Bertie wasn’t physically able as he once was, Ings was indeed very good for us but did pick up niggles. Vesty I thought was very good first half of last season then tailed off. But as others have alluded to, to get £45m from Ings and Vesty going into their last year of their contracts was good business.
The other thing is that we are used to/accepting/realistic of the way football works. Lots of other people don’t understand the realities Was having a conversation last night in the pub with a few mates and got onto the subject of Ings and Vestergaard leaving. I said was because last year of their deals etc and their answer was “well why wouldn’t they sign new deals, **** pointless club, no ambition” etc. These are people who generally support the top teams so don’t really understand how it works for the rest. Oh and a Leeds fan who was saying that if any club in the world came in for Kalvin Phillips he would tell them to **** off as he is Mr Leeds.
The problem is that unless you’re a top 4/6 team in the premier league, the so call pundits on Sky, talk sport etc, know very little about the lesser clubs like Southampton. Sky sports this morning saying that things are getting very concerning for Southampton now that Vesty is leaving. We all know that it is far from impossible to replace him, whilst we have also bought in £45 million for 2 contracts due to inspire in 11 months. Now fast forward a season and Pogba leaves Man Utd for free, you watch Sky / talksport have a meltdown and talk about how could Man Utd let this happen etc etc for hours and hours.
Believe me, if Vesty makes some of the mistakes he made with us, Leicester fans will definitely moan and groan
Most, if not all, fans' talk is designed to wind up other fans, even moreso if the fans involved are 'mates' who support other teams. It could be argued that the fact that other fans notice Saints is because they are worried about our potential. If they were so confident in their own clubs' abilities, they wouldn't need to try to rubbish us. Put another way, if Saints oozed confidence during every match, knowing that they'll never concede any goals, and score four or five every game, other fans would call us plastic glory hunters, not 'real' fans. Next time, tell the fans/wind up merchants that they are just 'Tilting at Windmills'. They will either look blank, or be impressed by your literary references.
Plus most Saints fans would agree that we needed to freshen up the squad. Ralph is now getting the type of players he likes to work with. Young, legs around the pitch,more pace and he can coach and improve. If we get in 1 or 2 more players, keep JWP, then I think we have had one of the best transfer windows for some time. Gunn / Lemina / Hoedt = Paid for Perraud Ings = paid for Armstrong / Livramento (£6 / £7 million left over) Vesty (£13-£15 million added to the transfer kitty) Also will still have 1 or 2 more leave. Obafemi will go
This is generally right but Carl Anka covered us for the athletic . And still seemed clueless about the actual situation. I guess he is a big club fan and now covers them and so instantly forgets
With a surname like Anka, he must be grateful that his parents didn't call him William. Or perhaps they do, behind his back...
I think we will miss Vestergaard more for his offensive play (fast switching of play through his long diagonal passes) rather than his defensive.
And I would like to think we have been working on a way around this given he has had almost no involvement in pre-season
No club is "pointless" to their fanbase and our club has been very successful relative to city size, history etc with 45 seasons out of the last 55 spent in the top league, compare that to cities such as Plymouth, Portsmouth and Bristol where you are Magic, presumably that's why your mates support "big clubs" and not City or Rovers. Btw Villa, Newcastle and even West Ham are bigger clubs than Saints but because of our success we consider ourselves on an equal footing with them.
I wonder what it would cost to get Jerry st Juste in. Quicker player in the Bundesliga and he’s a CB. Value around 16m euros. It would be a contrast to vesty, that’s for sure.
Absolutely. Just for good measure, I don't have a problem with the departures as Ralph wants a squad who want to be here. It's a pretty hopeless task when you have half in half out mindsets in the changing room. We'll be ok, let's face it we Saints fans know how to ride the waves, we've got plenty of form on that! As has been pointed out, for a city of our size, to have had so many seasons in the top flight is only dream country for cities with larger populations.
I cant take transfermarkt valuations seriously. JWP £25m, KWP £16m, Romeu £5m? Ings never broke £20m even after just scoring 22 PL goals. I'd add at least 35% on to their valuations.
And we should do. Any club that gets to the Prem deserves that respect, but yes, there are levels within levels. Don't know about others, but when I meet a fan of a club that isn't a 'top 6' I'm more interested. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the big 6, and I love to watch good players, but the circus gets too much for me sometimes.
I'd quite like us to go for a more experienced centre back if we're looking to recruit - maybe someone out of contract. I like Bednarek and Salisu, and have a teeny soft spot for Jacky boy - only I can't help but feel we've been missing a bit of back line leadership. Maybe an older head could fit that bill.
