Oh FFS not another ****ing Frenchman called Morgan. Has anyone got a spare bedroom. I would be very little trouble. Honest.
If we can get half the service and half the profit, we'd still do bloody well with this one! Buy buy buy
Im with you except the part about being slow at offloading players this year, compared to the last couple where weve been stuck with players we wanted rid of like Clasie and Forster, i think we've been pretty decisive with our clearout so far. Clasie gone, Gallagher sold and a good profit on Targett, with players like Austin told straight away where they stand. I've been relatively impressed, especially with how badly we failed last year. With the wages our guys are on its not the easiest job.
Don’t wanna piss on the rare, elusive Southampton 2019 summer transfer window potential signing bonfire but I think that tweet about Sanson is a windup. In terms of a CB, no names floating about. It’s pretty obvious that we have to get rid of a player or two before bringing one in, but you’d have thought that deals or negotiations with our targets would’ve at least made the press regardless.
It's happened before - a signing we didn't see coming appears right out of the blue. That's what I'm expecting and pretty excited about. There's a done deal on the table just waiting for a departure or two I reckon.
I would love that, and, to be fair, wouldn't be overly surprised if that happened. Ralph seems confident there will be signings, so there must be some assurances somewhere.
Ian, TBH, l think the problem offloading the players you have mentioned is not so much about the club being slow to offload, it's more to do with other clubs knowing how average, or below average, these players are; coupled with their current high remuneration packages that they have that fail to reflect their current or potential ability.
I recognise that but I would have thought that Ralph would have been looking to off-load these players as far back as January. We have had 6 months from when it was known that Ralph did not fancy them. I totally agree that they are over paid and the contract situation makes them unlikely to move on unless at a loss. The fact that the clubs where they have been on load did not fancy them speaks volumes. However, I just cannot see the likes of Boufal, Hoedt, Carillo or even Cedric pulling on a Saints shirt again and, as mentioned elsewhere, it is almost as if everyone else in the market is fully aware of the short-comings of these players. I think terminating Classie's contract was sensible and it surprises me that Saints have not been more pragmatic about accepting reduced fees for players we need to more on. It looks like Carillo is on the way back to Argentina and there is talk about Austin going to Newcastle. Given that the likes of Radio Solent were predicting as many as 13 players being shipped out this summer, I would have thought we would have seen more movement even if moving the likes of Targett on was great business. I would feel more confident about next season if these players were sold and the money invested in a pair of quality central defenders. Effectively, other than the introduction of Vokins, I don't feel we are any stronger in this department than last season. This is my biggest concern.
You’re saying this like we’ve been busy turning down bids that don’t match our valuation though. I think the reality is that there hasn’t been any bids (bar the WBA one for Austin which we accepted and he turned down).
Southampton's Portuguese defender Cedric Soares, 27, is being eyed by Monaco as Ralph Hasenhuttl tries to trim his wage bill at St Mary's. (Foot Mercato)