He'd tell us to learn from our mistakes, look at the positives, draw a line and move forward together!
Gomarchin. Adam may be an exception IF he breaks into the England squad on a regular basis then yes me may review his future however Rickie will stay with us to the end now, as will many of the others. As for your understanding of the 5 year plan. You seem to think we are aiming at euro by the end of the 5 years!!! The 5 year plan was to get to the Premiership not Euro places. I doubt there is any pressure this season other than to remain premiership. Next year will be a similar story. Cortese as you say is a realist and I am pretty sure that he will not be expecting us to survive this year and then kick on to euro spots next year. I would suggest this year(12/13) and next (13/14) to survive, (That is the end of the 5 year plan) 3rd season (14/15) mid table, 4th season (15/16) top half, 5th season (16/17) challenge for top 6. You seem to lay all the blame on Adkins here however you know absolutely nothing about how the club runs from inside. How much Adkins has input into the amount to be spent. I have no doubt Adkins gives Cortese details on players he would like however you cannot lay any blame on him if it then turns out that Cortese does not see certain purchases as value for money especially as many signings are very inflated these days. Top defensive players these days are very expensive. Just look at David Luiz apparently being worth 30m!!!! That means a good defender would be worth more than Ronaldo. lol As for Loyalty/Cushy job!!! I wouldn't call it a cushy job when you were given 4 years to get to the Premiership yet achieved it in 2 whilst buying into the company philosophy and the whole concept that the club is trying to achieve. Would he go to Liverpool if they came calling? Probably but that isn't really being unloyal. He has taken us up 2 divisions, achieved all he was asked way ahead of schedule which we should be grateful for. If the team he supports comes in for him then why shouldn't he leave? And it would be a wrench for him I do not doubt. Unloyal is Pardew who was lining himself up with his casino buddy Mike Ashley way before Cortese sacked him. I for one want to see Adkins stay whether we survuve or not because that will be the best option for the stability of the club over the next 10 years. Chopping and changing will only smash any chance of the 'homegrown' / 'pathway to the first team' ideal that we are supposed to be aiming for as well as loading us up with mercenary players with each manager.
I disagree I am am afraid to say , why ? Cortese should of spent £50 million , £100 million whatever it takes to assure safety , then we can move from buying to moving players from the acedemy into the side , if we went down Ramirez , Schneiderlin , Lallana , JWP , Puncheon and others would obviously leave depending on whether they have good seasons or not . If Cortese thinks he is wiser than all other football agents , managers and boards , i suggest he thinks again , we will get our pants pulled down will have to pay for quality until we are in a stronger position .
WE must agree to disagree then. I think you are probably underestimating some of our players. Morgain could have left a long time ago. Even last year there were good offers from what we understand to clubs that in name at least were bigger than us yet he stayed. I also think JWP would stay even if only for 1 year hoping to bounce back up. My opinion is iply that Adkins is best for the philosophy of bringing that academy through to fruition. Cahnge just to stay in the PL would risk that and I for one would much rather Saints developed into a top 6 side rather than clingin on to the safety zone by making short term decisions. Only takes 1 bad season to go down when you are gambling on survival. There will never be another side that constantly 'just' survive (apart from a couple of good seasons) as Saints did since the start of the PL. QPR or Saints......Which model do you prefer? Stoke are not listed because like Sam's WH that kinda football is not what I would like to see.
It's not necessary to spend that kind of money to secure safety. There have been plenty of quality signings this season for £5m or less. Steven Pienaar - £4.5m Oussama Assaidi - £3m Alex Buttner - £4m Nick Powell- £4m Gael Bigirimana - £1m Robert Snodgrass - £3m Charlie Adam - £4m Steven Nzonzi - £3.5m Dimitar Berbatov - £5m No amount of money can secure safety at the beginning of the season, and to be relegated after spending £50-100 million would be disastrous. It's just not worth the risk.
I'm sorry Baz, but spending 50-100 million pounds on players this summer would've been totally reckless and unsustainable. Even if we had that amount of money to spend it would've meant that the club would be paying colossal amounts in wages and we all know what can happen when that happens, just witness what happened to our nearest and dearest neighbours. It is quite clear what strategy Nicola Cortese is employing, the policy is to buy young up and coming players who are an investment for the future, this is not without risks of course but should return dividends as the team's results improve with time and experience. You claim to be a realist, but to hope that we will be spending the amounts of money that the big four are on gates of 30,000 is pie in the sky in my opinion. I'm delighted that we have a sound and successful businessman in charge of the club who will not risk the long term health of the club by overspending. Patience is the key for Saints fans at this present time, the future is bright both with the young first team and some excellent prospects from our academy and we will have a much better idea of where the club is at when all the new players have settled into Nigel Adkins style of play and formations. Let's just wait until Christmas until we start seriously comptemplating relegation please, there are loads of points to play for before then.
Last I heard Benitez was being linked with Wigan Warriors, Leicester Tigers, Essex Eagles, Red Sox, MacClaren, Environment Secretary. Name a job and he's linked with it!! Could even be in line to be the headteacher at your child's school according to the rumour mill!
We should have a catch up summary of what gomarchingin wants. Spend £50 - £100M on players Look for new owners to move the club forward in Jan Replace Nigel Adkins immediately or sooner Cut loose all the Championship players we have (thats everyone bar Gaston I think) & replace even if the transfer window has shut Put the CB's in stocks and throw fruit at them for condemning us to this misery Follow the pompey blue print, because the over-spending was a myth Have I missed anything? ----------------------------------run
I stated £50 million - £100 million as an example to do whatever it takes to keep us in the premierleague , didn't Cortese stae we would never be releagted under him ? Of course 30,000 and a constant spend like that is not sustainable but for the first year to assure our place in the premiership yes it is .
Would you be content with us to bring in a dinosaur like Redknapp, bring in a load of journeymen and abandon the long-term planning if it meant staying up? We'd be perennial strugglers and lose sight of being anything better. Going down would be a setback, but it wouldn't be the end of the line.
