Torrent Of Abuse

It's a very positive attitude to take - and I agree about football moving on from purely possession to a pacy counter-attack style but I'd still like to see us attempt this from a position of strength rather than a position of weakness. And selling three of our regular first team squad - three KEY players is definitely making us weaker. We had a style that was very solid. It would have been good to adapt that and have the solidity to fall back on. Right now it feels like developing Plan B not because it's a good complement to Plan A but because you've suddenly found that you can't do Plan A any more.

The pricing of players (particularly british players) is down to the amount of money sloshing around in the top flight. If it gets you 60m or 80m or 100m to get into the top league then of course you'll be expected to spend on that kind of par to get in there. Anything less is a gamble. Similarly, you pay a premium for players to get into the CL. If ManU don't want to pay a premium for a player to get them back into the exalted realm of top top teams then so be it, but they shouldn't whine about it. Honestly, I remember clubs like Liverpool and Man United doing what they want and signing who they want. When did they become so small-time that they have to do all their negotiating via the media and when did their fans become so delusional that they think clubs should sell them a player at a knock-down price because they want it to happen. I would be delighted to see Shaw back here for pre-season and also content to have Lallana back. Just no badge kissing this season, Adam.

They are only half right. When buying a player, they (and many other big clubs) like to claim that British players are overpriced and yet when selling, they say the opposite. Hence why Bale was a bargain at 5m but he wasn't sold at a bargain price, he was sold at a massive profit. To see big clubs talk down a player's price because they are unwilling to pay for what they are getting and then see them slap a big price tag on their heads once they have signed is quite the sickener. I for one am glad that our club is pricing these players in the same way that the big clubs do. If ManU or Liverpool want our best players then they should pay what they are worth. We are not a charity. As for the price-benefit differential, well the obvious answer is for the big clubs to concentrate as much on their academies as we do. It can't be a coincidence that whilst the big clubs can blow us out of the water in terms of who they transfer into the club, they are very much on a par with us in terms of who comes out of their academies. If they want the Shaws and Lallanas of this world then the answer is to sign them young, train them well and give them a direct route through to the first team as we do. How many young players at the big clubs get a chance to make the full team and how many have to be shipped out to Sunderland, West Brom or Stockport because the road to the first team is blocked by a more expensive player? If you don't give the academy boys the right route to the first team then you have to spend millions on buying them after someone else has. It's not rocket science and it's not unfair. It's business - and right now we're doing it on our terms, not theirs. Because we invested the money and earned the right to do so.

To be honest, though, the fact that you're English is a fluke of birth too. You didn't vote for that either :-)

You should probably hand in your notice and forego your loyalty bonus. Or you can be a **** and hang around spreading rumours about wanting to go but not actually handing in your notice because (although you're in a job where you're paid money beyond most people's wildest imaginings) you want to leave your job and get the loyalty bonus too - possibly so your young family can get a second outdoor football court built or something. Failing that you can just be a man and hand in your notice. You know, like Mr. Average has to.

Let us not forget that just because Man Utd are the biggest club in the UK doesn't mean they are the biggest club in Europe. It's totally possible for him to get sold on to a bigger European club for bigger money later in his career. In fact his age and Bale's example has shown it's more likely than not - particularly given his lack of any real connection to the club (given his actual fondness for Chelsea). I'd say 40m with at least 25m up front and the remaining over 2 years at maximum - PLUS a nice slice of the sell-on fee (10-20%?). That way we either get a slice of any Bale-esque sell-on or we get a tidy, smaller sum one day in the future when an older, slower Shaw transfers to Villa or Sunderland. Either way we end up happy. Also not totally committed to losing him. I reckon we have a good future with Koeman - but 40m+ would go a long way to mend the heartache of losing him (*sob sob*) :-)

FWIW I think the club have to force Liverpool's hand with the bidding. It's as important for the club's image that we be seen to be taken seriously by a fellow Premier club (especially one at the same high table where we would like to be) as it is to get the playing side sorted out. You only have to see the change in attitude amongst some players when the manager leaves and we are perceived to be weaker. Or the change after the little Napoleon left, taking his maps of Europe with him. We need to be able to show clubs that we are serious about where we see the club going and where our ambitions lie. I would hope that the club would say 25m upfront and Liverpool pay enough on top to cover Bournemouth's share. Failing that and we say "Sorry, Adam, they obviously didn't want you enough". If it turns out that we end up with either Luke or Adam or both here (unlikely) and some new signings then great - let the morale rebuilding begin. Failing that, I'd like us to really draw the buying clubs over the coals financially and then sign their replacements days later, after the club have secretly been doing their own work behind the scenes. If it's going to be a break-up, you have to be the one to move on fastest and most confidently :-) Keeping our two stars and rebuilding. Selling one or both and pocketting 10-15m with top quality replacements. Either is good. Telling Lovren to stick his transfer request, honour the contract he signed under a year ago and get with the programme is good. Being dictated to by 'big clubs' and their media friends is not an option though. Long contracts have to mean something - and it seems Shaw is going about things the right way so seems unlikely to dummy spit. Lallana may spit the dummy but if he isn't man enough to submit his own transfer request (preferring the media route) then he isn't likely to go tough on issuing ultimatums and refusing to play. Damn, I'm sounding all Tywin Lannister all of a sudden :-)

10,000 every time he actually makes Messi look like sh1te.

All this is happening at the worst possible time for us. If we'd have had one extra year under our belts, I'm sure that we would have been better placed to counter what amounts to a feeding frenzy on our club. That said, we seem to need to take a step backwards and build again. First and most important step is to get a new manager in - the best fit we can find. If we get that wrong, no end of money will help us. If we get it right then we just begin chapter two of our new premier league story and rise again. It would be nice though to see us appoint someone with clout (Koeman?) soon and have him and the club lay down the law about no players leaving until he's had a proper pre-season with the lads. They were used to Pochettino but that shouldn't mean that his departure makes us a nothing club. The players have to understand (and believe) that we have a new culture growing at the club. The good times they knew are gone but, if they want to be part of something else good, a place in the new project is available. If money IS available, I'd get two forwards and a left-back in, show Ramirez (or Davis for that matter) that he can take the creative role that Lallana had and bench Shaw and Lallana until they get a chance to see what we're building here. If they still want to go then let them go when the buying club makes the right offer. If they don't make the right offer then the players can make whatever comments they'd like to make to the buying club via the press and they can sort it out that way. I'm sure we are a selling club still. And with our best players sat on 5 year deals, we should be a selling-at-the-right-price club.

These dealings should be treated like any other break-up. Come out of it the best we can and move on. I hope the board are showing all the players they have every intention of keeping them regardless of the offers. I hope they're squeezing every last penny out of the clubs who are offering and I hope they are lining up plenty of replacement options on the sly. Whatever the emotional elements in this and many other transfers (and it does hurt to consider a legend like Rickie going) we have to be hard-nosed and move on. We should treat players and other clubs in the way that Pochettino did with us: in a very business-like way making sure we get what we need. There is little romance in this - return to boyhood club or not. I feel happy he's getting the chance to play for his home club but that's his business and for him to sort out. My club comes first I'm afraid. When my club get what we want from the deal then I can consider his feelings on the matter. I'm sure no-one out there in football-land is shedding a tear for what will happen at our club between now and the start of next season. As we're learning (this close season especially) just because you're higher up the table doesn't make it any easier. In fact until you build up a big reputation it's harder as our squad is seen by many to be too good for "little Southampton".

CUNNING PLAN: How about we spend the next few months trying to convince Luke Shaw that David Moyes is still the manager of ManU. Then we appoint Moyes as manager and spend the rest of Shaw's contract convincing him that the whole team has signed for Man Utd as part of a historic full-team transfer. There are probably some flaws in this plan - notably explaining why he's playing every other game at St. Mary's but I'm sure we can manage something.

The solution is probably to buy the players who can deliver the sh1t instead of questioning whether we really need the fart. Get some more agile attacking options will be like slipping someone an enema. Taking away the passing game we deploy now will be like giving someone a packet of diarrhoea medication. You'll just end up with constipation. I think the constipation-diarrhoea analogy is probably all played out now...

Not sure where they get a "BP minimum" for pretty much all teams of 0%. Seems a little bit screwy to me.

Mark Catlin: "I'm pretty sure that's not how you spell 'Poor Play'"

What do I really love about being a Saints fan? one of these threads popping up every few months as we welcome a new, young face into the first team... and watch them settle in, grow and develop as each game goes by. Such a great time to be a Saints fan. Consistently the most continually productive period I can remember for our production line. Win, lose or draw I'm enjoying seeing us bring on the next generation more than anything. It's what a football club should be about IMO.

If it shows nothing else then it shows how much the rest of the league has reeled in ManU and how we have surged out the pack of the lower teams and are headed up the table to challenge for that top 7, 6, etc. Be interesting to keep this up to date so we can see ManU be "knocked off their perch" so to speak

If he turns out like Lovren who was claimed by some to be a liability at Lyon then I think I'd take that.

Or include training (and associated costs) as part of their contract. I'm sure there could be some tax benefits from being "paid" that way?

From what I have seen, Stephen Dale is much better than Stephen Jacks. I hope this helps clear everything up.

Perfect double act: Harry could write the books and then Peter Storrie could cook them.

Really couldn't agree more with this. A few posters could do with considering the big picture of what players and ex-staff have given us. It's nice to be where we are but to consider where we are without losing perspective on where we were and who got us from there to here shows a touch more class.

Hard as nails. Sorted out a lot that came in from the flanks when they got behind our full-backs. What a catch (be said in a heterosexual manner).

How much did that saggy-faced bag of sh*t set their careers back though? Some players don't recover from a bad start like that and some do but take years and many clubs to do so. And all so he could say the kids are rubbish so the chairman would loosen the purse strings a bit. You can bet that's what the pr*ck was up to.

Which will be the marketing blurb for next season's all purple home shirt.

Luncheon: now there was a hungry player.