Good article in Schneiderlin in todays 'Times'

[SO5 4BW]

Sorry, can't post a link as its behind their paywall.

 

Says he's happy with his decisions to come here, and to stay when we were relegated in '09. says he learnt a lot in League One - "You learn about physicality, contact, getting the ball back. You get tackled from everywhere, challenges that would be a red in France"

 

Not bothered about poor start as we've shown we can compete

 

Nearly missed the piece when skimming the sports pages, as still not used to the new kit!

[JackanorySFC]

Copied and pasted from behind the paywall:

 

Rory Smith

Published at 12:01AM, September 14 2012

Southampton are bottom of the Barclays Premier League, without a point after their first three games. Tomorrow they travel to North London to face Arsenal, unbeaten, impregnable, another arduous afternoon in store.

As the sky darkens and the rain spits against the windows of the bar in the city’s Grand Harbour Hotel, Morgan Schneiderlin cuts a figure of contentment. “I made the right decisions,” he says.

We are all defined by the choices we make. By the time he had left school, Schneiderlin had made two. The first came at 16. He had an offer from a “big English club”, as he describes them. He means Arsenal, but is too diplomatic to say so. This was his moment, a gold filigree invitation to the promised land, the Premier League. He said no. He would stay and continue his education at home, in Strasbourg.

“I spoke with my family and they asked if I was ready,” he says. “I didn’t know. Leaving all of my family, all of my friends, at 16? I did not want to go to sit on the bench like some others. I wanted to go and play football. If I wasn’t going to, then I wasn’t ready.”

That was the first choice, but it was not the choice most of us would have made. The line most agents, most advisers, take to young players is clear: go to Arsenal, or Chelsea, or Manchester City. You will make it. And even if you don’t, you’ll have the earnings. You’ll be safe. Don’t gamble on tomorrow. Cash in today.

Two years later came choice No 2. Another offer from England, another life-changing decision. Schneiderlin was 18. “I got a phone call telling me Southampton were interested in me,” he says. “Things had changed. I had spent the previous two years working hard in training every day. Very hard. I was on the bench for every game, but never came on.

“The manager kept telling me to be patient, but after two years you think if you are not going to play me, I will go. Southampton said they were a young squad and they were aiming for the Premier League. I was ready to take a chance.”

Those first few months were difficult. They always are for a teenager in an unfamiliar land. “I didn’t speak any English,” Schneiderlin recalls. “I couldn’t even order pizza. There was no French television. I was alone. But I had made my choice. I knew I had to dig in and make it work. My pride forced me to make it work.”

Schneiderlin impressed that first season, in the npower Championship. Manchester United and Arsenal dispatched scouts to keep an eye on him. They would have noticed a raw midfielder in a side gasping for breath. Southampton were relegated. They had told their young French prodigy they would take him to the Premier League. He found himself in purgatory.

Schneiderlin had always wanted to play in the Premier League. He had decided to adopt Liverpool as his club because all his friends were Manchester United or Arsenal fans, and because of Steven Gerrard, all dynamism and danger in midfield. And yet now he was farther from reaching that dream than ever. Both choices, that summer, looked wrong.

“I questioned myself, of course I did,” he says. “Of course, you ask yourself. I came to play in the Premier League, not League One. I thought about asking to leave. But a new owner came in and said he wanted me to be part of taking the club back up. The players they brought in made it clear they wanted to move forward. And plus, you have your pride. I wanted to show everyone I’d made the right choices.”

Schneiderlin, now 22, is defined by those two choices, figuratively, literally. In another reality, he would be at the Emirates tomorrow afternoon, too, perhaps lining up for the hosts. That player, though, would be very different from the one who endured the spit and sawdust of League One.

“I learnt so much,” he says. “You learn about physicality, about contact, about getting the ball back. You get tackled from everywhere in League One, challenges that would be a red in France, but are nothing here. I could not have learnt that anywhere else. You can’t teach it in an academy.” Nor the sense that he has now, of having earned his place in the Premier League.

Southampton’s poor start is no source of concern. Nigel Adkins and his team are here to do something, he says. “I have worked all my life to be here,” Schneiderlin says. “We have had a difficult start, but we have shown we can compete. But that’s the Premier League. You’re playing against the best in the world. And it’s magical.”

The Schneiderlin files

Born in Zellwiller, Bas-Rhin, France, November 8, 1989 Turned down a move to Arsenal from Strasbourg, his home-city club, as a 16-year-old.

Emerged at about the same time as Strasbourg produced Kevin Gameiro, the France striker.

Joined Southampton for £1.2 million in 2008, despite interest from Portsmouth.

In 161 appearances for the South Coast club, he has scored only four goals.

Captained France at under-18 level and has appeared for each age-group side from the under-16s to the under-21s.

[JustinR]

The most uncelebrated player we have- so glad he stayed, Saint for life

[Sour Mash]

Great article, absolute class player.

[pingwing]

I like that, seems an honest and sensible lad. I am really glad we still have him about!

[Saint Charlie]

Probably the most difficult player to replace in our starting XI. Crucial to how we play and has started the season superbly.

[Saint Garrett]

Has clearly had talent ever since we have signed him, but one of those players who I feel is better when better players play around him and when the opposition are better. If there was an English version of him, he'd probably be worth £12m+!!

[yellow&blue]

"Joined Southampton for £1.2 million in 2008, despite interest from Portsmouth"

 

He obviously saw the light.....

[rick1976.4.38]

reall good article.

hopefully we keep hold of him for many years to come,sadly i can see the big boys knocking at our door for him.

such a class player,his distribution and his tackling are first class.

those who knocked him on here clearly know nothing about football cos he could walk into any team in the premier

[trousers]

The article seems to put to bed the story that we acquired him via some 'future option' deal with Arsenal. The link with Arsenal seems purely down to the fact they made an approach for him 2 years before us. That said, there's still the outstanding question as to how we managed to find £1.2m to buy an 18 year old unproven talent whilst in financial difficulty...

[Window Cleaner]

The article seems to put to bed the story that we acquired him via some 'future option' deal with Arsenal. The link with Arsenal seems purely down to the fact they made an approach for him 2 years before us. That said, there's still the outstanding question as to how we managed to find £1.2m to buy an 18 year old unproven talent whilst in financial difficulty...

 

with the money we were going to get from UEFA for Euro 2008 call ups ?

[ladysaint]

Thanks for posting the article a great read. Morgan is truly a gifted player and I am sure we have not yet seen the best of him, a future French captain perhaps.

[Crab Lungs]

I remember some b1tchy comments from the skates when we signed him... Was it storrie who had a pop? Can anyone find what he said?

 

Great read, thank you. Morgan's class and I'm so happy he's made it with us.

[Window Cleaner]

a future French captain perhaps.

 

Remains to be seen, Deschamps probably knows absolutely sod all about him for the time being, Morgan is no longer on the

Sports Ministry's list of "athlètes d'haut niveau" because he hasn't been called up for the Bleuets for a while and he wasn't in

Blanc's plans seemingly. There are new annual lists due out in October and if I remember I'll have a look at them, being back on them would at least mean he's back under the supervision of the FFF.

[SuperSAINT]

I remember some b1tchy comments from the skates when we signed him... Was it storrie who had a pop? Can anyone find what he said?

 

Great read, thank you. Morgan's class and I'm so happy he's made it with us.

 

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/portsmouth-chief-scoffs-southampton-claims-over-schneiderlin-191516

[MrWoody83]

the best bif of that tribal football quote

 

"why would anyone choose Southampton ahead of Portsmouth"....

 

Well Mr Storrie I think you now know the answer to that question!!

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/portsmouth-chief-scoffs-southampton-claims-over-schneiderlin-191516

 

My my how things have changed. Reminds me of that quote "Be nice to people on the way up the ladder because you will meet them again on the way down" Eat **** Storrie!

[trousers]

Storrie got one thing right...."It's all rather amusing, really."

 

Spot on that man....and we haven't stopped laughing since....

[Charlie Wayman]

We've got to get use to it and the inevitable un-refusable offers in January. Cortese must stay strong. Morgan is half our team!

[View From The Top]

Surprising how all the coffin dodgers that were slagging him off in L1 have suddenly gone quiet.

 

There out dated view of hoofing it forward didn't compute with Morgan's culture.

[Window Cleaner]

Surprising how all the coffin dodgers that were slagging him off in L1 have suddenly gone quiet.

 

There out dated view of hoofing it forward didn't compute with Morgan's culture.

 

Ah, all those players that would certainly be better, Ryan Harley, Chris Lines and a whole stack of two foot high ginger rats from Milton Keynes and Crewe Alexandra.

[Crab Lungs]

Hahaha brilliant thanks for that. The quote is priceless;

 

But Storrie scoffed: "It's absolute rubbish, I have never even heard of him. Are they having a laugh? Is it April 1 or something? We've never been after such a player. To suggest otherwise really is rubbish.

 

"Why would anyone ever choose Southampton ahead of Portsmouth in the first place, no offence meant. I would certainly know if we had made an approach for him and that is definitely not the case.

 

"It's all rather amusing, really."

[dellgirl]

Don't usually say I told you so, but was covered in merde when I said just after he came that you would be singing his name in a few years. He is one of the best thinkers and players of the game that I have had the pleasure to watch in many years. I am sure he will stay if our plans for the future are realized

[ladysaint]

Surprising how all the coffin dodgers that were slagging him off in L1 have suddenly gone quiet.

 

There out dated view of hoofing it forward didn't compute with Morgan's culture.

I think I am converting some of them but really surprised when reading Saintslist lately and some of the the older and well respected fans dont seem to be able to relate to his play at all. IMO the best player we have had since MLT.

[Wes Tender]

Now that's a hard one, choosing who to believe about whether he had received an offer from the Skates. Well, if he says it was rubbish, I am forced to accept the statement made by Storrie-Teller. After all, he was the chief executive of a club known for its absolute probity and the high integrity of all individuals associated with it, all of whom have led blameless lives totally devoid of even a whiff of illegality and criminal proceedings against them.

 

And as Storrie points out so eloquently, why would any player wish to go to little old Southampton, when he could play for a major club with a glorious history, such as Pompey. Why, even in the third division, some of the most illustrious players in British football even now acknowledge that they would rather play for the Skates with their magnificent ground and unsurpassed fans, rather than with so-called glory teams like Celtic.

 

I'm worried that should the Skates make an offer to him now, he'd be off like a shot. After all, if he was prepared to stay with us when we were in the third division, it follows that he would go to the Skates at the drop of a chapeau

[Pugwash]

I'm worried that should the Skates make an offer to him now, he'd be off like a shot. After all, if he was prepared to stay with us when we were in the third division, it follows that he would go to the Skates at the drop of a chapeau

 

Now now Wes, you know the skates can offer two to three times as much as anyone else can. Although actually getting the money out of them may be a little more problematic.

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

Now now Wes, you know the skates can offer two to three times as much as anyone else can. Although actually getting the money out of them may be a little more problematic.

As Dean Smith, the Walsall manager said recently "There'll be eyebrows raised by a lot of clubs at the calibre of players they are signing and what they're earning. I don't think they've been shopping at Lidl's"

[Wes Tender]

But Pugwash, it isn't a question of money. After all, he wasn't being paid a fortune with us and could have earned much more had he gone to the Arse. With him, it's all about personal development and from that perspective, it would be a very positive career move going to such a big club as Pompey, even in the third division. Thank God that the Skates weren't after him when the Arse first expressed interest, as we might not have had the benefit of his excellent contribution to our progress up the divisions had he gone to them then.

 

He's been a superb player for us and is now gaining the recognition he deserves. But if I'm being honest, I have to admit sadly, that with us he is depriving himself of the opportunity of playing in the theatre of dreams, Pompey's iconic stadium, filled with the greatest fans in the land. I somehow feel that he deserves better than us and that if the Skates came in for him, we wouldn't stand a chance of keeping him.

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

But Pugwash, it isn't a question of money. After all, he wasn't being paid a fortune with us and could have earned much more had he gone to the Arse. With him, it's all about personal development and from that perspective, it would be a very positive career move going to such a big club as Pompey, even in the third division. Thank God that the Skates weren't after him when the Arse first expressed interest, as we might not have had the benefit of his excellent contribution to our progress up the divisions had he gone to them then.

 

He's been a superb player for us and is now gaining the recognition he deserves. But if I'm being honest, I have to admit sadly, that with us he is depriving himself of the opportunity of playing in the theatre of dreams, Pompey's iconic stadium, filled with the greatest fans in the land. I somehow feel that he deserves better than us and that if the Skates came in for him, we wouldn't stand a chance of keeping him.

 

What, you mean these ones?

[Window Cleaner]

What, you mean these ones?

 

 

Now if that girl in the front row leans forward another couple of inches her tits would be hanging out, perhaps it's Princess Kate. On the far left Prince Harry, just needs to miss another blue and those shorts will be gone, evidently a high class of fan down at Nottarf.

[Badger]

What, you mean these ones?

 

Classy bird in the front row. Don't know when that photo was taken but she probably now has two kids from three different fathers.

 

As for the crimson faced f^cker next to her, isn't that 'Arry on steroids ?

[Window Cleaner]

Classy bird in the front row. Don't know when that photo was taken but she probably now has two kids from three different fathers.

 

As for the crimson faced f^cker next to her, isn't that 'Arry on steroids ?

 

looks a bit like a young Timothy Spall in his Auf Wiedersein days