um pahars

Have to say I agree that £4m is a **** poor effort. Even if we only got 1 season out of him, his value to the team is more than £4m. As you say I do have a degree of empathy with the lad going back to his roots, but with Liverpool being flush from TV monies and a Champions League spot, we really should have twisted their arm for more. He's contracted for two more years and we really should be making one of the top four cough up more than £4m.

No tax due to Image rights, paid offshore, paid to his Andorran company!!!!! imagine it will be a bit different to Jan Portakabin who had to buy himself out of his £30,000 contract with his Dutch outfit, but was never reimbursed LOL

But I think it would be safe to say that his signing on bonus will be £2million more than originally anticipated. ?

Pretty much answered all the criticisms about "not offering a contract", "not trying to keep him", "lack of ambition", "no forward planning", "inactivity over a replacement/the situation" etc and a fairly honest interview. Confirms my position that I'm not going to knock the Board for MoPo leaving, BUT they have to get the replacement right! PS thanks to Saint Armstrong for the linky thingy

Being honest, if they looked at the resources and standing of the top 4/5/6 then they must have been a tad naive to think we were the sleeping giant who would be able to establish themselves in the top 4 on a regular basis.

I think that when that table is combined with the thought that in 3 years they will be filling a 60,000 stadium (think there ST waiting list is in the tens of thousands) and looking at things such as merchandise and commercial pull (close to 10x what we make), then I would say they are much bigger than us. Throw in the bright lights of London and a mega contract (in terms of £££s and length) and I struggle to see how we could have made him stay. By comparison we are a small provisional team. (But I'm more than happy with our standing in the game and 80+ league clubs would only be too happy to be in our shoes).

https://mobile.twitter.com/sportingintel/media/grid?idx=0&tid=471286552191336448 In case anyone is in any doubt about where Spurs sit in the footballing pyramid, then this table makes for an interesting read. Now of course, nothing is set in stone and the status quo is always there to be challenged, but a dash of realism is sometimes needed before we launch in to emotive responses.

Happy to admit that Spurs are a bigger pull than us, but think Shaw and Lallana would be mad to go there. The big 5 at home or a big club abroad is where they should be aiming for (if we can't keep them of course).

As I said earlier, I don't think there is much they could do with regards MoPo leaving (certainly harder to keep a want away manager than it is a want away player), so I'm not going to give them stick about it. BUT, what will be interesting and what they will be held to account for is who they get in to replace him. That's their big test, so I'll leave my judgement until I see how that pans out. I actually woke up quite excited about who we will get in (definitely in a The King is dead mode), but tinged with a dash of worry about who else might walk!!

What's the odds on clauses in a couple of key contracts?? And whilst I take your point, in that it might be possible to play it a bit more hard ball if a player pushes for a move (aka Suarez), the reality is that most eventually get there move if they really push it.

The Board wanted him to stay, they provided him with commitments regarding transfer kittys, players not needing to be sold and other promises, but his head had already been turned by Spurs and not even a flimsy contract or a £2m+ clause was going to stop him from making the move that he thinks will progress his career and meet his ambitions. It would have been quite funny if they somehow tried to put a restraint on him and told him to manage the youth team for his last year here, but that would never stand up. We're a mid ranking Premiership Club who pick up players and managers from 80+ clubs in the pyramid, but conversely will be pillaged by 10 or so above us.

I'm sure that might be used as a smokescreen to justify his lack of loyalty, but don't think anything has materially moved with regards what our budgets were since his arrival. And the same with regards players, in that we don't want and have to sell, but it would be impossible to say we would be able to keep everyone (as his walking away from a contract has proved).

I had a hat, but I've just dropped it.

When someone wants to leave, they only have year left on their contract and a £2m release clause then there ain't much you can do. I thought it was pretty shtity to blow out Adkins the way we did, but the line was we had to to push ourselves on, and I think it's pretty shtity the way MoPo has blown us out in order to push himself on. It works both ways. Disappointed he has left so soon, but the only thing that matters now is who replaces him.

But Jan, we've always been a stepping stone Club, as has almost every other club out there. Of course there are degrees of stepping stonedness, but the overwhelming majority of clubs lose their star players & managers over time. It's the nature of the beast, and with the odd exception, exceptional players, coaches and managers will always gravitate towards the top of the footballing pyramid. We should probably be grateful that there are many more teams below us than above us! Before we get too upset, perhaps we should remember that many of our "stars" have been picked off from stepping stone clubs. For me, losing players and staff is part and parcel of the game and there is little we can do about it, what matters is how we respond. That is within our control (aka don't go showering the Shearer dosh on Dixon and Speedie!!).

I suppose there is a third option, which would be, could/should we have brought someone else in to replace Adkins, with the view they may have stayed longer?? But as we know money and power turns heads, so who knows. I think it just boils down to the fact that we have become the victims of our own success, in that MoPo's managerial success has made him ripe to be poached in much the same way as the success of our players means the big boys will start sniffing around.

But those few places really are massive. Tottenham are a much bigger club than us, IMHO 6th biggest in the country. In 3 years time, White Hart Lane will have a capacity almost double ours and they will fill it regularly and if he stays as long as Jol or Redknapp, then he will be leading a team out on its opening day.

In modern football, loyalty to a Club and vice versa is a very rare commodity. I'm not knocking MoPo for it as I fully accept the extra money, the lure of the bright lights of London, European football and the reputation of Spurs (rightly or wrongly) is obviously too much of a pull for him. If MoPo was really loyal to the players then with perhaps only 2-5 going, why is he not loyal to the remaining 20+? Why would someone pledge loyalty to a group of players he hardly knows and choose them over such a move. This is a big opportunity for him and one that IMHO he cannot refuse. And if he was loyal to Cortese, then he should have done the honourable thing and resigned when he left, or immediately after seeing out this season.

The only loyalty MoPo has is to himself and his immediate family. I don't for one minute think he has any loyalty to a bunch of players who he has know for about a year or less.

Just wondering whether this 16 month fling with MoPo has been worth it? It's been a wonderful season, with many fantastic memories, but we will come out of it stronger as a result of his departure? Would we have struggled had we stuck with Nigel?, got relegated? or perhaps alternatively would we have slowly built up towards mid table safety (& beyond)? I'm torn between thinking we should have stuck with him as there was a really good feeling about the place and we were still moving forward and then thinking actually MoPo has shown what really was possible with the squad. I accept players and managers heads will be turned by clubs higher up the pecking order, it's the way of the world and has happened thoughout my Saints supporting life, but my issue here is that it really has only been one season. That's the bit that grates with me, in that he will walk out after so short a period of time. But I also accept when we talk about loyalty, we have to remember it works both ways and we as a club are happy to cut managers and players when it suits us, so not sure how we can be so upset about MoPo walking out on us after 16 months. So back to the question, was this fling worth it, or should we have stuck with Adkins?

Over the last 20 years, Everton's average league position has been about 11th. Even over the last 10 seasons, which have been more successful, they've averaged about 8th. And that's a team which such a pedigree and history. As with almost every other team over the years, they have been raided losing the likes of Fellani, Arteta, Lescott, Rooney & Rodwell (who were both Evertonians).

Been doing it for ages, can remember "Argentina, Argentina" getting an airing up the Dell to wind the home fans. A sort of up yours response/pre emotive dig towards the stick they were getting. Apart from the extended United Calypso at the end, they were not a patch on their recent visits. It was as though there was an air of resignation and worry about the place, as on the pitch they looked awful and in some need of massive rebuilding that could see them take a backseat for a few years to come.

Agree with most of what OP is saying. There's nowt wrong with tempering optimism with a dash of realism and at the same time being really proud of being the 6th/7th/8th/9th best team in the entire country.

Right here's my track record; Shearer misses too many 1 on 1s to make it big (a few games after his debut) Lambert will play for England (whilst we were still in League 1) Blackstock, Best & most definitely McGoldrick are not top flight strikers. A real mixed bag there, showing I know Jack Shift, but my prediction for Sam is ........ Not a top drawer striker. Would love the young man to prove me sooooooo wrong, but compared with other youngsters who have come through, I just don't think he will make the same impact.

As someone above has said, these last 5 years are as good as the early 80s. (Toe to toe with the big boys and a team full of internationals, characters & flair) & perhaps late 70s (a few trips to Wembley & promotion to the top flight). The highs far outweigh any lows, with the highs almost too numerous to mention. A real high was watching a group of players grow together with a core playing through three divisions. In a game where players are increasingly transient, it was good to see the likes of Lallana, Lambert, Fonte & co grow with the Club.