david in sweden Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 ...maybe not a new story, but what is their motivation and would it be a win-win situation?. another site is suggesting that Jose Fonte might relish a move back to Portugal to finish his career on a high note?. Of course, every international player wants to get into the Euros and take stock of his career prospects - especially for those in the "over 30" age bracket. Fonte (now 32) still has a contract until 2018, and Pelle (30+ )until summer 2017, with the squads average age reducing with every new signing we have only Fonte, Pelle and Steven Davis as regular squad members who are over 30. IF ....we don't make a Euro place, and those players who have a good Euro tournament they will seriously want to consider their futures. To Stay .or not to Stay. It's certain Koeman will want to get good replacements for when they leave....or retire, and not panic buy as all newcomers will need time ...to gell in. I wouldn't begrudge any of those three a move to pastures new, as IMHO they've all DAJFU on many occasions and deserve the chance of a good "swan song ". Don't know how others feel about it, but if they moved on ....I wouldn't put any of them in the " Defectors " thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicBoom Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Cant see Fonte moving anywhere or us letting him go. He's settled here and relishes being the captain. Pelle - well it looks like we might be in talks to extend his contract now so who knows. Davis - another that is still performing well but where's he going to go? For him the next step will surely be down so I would think he would want to stay for as long as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 I wouldnt be surprised if Fonte wanted to bring his kids up Portuguese and move them now before its an upheaval. Pelle, well over 30 is usually past your peak for a striker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Fonte is a one year contract extension away from getting a testimonial, I reckon he'll hang around till 2019 even as a squad member then either retire or drop a league/ go back to Portugal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Balls Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Get the feeling Pelle will go back to Italy with everyone's blessing. Could see Fonte remaining for a while yet. Even if he wasn't in the 1st team. People like him and Kelv are the types you need around the club. Leaders for everyone to look up to and those who were here during darker days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScepticalStan Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 God knows why anyone would choose to bring their kids up in Portugal rather than the UK. The place is an economic basket case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordic Saint Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 I wouldnt be surprised if Fonte wanted to bring his kids up Portuguese and move them now before its an upheaval. Pelle, well over 30 is usually past your peak for a striker... It used to be, but as average lifespans increase, so do players' careers. Ibrahimović is 34 and never been better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordic Saint Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Many athletes reach their peak in their early 30s nowadays. Linford Christie was 32 when he became Olympic 100m champion and Jo Pavey won Her European 10,000m gold at 40. It used to be the case that footballers were at their peak at 24-27. Now, it's more like 28-32. Cristiano Ronaldo is 31 and at his absolute peak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nta786 Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 It used to be, but as average lifespans increase, so do players' careers. Ibrahimović is 34 and never been better. True, in general it is players who rely on their pace that don't play as well when they reach their mid 30s, hence why defenders/goalkeepers can last at top level for longer IMO. Pelle, whilst not an Ibrahimovic, I think can still play at a decent level until he reaches 33+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaMarlin Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 The stories doing the rounds that Saints are opening contract talks with Pelle suggests to me the club have Ron who he wants to retain. Having signed Pelle, Ron clearly knows and trusts the player. That's good enough for me. In Ron we trust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faz Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 The stories doing the rounds that Saints are opening contract talks with Pelle suggests to me the club have Ron who he wants to retain. Having signed Pelle, Ron clearly knows and trusts the player. That's good enough for me. In Ron we trust. Or, we don't want Ron picking him up for next to nothing when he bu99ers off to Arsenal............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toomer Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 If Steve Davis were to seek a move I think it would be back to Rangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanRG Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Fonte's always been open about his desire to go back to Portugal - but you'd sense it's paving the way for a move once he's out of our first team/captaincy. Can't believe he'd leave now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redslo Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 (edited) It used to be, but as average lifespans increase, so do players' careers. Ibrahimović is 34 and never been better. Many athletes reach their peak in their early 30s nowadays. Linford Christie was 32 when he became Olympic 100m champion and Jo Pavey won Her European 10,000m gold at 40. It used to be the case that footballers were at their peak at 24-27. Now, it's more like 28-32. Cristiano Ronaldo is 31 and at his absolute peak. There is some faulty reasoning here. Just because some of the best players of all time are still great players in their early thirties does not mean that they are still at their peak. Ronaldo is clearly not as good this year as he was a few years ago. The same is true of Ibrahimović. And that assumes they remain healthy. Older players tend to get injured more and and heal less quickly. Athletes reach their physical peak sometime in their early to mid-20s. For sports which there is a high learning curve (and football is one of them) they can continue to improve into their late 20s because their increased mental ability makes up for the drop in physical skills. True, in general it is players who rely on their pace that don't play as well when they reach their mid 30s, hence why defenders/goalkeepers can last at top level for longer IMO. Pelle, whilst not an Ibrahimovic, I think can still play at a decent level until he reaches 33+. This is, I believe, partially correct. I can illustrate why best by talking about major league baseball pitchers. It was long thought that pitchers who did not primarily rely on the fastball would be able to pitch at a higher level longer than those who succeeded by blasting the ball past the batters with their speed. It turns out that this was not correct. A pitcher with a 95 mph fastball can still pitch in the major leagues even if he loses speed--so long as he makes appropriate adjustments and learns to use other pitches effectively. (Nolan Ryan was still pitching in the major leagues at age 46 and he was the best known fastball pitcher of all time.) A pitcher who does not throw that fast will, at some point, stop throwing fast enough to fool major league batters no matter how good his breaking ball. Bring it back to football--a fast striker can lose some of his speed and still be effective if he can learn other skills. A slow striker will become too slow to be useful. The same would be true for goal keepers and central defenders except that the minimum speed they need to play at the highest level is lower. However, even a central defender who is outstanding at positioning himself will eventually become too slow to get to the right spot in time. If he starts out faster, he will be able to do the job longer before that time comes. In addition, there is the cumulative effect of wear and tear on the body. At some point anyone who has spent decades smashing their head into the ball and their body into the ground and other players is going to wear out. Positions (like goal keeper) which involve less of this wear and tear allow their practitioners to have longer careers. As relevant to Southampton, Fonte has never been a speed player so we have to be prepared for him to be unable to do the job sometime in the next few years. Long, on the other hand, has speed to burn right now and could remain effective if he can make up for the loss of speed in other ways. However, if he loses the endurance that allows him to be so annoying to the other team for the whole game, that would be a different matter--but he still might be effective as someone you bring on the play the last 30 minutes. Edited 31 March, 2016 by Redslo typos fixed or some of them anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 A lot rests on what happens to RK this summer - if he doesn't sign the new contract that is being prepared for him then it could well be a more turbulent close season than the last two. Crucial couple of months coming up I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 This story is at least one year too soon, RK will see out his contract, he ha always said that and there will be no changing of the guard whilst he's around. Let's face it the club has got its work cut out to hang on to Wanyama and Mane, so the last thing they'll be worrying about right now is the futures of our older players. They're all going to the Euros anyway so nothing to sweat about now and they'll probably all miss out on the World Cup through age in 2018. We are their last big club and they know it. Daft story really David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyde and Seek Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 (edited) Jose Fonte has recently bought a house in Winchester, which won't have come cheap, so I would be surprised if he moves on at the end of this season. Edited 31 March, 2016 by St Chalet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 (edited) Jose Fonte has recently bought a house in in Winchester, which won't have come cheap, so I would be surprised if he moves on at the end of this season. Don't think this has much relevance, these days players have so much wealth the odd property is an irrelevance, and is looked at as an investment - especially in Winchester. Edited 31 March, 2016 by St Chalet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Don't think this has much relevance, these days players have so much wealth the odd property is an irrelevance, and is looked at as an investment - especially in Winchester. He probably realises its an excellent investment and will have no trouble letting it to Michael Owen or Martin O'Neill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Kerplunk Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 I'd d be surprised to see Pelle here next year but not Fonte who I think will stay for a year longer at least. He could still retire at Sporting Lisbon if he wanted after another season although saying that, Lisbon is a very cool place and he'd have a brilliant lifestyle with his family there! It'll be interesting to see if Wanyama and Mane do end up going as well. Like many before it, it is a big summer that will impact the future of the club and most importantly the way we are perceived outside of the SO bubble. We should in theory be better off than the previous two close seasons and actually add further to the squad and not lose players we aren't happy to let leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Chalet Posted 31 March, 2016 Share Posted 31 March, 2016 Steven Davis happy and settled with family in Winchester. Source = Steven Davis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 Redslo's post is the most accurate exposition of how athletic ability changes as we age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redslo Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 Redslo's post is the most accurate exposition of how athletic ability changes as we age. Thank you. I have read a lot of Bill James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 In the announcement of the new club crest Fonte says he can't wait to wear it, and seeing as it isn't taking effect till next season i think it's safe to assume he isn't going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 In the announcement of the new club crest Fonte says he can't wait to wear it, and seeing as it isn't taking effect till next season i think it's safe to assume he isn't going anywhere. It is April 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 Redslo's post is the most accurate exposition of how athletic ability changes as we age. If you ploughed through that lot adrian, I can only salute your fortitude. Fair play to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericofarabia Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 In the announcement of the new club crest Fonte says he can't wait to wear it, and seeing as it isn't taking effect till next season i think it's safe to assume he isn't going anywhere. Played with an absolute stonewall Poker Face. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 It is April 1 Really...? Played with an absolute stonewall Poker Face. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo78 Posted 1 April, 2016 Share Posted 1 April, 2016 God knows why anyone would choose to bring their kids up in Portugal rather than the UK. The place is an economic basket case. So is Portugal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 2 April, 2016 Share Posted 2 April, 2016 If you ploughed through that lot adrian, I can only salute your fortitude. Fair play to you. Thank you Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 2 April, 2016 Share Posted 2 April, 2016 Many athletes reach their peak in their early 30s nowadays. Linford Christie was 32 when he became Olympic 100m champion. Not sure he is the best role model for later career improved performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 2 April, 2016 Share Posted 2 April, 2016 There is some faulty reasoning here. Just because some of the best players of all time are still great players in their early thirties does not mean that they are still at their peak. Ronaldo is clearly not as good this year as he was a few years ago. The same is true of Ibrahimović. And that assumes they remain healthy. Older players tend to get injured more and and heal less quickly. Athletes reach their physical peak sometime in their early to mid-20s. For sports which there is a high learning curve (and football is one of them) they can continue to improve into their late 20s because their increased mental ability makes up for the drop in physical skills. This is, I believe, partially correct. I can illustrate why best by talking about major league baseball pitchers. It was long thought that pitchers who did not primarily rely on the fastball would be able to pitch at a higher level longer than those who succeeded by blasting the ball past the batters with their speed. It turns out that this was not correct. A pitcher with a 95 mph fastball can still pitch in the major leagues even if he loses speed--so long as he makes appropriate adjustments and learns to use other pitches effectively. (Nolan Ryan was still pitching in the major leagues at age 46 and he was the best known fastball pitcher of all time.) A pitcher who does not throw that fast will, at some point, stop throwing fast enough to fool major league batters no matter how good his breaking ball. Bring it back to football--a fast striker can lose some of his speed and still be effective if he can learn other skills. A slow striker will become too slow to be useful. The same would be true for goal keepers and central defenders except that the minimum speed they need to play at the highest level is lower. However, even a central defender who is outstanding at positioning himself will eventually become too slow to get to the right spot in time. If he starts out faster, he will be able to do the job longer before that time comes. In addition, there is the cumulative effect of wear and tear on the body. At some point anyone who has spent decades smashing their head into the ball and their body into the ground and other players is going to wear out. Positions (like goal keeper) which involve less of this wear and tear allow their practitioners to have longer careers. As relevant to Southampton, Fonte has never been a speed player so we have to be prepared for him to be unable to do the job sometime in the next few years. Long, on the other hand, has speed to burn right now and could remain effective if he can make up for the loss of speed in other ways. However, if he loses the endurance that allows him to be so annoying to the other team for the whole game, that would be a different matter--but he still might be effective as someone you bring on the play the last 30 minutes. So to summarise as players get older they lose a bit of pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 2 April, 2016 Author Share Posted 2 April, 2016 One can discuss Age v. "peak" as much as you like, but the importance is not when they reach the peak, but how long they can stay there. The road downhill ...is faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redslo Posted 4 April, 2016 Share Posted 4 April, 2016 So to summarise as players get older they lose a bit of pace. I think my point was more about the consequences of that loss of pace and how it can vary by both position and the ability of the player to make adjustments. And about the misconception that players who do not rely upon pace as much will age better when, in fact, they age worse. One can discuss Age v. "peak" as much as you like, but the importance is not when they reach the peak, but how long they can stay there. The road downhill ...is faster. Peak is not some clear cut thing that can be attained and then maintained. At some point, no matter how much conditioning work you do, your physical abilities will drop. The question is then whether you can make other adjustments to keep your career going longer. In some sports and at some positions you can make the downhill road seem very gradual and long lasting. NFL quarterback is probably a good example of this. Knuckleball pitcher in baseball would be another. Goalkeeper is a third. Some sports or positions leave less opportunities for this gradual decline--sprinters come to mind. http://www.axonpotential.com/athletes-and-age-of-peak-performance/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genk Posted 5 April, 2016 Share Posted 5 April, 2016 Get rid of Pelle. Doesn't offer enough for me. The odd good streak but not consistent enough. With Shane Long, Austin & Jay Rod as options now, I would get rid of Pelle in the summer. I think Fonte will stay one more season then finish his career with Sporting Lisbon and nobody can really argue with that after all he has done for us and considering his age now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markr27 Posted 6 April, 2016 Share Posted 6 April, 2016 Mr Fonte is also financing additional building works at his current home too..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghq Posted 7 April, 2016 Share Posted 7 April, 2016 I wonder how much the impending departure of certain players has on their continued selection? Cases in point being Wanyama, Pelle and Mane. In the case of Wanyama for instance, do you play Romeu in preference as he is at least giving 100% or do you play Wanyama as if dropped it could drop his transfer fee a huge amount. Is this the same for Pelle, if for a lesser amount? Is either of these points of view realistic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 7 April, 2016 Share Posted 7 April, 2016 So to summarise as players get older they lose a bit of pace. Nothing gets past turks. Not a single thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSAINT Posted 8 April, 2016 Share Posted 8 April, 2016 Pelle - £8m to Milan the latest rumour http://talksport.com/football/southampton-striker-graziano-pelle-ps8m-target-ac-milan-160408191320 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 8 April, 2016 Share Posted 8 April, 2016 Pelle - £8m to Milan the latest rumour http://talksport.com/football/southampton-striker-graziano-pelle-ps8m-target-ac-milan-160408191320 That's them paying us, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 8 April, 2016 Author Share Posted 8 April, 2016 That's them paying us, right? 8 million "what"?... is that £ounds....or Euros? better ask for £ounds Sterling..instead of that " funny money "..... in case BREXIT comes to pass..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint-Armstrong Posted 28 April, 2016 Share Posted 28 April, 2016 (edited) I actually spoke to José about this rumour in a one-on-one interview last night at the launch of a business venture with Ryan Bertrand. Understandably, a fair bit of stuff (and the actual quotes...) are being held back for newspapers and websites. But, I can post about this now. He totally rubbished this 'Fonte back to Portugal' rumour that originated in Portugal when I brought it up. I'll give a bit more detail here - (although I can't provide the actual direct quotes just yet) - as José actually went to some length to explain the situation that led to that article. When I asked him about these reports in Portugal he was very keen to answer and asked that the record got set straight. So here you go... He was asked, by a Portuguese journalist, whether he would come back to Portugal and which club would he most like to play for out of 'the big three' of Benfica, Porto and Sporting. He remarked that he would never shut the door on returning home (would be daft to...) and said he couldn't pick one of the three as they're all great clubs and he already has connections with Benfica and Sporting due to his past. The journalist then went away and wrote a story of 'Fonte eyeing move back to Portugal' and linked him with 'the big three'. I could tell from the way he was speaking about it that he was quite annoyed and wanted to clear it up. He said he's very, very happy here. He loves the club, he is really happy with the manager (they have a strong working relationship), he's settled here and his young family are happy where they are living too. He said he feels at home and called this 'my club'. Says he feels a special bond with the fans and has a lot of appreciation for everything Southampton have done for him. Said he would 'love' to finish his career in Southampton but he'd be foolish to shut too many doors because there's always a chance he falls out of favour here. But he said, as long as he was wanted and happy here, he doesn't envisage leaving before he retires. As above, he's doing his coaching badges with Kelvin right now. He's very passionate about coaching and developing youth players and that ties in nicely with Saints. He'd like to follow Radhi's route and said he 'would really love to, definitely' manage Saints if the chance ever arose. Edited 28 April, 2016 by Saint-Armstrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 28 April, 2016 Share Posted 28 April, 2016 We have Pardew to thank for Fonte and Lambert. Two very astute signings at very good prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted 28 April, 2016 Share Posted 28 April, 2016 I actually spoke to José about this rumour in a one-on-one interview last night at the launch of a business venture with Ryan Bertrand. Understandably, a fair bit of stuff (and the actual quotes...) are being held back for newspapers and websites. But, I can post about this now. He totally rubbished this 'Fonte back to Portugal' rumour that originated in Portugal when I brought it up. I'll give a bit more detail here - (although I can't provide the actual direct quotes just yet) - as José actually went to some length to explain the situation that led to that article. When I asked him about these reports in Portugal he was very keen to answer and asked that the record got set straight. So here you go... He was asked, by a Portuguese journalist, whether he would come back to Portugal and which club would he most like to play for out of 'the big three' of Benfica, Porto and Sporting. He remarked that he would never shut the door on returning home (would be daft to...) and said he couldn't pick one of the three as they're all great clubs and he already has connections with Benfica and Sporting due to his past. The journalist then went away and wrote a story of 'Fonte eyeing move back to Portugal' and linked him with 'the big three'. I could tell from the way he was speaking about it that he was quite annoyed and wanted to clear it up. He said he's very, very happy here. He loves the club, he is really happy with the manager (they have a strong working relationship), he's settled here and his young family are happy where they are living too. He said he feels at home and called this 'my club'. Says he feels a special bond with the fans and has a lot of appreciation for everything Southampton have done for him. Said he would 'love' to finish his career in Southampton but he'd be foolish to shut too many doors because there's always a chance he falls out of favour here. But he said, as long as he was wanted and happy here, he doesn't envisage leaving before he retires. As above, he's doing his coaching badges with Kelvin right now. He's very passionate about coaching and developing youth players and that ties in nicely with Saints. He'd like to follow Radhi's route and said he 'would really love to, definitely' manage Saints if the chance ever arose. great post, thanks for sharing. he really is a legend and his leadership skills have stepped up no end this season and last; maybe because of all the new players coming in the club really looked to him and Kelvin to promote the club and anchor the team a bit. He's a great individual and credit to him - he's even improved last two years despite being >30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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