Why do you think that people with concerns are just doing it to have a moan, rather than because there are genuine reasons to not like the signing?
No there have been only 2 signings which I can think of that have disappointed me since the Liebherrs took over. This one and Fox, although Fox was more due to the fact that I thought we didn't particularly need a LB at the time. Like others have said there must be a reason why he was linked to some of the biggest clubs about, so I'm hoping what I've seen of him isn't a true reflection of his ability and was more a confidence issue.
The lad had one average season for what ever reason. Players have them all the time (Rooney last season), it dosen't make them a good or bad player. I'd be willing to bet a fairly sizeable chunk of money most people on hear had Barely even heard of him until about a week ago, let alone seen him play a full game. So can you tell me how they could be worried or not pleased about something they know nothing about?
The people who haven't seen him play are the ones who are saying "great signing" as they are basing their opinion on what they have heard about him. Can't be a coincidence that the people who have seen him play a few times at least are saying they aren't excited
Because Lyon fans are very open in their disdain and they know better than the celebrating Southampton fans. To compare him with Rooney is laughable - Rooney had an understated but good season which was only disappointing by standards he set before, he was still objectively better than the majority of the players in the league so average is relative. Lovren... well, he wasn't average to begin with, he was certainly below average, and that's to the standard of the average Ligue 1 player, rather than to the standard of Wayne Rooney. There's a huge drop off. While I accept that people complaining who've never seen him play are strange, it's surely no more strange than people who've never seen him play hailing him as a great signing? Fact is, most people who are familiar with him (myself included) aren't particularly happy.
Whatever people have seen or heard or whatever we still need to give him a chance before slagging off. There could be many reasons why he played crap last season, that's just see how he does for us.
Completely agree, and I'm not slagging him off. Just saying that I'm not falling off my chair with excitement at this signing.
Spot on, I would've written the same but I struggling to find the appropriate word, as i'm sure you can understand.
Well, yes, but i think it has more relevance then various opinions saying 'he plays for his county, therefore he must be good'
I was quite surprised at all the positive comments from opposition fans about Saints signing Lovren yesterday. I expected a cross section of opinion, but basically it has been either good to extremely good. Some were even recognising the ambition being shown at Saints.
Way I look at is our scouts have obviously seen something they liked about Lovren. Maybe they think under Pochettino we can iron out a few bad habits he has. We will see if that happens but will obviously have to give him time.
The Lyon fans are slightly concerning but while some are glad to see the back of him I've seen others who think letting him go may be a mistake. I also take fan opinion with a pinch of salt. Celtic fans were glad to see the back of Hooiveld and (for where we were when we signed him) he was fine for us. If we sold Ramirez for 15 to 20 million I can imagine there'd be a group of "Good riddance. I can't believe we got that much for him!" posts from our fans about him as well. I'm not going to dispute anyone's opinion of Lovren because I haven't seen him play. I would say that someone else I know who follows the French league said he thinks Lovren is a mid-table Premier League player that we've paid a top 6 price for. Frankly, I'd be happy with that because I don't think our current defence has been good enough for mid-table.
Happy that we have seemingly made a decent signing. As said, excited but anxious. I'll judge him on what he does in a Saints shirt. No other.
Don't think anyone is saying not to give him time, just that they're apprehensive about it and not nearly as exciting as people who automatically think he's brilliant because he plays for a big team. I'm more than happy to give him a chance and by no means am I saying he'll be crap, just there's a good chance he'll be a big disappointment to some.
