Koeman: "We need to spend money"

[Shroppie]

Is he not saying here when speaking of not being a "project" manager "don't p*ss me off with your youth schemes because I'm just not interested in any of that? I think he is and some of us old fools have been telling you all that for a while now.

I have to agree that he seems less inclined than previous managers to give academy players a serious chance.

 

But that may be because the higher we rise, the more difficult it is to bridge the gap.

 

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

[ScepticalStan]

We can't compete with the top 5-6 clubs financially it's as simple as that. For a club of our size that policy had to be right. People can go on all they want about the TV deal meaning we've got more money to compete now but guess what, so does everyone else as well. Our aim should be to be an established top 10 club who has a crack at the cups every season who every now and then with a fair wind and a bad year for one of the elite can have a crack at the top 6. If people think that's boring and lacks ambition then they're deluded. We aren't a mega club just a 10,000 expansion away from becoming the man United of the south. We're a middle sized premier league club. If we finish 8th or above this season it'll be a fantastic achievement again. Not many clubs of our size and stature have achieved 3 consecutive top 8 finishes especially whilst losing 7 of our top players along the way. So I don't see us as at a crossroads at all we aren't going to push on into the top 4, we aren't going to spend £40m and£200k a week on single players. What we might get though is the odd season where we do challenge at the top which might convince our better players to stay a bit longer. But the reality is our best players will move on for big money but that's also the reality for all but about 5 clubs in the world.

 

Yep, 'fraid so.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

We can't compete with the top 5-6 clubs financially it's as simple as that. For a club of our size that policy had to be right. People can go on all they want about the TV deal meaning we've got more money to compete now but guess what, so does everyone else as well. Our aim should be to be an established top 10 club who has a crack at the cups every season who every now and then with a fair wind and a bad year for one of the elite can have a crack at the top 6. If people think that's boring and lacks ambition then they're deluded. We aren't a mega club just a 10,000 expansion away from becoming the man United of the south. We're a middle sized premier league club. If we finish 8th or above this season it'll be a fantastic achievement again. Not many clubs of our size and stature have achieved 3 consecutive top 8 finishes especially whilst losing 7 of our top players along the way. So I don't see us as at a crossroads at all we aren't going to push on into the top 4, we aren't going to spend £40m and£200k a week on single players. What we might get though is the odd season where we do challenge at the top which might convince our better players to stay a bit longer. But the reality is our best players will move on for big money but that's also the reality for all but about 5 clubs in the world.

 

 

Maybe we are at a T junction then?

[sadoldgit]

now, imagine if alpine come out and said we need to spend money. he would have been torn to shreds on here

 

for what it is worth, I totally agree. We have received huge money over the last two summers and come out with a surplus. not even touching the premier league money. To mention that you would have people all over you like a rash on here.

 

but this summer has shown that we have fell short. The right back situation highlights that the best.

But when you look at it, what was the point in Romeu, Martina and maybe Juanmi. We should be buying players who get into our side. not fluff up the squad

 

We were thin on the ground squadwise and needed a bigger squad for Europe, although that didn't last long. Anyone can come on here and say the club needs to spend money. That has been going on for years. The difference now I think is that, having seen where running the club badly financially gets you, many of us don't fancy that again. It is not what you spend that is important it is who you spend it on (Osvaldo and Ramirez for example). Everything changes on here when we lose a game or two. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the forum was saying that we had a poorer first team but a stronger squad. Now it seems we don't because we have lost two matches on the spin (despite us only just losing our unbeaten away record). There is no shame in being a mid Premiership side with ambitions for Europe which is exactly what we are. As for the three players mentioned, up until recently Romeu was seen as a decent addition to the squad and Ron has always talked of Juanmi as being one for the future. Martina is just a short term make weight who probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for our short lived Europe campaign. VvD and Clasie are both quality signings and Cedric is not a bad player. Stek has been an excellent addition to the club.

[VectisSaint]

Is he not saying here when speaking of not being a "project" manager "don't p*ss me off with your youth schemes because I'm just not interested in any of that? I think he is and some of us old fools have been telling you all that for a while now.

Couldn't agree more.

Signed

Old Fool

[The9]

I hope Caulker starting isn't an indication that Yoshida is RB again.

 

Despite his blunders Saturday, he's a better CB option than Caulker.

 

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

 

I'd take it as an indication that Fonte isn't starting. Which had already been said. Whether Cedric is starting will depend on whether he's injured (which he isn't, though he does have a cut on his head that it's beneficial to protect) or if Koeman is planning on having Mane in front of him and worried about leaving him exposed, which is the only tactical reason he's been reported as offering for playing Yoshida at right back so far.

[The9]

We are going to need to spend money as there sure isn't anyone coming through from the u21s.

 

There isn't anyone currently in the U21s coming through (except maybe Reed) because they're all out trying to get match experience at other clubs, which I'd say would put them closer to the first team than an inexperienced U21 side which just got thrashed.

[Baird of the land]

now, imagine if alpine come out and said we need to spend money. he would have been torn to shreds on here

 

for what it is worth, I totally agree. We have received huge money over the last two summers and come out with a surplus. not even touching the premier league money. To mention that you would have people all over you like a rash on here.

 

but this summer has shown that we have fell short. The right back situation highlights that the best.

But when you look at it, what was the point in Romeu, Martina and maybe Juanmi. We should be buying players who get into our side. not fluff up the squad

 

Yep not a fan of the squad fluffing. Prefer it if we focus on purchasing players for the core and use the academy we've invested heavily in as support. At the very least we didn't need all of Romeu, Martina, Caulker & Juanmi. With Soares we seem to have gambled(it may work out in the long-term but in the short-term he's inconsistent) rather than our policy in relation to the likes of Clasie/Van Dijk.

[once_bitterne]

We can't compete with the top 5-6 clubs financially it's as simple as that. For a club of our size that policy had to be right. People can go on all they want about the TV deal meaning we've got more money to compete now but guess what, so does everyone else as well. Our aim should be to be an established top 10 club who has a crack at the cups every season who every now and then with a fair wind and a bad year for one of the elite can have a crack at the top 6. If people think that's boring and lacks ambition then they're deluded. We aren't a mega club just a 10,000 expansion away from becoming the man United of the south. We're a middle sized premier league club. If we finish 8th or above this season it'll be a fantastic achievement again. Not many clubs of our size and stature have achieved 3 consecutive top 8 finishes especially whilst losing 7 of our top players along the way. So I don't see us as at a crossroads at all we aren't going to push on into the top 4, we aren't going to spend £40m and£200k a week on single players. What we might get though is the odd season where we do challenge at the top which might convince our better players to stay a bit longer. But the reality is our best players will move on for big money but that's also the reality for all but about 5 clubs in the world.

 

= Southampton Liebherr Holdings

[The9]

We can't compete with the top 5-6 clubs financially it's as simple as that. For a club of our size that policy had to be right. People can go on all they want about the TV deal meaning we've got more money to compete now but guess what, so does everyone else as well. Our aim should be to be an established top 10 club who has a crack at the cups every season who every now and then with a fair wind and a bad year for one of the elite can have a crack at the top 6. If people think that's boring and lacks ambition then they're deluded. We aren't a mega club just a 10,000 expansion away from becoming the man United of the south. We're a middle sized premier league club. If we finish 8th or above this season it'll be a fantastic achievement again. Not many clubs of our size and stature have achieved 3 consecutive top 8 finishes especially whilst losing 7 of our top players along the way. So I don't see us as at a crossroads at all we aren't going to push on into the top 4, we aren't going to spend £40m and£200k a week on single players. What we might get though is the odd season where we do challenge at the top which might convince our better players to stay a bit longer. But the reality is our best players will move on for big money but that's also the reality for all but about 5 clubs in the world.

 

I pretty much agree with all of this, but there is a window of opportunity (rapidly diminishing) to sign players on higher wages than we normally do with the safety net of the new TV deal, but still pay less than those players' equivalents will be on once the TV money becomes an actual thing next season.

 

I think Stoke have basically done it the summer gone, signing name players and knowing they get a year on the cheap compared to what happens when the entire squad wants a pay rise. Prem clubs will still be able to find value, and from increasingly better players across the board as they'll be able to outspend even top Europa League and middling CL clubs, but managing the way that wage hike takes place could be the key to (relative) success in the transition period before the new "post tv-deal" wage scales level off.

[shurlock]

Usual strawman nonsense about not competing with the top six – don’t think that’s the claim when people invoke ambition and get ridiculed. Rather the point is whether the club is being ambitious enough within its own constraints – whether there was scope given the surplus and significant nontransfer related revenues to add another player or two or, at least, bring in an extra bit of quality where we settled for the likes of Martina, Romeu, Juanmi or Cedric.

 

Nobody’s deluding themselves and claiming this is going to close the gap with the top clubs. More strawman nonsense. But it would allow us to be more competitive and continue to make progress. That’s how most seem to be defining ambition, rooted in a realistic understanding of the club’s relative size and stature. It aint rocket science.

[verlaine1979]

Is he not saying here when speaking of not being a "project" manager "don't p*ss me off with your youth schemes because I'm just not interested in any of that? I think he is and some of us old fools have been telling you all that for a while now.

 

Of all the comments he makes, that strikes me as the one most pointedly aimed at the hierarchy of the club. With its lofty goals, academy graduation targets, five years plans and so on, what is 'the Southampton Way' if not a project?

[WealdSaint]

I think RK has just bumped his head on a glass ceiling. I think as a club we are at something of a crossroads, we have done well to get to these particular crossroads but there might not be too much further we can travel unless the philosophy changes and a bigger stadium attracts bigger gates.......if feasible.

 

Seem to remember we were at a similar crossroads in 2003. I hope history does not repeat itself

[Window Cleaner]

Of all the comments he makes, that strikes me as the one most pointedly aimed at the hierarchy of the club. With its lofty goals, academy graduation targets, five years plans and so on, what is 'the Southampton Way' if not a project?

 

I might even suspect that he's engineering his own exit next May.

Should have got Ranieri when we could have anyway.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/ranieri-talks-southampton-002345630.html

 

See,he thinks we have a high level project, Koeman seems to think that it just involves spending more, perhaps he's right.

Edited 2 December, 2015 by Window Cleaner

[doddisalegend]

I might even suspect that he's engineering his own exit next May.

Should have got Ranieri when we could have anyway.

 

Only if he had brought Vardy and Mahrez with him.....

[Window Cleaner]

Only if he had brought Vardy and Mahrez with him.....

 

Who knows who he might have obtained, each manager has his own type of player to target, in Koeman's case it's dutch league players in the main. If we'd not appointed Koeman we probably wouldn't have signed Pelle,Tadic etc but we would have signed others.

Ranieri might have turned Long into a world beater...then again probably not, perhaps he wouldn't have let us waste 12 million on him though.

Edited 2 December, 2015 by Window Cleaner

[sadoldgit]

Of all the comments he makes, that strikes me as the one most pointedly aimed at the hierarchy of the club. With its lofty goals, academy graduation targets, five years plans and so on, what is 'the Southampton Way' if not a project?

 

I think "The Southampton Way" was a smoke and mirrors phrase dreamt up by The Don to hoodwink the fans into thinking we would dominate world football under his guidance.

[ART]

Well, the big spend will commence with us signing ex Aston Villa center half Ron Vaar on a free. Not a bad move considering Fonte's injury situation.

Unless we change our general policy of cheap replacements in other positions, and buying midgets and dwarfs Koeman is going to have no choice but to follow Pochettino out of the club due to lack of ambition. Surely we have built enough of a reputation to bring in decent, reliable players who are up to the job of playing in the Premier League.

[OldNick]

RK can see his dreams of being the manager of a really top club in Europe being dashed by our clubs relish to sell. please do not try and tell me had we had Stones and Chelsea had called that he would still be at our club.

KL has invested money in our club and has seen a fantastic return on her investment. i have invested 50 years of my life and got back 1 FA cup memory and JPT

[david in sweden]

Maybe his choice of words sounded stronger than he meant ..or maybe not, but the very idea that we can just take the next U21 talent from Staplewood and create another Bale or Walcott took a knock at Norwich on Monday night.

 

The U21's biggest defeat in many a moon, so it looks like we'll have to wait a while longer to see suitable talent from the Academy..(maybe Ryan Seager is an exception).

 

BUT ....Koeman is right . If we are even to stabilise last season's League position, then we need to invest a bit more.. in a strike force, and ideally TWO of them.

 

Whilst the defence isn't as tight as last season, it's still relatively OK, and we seem overloaded with a variation of choices in midfield.....

 

Forster will be back sometime(I presume) whilst JayRod's luck goes from bad to worse. Gardos - even when fit - was never first, or even second choice CB.

Meanwhile don't expect any of these three to suddenly pick up the form they had before they were injured. It takes time to hit the top level.

[verlaine1979]

I think "The Southampton Way" was a smoke and mirrors phrase dreamt up by The Don to hoodwink the fans into thinking we would dominate world football under his guidance.

 

Maybe the specific branding was Cortese's, but I'm pretty sure Reed and Kruger are still talking about a unified style of football across all age groups, a first team heavily reliant on academy graduates and the idea that the manager is always subordinate to the identity of the club. Ultimately, whether the club are actually practicing what they preach is immaterial here - the public perception is that we are a 'project' club, and our manager has just come out in public and said he isn't a 'project' manager.

 

Maybe it was heat of the moment and he didn't really mean it, but compared to the 'spend more' stuff you hear from every coach this time of year, I still think the 'project' stuff is a much bigger warning shot.

[pluto]

The main problem now is even if we did have money for say 2 or 3 players in January we're stuck with the wage bill increase limit.

 

Thats why i find the signing of Martina a total waste of wages alongside the fact hes not good enough.

 

Then we have Romeu and Juanmi, the latter looked promising early season and then he was dropped to the benches.

 

Romeu a total disaster of a buy, when we needed a massive like for like Morgan replacement.

[UpweySaint]

The main problem now is even if we did have money for say 2 or 3 players in January we're stuck with the wage bill increase limit.

 

Thats why i find the signing of Martina a total waste of wages alongside the fact hes not good enough.

 

Then we have Romeu and Juanmi, the latter looked promising early season and then he was dropped to the benches.

 

Romeu a total disaster of a buy, when we needed a massive like for like Morgan replacement.

 

Bit soon to write him off completely? Romeu not Martina that is ...

 

Does anybody actually know what sort of room we have in terms of wage and spend allowance left?

 

To be honest I can see where Roko is coming from but I wouldn't expect us to spend in January nor do I expect Wanayama to stay beyond the summer. It is more about the balance of the squad than if players do/do not leave.

[Turkish]

Usual strawman nonsense about not competing with the top six – don’t think that’s the claim when people invoke ambition and get ridiculed. Rather the point is whether the club is being ambitious enough within its own constraints – whether there was scope given the surplus and significant nontransfer related revenues to add another player or two or, at least, bring in an extra bit of quality where we settled for the likes of Martina, Romeu, Juanmi or Cedric.

 

Nobody’s deluding themselves and claiming this is going to close the gap with the top clubs. More strawman nonsense. But it would allow us to be more competitive and continue to make progress. That’s how most seem to be defining ambition, rooted in a realistic understanding of the club’s relative size and stature. It aint rocket science.

 

So what cross roads was it people claiming we were at then?

[egg]

Call it a crossroads, t junction, glass ceiling, junction or whatever. The point is (and you made it well in your initial post) is that we've found our level but on occasions have punched above it. We've reached a point where we will struggle to move up a level, whether that be due to revenue, ffp or something else. Personally I am a realist and am quite happy for us to be a lower top half club and enjoy the odd moment of glory. Some fans, but more importantly some players and managers, will not settle for that.

[MarkSFC]

I think a big part of RKs comments was aimed at the players. He's clearly not happy with our recent first half performances (Bournemouth apart) and as he said the lack of consistency over individual games. I think the we need to spend money was a message to both Les and the players, as in we do really need probably a couple of decent players - Striker and CM - plus maybe another RB. The job of the manager is to win games, it is not to manage "the project" that is the club's responsibility. It's unlikely that we will ever become a regular top 6 club but he odd occasion once in a while will be great, but it's important that the club remain a top 10 club year on year and to be competitive in cups. If this I print for some fans then they need to blame sky because they have made the Premier League boring in terms of the teams who challenge for the league.

[Dalek2003]

We can't compete with the top 5-6 clubs financially it's as simple as that. For a club of our size that policy had to be right. People can go on all they want about the TV deal meaning we've got more money to compete now but guess what, so does everyone else as well. Our aim should be to be an established top 10 club who has a crack at the cups every season who every now and then with a fair wind and a bad year for one of the elite can have a crack at the top 6. If people think that's boring and lacks ambition then they're deluded. We aren't a mega club just a 10,000 expansion away from becoming the man United of the south. We're a middle sized premier league club. If we finish 8th or above this season it'll be a fantastic achievement again. Not many clubs of our size and stature have achieved 3 consecutive top 8 finishes especially whilst losing 7 of our top players along the way. So I don't see us as at a crossroads at all we aren't going to push on into the top 4, we aren't going to spend £40m and£200k a week on single players. What we might get though is the odd season where we do challenge at the top which might convince our better players to stay a bit longer. But the reality is our best players will move on for big money but that's also the reality for all but about 5 clubs in the world.

 

I think we have just one objective. To stay in the Premier League. Quite frankly anything else is a bonus.

[Dalek2003]

Seem to remember we were at a similar crossroads in 2003. I hope history does not repeat itself

 

So do I. We will probably appoint a League 1 manager over a successful ex England international manager. Of course, at the bequest of the vocal minority.

[maysie]

I think we have just one objective. To stay in the Premier League. Quite frankly anything else is a bonus.

 

Really? You think that? Interesting point of view, have you held it for a long time?

[david in sweden]

So do I. We will probably appoint a League 1 manager over a successful ex England international manager. Of course, at the bequest of the vocal minority.

 

Sorry Dalek ..but Sir Alf Ramsey died many years ago ....or did you have someone else in mind?

[Lallana's Left Peg]

My own belief is not that we haven't spent money, but that we haven't spent money particularly wisely. ~£10m on Juanmi and Romeu when a single £10m player would have much more difference for example.

 

That said I think VvD and Cedric are great business.

[CB Fry]

We can't compete with the top 5-6 clubs financially it's as simple as that. For a club of our size that policy had to be right. People can go on all they want about the TV deal meaning we've got more money to compete now but guess what, so does everyone else as well. Our aim should be to be an established top 10 club who has a crack at the cups every season who every now and then with a fair wind and a bad year for one of the elite can have a crack at the top 6. If people think that's boring and lacks ambition then they're deluded. We aren't a mega club just a 10,000 expansion away from becoming the man United of the south. We're a middle sized premier league club. If we finish 8th or above this season it'll be a fantastic achievement again. Not many clubs of our size and stature have achieved 3 consecutive top 8 finishes especially whilst losing 7 of our top players along the way. So I don't see us as at a crossroads at all we aren't going to push on into the top 4, we aren't going to spend £40m and£200k a week on single players. What we might get though is the odd season where we do challenge at the top which might convince our better players to stay a bit longer. But the reality is our best players will move on for big money but that's also the reality for all but about 5 clubs in the world.

Dell. Sized. Mentality.

[doddisalegend]

My own belief is not that we haven't spent money' date=' but that we haven't spent money particularly wisely. ~£10m on Juanmi and Romeu when a single £10m player would have much more difference for example.

That said I think VvD and Cedric are great business.

 

like Shane Long you mean...

[Wade Garrett]

I don't blame Ronald for saying what he did. It seems a message is being sent to the board.

 

Why should he be the only manager in the Premier League that can't even use all the money from sales to buy players.

 

Absolutely crackers, straight from the Rupert Lowe book of how to run a football club, and look how that turned out.

[Saint Charlie]

I don't blame Ronald for saying what he did. It seems a message is being sent to the board.

 

Why should he be the only manager in the Premier League that can't even use all the money from sales to buy players.

 

Absolutely crackers, straight from the Rupert Lowe book of how to run a football club, and look how that turned out.

But we treat people in a unique way.

 

What more do you want?

[saint1977]

I actually think we spent too much in the summer.

 

Well, too many players anyway. I mean we could have not bothered with Caulker, Juanmi, Romeu and Martina, used a couple of youngsters and been just as good as we are now, with none of those 4 in the starting 11 really. Lot of money saved.

 

Sums up most clubs problem for me, and Saints this summer. Quantity over quality. I don't know why we fell into that trap. Before that is was 3 players, improve the team not the squad. Lovren, Wanyama, Osvaldo. Ok, one failed but you should be willing to spent £13m on a striker at this level, maybe more.

 

We need to sell before buying now to avoid a hugely bloated squad. Clasie looks alright, but we need another attacking option. RB is a problem because we don't really need a new starter, Cedric is decent. We might want to think about a Fonte replacement though if he's going to start picking up injuries or losing form.

 

Is annoying to not spend anything net but why is this? With TV money and where we finish, why can everyone else spend so much more? Seems very odd. There's real chances for smaller clubs at the moment, despite all the money the big clubs remain fragile, the fear is going and teams are starting to realise in 11 v 11 you can actually beat them. Top 4 is far from guaranteed now for some of them.

 

Haven't agreed with some of your posts in the past Adrian but I do this one. Some of our signings over the summer were odd - bar VVD and Stek - and clearly from his comments Ronald agrees with us. However, to be fair to the club, Cortese for all the great things he did for the club left a massive bill and over-run on the training ground. One would hope that the last couple of seasons mean we've at least made some inroads into that over-spend - although the Osvaldo settlement might have eaten some of it - and that we can get back to a position of net spend again. Ronald is probably trying to push that message home before he considers whether to complete his contract or stay longer. His past suggests the former but the club may not want him going into his final year with the situation open.

[doddisalegend]

I don't blame Ronald for saying what he did. It seems a message is being sent to the board.

 

Why should he be the only manager in the Premier League that can't even use all the money from sales to buy players.

 

Absolutely crackers, straight from the Rupert Lowe book of how to run a football club, and look how that turned out.

 

I think quite a few managers in the PL don't to get to use the money from player sales not many clubs in the PL let their managers have a complete say over transfers these days.

[CB Fry]

Usual strawman nonsense about not competing with the top six – don’t think that’s the claim when people invoke ambition and get ridiculed. Rather the point is whether the club is being ambitious enough within its own constraints – whether there was scope given the surplus and significant nontransfer related revenues to add another player or two or, at least, bring in an extra bit of quality where we settled for the likes of Martina, Romeu, Juanmi or Cedric.

 

Nobody’s deluding themselves and claiming this is going to close the gap with the top clubs. More strawman nonsense. But it would allow us to be more competitive and continue to make progress. That’s how most seem to be defining ambition, rooted in a realistic understanding of the club’s relative size and stature. It aint rocket science.

Are you saying that no one on here is expecting/wanting the club to "invest"/"push on"/"change philosophy"/"break the glass ceiling" to break into the top six?

 

If so, fair enough. Can't say that's the impression I get from this forum but clearly it's all a strawman made up in my head. Sorry about that.

[adrian lord]

Take home message is Ronald is off in summer

[melmacian_saint]

So I guess the question now is, for the sake of awareness: Just how bad was it when Katerina came in?

[Wade Garrett]

I think quite a few managers in the PL don't to get to use the money from player sales not many clubs in the PL let their managers have a complete say over transfers these days.

 

Read his quote. He reckons we're the only club that didn't spend more than we sold in the Summer.

[CB Fry]

Is he not saying here when speaking of not being a "project" manager "don't p*ss me off with your youth schemes because I'm just not interested in any of that? I think he is and some of us old fools have been telling you all that for a while now.

If you listen to the press conference and pretty much everything Ron has said and done since joinng you'd know that wasn't true. And Ron 's point was that "the project" is a nebulous meaningless concept as proven by our previous "long term" manager buggering off at the earliest possible opportunity.

 

Only a complete sap would agree with your interpretation.

 

Couldn't agree more.

Signed

Old Fool

[Lallana's Left Peg]

So I guess the question now is, for the sake of awareness: Just how bad was it when Katerina came in?

 

£27m owed in transfer fees.

 

Strong rumours that many had contracts which had clauses which made it financially difficult.

 

Summer 2014 cleared that £27m but then there was the question of the training ground spend. This summer I think we underspent.

[doddisalegend]

Read his quote. He reckons we're the only club that didn't spend more than we sold in the Summer.

 

My point is that even if we spent all the money it wouldn't be Koeman's sole decision on who we recruited anyway.

[melmacian_saint]

Seem to remember we were at a similar crossroads in 2003. I hope history does not repeat itself

 

Bit different, you could argue that then Strachan was already a stretch of a project whose cycle was running out, burdened by an expensive new stadium and an increasingly financially unhealthy owner.

 

This time, the owner appears stable, and after a few impressive transfer market revenues the club seems to be in good standing, even in case of relegation. You could however, argue that Koeman is already a stretch of the strategy set out in 2009. But the situation is quite different.

[mrfahaji]

So do I. We will probably appoint a League 1 manager over a successful ex England international manager. Of course, at the bequest of the vocal minority.

 

To be honest, I would probably take Hasselbaink over Sven if Koeman leaves.

[Wade Garrett]

My point is that even if we spent all the money it wouldn't be Koeman's sole decision on who we recruited anyway.

 

True, but I don't think that is annoying Ron. After all, it must have been the committee that signed Tadic, Pelle, Mane and Tadic.

[Batman]

I see where Ron is coming from.

 

We obviously do not have a good a squad as before. Despite what people on here say

[trousers]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/14127447.Fonte_urges_Koeman_to_go_spending_in_January_or_risk_getting_left_behind_in_the_Premier_League/

 

Jose Fonte has urged Saints manager Ronald Koeman to go into the transfer market next month or risk falling behind in the Premier League

 

“We’re going to try and get some more quality. It’s simple as that.”

 

Fonte fears that Saints will be left behind in the Premier League if they don’t act when the window swings open next month.

 

“If you don’t keep up you see very clearly that you start dropping. We need to keep up,” he said.

 

Koeman, who has admitted that he is content with the player options available to him, has said doing business in January is unlikely.

 

“I’m not disagreeing with the manager,” said Fonte. “Who am I to disagree with the manager?

 

“He has his opinion and we have to agree that if he’s confident of course, he has to feel confident in his players.

 

“But if you saw the Liverpool bench the other night with Benteke, Firmino – all these guys [on the bench].

 

“There’s £25m in players - that’s like £100m on the bench.

 

“What I’m saying is that, although we have quality, other teams have possible higher in that aspect on the bench for solutions to change the game.

 

“But we have trust in our players and we’re going to try and make it work with the quality that we have.

 

Bit of a mixed message there from Jose...?

Edited 7 December, 2015 by trousers

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Well if you were to look at it in the cold light of day we lost three important players in the summer and only really replaced one of them (with VvD). The replacements for the other two are nowhere near up to the level which is going to happen if you sell high and buy low. If that is the ethos of the club then they need to stop the talk of European football for a while because only teams that have a net spend get better in this league year after year. Others, like ourselves, will have good seasons and bad seasons.