Les Reed literally told them haha. Last time we said something like this was after that summer when Ralph said Morgan and Jay would not be sold; they both stayed the season. I'm hoping for the sake of saints and my wallet (£25 at 11/1 that VVD stays) we keep our top players this summer.
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...ares-after-agreement-with-mauricio-pellegrino I thought I heard Les say that MoPo2 wouldn't actually be influential on new signings, or did I get that wrong?
Lucky we didn't get De Boer then, because all i've heard him say so far is 'how happy I am to be spending (someone else's) millions!' Very thankful we dodged the Frank bullet.
I think he said that things would basically stay the same. There is a committee that decide transfers and the manager is a part of it. So they have an influence on areas we need to improve and which players would fit but don't have complete control. Probabaly the best system as it combines our thorough scouting system which the knowledge of the manager.
So we want that the club spends the money, but still to avoid managers who would want to spend the money.
A bit cynical, everyone I guess will read into it as they feel, I agree with Fran, they think the system ain't broke so no need to mend it? I would rather a Manager chose his own team, and I guess he will say what he needs, but whether we will supply and support him is a different issue.
It would be good if they let us in to some of their secrets, but no one on here can be trusted to keep shtum.
The club will/does spend money, but the manager doesn't get 100% say on who comes in. Otherwise you would end up with our recent managers bringing in a lot of their "own" players, and when they leave we are stuck with them. Doing it this way is getting players in that suit the clubs philosophy, and be able to adapt to different managers, which has proved to be the right way on numerous occasions in the last 3 years.
It's essentially a balancing act isn't it. Balancing equipping the manager with the team he wants and thinks will be able to compete in the present, with ensuring we have players that will work for the longer term future of the club and potentially be able to make a big profit on.
I know that. But I don't see De Boer's statement as contradictory to that. I wouldn't want him as our manager for different reasons, but not because he said he's looking forward to spending the money. Anyway, Les would never let him spent the money foolishly, but I'd welcome a manager who's more then ready to pull the trigger without hesitation for an identified transfer target.
I agree. Just because he wants to spend, it doesn't mean he wants to waste. You can spend big and get big returns I.e £36m on Mane. It doesn't make him any better or worse as a manager. I didn't want him and am glad we went for Pellegrino but not because De Boer wants money to spend - who doesn't?
We seem to have got embroiled in comparisons because Pellegrino and de Boer were being considered for vacancies at Southampton and Crystal Palace at the same time. In fact, we don't have any proof that they ever went head to head for a job. We have Pellegrino and I am happy to have him, but suspect we'd all feel the same if we had de Boer. We have enough 'enemy' teams without dragging poor Palace into it.
What seems to be forgotten is the concept of "The Southampton Way". Just as we tend to buy players who fit our needs, as recommended by the Black Box, so we also hire managers whose attributes also fit our philosophy. Obviously Frank De Boer didn't fit into our philosophy, for whatever reasons, whereas Mauricio Pellegrino presumably does. The one thing that's been consistent over the last few years, is that Saints don't do random acquisitions.
When asked about JRod's situation Les quoted "There may be players that go if it's the right thing for them and the club at the given time," he explained.
To be fair the club is crying out for a quiet summer. A summer of a few signings and little outgoings is just what we need right now.
Do you want an interesting summer? That's the more pertinent question. They (Les) have said that key players are staying. If that's the case then the new guy has a pretty good squad to work with. Add one or two, get Boufal firing & Tadic smiling and things look good. You can keep your interesting summer.......
