Match Day Thread Southampton FC v Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Europa League, Thursday 8th December, KO 8.05pm

Yeah, I'm sure other clubs fans are as reasonable, and as well informed about club finances, as ours are. None of them would bankrupt their clubs if given control of the cheque books.

 

Must admit I have not read the whole thread, it would probably be too depressing. I have however in recent weeks been to Hull and Prague. Then watched last night, and in truth Everton, (they were so poor), wasn't a lot different. What links the performances is a lack of ambition or imagination in open play... sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards. A midfield where no-one gets beyond the strikers, no-one passes forward. We are as dull as Puel's press conferences. The team seem to reflect his dullness. We have quick forward players but none seem to be instructed to run the channels, perhaps because they know the quick ball forward isn't coming. We do not press, because we 'hold our shape' therefore we seldom regain possession in the opposition's half. The whole philosophy seems to be safety first, making us predictable and relatively easy to defend against. I hate to say it but I believe we may well be slipping into major problems. I am not one to press the panic button but Puel has managed to make good players look average. As Saints march backwards, metaphorically and in style, maybe it's time for the executive to review the map.... and change course.

 

THIS. I was all of the previously mentioned negative adjectives last night & more at the final whistle but I could never leave early. ****e, Maya nearly did the unbelievable.

 

Running at a profit is not always a sign of a well-run business. If you want to be aggressive in the market, most successful businesses will run at a loss over a short period to ensure greater returns later. Actually, our business of late has been too cautious and will most likely lead to loss later.

Also, suggesting that we at least spend our transfer outs on transfer ins is in no way equivalent to demanding we do a Portsmouth. That is the most trite oversimplification of the issue, and yet intelligent posters trot it out so often it is beginning to be viewed as an either/or situation. Either we spend - and die a horrible death like Portsmouth - or we do not - and are a "successful business". This is not the case.

Sport is generally run by passionate people who want to be remembered for their success on the pitch, not the bank balance they leave behind. Some of these people are idiots who can't balance books. That's not a problem with spending - it's just bad business. However, there are plenty of clubs who invest to a high level but don't do so with any great risk.

This summer we were led to believe our big signing was long termism - i.e. those big contracts. If VVD leaves this year, that becomes a farce. We needed a striker in the summer - so we sold an Italian international and... didn't replace him. We could have spent 15 million without any risk and brought in the element our team really needs.

 

Granted there's a balancing act between conservative profit and reckless spending. No doubt at all. But it's not as binary the other way either of Profit = Lack of ambition.

I'd rather have a well run club that invested sensibly, but with ambition. I think we're too heavily weighted to the first part of that statement (though I suspect this is a lot to do with the potential takeover as well) but it just needs to be kept sensible.

 

We've found our Grinch!

 

Yeah, I'm not saying spending is necessarily great. Depends on what you buy. However, we needed a striker in the summer and didn't buy one. People said "Puel doesn't know the team yet" - but the fact is we replaced Mane with an inferior copy without consulting him and could have bought a striker from the black box too.

We have no cutting edge at all. We are the safety razor of football.

 

And there it is. Couldn't have said it better, Tigger. I disappointingly agree with everything you've said, point by point.

 

No disagreement. I don't want the club to spend like maniacs; break-even or thereabouts is fine. There's just a fairly significant gap between our current spending levels and break-even, and I'd say that it definitely has something to do with our intent to sell.

And, as it happens, it's going to have a pretty negative impact on our revenues. There's a very good chance that we take in 15-20m less next year simply because we'll have received less in PL prize money and European takings than we did this season, and unlike signings, those losses cannot potentially be turned into transfer fees down the road. Spendthrift is not always financially wise.

 

Agreed. It's a tricky balance that we have got right in the past, but haven't to date this year.

 

Far too much agreeing going on. You are going back on the ignore list. Dirty Agreer.

 

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And you want to be keeping the talent level up in good times, because the truly bad decisions tend to be made with the possibility of relegation in the back of one's mind. Look at Newcastle last year...they let the team wither away to make a buck, and then panicked to try to save their PL revenues, and failed on both counts. Swansea is likely to do the same in January. That's what I really want to avoid, and not just for on the basis of performance.

 

Well that is all well and good but how do you spend more on established players and yet still leave a pathway for the Academy lads? Of the big four teams, which is actually being run on sustainable lines? Even Arsenal HAD to make the Champions League every year for six years or they would have hit trouble whilst financing the stadium. Only a few seasons ago we discovered that the club was still taking on loans, --and not just from the owner. I think when you look at our trajectory and how this has been achieved without significant risk, it's remarkable. Am I proud that the club is well run? Actually, damn right I am, and that includes the Academy- the Southampton Way.

 

Easily: have fewer average backup quality players. Look at left back; we have two young ones who have gotten significant playing time, with a very good left back in front of them. Bertrand hasn't blocked them...a Martina would.

 

Well ok, but we sign players on 3-4 year contracts. It's expensive to have them sat as third choice and if you insist on making purchases in January at inflated prices then that's what will happen. Better to plan your upgrading in an orderly manner, bearing in mind the prospects amongst the Academy, not because the crowd are demanding that we "do something".

 

We're potentially having to buy in January (note: I don't think that we'll spend a cent in January unless things get really dire/to replace Fonte) because we did not plan our upgrading in an orderly manner. We left holes unfilled while knowing full well that they were holes.

 

I don't want the club to be run this way or that way, I want it to be run the red and white way.

Flippancy aside... not sure Puel can take as much blame as is being attributed to him. He was fighting a war on three fronts, with players inferior to last season. If Redmond was that good he would be playing for Liverpool. The Board was probably hoping we'd get a return to form from J Rod which hasn't happened.

Out of Europe now, I'm sure we'll field a strong as possible team against Liverpool in the Coca Cola Cup. Personally I think he should just boy the FA Cup off completely.

 

I don't think that it was unplanned. Redmond is young and he may yet come good as a Mané replacement. It's easy to forget than Mané and Pelle both went through lean spells last season and the former had an attitude problem and had to be disciplined. Pelle left and the calculation was that we had Austin, Long and Jayrod and that one of them at least would step up in form. It hasn't worked out at least under the present system. Most were delighted when we offered Jayrod another deal and now some want shot of him. I agree that we probably won't spend in January unless one of our long term targets becomes available because spending to avoid relegation and spending in order to try for a top six finish are just two sides of the same coin.

 

But there's the thing: if the sale doesn't go through, will we spend substantially in the summer to shore up those holes? Without sales that will create new possible holes, probably not. We'll keep adding cheapish players, which will contribute to our having enough bodies to crowd out youngsters at some positions, while doing little to improve the top-end quality.