The "Return of Theo Walcott" thread

[Pamplemousse]

Almost a done deal

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42660224

 

Huh? Where does it say that exactly?

 

From the other thing on the BBC, sounds like both clubs are in the same position, 'negotiating'.

[Fabrice29]

Do we know he was willing to take a pay cut? For someone tbat was willing to come here and if he was willing to take a pay cut, to end up at Everton because they have matched his wages says alot about him more than us.

 

Thats if its actually done btw. Which we don't know either.

[hypochondriac]

Huh? Where does it say that exactly?

 

From the other thing on the BBC, sounds like both clubs are in the same position, 'negotiating'.

Really our only chance is if he doesn't want to go north. I'm guessing Everton wouldn't have bothered getting this far if they had indications he didn't want to go there so the likelihood is he is going to Everton and not us.

[hypochondriac]

Do we know he was willing to take a pay cut? For someone tbat was willing to come here and if he was willing to take a pay cut, to end up at Everton because they have matched his wages says alot about him more than us.

 

Thats if its actually done btw. Which we don't know either.

To be fair, if they are offering maybe 50k more than us a week, then you can't really blame the lad.

[aintforever]

to end up at Everton because they have matched his wages says alot about him more than us.

 

He doesn't want a pay cut? - that says he's a normal human being.

[ooh it's a corner]

He doesn't want a pay cut? - that says he's a normal human being.

 

Normal human beings don't earn £100K + per week.

 

But I get the point, if someone offered me a job in Southampton, or £50k per week more in another English city, I would be packing my bags.....

[Pamplemousse]

The only reason we should pull out is if we have someone better lined up. If there's nobody else, then Les needs to get it done and quickly. Sadly, I can see Les pulling out and not bothering to bring someone in.

 

We've had twelve days of the transfer window, not bringing anyone in by now is criminal. For all the talk of "urgency" by the board, I don't see a lot of urgency. Just dithering, as per usual.

[ooh it's a corner]

I see that the BBC are now reporting Everton are in negotiations with him.

 

This thread feels pretty 50/50 whether we want him or not, with perhaps most "no thanks" being concerned with value for money rather than whether he would improve the first team squad.

 

But, if he goes to Everton, then I think 99% of this board will see it as a Les Reed failure.........

 

funny how the human mind and ego works.......

[hypochondriac]

I see that the BBC are now reporting Everton are in negotiations with him.

 

This thread feels pretty 50/50 whether we want him or not, with perhaps most "no thanks" being concerned with value for money rather than whether he would improve the first team squad.

 

But, if he goes to Everton, then I think 99% of this board will see it as a Les Reed failure.........

 

funny how the human mind and ego works.......

Personally i think it's going a similar way to the embarrassment of last January when we sold Fonte and then completely failed to replace him. Very luckily Stephens saved our bacon and we got not cb injuries but if we do somethibg similar this month we won't be so fortunate.

[doddisalegend]

For someone willing to take a pay cut plus wanted to come here says it all about us.

Lets sign some wannabe’s who have never played in this league before Les.

Cheap and risky which is the Southampton way.

 

 

Where has Walcott said he wants to come here and take a pay cut? Maybe if we where the only club interested he might consider a pay cut but if another club wants to give him his current wages why wouldn't he take that?

[hypochondriac]

Where has Walcott said he wants to come here and take a pay cut? Maybe if we where the only club interested he might consider a pay cut but if another club wants to give him his current wages why wouldn't he take that?

I think it's clear he has at least considered coming here and he would know that he would have to take a pay cut as we wouldn't be able to afford the wages he is currently on. As I said, the only possible reason he would have to come here would be for family and location reasons.

[James]

The only reason we should pull out is if we have someone better lined up. If there's nobody else, then Les needs to get it done and quickly. Sadly, I can see Les pulling out and not bothering to bring someone in.

 

We've had twelve days of the transfer window, not bringing anyone in by now is criminal. For all the talk of "urgency" by the board, I don't see a lot of urgency. Just dithering, as per usual.

 

The problem is that we are slow to conclude transfers when we are in a position of strength and players actually wanting to join us with Les seemingly focusing on getting the best deal (so he can sell on for a bigger profit and put that on his CV). Problem now is that a) we broadcast to the footballing world that we had £75m in the bank before the window even opened and b) the only way to convince players of sufficient quality is by paying them, something we know that Saints won’t do.

 

My real concern (and really I’m only putting it out here so people can tell me it won’t happen) is that the justification for keeping MP given by the board is that they recognise he hasn’t been backed and are willing to do so in January. The nightmare scenario would be no one (or no one but for a couple of cheap loans) in this window and us keeping Pell. If that’s the position we are in on 31 Jan then we really are in trouble.

[Pamplemousse]

I see that the BBC are now reporting Everton are in negotiations with him.

 

This thread feels pretty 50/50 whether we want him or not, with perhaps most "no thanks" being concerned with value for money rather than whether he would improve the first team squad.

 

But, if he goes to Everton, then I think 99% of this board will see it as a Les Reed failure.........

 

funny how the human mind and ego works.......

 

I'll only see it as a Les Reed failure if nobody else comes in. If we do get someone in who is younger and not as injury prone then fair enough.

[Bearsy]

The only reason we should pull out is if we have someone better lined up. If there's nobody else, then Les needs to get it done and quickly. Sadly, I can see Les pulling out and not bothering to bring someone in.

 

We've had twelve days of the transfer window, not bringing anyone in by now is criminal. For all the talk of "urgency" by the board, I don't see a lot of urgency. Just dithering, as per usual.

 

When Les opens his wallet there's a little sticker saying "You can only spend it once". He'd sooner go hungry than pay £10 for a cheeseburger that he only considers worth £5. He'd walk away. He'll hope he can find a burger van selling inferior burgers for £3, or that eventually he might be able to cook something almost as good up at home.

 

The risk of course is that in the mean time he starves to death, or gets E.coli. But tbf on the old duffer, this fiscal policy has worked out pretty good for him so far.

[hypochondriac]

I'll only see it as a Les Reed failure if nobody else comes in. If we do get someone in who is younger and not as injury prone then fair enough.

Well also someone who is actually a decent player. Think we need more of a criteria than simply younger and not injury prone!

[doddisalegend]

I see that the BBC are now reporting Everton are in negotiations with him.

 

This thread feels pretty 50/50 whether we want him or not, with perhaps most "no thanks" being concerned with value for money rather than whether he would improve the first team squad.

 

But, if he goes to Everton, then I think 99% of this board will see it as a Les Reed failure.........

 

funny how the human mind and ego works.......

 

 

It's eBay syndrome where people will keep bidding to win an item, even to the point of paying more than just buying the item new, just to win the auction.

[Smirking_Saint]

Realistically if Walcott wasn't originally a Saint, and we were not crying out for reinforcements would we really be screaming out to spunk 20-30m on him ? And pay him around 100k a week ?

 

I wouldn't really, I can't see that he adds an awful lot more different than Boufal and Redmond offer us, put either in a better side and they probably wouldn't be a long way off of Walcott's contributions.

 

Another thing is that signing him pretty much confirms we will carry on using a formation that just isn't working, as I can't see how you can squeeze him into a side that doesn't operate with wide men and strikers that the formation doesn't suit.

 

I would say predominantly we need bigger striker that we can build attacks around, then we probably need another CB to replace VVD in some respect or another and only then, if we are still looking to spend look for a AM rather than a wide man, but thats just me.

 

Walcott seems attractive from the outset, as I think most of us like the magic of a young player returning, personally I think we have more pressing needs.

 

And I wouldn't blame him for buggering off to Everton for more money, a club in a better position and a manager that actually understands the game.

[alpine_saint]

So we've buggered this up as well.

 

Time for Les to go.

[hypochondriac]

Realistically if Walcott wasn't originally a Saint, and we were not crying out for reinforcements would we really be screaming out to spunk 20-30m on him ? And pay him around 100k a week ?

 

I wouldn't really, I can't see that he adds an awful lot more different than Boufal and Redmond offer us, put either in a better side and they probably wouldn't be a long way off of Walcott's contributions.

 

Another thing is that signing him pretty much confirms we will carry on using a formation that just isn't working, as I can't see how you can squeeze him into a side that doesn't operate with wide men and strikers that the formation doesn't suit.

 

I would say predominantly we need bigger striker that we can build attacks around, then we probably need another CB to replace VVD in some respect or another and only then, if we are still looking to spend look for a AM rather than a wide man, but thats just me.

 

Walcott seems attractive from the outset, as I think most of us like the magic of a young player returning, personally I think we have more pressing needs.

 

And I wouldn't blame him for buggering off to Everton for more money, a club in a better position and a manager that actually understands the game.

 

Has anyone been screaming to pay him that much money? I think most have accepted that if that's all he will accept then we won't be singing him.

[supersonic]

So we've buggered this up as well.

 

Time for Les to go.

 

Correct. Us fans need to start putting the pressure on the board and make them aware how Royal f*cked off we are

[hypochondriac]

Correct. Us fans need to start putting the pressure on the board and make them aware how Royal f*cked off we are

 

I guess they are aware. Like I said, it will take a stinker of a home performance where we go behind early to show real frustration.

[Shance]

I'll be gutted if he goes to Everton, especially as it seems he wants to come here.

[corky morris]

£20m is a lot for an injury record like his..........................£30m is madness!!

Unfortunately £100k pw is the going rate for a player like him. I cant see us paying it though.

[Leyton Lundekvam]

So we've buggered this up as well.

 

Time for Les to go.

 

However, if it's true that we're being quoted £20-30M plus £100k per week in wages, perhaps we are dodging a bullet rather than "buggering it up".

[Bearsy]

I'll be gutted if he goes to Everton, especially as it seems he wants to come here.

 

I'll be gutted if he knocks in 6 or 7 goals this season. On other hand, if he breaks down injured in first game, I might be non-gutted.

 

I'm gonna be Hindsight Man.

[SaintLondon]

Now that Sam has come out and publicly stated his and Everton's desire to acquire the services of Theo it'd be a bit of a slap in the face and bad PR for Theo to end up at Saints.

 

As a result i'm sure they'll end up paying a little over the odds to make sure the deal gets over the line - I mean, who would want to lose out on a transfer to 'small club Southampton.'

 

Joking aside, all relatively respected outlets such as Telegraph and Independent suggested that we were looking to make this transfer happen to appease the fans, if that is the case then they should have tried harder to get it done because what actually has happened is the opposite. They've mentioned names such as Gaitan, Walcott and Sturridge and whatever your views are on these players we know that they can all play and importantly, the latter anyway, score goals. To mention these names and to ultimately end up with none of them and perhaps someone that nobody has heard of isn't necessarily a way to appease fans.

 

I understand that Les has to, to a certain point, treat the club as a functioning business but the annoying point is the above players weren't pulled out of a hat by Jeremy Wilson, they would have been fed to him via the comms department to alleviate some of the Saints fans fears - if this happens you must try harder to sign them. We know for a fact that even if the VVD money is to be split over a series of windows there should be a minimum of £20m available at any one time - that is enough to try and make a substantial signing.

 

It just seems that party line is 'we tried but it didn't work out - not our fault'

 

For me, it gets to a point where the above isn't good enough.

[BotleySaint]

In the end I suspect money shouts louder than any sense of loyalty..

[salisbury saints1]

Agree - if I can't have something I want it even more!

[mynameisthehulk]

So we've buggered this up as well.

 

Time for Les to go.

 

Nothing has been buggered up, this in fact is a blessing in disguise. I can pretty much make a judgement on who on here has got a clue and who hasn't on the basis of thinking that Walcott would be a decent signing for us.

[doddisalegend]

Realistically if Walcott wasn't originally a Saint, and we were not crying out for reinforcements would we really be screaming out to spunk 20-30m on him ? And pay him around 100k a week ?

 

I wouldn't really, I can't see that he adds an awful lot more different than Boufal and Redmond offer us, put either in a better side and they probably wouldn't be a long way off of Walcott's contributions.

 

Another thing is that signing him pretty much confirms we will carry on using a formation that just isn't working, as I can't see how you can squeeze him into a side that doesn't operate with wide men and strikers that the formation doesn't suit.

 

I would say predominantly we need bigger striker that we can build attacks around, then we probably need another CB to replace VVD in some respect or another and only then, if we are still looking to spend look for a AM rather than a wide man, but thats just me.

 

Walcott seems attractive from the outset, as I think most of us like the magic of a young player returning, personally I think we have more pressing needs.

 

And I wouldn't blame him for buggering off to Everton for more money, a club in a better position and a manager that actually understands the game.

 

 

Pretty much agree with all of that.

[Daft Kerplunk]

If he was a serious target and it doesn’t happen then it is a significant fail from our current board. We either were serious or not. Regardless of the player’s perceived value (by fans) this deal should have been wrapped up as soon as VVD went if we wanted to do it.

[whelk]

Shame and frustrating but all this talk of dithering. Who knows who is in the pipeline. Lemina and Hojberg came from no where. If we get no one in after getting an additional £75m as well as being relegation candidates playing largely turgid football then I will join any furious hanky protest and get a sheet of A4 and a felt-tip out.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I am a bit ambivalent about signing him, value wise because of his age, wages etc, but I think with Walcott in our team it would go a long way to staving off relegation so..... missing out could be very costly.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Shame and frustrating but all this talk of dithering. Who knows who is in the pipeline. Lemina and Hojberg came from no where. If we get no one in after getting an additional £75m as well as being relegation candidates playing largely turgid football then I will join any furious hanky protest and get a sheet of A4 and a felt-tip out.

 

[obelisk]

Do we seriously expect any decent players to want to come to Saints given their current predicament?

[Suhari]

£30M would be a crazy number to pay for him.

 

Unless we do something drastically different tactically then it would be madness to sign him.

 

However, if we had a Pelle/Lambert style forward to leading the line it could work pretty well.

[Micky]

Realistically if Walcott wasn't originally a Saint, and we were not crying out for reinforcements would we really be screaming out to spunk 20-30m on him ? And pay him around 100k a week ?

 

I wouldn't really, I can't see that he adds an awful lot more different than Boufal and Redmond offer us, put either in a better side and they probably wouldn't be a long way off of Walcott's contributions.

 

Another thing is that signing him pretty much confirms we will carry on using a formation that just isn't working, as I can't see how you can squeeze him into a side that doesn't operate with wide men and strikers that the formation doesn't suit.

 

I would say predominantly we need bigger striker that we can build attacks around, then we probably need another CB to replace VVD in some respect or another and only then, if we are still looking to spend look for a AM rather than a wide man, but thats just me.

 

Walcott seems attractive from the outset, as I think most of us like the magic of a young player returning, personally I think we have more pressing needs.

 

And I wouldn't blame him for buggering off to Everton for more money, a club in a better position and a manager that actually understands the game.

 

Good post - this is pretty much where I am as well. I'm just not sure that Theo is the type of player that is going to 'save us', and right now we need saving. Don't get me wrong, if we were safely top half / mid table and we were out to try and get Theo back I'd be all over it like a rash - but I'm really not convinced that he is the player we need given the job in hand.

[hypochondriac]

Good post - this is pretty much where I am as well. I'm just not sure that Theo is the type of player that is going to 'save us', and right now we need saving. Don't get me wrong, if we were safely top half / mid table and we were out to try and get Theo back I'd be all over it like a rash - but I'm really not convinced that he is the player we need given the job in hand.

It really depends what our alternative is doesn't it.

[DT]

still nothing. St Mary's is a talent vaccuum

[Lets B Avenue]

Nothing has been buggered up, this in fact is a blessing in disguise. I can pretty much make a judgement on who on here has got a clue and who hasn't on the basis of thinking that Walcott would be a decent signing for us.

 

I don't even bother with that distinction.

[waylander]

Look at it from Theo's point of view. What he wants is enough game time to get him back into contention for the World Cup. We offer that, so do Everton. He has to take a pay cut to come here, Everton will match his current wage. Not really a hard decision, is it?

[Charlie Wayman]

Looks like the've given him a single rail ticket to Southampton from London via Liverpool? Seems a very long way around to me, isn't there a more direct one?

[Fabrice29]

I just don't see how this (if he ends up at Everton) is a **** up by Reed or the club. If he goes to Everton because they've matched his wages then fair play to him but there's no way in hell we should be breaking our wage structure for anyone. Yes he'd improve us more than likely but its not guarenteed. He's 29 so we get what...2 good years out of him max based on the fact that he's all about his speed. Its romantic, exicting and nice now but when he's past it and he's on a 3 or 4 year contract of over 100k a week it looks stupid and its bloody expensive.

 

If we can get him on tbw right terms then lovely jubbly but its quite clear Allardyce doesn't give a **** about the long term strategy of Everton and probably has his newly into football and excitable and rich chairman wrapped around his finger and is making this deal happen for him now rather than caring about Everton being lumbered with an over paid, inconsistent winger in a year and a bits time. I for one am quite glad we remain sensible in this situation.

[Heisenberg]

Southampton going down with £75 million in the bank, 75 mill in the bank, 75 mill in the bank

 

repeat x 18

[Saint_John]

Look at it from Theo's point of view. What he wants is enough game time to get him back into contention for the World Cup. We offer that, so do Everton. He has to take a pay cut to come here, Everton will match his current wage. Not really a hard decision, is it?

 

Is that true ?

We can offer him a guaranteed starting position, whereas at liverpoo second team he has Bolasie / Lookman as the free wide player with pace and Roo / Sigurosson who both want t play No10 roles (When he was here as a kid he played 10 behind Fuller)

[saint-crinny]

No doubt he was a serious target for us - as a rule we don't talk about our signings beforehand and MP as much as anyone will have been briefed on that. So, for him to confirm our interest tells you it was a very serious target for us.

 

As it now appears he's going to Everton, you have to say a fail on the club' part. Again.

 

He would have been a lot better than what we have and given the fans/atmosphere a bit of a lift however you look at it. so on both counts, we've missed out it seems

[beatlesaint]

No doubt he was a serious target for us - as a rule we don't talk about our signings beforehand and MP as much as anyone will have been briefed on that. So, for him to confirm our interest tells you it was a very serious target for us.

 

As it now appears he's going to Everton, you have to say a fail on the club' part. Again.

 

He would have been a lot better than what we have and given the fans/atmosphere a bit of a lift however you look at it. so on both counts, we've missed out it seems

 

The fact the club made it public sends out alarm bells for me cos they never do that. I think it was either a smokescreen or an attempt to apease the fans so they can then turn round when he goes to Everton and say "we tried but couldnt match his wages" Obviously with £75 million in the bank matching anyones wages would be a major issue......

[doddisalegend]

No doubt he was a serious target for us - as a rule we don't talk about our signings beforehand and MP as much as anyone will have been briefed on that. So, for him to confirm our interest tells you it was a very serious target for us.

 

As it now appears he's going to Everton, you have to say a fail on the club' part. Again.

He would have been a lot better than what we have and given the fans/atmosphere a bit of a lift however you look at it. so on both counts, we've missed out it seems

 

Not really. He could have been a serious target but not at the expense off breaking the club wage structure or paying over the odds for him.

[saintsmike25]

Seriously Alpine, would you join Saints if you were Theo for a permanent contract?

Have some perspective, we're likely to go down and we're likely to not afford the wages he is on - thus meaning he does not view the club as a long-term prospect in its current state.

The only way he would join us is on loan - so we were ALWAYS likely to be pipped to the post by a better positioned and richer club like Everton!

So no Les didn't mess that up - but it was ALWAYS the likely scenario due to where we are at. Players don't want to be joining a club fighting relegation!

[doddisalegend]

The fact the club made it public sends out alarm bells for me cos they never do that. I think it was either a smokescreen or an attempt to apease the fans so they can then turn round when he goes to Everton and say "we tried but couldnt match his wages" Obviously with £75 million in the bank matching anyones wages would be a major issue......

 

we don't have £75 million in the bank its being paid in instalments, 5 million is add ons and we have to give Celtic a cut.