I think that is fair...not that I expect life to be fair. I feel he owes us another season after missing half of this one (through no fault of his own). And these clubs supposedly vying for him would surely be happier to see him playing for another season rather than make a rather risky purchase. So stupid money or nothing, please.
Oh that was a fun 10 pages. Doesn't take long for the meltdown to start. Oh sorry, I read somewhere it's not a melt down Hilarious read. @Beefy - huge admiration fella. You try so hard to put some calm reasoning amongst a tide of panic and desperation. Fair play mate. No matter who we sell, for how much and to whom, I'm not done! Up the saints. Fixtures out soon
As we all know by now, the clubs agreeing a deal is the last thing to be done. Obviously Liverpool have got strong vibes from Virgil. I'm not 100% sure Liverpool will pay what we want. I can see them leaning on Virgil a little bit to try and force a deal at a lower price.
If that's the case, then f@#k them! It seems clear to me, they have broken all the rules, so pay what we want, or suck it!
I think we all know how this goes. Player has amazing season, press sell them to every big club, sale is agreed in press, Club state no knowledge of any bids, player goes to liverpool for big money, fans pissed off, club banks big money, club spends half on unknwn player, repeat.
Yep. This. Gerrard did it in the England camp, I fully believe that. Now Klop is doing it over lunch. I thought this was not acceptable and deals were between clubs and agents.
No but radio 2 talking about what Saints are and how many players we've sold. Even quoted Brendan Rogers old transfer policy..... Google "good Southampton players"
What will happen: In the next couple of days Liverpool will switch to another "target" according to Liverpool driven media because of price of VVD. VVD says publicly he wants out and possibly strike City/Chelsea prepare massive offer according to Saints driven media Liverpool sign him
So another one's off or most likely, before someone say's nothing's been agreed yet. I appreciate we won't be able to resist £M or hold on to a player who has a desire to play for a "great club" & triple his pay but I have a feeling, a lot of this is being driven by our undoubted policy of advocating & promoting this stepping stone club mentality, for players, managers & even backroom staff alike. I'm not saying it's wrong or maybe I should say "wasn't wrong" but we've got to either try & hold onto these players a bit longer (someone said earlier VVD's don't come along very often & I don't expect to see another) or do a Levy / Everton & put a statement down that if you want our best players, then you've got to pay stupid £M. Now, some of you more ITK's might say, well what about if it's in their contract, handshake agreement, etc? Well I for one, want change. I'm so disappointed, saddened that we are now just a revolving door, over a 2-3 year period for good players. If they arrive, do well, they're gone. I want more. I want some good quality players, I can attach too, rather than just accepting they're off as soon as they hit form. Am I deluded? Unrealistic in this day & age? Maybe but I do feel a policy change or even a tweak by Les et al would alter our position & we'd be better off for it.
Saints are a good EPL side. We give lesser known players a chance to play in the EPL and prove themselves and perhaps be noticed by the bigger (i.e. richer) clubs. This is our USP which may attract good players. The plan is no doubt to make money and improve the team as we go. Never forget that the underlying plan is improvement of Saints as a team, but it will be viewed as a longer term project by a board running a business than by fans who want it now. Annoying for fans as we invest love in particular players, but it is our business plan. Be nice to keep Virgil though just to annoy everyone else.
What should VVD and Liverpool expect? Not too long ago VVD signed a large extension to to his existing contract. Liverpool can put as much pressure as they like on VVD but he cannot play for Liverpool unless Saints agree. By Signing an extension he was making a huge commitment to Saints and would have been made aware I'm sure that Saints would not (or should not) consider any offer for him. It would have been reasonable for VVD to understand at the time that other clubs would have an interest in him at a later date if he progressed as Saints thought he would. (Hence why they offered the extension) Therefore in my book if Saints turn any offers down for him he should understand unless it was really stupid money.
Maybe so but don't you think over the last couple of years, if we'd kept a couple for a bit longer, maybe that top 4 spot could have been realised with RK (ok bit of a long shot but was a slim possibility), EL KO stage qualification could have been reached or even a bit of silverware could be in the cupboard. Any of those would have raised our profile significantly which would allow the next step or make it easier.
