Well, I wonder who's lying?

Potter for saying we are going after a bargain player.

OR

All the so called "In the know" fans saying we are signing a class prop.

Will be interesting to see who we sign, hopefully there will be an announcement in the next few weeks.

How do you think we keep Knowsley Road from falling down? Buttons, magic beans and hope?

McManus is quite good at putting up a smoke screen though, we should put some faith in the management.

You are assuming that a bargain player can't also be a class prop?

Cayless' departure has been announced today. Perhaps they've read my thread and opened one of my 173 letters about this subject and have decided to act.

Does that mean he's playing on Friday?

Hull FC are announcing their list of players released on Monday. Graeme Horne is tipped to be amongst them.

"Never thought i`d see the day chief"! Just send the ginger one to your rich Cheshire neighbours mucca, that`ll free a couple of quid up, might even throw Rah in, just to keep you all sweet, what do you reckon la, "cheap as chips"!

dont beleive all you hear mate, mac says we have no money is a smoke screen

On the subject of signings it doesn't add up. Over recent years top well paid players have left the club and very few players brought in.

IMO we our either very much broke and can't spend up to the cap or we need as much cash injection into our new ground as poss.

Sir mac should let the paying public know what's going on. It's as simple as that. It would put all the talk to bed now.

IMO if we don't sign at least 1 good player(prop) then we will be in trouble next year. The young forwards just ain't good enough.

If I'm being honest I don't think next years squad will make the top four. We got to many players that ain't up to the level we used to but it would be pretty sad to moan with the last 10 years we've had at saints.

Maybe our time has been and it's another teams turn.

The paying public's cash isn't enough to keep the club going, EM is more a member of the "paying public" than any fan.

I have far more faith in EM to put together a squad than the knee jerking boo boys amongst the Saints support. I'm also glad he isn't waving his wallet around in the press saying how much cash we have spare.

We need another prop desperately, maybe two, as ideally we need Clough to move back to the 2nd row and adds some beef to the back 3.

I'd love a good seasoned aussie like a Britt and surely we could afford a roughyed Englishman - Danny Scully or Haggerty could actually fit the bill.

The other thing is we need speed. Its like watching Bratfut sometimes watchiung us - there's no way we can score 60-70m tries any more and we only look close from about 30 out.

Squad wise, for next year we could actually be weaker than 4 or 5 clubs. That is worrying.

I'm just saying that it might be good for sir mac to let us know what the situation is.

That way it's put to bed and stops all the gossip.

I've only skim-read this thread so I might be repeating some points.

Saints aren't alone in taking such an economical approach to recruitment. This is being mirrored across rugby league and sport in general. Anyone who follows football as well, will know that with the exception of Manchester City and Real Madrid's extravagant spending, we've just seen one of the quietest transfer windows in memory.

Closer to home, Wigan have not announced any signings for next year - and worse, their coaching situation has not been resolved one way or the other - while, outside Warrington, I can't think of a single 'big' move that a player is making. There is a growing emphasis on youth development.

The weakness of the pound, and closing loopholes in terms of off-shore/image rights contracts etc... is making overseas recruitment all the more challenging and the Salary Cap is starting to bite a lot of the top clubs. This, in turn, means that quality English players are at a higher premium, and this is not helped by agents like Martin Offiah gaining ever more influence within the game.

On top of everything, Saints have a stadium project to save pennies for which is the most important issue in the history of the club, any slip-up here and the club will go out of existence.

It's disheartening as a fan to see your rivals strengthen and there is a perception that Saints are standing still...all I can really say to that is that Eamonn McManus is Saints through-and-through, and more importantly a hard-nosed businessman. He has never, EVER, let us down even when making unpopular decisions like sacking Millward or selling Gleeson. We are in the safest hands.

to be fair, we said that last year

That's a good post apart from the bit highlighted. It should read has not been announced.

The other big problem in Rugby League and sport in general is the level of sponsorship. In times of recession, advertising and sponsorship are the first things to go.
Clubs will find it difficult to retain sponsorship at their current levels.

I'm not sure if Saints are saving money.

Firstly I doubt the big named players potentially leaving like Long and Cunningham are being paid as much as they were in their 'pomp'. Sculthorpe certainly wasn't before he retired.

Secondly, if the pay structure at the club is anything like that of Leeds, your top earners will be current internationals. How many Saints players played for England in the World Cup? Wellens, Gardner, Pryce, Graham, Roby, Wilkin, Fa'asavalu etc will all be on a fair amount. Roby, Maurie and Graham in particular will be on much higher salaries than when they first broke through into the team.

Then you've got the overseas contingent - Soliola (didn't you outbid Leeds for him), Gidley, Meli, Puletua and Flannery will all be well paid as well. Add in new contracts for emerging talent like Clough and Eastmond and you're probably pretty close to the cap.

All good points, although I think it McManus said in preseason that we had room under the cap for one more if need be, but that he was happy with the squad. Lets say conservatively that the space left is Moore sized . Then Long & Gilmour are confirmed as leaving, whilst Soliola is coming in. That leaves us with a decent sized chunk even before Cayless situation is clarified. Some of that will be used for improved contracts for our younger players perhaps.

I imagine (or guess) the previous info coming out of the club, saying we are looking for a bargain player is prior to the future of Cayless being resolved.

So maybe 1 value player will come in, and if Cayless leaves a like for like replacement. He must be on a good sized contract.

Good post which puts a lot into perspective for those who think we can 'splash the cash.'

In addition, we can't underestimate the financial impact of the stadium. Football fans saw how moving to the Emirates hamstrung Arsenal in terms of squad strengthening, and possibly still is hamstringing them.

We might have to accept that we run with a much smaller paybill for a few seasons to secure the club's long term future.

Well worth it.

I see the likes of Rahuahui, Thackary, King and Haggerty are all free agents now. All are better than Hargreaves, Emitt and Frodsham.

Any chance of any of them signing? Or is the 'bargain signing' a smoke screen for the huge signing we've got planned?

Anyone who takes Thackray or King on needs their head examining.
Rahuahui is 36, Haggerty maybe.

Agreed.

Thackray is gash and a t stirrer. Rauhihi is over the hill and spends his time sitting in the stands.

Frodsham has the potential to be far better than either player.

Like Haggerty and he has the bonus of being a Sintelliner.