andoru

I'm just picking up on a comment I read elsewhere in relation to Wanyama. One aspect of the 'Southampton Way' often emphasized is that the club puts as much value of a player's character when they scout him as they do on ability. Simply put, the club expects a certain attitude. Then within the academy the try to foster qualities such as loyalty, honesty, integrity, professionalism, solid work ethic, etc. Basically the club wants to produce a bunch of nice, polite middle-class lads who say their prayers, eat their vegetables and call their parents regularly. Yet, as was commented elsewhere, it seems like these days we produce more 'defectors' than anything else. I think most (all?) of our recent sales have moved at the first opportunity. Certainly it's what they say themselves ("As soon as I heard Liverpool/Man Utd/Arsenal were interested I told my agent to get it done."). Who was the last player we wanted to keep to turn down a move and say they are genuinely happy at Saints?* I can't think of any stars who have resisted. Makes you wonder how effective that character-building actually is. *Mane telling that kid the other day doesn't count yet. The transfer window is still open.

Spurs 1-0 up. Damn them. Bournemouth look terrific today. Really kept their heads up since throwing away the lead. West Ham have looked worse than us at the back today.

Some confusion I think. What they meant was that every time Man U play against Ron Vlaar they target him as the defensive weak spot.

I know we needed the money, but we also didn't particularly need them for the level we were playing at at the time. Both were clearly capable of better things, Chamberlain especially as we were down in League One. It would have made sense to sell him even if we weren't on the brink of bankruptcy. Anyway the point I was making was that a club only needs players good enough for whichever league they compete in. Suppose, for the sake of argument, Portsmouth could afford to buy Mane. They still wouldn't, because to get out of League Two they don't need someone of such ability. It's why I really don't understand why Rangers were paying such high wages when they were down in the Scottish Fourth Division. They were using a squad about two levels higher than was necessary. Very strange. Fortunately it's something Cortese got right when we were rebuilding: signing for the level, or one above, but no higher. Then sell and replace.

Annoyed I'm sure, but there is a crucial difference: Celtic play in the Scottish Premier League, a completely separate competition unaffected by what we do. Celtic know the standard of their league is lower, so they also know they can win it without Premier League-quality players. They fill their squad with players who can maintain their level and no more, because they don't need them. They don't need to spend big to take the title, and they don't need the best players in the world. If they have a player who can play at a higher standard, they know it makes sense to sell them, because they can use the money to buy a replacement at SPL level. It's the same thing we did when we were going up and down the leagues. We signed players appropriate for the level we were at, and sold those who could play higher up the league. We didn't need the likes of Walcott and Chamberlain at the time they emerged, so we took the money. However, now we are in the same division as Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal etc, and as much as we know it's not true, it's supposed to be the case than any team of the 20 can win the title by playing the best football. It's only in theory of course, but there aren't really meant to be levels within a level.

£40m or £20m plus that new defensive midfielder of theirs, Schneiderlin. I like the look of him.

£15 is it? Bargain. Anyone who turns there noses up at that price must be homeless. I wish I could be there.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth I suppose. If he's available for the right loan fee, and willing to come, bring him in. But of course his position is not our priority, so I won't feel anything if this doesn't happen.

No kids yet (next year), but I've already laid it down to my wife that we're having a Saints fan and nothing else. Fortunately, living overseas I can censor the sports news fairly easily, at least compared to England where the so-called big clubs are constantly in your face. My kid will only ever see Saints matches shown on our TV and I'll put parental blocks on the internet for search terms like Man Utd. They'll be dressed in Saints kit before they even know what football is and their room will be red and white for a little extra subliminal brainwashing. As far as my kid will know, Southampton are the only team in England – the other 11 blokes that play them on Saturdays are just randoms. Seriously, I'm going to create the football supporting equivalent of North Korea.

Rather different performances though, wouldn't you say? How long did it take to concede this many goals last year?

Well that's nice.

Their goal was almost identical to Newcastle's second: break down our left, man left to run free up the centre unnoticed, cross whipped in, keeper stays on his line, 'defender' fails to challenge for the header, goal. I say 'defender' because Mane and Davis somehow found themselves with the job of handling Lukaku (!).

It was always a lot easier to promise opportunities for youngsters when we were lower down the league. After all, it doesn't take as much to be ready for the Championship or lower-half of the Prem. At those levels a kid only needed to be a £1/2/3m player to start; now they need to be a £8/10/15m player before they get picked. Moreover, we had less money to spend then, so promoting youth was as much about the budget as it was about developing homegrown talent. As we climb and grow as a club, the benchmark for getting into the first team grows too. It's why the likes of Chelsea and Man City buy ready-made, proven talent – they have a standard they believe they need to maintain and don't want to risk bringing in someone who is not yet there. It will be interesting to see if we do the same or if 'the Southampton Way' can endure. If we become an established top 8/7/6 club – and want to stay there – it will take longer to bring youth up to that level, and therefore presumably will be harder for them to break through if we're not prepared to risk our position.

While it's hard to disagree, this is exactly what the big clubs say and do, and they get constantly lambasted for it. The media is always on at Chelsea and Man City et al for not giving youngsters a chance, while praising Saints for doing it. The big clubs argument is that they play at a higher level, so need players with the proven ability to keep them there. We've always promised we'd give youngsters a chance no matter what. If we start to abandon that philosophy as we climb the league and grow as a club, it's not really 'the Southampton Way' at all, is it? It's just the same way as every other team that wants to secure a top 8/6/4 finish in the league.

If anything comes of this, I will be seriously depressed. You don't sell Jose Fonte. He is the bedrock of our already-depleted defence. Please say this isn't anything close to being true, and that it's just hew agent playing silly buggers.

Not sure I saw much evidence of calmness and confidence in the defence last weekend at Newcastle! They were all over the place in the first half, and Soares seemed especially on edge.

It actually fits better if you just replace the 'on me' with Juanmi (i.e. Don't let the sun go down, Juanmi) Some other 'on me' songs: Travis: Why does it always rain, Juanmi? (for when the weather's bad) A-ha: Take Juanmi (if he turns out to be a bit rubbish and we want someone to buy him) Abba: Take a chance, Juanmi (for when we want him to shoot more often)

No idea if he's already got one since I'm a Saint abroad and don't attend matches, but if not, my suggestion is to the tune of 90s classic 'You and Me' by The Wannadies: It's always you, Juanmi, always ... and forever. You – Juanmi Always And forever Wash, rinse, repeat. Pretty much any song with 'and me' as a key lyric would work.

I'll take a point away from home, especially given how we started. The defence was all over the place in the first half, with the two fullbacks particularly vulnerable. Soares struggled – three fouls and a yellow card in the first 20 minutes – and the CBs need to work on their communication. We got caught standing still for the second goal as well. Was that Cuco who failed to challenge for the header? I wonder if he thought the keeper was coming for it. Again, communication. Thought we got bossed about in central midfield most of the game as well, in the area where Morgan used to be. It was only towards the end – last 15-20 mins or so – that we took control there, or rather Mane took control. Thought he looked very positive overall, just a shame he couldn't nick us the win. Up front, Pelle was a real threat. The Newcastle CBs couldn't seem to handle him in the air, so it was good tactics to rely on crossing. That's where Soares really did well. J-Rod wasn't at his best, but that's entirely forgivable, and it's just good to see him out there.

That's trophy or promotion. Hope it's not the latter!

We haven't had that many.

Bournemouth's has been greater to a point, but I can't see them consolidating a Premier League place, much less push on and qualify for Europe. I think their rise has just about peaked. Perhaps ours has too, but it peaked higher up.

Football pitches are green, not grey. People were saying our players would blend in with the pitch and be hard to see.

I don't mind it. It's a bit different. As for the claims it will be harder to see players, you have to remember most of us tend to watch from a higher position – TV cameras point down so we see them against the pitch. At ground level, where the players see each other, it's presumably less of an issue?

We can only go on the evidence available at the time, and for quite a while he was pretty poor. I'm man enough to admit he's proved me wrong, but I stand by what I thought of him at that time. I don't go in for hindsight and second guessing.