The Virgil Van Dijk Stays at Southampton Thread

Read the Tweet . I can say I have not seen one mention of THAT tragedy on here , and ANY Saints fan or fan of another club has done so , then **** them !

 

Sooo, VVD has a pretty badly done Photoshopped image now as his squad profile on the OS

 

Can't we add a twirly moustache and a pair of specs. Come on Saints, you aren't even trying.

 

He looks as miserable as a rainy monday in that photo. And so he should, the petulant child.

 

In your earlier post you said we aren't ambitious and because of that we can't keep him. Now it looks like you're saying that it's ambitious ("not unambitious") to sell him, so we are ambitious. I'm genuinely confused as to what your opinion is.

Says whom? That has never, not once, been suggested, not even in the statements Van Dijk's agents made. Why would they keep it quiet if it happened? Earlier you said "Yeah he signed a six year contract last year which was stupid" but if (as you assert) there was a get out clause then it wasn't stupid.

I tend to work on the basis of Occam's razor. The less you have to invent the more likely something is to be true. So, the simplest expanation to me is, VD signs a new contract then changes agent (both factually true). VD has a good half season, rumours start in the papers about how he'll be snapped up (factually true), he meets Liverpool and they mercilessly tap him up. We find out and stop it (all factually true) and his agent sees the money going out of the window and unsettles VD (that's my little bit of speculation based on seeing how agents generally act).

Vin

 

Virgil also seems to be one of those men who never sees himself as in the wrong and starts throwing mud when he is challenged.*

*Strange....sounds like my ex.

 

Sorry lost And now I'm concerned how I reply to you because there's too many possible reasons for me to say something that offends someone

Doesn't help that I seem to have clicked on wrong bit of link and should have clicked on #VVD to see pics of him with an incriminating shirt

Explain in simple terms for a simple man, THAT tragedy and Liverpool generally only means one thing but I didn't see anything and then saw mention of another VD training ground issue and a man with a brain tumour

 

I just read in the comments that a ( Presumably ) Liver pool fan said he saw saints poking fun at the Hillsborough tragedy , nothing more than that

 

its funny - this is the first time I've really hated a player for wanting to leave.
i think its his manner and the COMPLETE DISREGARD for the contract he signed, taking a loyalty bonus and huge salary he's been on since he signed it

 

I am less pissed off with VD than I am with the way the whole Liverpool machine has tried to manage this business.

I am desperately hoping he doesn't go to Liverpool as therein lies the door to future chaos at every transfer window as other clubs will simply emulate their underhand rule breaking tactics.

Heaven forbid but should he go to Liverpool then the FA must instigate a full and thorough investigation of Liverpool's disgraceful behaviour throughout this transfer and then punish them in the strongest possible way.

 

Aha! Never saw that

THAT tragedy was real life and death and shouldn't get mixed up with twitter which has no filter and 500m+ tweets a day
Anyone posing as anyone can post commments saying anything about anything. It offers constant potential to offend or be offended in a way that real life rarely does
We aren't in any way responsible for everything said by every person who is or claims to be a saints fan or any Liverpool fan who is or claims to be offended

I take some solace in the fact that our 606 board is a pretty civilised place to be and rather more planted in the real world rather than the twittersphere

 

This is it for me, we will clearly never have another parting that is as mutually agreeable as SRLs, but what really sticks in the throat is VVD playing the club, stating that he has wanted to leave for six months, but only giving in a transfer request after five months, three weeks and six days, all the time believing that despite being anything but loyal, he deserves a loyalty bonus to the tune of TWO Charlie Austins!

 

I did expect to come back to over 100 new pages on this...

In my eyes, unless a really stupid offer comes in, the board can no longer sell Virgil. We're too deep into the transfer window now. I don't care about his current sulk - anyone who didn't believe that was coming, is naïve in my eyes. So little has changed there. Good news about the formal transfer request though, thus saving us money if we do sell. If we were to sell Virgil - and for a decent price, I was fully supportive of it - then we should have done it by now. We're now going to play Swansea - and possibly more games thereafter - neither with Virgil nor anyone purchased with his sale proceeds. So the worst of both worlds for us. Yay. They've dug their heels in this long; they can't now fold. If Virgil is still here on 1 September, I can't believe that some sort of agreement wont be reached whereby he is quickly reintroduced into the fold.

But it does annoy me. Even if we keep him. As I allude to, we're now in a position where, in all likelihood, we're going to be understrength for the first three, four, five, six games of the season. Either because Virgil is here and but not match fit (and, at least initially, there is also no willingness to play), or because we haven't spent his sales proceeds. If the outcome is that we sell Virgil, well then we've wasted weeks of the transfer window. We'll have given the Leicester's and the Everton's and West Ham's a headstart. If the outcome is that we keep Virgil, then even if he ultimately fully integrates back into the team and performs like his old self, we still may have dropped points in these first few games that might not have been the case with him (or new signings in his place) in the team. And back to my ongoing point, wasting these first few games does honestly risk wasting the whole (league) season. So fast forward 12 months, and we're in the same position again with Virgil. Only then the likes of Romeu and Gabbi might be in the mix too. In both outcomes, we don't win (unless we keep him but also get the results in his absence).

(There's also the fact that we don't tend to spend more then what we receive in transfers. So unless that changes over the next three weeks, we may have little choice but to sell Virgil. We still need at least two players, possibly three, in my view - increasing by one more if Virgil goes. If that can only occur from selling - which I absolutely do not believe is the case, but seems to be the modus operandi of the club - then Virgil has to go, if we're not to slither down into the bottom half of the table)

 

Or simply taking the piss....

 

The transfer request only saves you money if you sell this window

 

Depends if he withdraws his request. If you're going fishing, at least make your bait believable.

Vin

 

You can't be that naive that you don't think it's already common practice?

Apparently Coutinho has 'agreed personal terms' but we've told them he's not for sale. I guess that's not tapping up?

Players talk, managers talk. Players talk on international duty, managers talk to agents etc. etc.

I can't believe you think we're the only ones using 'underhand rule breaking tactics' and now teams will 'emulate us' ffs

 

And Mourinho(in his pre-super cup presser)telling the world that he'll fight anyone to sign Bale and that Real have to prove to Mourinho they still want Bale, a player by the way that's under contract, has said he doesn't want a move and a manager and club President that both said prior to Maureen's comments that he's going nowhere.

 

Careful mate, facts on here get you put on ignore lists!

I still want to know exactly why Les held back information about us 'tapping up' VVD, when the FA said they didn't have enough evidence to take it further?

 

Because Liverpool said they have ended their interest in Virgil. To be fair, no bids from Liverpool (or anyone else) have been received yet, so it would appear that your club are keeping to their word and don't want him any more.