge shout, but from what ive seen at both friendlies, i'm very impressed so far!
Oh, and its great that he's the only player without a name on his shirt too!

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:32 pm  

i went on monday and from a neutral point of view

1. Hudds were better than is being reported, very solid and organised as we've come to expect , Brough was his usual box of tricks and Crabtree coming off the bench put in a big show- interesting comments from Nathan Brown not really mentioned in despatches was that he's pleased Earls' testimonial is over - no more off the field distraction

2. Given the first half was non stop whistle blowing ( 22 pens) - you can only form a proper footballing opinion on the 2nd 40.
Saints were trying all sorts of combinations and with Hudds spot on in every sense in the 3rd quarter it was no surprise that the score went Hudds way

3. Some decent patches for Saints , Ive raved about Gary Wheeler for years and if he stays fit- his superb skills will come to the fore, Kyle needs a bit more time realistically to get 100 per cent , Royce knows the defence needs to improve.

4.LMS went fine - he'll come on fine playing with Jammer and dont forget theres still Josh Perry to come in mid march

Doommongers need to just take a step back - as long as the team isnt done in by long term serious injuries they'll be right up there and everyone needs to remember that its a 27 round comp with some very decent sides in it. and having seen a few in pre-season without doubt Wigan are the team to beat- looked ominous so far

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:38 pm  

philipk wrote:

i went on monday and from a neutral point of view

1. Hudds were better than is being reported, very solid and organised as we've come to expect , Brough was his usual box of tricks and Crabtree coming off the bench put in a big show- interesting comments from Nathan Brown not really mentioned in despatches was that he's pleased Earls' testimonial is over - no more off the field distraction

2. Given the first half was non stop whistle blowing ( 22 pens) - you can only form a proper footballing opinion on the 2nd 40.
Saints were trying all sorts of combinations and with Hudds spot on in every sense in the 3rd quarter it was no surprise that the score went Hudds way

3. Some decent patches for Saints , Ive raved about Gary Wheeler for years and if he stays fit- his superb skills will come to the fore, Kyle needs a bit more time realistically to get 100 per cent , Royce knows the defence needs to improve.

4.LMS went fine - he'll come on fine playing with Jammer and dont forget theres still Josh Perry to come in mid march

Doommongers need to just take a step back - as long as the team isnt done in by long term serious injuries they'll be right up there and everyone needs to remember that its a 27 round comp with some very decent sides in it. and having seen a few in pre-season without doubt Wigan are the team to beat- looked ominous so far

Stop being sensible. We want to worry ourselves to death about how crap we will be.

(a very good and constructive post really IMO)

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:39 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

well noone else seems to want to offer an opinion, so i'll have a go!
This is a huge shout, but i think he could turn out to be the best signing, not just for us, but for any club, he wont have cost the earth, could be here 6 years or more and already seems to be flourishing in a much better team. As i said, a huge shout, but from what ive seen at both friendlies, i'm very impressed so far!
Oh, and its great that he's the only player without a name on his shirt too!

Big call like you say, but it might just be the right call. He's certainly got age on his side and the fact that he'll be surrounded by a better quality of player will only help his course. Lima at Wigan is getting some great reviews to say the least, so he'd be my bet for signing of the season.

philipk wrote:

having seen a few in pre-season without doubt Wigan are the team to beat- looked ominous so far

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:46 pm  

LovesToSpooge wrote:

Big call like you say, but it might just be the right call. He's certainly got age on his side and the fact that he'll be surrounded by a better quality of player will only help his course. Lima at Wigan is getting some great reviews to say the least, so he'd be my bet for signing of the season.

I really like lima, as good a signing as perry in my book, but like Perry, i doubt he'll be here for more than just this contract, which i imagine he's getting very handsomely paid for

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:03 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

I really like lima, as good a signing as perry in my book, but like Perry, i doubt he'll be here for more than just this contract, which i imagine he's getting very handsomely paid for

Well he's 28 now and has a three year contract, but I'm sure we'll get a couple more years out of him after that. All you can ask from any new signing is that they justify their worth. He may have only played two friendly's, but so far he's looking like the prop that all us Wigan fans felt we needed.

As for LMS he won't have come that cheap. Any decent British player immediately commands a premium because of the advantage they hold of not counting on the overeas quota. Plus the fact that more than just Saints were chasing him will have increased his price. But hey if he performs well, justifies his salary and his spot in the team what else can you ask.

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:42 pm  

SomersetSaint wrote:

I quite like the way we are being written off, and the extra pressure being placed on teams like Wigoon, whose fans seem to believe that they are now firmly back in a golden era of domination of the game. If Saints can stay relatively injury free (and that's a big if!) I think we may quietly go about mounting a challenge for silverware again this year. Win or lose at MM, I think we'll be there or there abouts at the business end of the season.

That is probably the nearest post to the way I am looking at things for next season. IIRC last season we were being written off by other teams, the press etc. On the downward spiral springs to mind and you'll finish mid table etc. We stood up to be counted in the end, even without any halfbacks which ultimately cost us at the end of the season. I feel this year even without KC on the pitch we have a great squad of players all up to the task in hand. We may take a few weeks to get into our stride but that's nothing new for us. I feel we will be up there at the end of the season. It's nice being underdogs it does take the pressure off.

Re: Royce out : Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:06 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

I really like lima, as good a signing as perry in my book, but like Perry, i doubt he'll be here for more than just this contract, which i imagine he's getting very handsomely paid for

How on earth do you work that out? Do you know him or have some feedback from his efforts when on other contracts? Does he have a track record of this? I'm sure he could have gotten more money at a lesser club if he was only here for that.

Re: Royce out : Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:45 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

i doubt he'll be here for more than just this contract

McClennan wrote:

How on earth do you work that out? Do you know him or have some feedback from his efforts when on other contracts? Does he have a track record of this? I'm sure he could have gotten more money at a lesser club if he was only here for that.

I read that as "I doubt he'll be here beyond the 3 year (or however many years it is) contract he's signed for, as opposed to "he's just here for the paycheck"