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Calum Chambers - Done Deal - Official


washsaint

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There's certainly some smoke surrounding Chambers at the moment but is there fire ?

 

The Arsenal medical story came originally from a Gooner on Twitter so not exactly reliable. It's subsequently been picked up by some of the media but not all. The Daily Fail and Mirror are running with it but they're not exactly credible sources. The one that worries me is the BBC who usually check their facts so maybe it's true.

 

Also Callum was a no show for the Bournemouth game which seems to add weight to the medical story but RK indicated in his interview that Chambers was not fit to train at the mo and that a story about him going was just rumours whereas he pretty much confirmed the Lovren leaving situation.

 

The main thing that makes me question this one is that I can't see what's in it for Saints. The sales of Lambert, Lallana and Shaw and the anticipated sale of Lovren all had a kind of logic to them and a benefit for Southampton whereas this one I keep asking myself "Why would Southampton do that ?" unless of course Arsenal are offering silly money which doesn't seem to be the case. If Chambers really wants out the club are in a position with Clyne and Cork available and loads of money where they don't need to sell a real prospect whose future transfer price has plenty of upside potential so why would they, particularly this year given the number of exits that have already happened.

 

My gut feel is that this whole story is bogus as I can't see why Saints would agree to the deal.

 

Time will tell. Keep the faith.

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Talk about profit-taking by KL...!

 

Either she's:

 

1) selling the club, and asset-stripping out the software first, or

 

2) playing a very high-risk business model of hoping we can stay up on a shoestring, forcing through a new Academy generation every year, and flogging them at inflated prices every pre-season.

 

If it is option 2, then we are perennially going to have no ambition as a football club and primarily be an Academy. In fact you can start to see the sense in this if you are a business-woman and not a fan. The risks though are relegation and/or the Academy having a few generations of relative flops. I guess she thinks the parachute-payments mitigate relegation risk.

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We probably all should have seen this coming... (some did, fair play)...

 

but following the constant "We know the difficult financial position we've found ourselves in" guff from Krueger and the CFO/CEO spoke volumes. Use a minuscule amount of debt which was already covered by TV payments to justify an asset strip.

 

What a board.

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To be honest, hanswhatshisface opened the door. You do not make a public statement to say that we're in a difficult financial situation. The players will listen, and so will monitoring clubs. It seems as if we are/were in a very difficult financial situation, as it's the only sense I can make of these sales. Callum is an odd one, seemed happy enough here and he won't be first choice at Arsenal - just another Carl Jenkinson, occasionally used. Very odd move for him.

 

I wonder if the club have actually forgotten to say no? or are they actually welcoming these bids to clear our massive debt?

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To be honest, hanswhatshisface opened the door. You do not make a public statement to say that we're in a difficult financial situation. The players will listen, and so will monitoring clubs. It seems as if we are/were in a very difficult financial situation, as it's the only sense I can make of these sales. Callum is an odd one, seemed happy enough here and he won't be first choice at Arsenal - just another Carl Jenkinson, occasionally used. Very odd move for him.

 

I wonder if the club have actually forgotten to say no? or are they actually welcoming these bids to clear our massive debt?

 

I agree it is strange, but maybe he wasn't going to be first choice here so instead of fighting for a starting place with Saints would rather fight for a starting place at Arsenal on a higher salary?

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.I wonder if the club have actually forgotten to say no? or are they actually welcoming these bids to clear our massive debt?

 

We didn't have any massive debt. We had a small, serviceable one.

 

But I completely agree with you, when Hoffstetter/Kruger/Rodgers all came out declaring how terrible our financial position was (lying c*nts) then it opened to door for what we're seeing now.

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We must have been close to administration again or something.

 

Not at all. Financially we're very solid and have kl support, that I know for a fact. That's why, if this is true of course, it makes no sense whatsoever.

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And to think about all the **** I took from people... Look at what's happening, people...

You mainly took stick for putting up sh it about "if only you knew what I knew" and how you would reveal everything but were a bit busy at the moment.

 

Well, you never did, so you can't actually claim any foresight.

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I agree it is strange, but maybe he wasn't going to be first choice here so instead of fighting for a starting place with Saints would rather fight for a starting place at Arsenal on a higher salary?

 

Still many more opportunities for him to get game time here though. I think he's cocked up his career. Maybe not ££££, but his career will go the same way as a few other young full backs they've bought. What a waste.

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Still many more opportunities for him to get game time here though. I think he's cocked up his career. Maybe not ££££, but his career will go the same way as a few other young full backs they've bought. What a waste.

 

Yup, another Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell etc in the making.

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£16 Million is a ridiculous fee for a Second Choice right back.

 

I will be disappointed if he leaves, thought he'd progress to be a decent Center Back.

 

Hang on - he's a second choice right back now. With time, he might be one of the most versatile defenders in a future England set up, that is, if Arsenal don't hinder his career in a way that Saints wouldn't. It's a relatively high risk by Arsenal because he might never fulfil his potential to make a decent return on £16m invested, but by no means is it a ridiculous fee for Chambers.

 

That said, I will also be disappointed if he leaves, but in a way I can't help but feel that if we kept him, we'd be attempting to have our cake while simultaneously eating it. That's just my initial gut reaction, by the way.

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It's a relatively high risk by Arsenal because he might never fulfil his potential

 

Which is why I think (if he is sold) we accepted the fee, it's also a risk on our part to turn down that kind of money for a position we aren't struggling with. Cork can play right back too if required & again we don't know if he'll fulfil that potential.

 

We don't know whats going on behind the scenes, whether we need money to facilitate incoming transfers.

 

We can only really judge when the window closes, I like chambers though & will be sorry to see him leave.

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come on... is the board f*cking with us? I've always been on the calm and patient side but this is really testing my limits. the other outgoings I can understand but this one?? chambers has so much more to offer this season and he could have developed so much more with us. he's still young, what's the rush in going to play back up to debuchy??

 

I understand all that's said about big clubs and players not being able to resist their approaches but come on, there has to be an end to this silliness. if the top 4 clubs were to split our players equally among themselves, are we to just grin and accept it?! this is just disappointing. but... it seems like just rumours for now, I wouldn't hold too much hope judging by past weeks though ):

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We're being offered ridiculous money for player after player

 

Better get used to it, we'll be fielding a whole new team this year

 

I personally don't see it as necessarily a bad thing

 

(S-Clarke - surprised by your comments above. You're usually sensible enough to to see the wood through the trees. Neither RL would be on this bus to run it down and I still don't see any individual decision that's been made as being wrong. Just difficult to palette as a group)

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Talk about profit-taking by KL...!

 

Either she's:

 

1) selling the club, and asset-stripping out the software first, or

 

2) playing a very high-risk business model of hoping we can stay up on a shoestring, forcing through a new Academy generation every year, and flogging them at inflated prices every pre-season.

 

If it is option 2, then we are perennially going to have no ambition as a football club and primarily be an Academy. In fact you can start to see the sense in this if you are a business-woman and not a fan. The risks though are relegation and/or the Academy having a few generations of relative flops. I guess she thinks the parachute-payments mitigate relegation risk.

 

I see it as option 2. Pretty dispiriting as a fan to see the talk about ambition was just lies to keep people whilst they sell anything they can get a big fee for.

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Talk about profit-taking by KL...!

 

Either she's:

 

1) selling the club, and asset-stripping out the software first, or

 

2) playing a very high-risk business model of hoping we can stay up on a shoestring, forcing through a new Academy generation every year, and flogging them at inflated prices every pre-season.

 

If it is option 2, then we are perennially going to have no ambition as a football club and primarily be an Academy. In fact you can start to see the sense in this if you are a business-woman and not a fan. The risks though are relegation and/or the Academy having a few generations of relative flops. I guess she thinks the parachute-payments mitigate relegation risk.

 

Or it's option 3?

 

3 - Players sold a totally unsustainable and unfeasible plan by previous chairman, they all want out when they realise it cannot happen. Club left with a huge mess to clear up. Club receives huge fees for players who don't want to be here, they kick off and start moaning in the media. Puts us into a corner, but we sort out good fee's and are in a position to reinvest back into the side.

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Or it's option 3?

 

3 - Players sold a totally unsustainable and unfeasible plan by previous chairman, they all want out when they realise it cannot happen. Club left with a huge mess to clear up. Club receives huge fees for players who don't want to be here, they kick off and start moaning in the media. Puts us into a corner, but we sort out good fee's and are in a position to reinvest back into the side.

 

Well they better get a move on. We can't afford a poor start to the season.

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And there was me writing this off yesterday as a far fetched rumour. Still hasn't happened yet, may not. Perhaps Chambers is the one with an agent who was spouting off on Five Live the other day, well according to DD that is.

 

Maybe. And that was rubbished to

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Or it's option 3?

 

3 - Players sold a totally unsustainable and unfeasible plan by previous chairman, they all want out when they realise it cannot happen. Club left with a huge mess to clear up. Club receives huge fees for players who don't want to be here, they kick off and start moaning in the media. Puts us into a corner, but we sort out good fee's and are in a position to reinvest back into the side.

 

Wood... Trees...

 

Knew someone would see the obvious

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Or it's option 3?

 

3 - Players sold a totally unsustainable and unfeasible plan by previous chairman, they all want out when they realise it cannot happen. Club left with a huge mess to clear up. Club receives huge fees for players who don't want to be here, they kick off and start moaning in the media. Puts us into a corner, but we sort out good fee's and are in a position to reinvest back into the side.

 

What was the unsustainable and unfeasible plan sold to them by Cortese?

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What was the unsustainable and unfeasible plan sold to them by Cortese?

 

What do you think? Top 4 and Champions league football. That's what was sold to them.

 

If you thought that was ever feasible by a club of our size in this day and age, then more fool you.

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What do you think? Top 4 and Champions league football. That's what was sold to them.

 

If you thought that was ever feasible by a club of our size in this day and age, then more fool you.

 

That all sounds convenient.

This was a lad that has played 21 league games

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What do you think? Top 4 and Champions league football. That's what was sold to them.

 

If you thought that was ever feasible by a club of our size in this day and age, then more fool you.

 

Yet we managed to get a team together with over half of them going to top 4 or traditional top 4 sides. You yourself have said that MP under performed with this "once in a generation" team, if you believe that than I'm not really sure what your point is as quite clearly it was going in the right direction.

 

Champions League is fanciful but we could have had a better crack at it with more strengthening.

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Yet we managed to get a team together with over half of them going to top 4 or traditional top 4 sides. You yourself have said that MP under performed with this "once in a generation" team, if you believe that than I'm not really sure what your point is as quite clearly it was going in the right direction.

 

Champions League is fanciful but we could have had a better crack at it with more strengthening.

 

Missing the point. We didn't have the squad for the league, but we should have done more in the cups - that's what I was getting at. But in terms of challenging for the top 4, we'd have needed much more. A Lukaku type forward, another Lovren style CB and an able cover for Luke Shaw - probably another couple of wide options too. We may have had 5 or so players who were at that level, but the squad wasn't.

 

The finance and commitment needed to take the rest of the squad up to that level wasn't sustainable for us. KL has obviously said as much, and from that moment on NC knew the game was up and he needed to manoeuvre his way out of it.

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Slept on it now & getting some balance. It does appear a sale to far for me, but personally I think Clyne is a better defender, is more adventurous & quicker than Chambers. £16m is a lot for him, no doubt.

BUT can the club please clearly state it's objectives & philosophy because it appears to lack co ordination & focus?

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Slept on it now & getting some balance. It does appear a sale to far for me, but personally I think Clyne is a better defender, is more adventurous & quicker than Chambers. £16m is a lot for him, no doubt.

BUT can the club please clearly state it's objectives & philosophy because it appears to lack co ordination & focus?

 

it has. Les Reed stated we are aiming for Europe and do not need to sell any players

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What do you think? Top 4 and Champions league football. That's what was sold to them.

 

If you thought that was ever feasible by a club of our size in this day and age, then more fool you.

 

Missing the point yet again. Nothing was missold to the players.

 

The players who joined knew full well the course we were taking -that we weren't going to break the bank to make progress and that we were going to integrate youth, even if it sacrificed a degree of short-run success.

 

Nobody was hoodwinked or given false expectations about these constraints.

 

MP is now talking about winning the league with Spurs - that's what sport is about -recall Bill Nicholson's famous quote about ambition "the echo of glory". It's not and never been a quasi-contractual promise.

Edited by shurlock
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What do you think? Top 4 and Champions league football. That's what was sold to them.

If you thought that was ever feasible by a club of our size in this day and age, then more fool you.

Pochettino said that he thought so. At the end of 2012/13, he predicted competing for a top four place in 2013/14 and for a time the team were up there, even with the unexpected failure of our most expensive signing, Osvaldo. Pochettino may not be in our good books any more but he was no fool. More likely he could see that the ambition of the club left when Cortese left. To imply that it wasn't possible is more foolish when you consider that we had a team packed full of multi-million pound players, some of whom had cost nothing.

The dismantling being undertaken is unforgiveable and is by choice because players can be held to contracts and counselled on why breaking a contract can seriously damage their career.

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Missing the point. We didn't have the squad for the league, but we should have done more in the cups - that's what I was getting at. But in terms of challenging for the top 4, we'd have needed much more. A Lukaku type forward, another Lovren style CB and an able cover for Luke Shaw - probably another couple of wide options too. We may have had 5 or so players who were at that level, but the squad wasn't.

 

The finance and commitment needed to take the rest of the squad up to that level wasn't sustainable for us. KL has obviously said as much, and from that moment on NC knew the game was up and he needed to manoeuvre his way out of it.

 

Don't think we were a million miles away from Everton's level, and they came very close last season. Could have at least got to that Spurs/Everton point just below the top 4 without breaking the bank. The board could have outlined a sensible plan to the players about how they were going to continue to try and push forward. Think most would have been inclined to stay longer had the club sold it to them that they were at least going to have a crack at the top 6 this season. Doesn't appear they even tried.

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What do you think? Top 4 and Champions league football. That's what was sold to them.

 

If you thought that was ever feasible by a club of our size in this day and age, then more fool you.

 

To be fair you seem to be saying the players were gullible enough to believe that, and yet ordinary fans should be more savvy. I imagine the reality is that the players probably never really thought CL football at Saints was possible - and they are all leaving because they have better options. Unfortunate timing though.

 

Ultimately players will make the best decision for them - there doesn't need to be a scapegoat whether that's NC, KL or LR. The only thing you can say is that some players under contract you can hold on to - you don't have to sell every single player you get a bid for. Chambers is a particular case in point - there is absolutely no reason to sell him.

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