SaintRobbie Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 100% this. The way that Lallana has agitated his way out of this club especially irks me. The way Liverpool have played him and our spineless Boardroom irks me. Lallanas move was orchestrated, he's not clever enough to have engineered anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Without a Halo Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 This is an excellent point. The last two Dutchmen depended almost entirely on the academy and that turned out far from well. Last year we played up to 5 academy graduates I will hazard a guess this year will be significantly less as we go mainly foreign like all good provincial mid to lower table clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 The way Liverpool have played him and our spineless Boardroom irks me. Lallanas move was orchestrated, he's not clever enough to have engineered anything. Yet you are clever enough to know exactly what Liverpool have done, what Lallana has done and what our board has done?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrent Of Abuse Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 No you're right. We never stood toe to toe with any big teams in the Premier League before. Never. Not ever. I think last season was the first time we had ever beaten Liverpool in our entire history, wasn't it? The kind of thing it would be impossible to imagine the Saints team managed by Strachan achieving. Well done, you win the Queen's Award for Facetiousness with an extra thumbs up for missing the point. Last season we travelled away and controlled games. We went to places like Old Trafford, Anfield and The Emirates and controlled games. Had long periods of possession, in the exact same manner as the big teams always have. There was no panicked defending, no heroic performances against the odds, no smash and grab. We would travel regularly to big clubs and hold our own. It's no surprise to hear the performances compared to the heydays of the 80s. But yes, you're right, we have beaten Liverpool since the 80s so it must be that nothing has changed. Good one. What we did lack was a sharper touch in front of goal - which is what Osvaldo was meant to be but failed to be. That is what separated us from the top teams. And that is why they are looking to prize away three players who gave us our solidity, our creative flair player and our one fit finisher. How are to plug all those gaps? It's a crazy task. Any team would struggle to replace its best players and yet we have lost every player who has won an end of season award for what... the last three years? Have they missed anyone? Boruc? And you wonder why people question how tough it will be? Really? We have had trouble bedding in one or two players in a season and we were pretty much all suggesting at least 2 new faces for the season before anything happened and now we need to get in three more to replace the best? More? Yup, you keep making cheap shots which miss the point, mate. We beat Liverpool plenty of times, you're right. It'll all be good for the first game of the season. Good call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Every player has a valuation, if we get an offer that massively exceeds the value it's good business to take it. Lovren and Schneiderlin will cost a total of about £50m. If a club wants to pay that then let them go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Well, after a quiet spell during the World Cup, the inevitable has happened. Our kids have gone on to further their careers at the top clubs. I have been preparing myself all this while for their exits yet I still feel extremely gutted whenever I see the latest 'X to have medical' thread being stickied. I think the main reason (for disappointment) is not because I had this delusional idea that we could have gone on to win the champions league had we not sold our players but more of the fact that deep down, I've always had this secret hope that our kids would stick together and gone on to win a trophy (even the league cup would be fantastic) If they had done so, the pride and satisfaction in that would have been immense. Granted, we now have XX millions to spend and could possibly built a better team. But for me, the feeling would not have been as satisfying with all the foreign names as opposed to a team of academy graduates. Am I stupid for thinking this way? As Saints fans, should we just accept the reality that we will never have a team of academy graduates playing together for 5-7 years? Anyway, we wouldn't want to stand in the way of our kids joining the bigger clubs who are guaranteed to further develop them for the greater cause of the England team I think the majority of us hoped that we had a squad of players who appreciated what they could achieve at Saints with a few additions. Apparently not, though. We were doing so well until Boruc's Cruyff turn, it was all downhill from there as the injuries suddenly kicked in and we had to rely on a weak bench and the likes of Yoshida in important matches. Even so, 8th for a team which could have been sleep-walking for the last 3 months was pretty impressive. I don't know what we'd have had to do to keep them, though. Agents are pitching us as this elite player-factory for CL clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourne Valley Saint Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Disappointed doesn't do my feelings justice!! I know that we have little choice but to fill the void left by the departure of long serving Saints players with foreign imports but I am afraid that it will mean next to nothing for me when I see our starting line up with a host of unfamiliar names. It just doesn't make sense to me that a club who had their best season in years is dismantled and we have to re-build hoping that the parts that are purchased fit neatly into the massive gaps that have been left. Anyone who thinks that spending this wadge of money is going to replace what we had is, in my opinion, going to be hugely disappointed. You cannot replace what the likes of Fonte (still here at the moment thankfully), Schneiderlin, Lallana, and Lambert have given us in their 5 or more years together or the understanding that Luke Shaw had with his fellow academy players for 7 or more years. I am totally gutted at the departures of Lambert, Shaw and Lallana and if Morgan and DJ go, then I shall seriously consider asking myself what was the FU**ING point in putting all that effort into supporting my team from the dark days of L1 (and many seasons before) to last season just to see it all disappear in a cloud of cash from the "elite" clubs who by buying all our players only make the divide greater between the top 4 or 5 and the rest. I have renewed my season ticket but the way I feel right now - I consider that I have been mugged. I thought that maybe if I get too demoralised I could go and watch Salisbury City but they have been dismantled as well - not by success like Saints but by incompetence and poor decision making and are now on the brink of extinction. Its a lose lose situation supporting either of theses clubs at present as far as I'm concerned. Feel free to disagree and I'm sure you will but I've followed Saints for over 40 years and been to nearly every ground in the country with them and have rarely felt more despondent than I do now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Disappointed doesn't do my feelings justice!! I know that we have little choice but to fill the void left by the departure of long serving Saints players with foreign imports but I am afraid that it will mean next to nothing for me when I see our starting line up with a host of unfamiliar names. It just doesn't make sense to me that a club who had their best season in years is dismantled and we have to re-build hoping that the parts that are purchased fit neatly into the massive gaps that have been left. Anyone who thinks that spending this wadge of money is going to replace what we had is, in my opinion, going to be hugely disappointed. You cannot replace what the likes of Fonte (still here at the moment thankfully), Schneiderlin, Lallana, and Lambert have given us in their 5 or more years together or the understanding that Luke Shaw had with his fellow academy players for 7 or more years. I am totally gutted at the departures of Lambert, Shaw and Lallana and if Morgan and DJ go, then I shall seriously consider asking myself what was the FU**ING point in putting all that effort into supporting my team from the dark days of L1 (and many seasons before) to last season just to see it all disappear in a cloud of cash from the "elite" clubs who by buying all our players only make the divide greater between the top 4 or 5 and the rest. I have renewed my season ticket but the way I feel right now - I consider that I have been mugged. I thought that maybe if I get too demoralised I could go and watch Salisbury City but they have been dismantled as well - not by success like Saints but by incompetence and poor decision making and are now on the brink of extinction. Its a lose lose situation supporting either of theses clubs at present as far as I'm concerned. Feel free to disagree and I'm sure you will but I've followed Saints for over 40 years and been to nearly every ground in the country with them and have rarely felt more despondent than I do now! Completely understand your feelings on this, but just for one second consider this. What if to move to the next level it was deemed deliberate and necessary to make changes to the squad? Admittedly losing Mopo was not ideal, however in Koeman we have a top, top Manager who should be able to bring further success. So without bleating on too much, what I would suggest to you is the same thing I'm telling myself - wait and see what players come in...wait and see what Koeman can do...wait and see what style of football we end up playing over the first 8 or 9 games...wait and see where we are at Christmas. Then and only then will we really be in a position to feel disenchanted if we're struggling near the foot of the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Liverpool played hard ball with Suarez and that paid off because it was one player. At the point he realised (or was told by his agent) that he was going no where and the best way to get a move in the future was to nuckle down and play it all changed. You can get away with that with one player but when you have several who decide they want out it is very different. The last thing we wont to do is to field a team where 50% dont want to be here any more. The Board are in a difficult place but by getting the kind of money they did for Shaw (which was crazy money) at least means that we have more money to strengthen. If Schneiderlen and Lovren go as well we will still only have lost two academy players though. Still not great I know but it is not as if we are losing all of our babies. What is sickening is the fact that these people clearly do not give a stuff about the club that has made their careers and are happy to jump ship at the same time. This has nothing to do with the incompetence of the Board, it is down to human nature. In the immortal words of Kevin Keegan, I would love it, just love it if we won something next season and Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs dont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Liverpool played hard ball with Suarez and that paid off because it was one player. At the point he realised (or was told by his agent) that he was going no where and the best way to get a move in the future was to nuckle down and play it all changed. You can get away with that with one player but when you have several who decide they want out it is very different. The last thing we wont to do is to field a team where 50% dont want to be here any more. The Board are in a difficult place but by getting the kind of money they did for Shaw (which was crazy money) at least means that we have more money to strengthen. If Schneiderlen and Lovren go as well we will still only have lost two academy players though. Still not great I know but it is not as if we are losing all of our babies. What is sickening is the fact that these people clearly do not give a stuff about the club that has made their careers and are happy to jump ship at the same time. This has nothing to do with the incompetence of the Board, it is down to human nature. In the immortal words of Kevin Keegan, I would love it, just love it if we won something next season and Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs dont. Thing is though, we're talking about pro footballers in a job with no affiliation to the Company. Just the same as many, many other like you and me who work for a living. If you were offered twice as much money to move job, most people would move without much of a thought, especially if you knew your career would only last until your mid-30's at best. The problem lies not with the players, but with the environment they work in. Firstly that's the Premiership and it's cash. Secondly that's the culture and environment provided by the club and it's staff. Can't influence the Prem really, so it's down to the Club to create the conditions. Our top players are rejecting the condition post Cortese and Mopo. Simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Thing is though, we're talking about pro footballers in a job with no affiliation to the Company. Just the same as many, many other like you and me who work for a living. If you were offered twice as much money to move job, most people would move without much of a thought, especially if you knew your career would only last until your mid-30's at best. The problem lies not with the players, but with the environment they work in. Firstly that's the Premiership and it's cash. Secondly that's the culture and environment provided by the club and it's staff. Can't influence the Prem really, so it's down to the Club to create the conditions. Our top players are rejecting the condition post Cortese and Mopo. Simple. So are you saying that if Cortese and Pochettino were still here the players wouldnt look to quadruple their wages with the top clubs and stay here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Saint Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 So are you saying that if Cortese and Pochettino were still here the players wouldnt look to quadruple their wages with the top clubs and stay here? Exactly. It's all about the cash and nothing more IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dronskisaint Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Yes sorry stupid The PL is money money money I am afraid Your dreams for SFC of course is very noteworthy but when Man U offer Shaw £100000 per week it is not surprising he left I have supported Saints for over 50 years not because they were likely to win much but because of loyalty apart from Paine and MLT most really good Saints players have left to better themselves playing football is their job. Its not like we are like Pompey with a poor ground who lost their players and money and are now in League 1 We have loads of money and we will be able to build a good team I am looking forward to the new season with a new squad of Saints players In their skanky, penniless, dreams they're in League 1:D See, already I feel better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 So are you saying that if Cortese and Pochettino were still here the players wouldnt look to quadruple their wages with the top clubs and stay here? No of course not...there is the possibility that players heads would still be turned, however I do believe that Cortese and Mopo would have had a more sound strategy to keeping players on board. Once Cortese went the chinks in the armour started to appear and it went to rat-sh1t from that point forward. However, as I said the Prem creates the situation where cash is king - over and above that, it's the culture and conditions created by the club. If that were not true then why would Saints invest so much in Staplewood for example? Thing is, the outgoing players may prove to be a blessing in disguise...we might actually push on from here...who knows? The only leaver I'm really miffed about losing really is Shaw because he symbolised the supposed new age future - the first real talent to break into the 1st team since our rise back to the Prem. Now he's been sold it's shown that the strategy is pretty much dead to the current Board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Cortese not only apparently seems to have brain washed half the first team squad into thinking we would get to the Champions League but numerous fans to However I doubt he was paying CL wages and that is the reason why our top players are leaving I think the same thing happened to Bridge when he first played for England Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 No reason to be disappointed.....this from Martin Samuel is quite a decent piece from a few months back http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2609004/MARTIN-SAMUEL-Why-Southampton-sign-stars-like-Christian-Benteke-Robin-van-Persie-John-Terry-instead-sell-sell-sell.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRobbie Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 http://bwinbetting.com/internationals/world-cup-2014/punters-liverpool-man-utd-spurs-southamptons-juicy-relegation-odds,57241.html? Saints becoming a favourite for relegation already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 Crystal Palace were favourites to go down last year and at one stage I believe were 1/25 or something like that. Enough said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 30 June, 2014 Share Posted 30 June, 2014 http://bwinbetting.com/internationals/world-cup-2014/punters-liverpool-man-utd-spurs-southamptons-juicy-relegation-odds,57241.html? Saints becoming a favourite for relegation already. Meaningless odds. Up until Sept. 1st any odds or predictions on how we'll do are irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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