Early Team news

Early team news for Saints is that we are still without four or five creative midfielders for tomorrows game against QPR. Idiakez, Dyer, Belmadi and Surman are all sidelined, with Skacel expected to be absent, although he may be given a fitness test. The defense will probably remain unchanged (Bale, Lundekvam, Powell, Baird) while there is a question about who will partner Rasiak up-front, with both Wright-Phillips and Jones available.

I thought that it was a mistake playing McGoldrick in midfield last week. If you are going to play one of the strikers there, I would have played W-P. If Skacel isn't fit then I'd like to see Burley return to the 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation he played in december. Pele, Wright and Viafara in the centre of midfield, with Wright-Phillips and Jones playing wide, with Rasiak through the middle.



I also hope that Dexter Blackstock doesn't come back to haunt us again. There seems to be a curse on saints that when we sell a striker, he suddenly starts playing well and scoring; Blackstock (QPR), Ormerod (Preston) and Fuller (Stoke) recently.

In transfer news: there are more conflicting reports about Bale, more of the same really. Some papers report today that Man U have launched a £9 million bid with loan-back til the end of the season. But then other reports say Burley has laughed off any talk of a transfer and is adament he is going nowhere. Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Loan-wise saints don't appear to be having much luck. Apparently they have been talking to clubs and trying to work on a few deals, but nothing is coming good.