Saint Ever! Actually is it a No.......or....Maybe?

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If we do sign Banega i think it will be the first time we sign a player who is taking a step back, fonte, papa waigo, guly and whoever else moved to southampton believing they would get to the premier league. Banega will be moving from playing champions league to a team that has only a handful of champions league standard players. I think Southampton would be a great move for him but a non-fan and that would include the argentina manager will see it as quite a step backwards

Indeed. I remember signing Fonte and he said "one step backwards, two steps forwards".
 
I think Fonte really bought into the Saints though, and felt that was the best way to get into the Premier League. In League One and even to some extent in Championship we were the big club. He wanted to play well here and to stay here and advance with the club.

Banega is coming here because his club is broke and he doesn't like it there and none of the big clubs will take a chance on him, not because he likes Saints.
 
I think Fonte really bought into the Saints though, and felt that was the best way to get into the Premier League. In League One and even to some extent in Championship we were the big club. He wanted to play well here and to stay here and advance with the club.

Banega is coming here because his club is broke and he doesn't like it there and none of the big clubs will take a chance on him, not because he likes Saints.

So pretty much the same reasons every signing we want to make would have?
 
I think Fonte really bought into the Saints though, and felt that was the best way to get into the Premier League. In League One and even to some extent in Championship we were the big club. He wanted to play well here and to stay here and advance with the club.

Yep. If I was to pick a player who so visibly and verbally bought into Saints ambitions I would say that player was Jose Fonte.
 
I'd say Schneiderlin has been more vocal about it, and has done rather better than Fonte to keep up with the club's progress!

Point taken though.

Yes, Morgan is a good shout, but Jose actually dropped a division from then highish flying Cystal Palace in the Championship, stating that he wanted to play in the Premier League and that Saints were going in that direction. That was some statement of faith.
 
Yes, Morgan is a good shout, but Jose actually dropped a division from then highish flying Cystal Palace in the Championship, stating that he wanted to play in the Premier League and that Saints were going in that direction. That was some statement of faith.

But Morgan turned down Arsenal when they were in the Prem yet signed for Saints when they were in the Championship
 
Yes, Morgan is a good shout, but Jose actually dropped a division from then highish flying Cystal Palace in the Championship, stating that he wanted to play in the Premier League and that Saints were going in that direction. That was some statement of faith.

Didn't Palace go into administration later that season? That would make it a very smart move.
 
So pretty much the same reasons every signing we want to make would have?

No. Lovren and Banega are like that, but I don't think Wanyama hated Celtic nor was Celtic broke. Clyne wasn't in that position, or Jay Rodriguez. Ramirez wasn't at the most stable club, but I don't think he hated it there. For those guys, they simply wanted to advance their careers and get that huge paycheck that would set them and their families up for life.

If those players had gone to a bigger club, they wouldn't be any closer to CL football than they are at Saints. They'd be putting their time in at the reserves and trying to fight for a first team position. If Saints don't progress with the player, then they'll leave. But if Saints do progress with them, they may stay.

Banega could easily be playing in CL at a huge club right now if he could get his act together. If he comes to Saints and puts in a half season of the kind of football he's capable of, he could well be off in January (at a huge profit to us, of course) to a powerhouse somewhere. We can't move as quickly as he potentially can.

Lovren's career has stalled out as well, but he is less proven, so his timetable could be similar to ours. But what Lovren and Banega need most is a change of scenery, not first team experience or finding the right club where they can get noticed. They are at Saints because they messed up at their old clubs. I don't think that's the case for our other signings.
 
If those players had gone to a bigger club, they wouldn't be any closer to CL football than they are at Saints. They'd be putting their time in at the reserves and trying to fight for a first team position. If Saints don't progress with the player, then they'll leave. But if Saints do progress with them, they may stay.

I disagree with this. There are teams in the Champions League who can afford players like Ramirez and Wanyama, and who would play them too. Porto, Benfica, CSKA Moscow, Zenit, Marseille, Shakhtar, Galatasaray and Schalke are realistic examples I reckon, and of course Celtic actually had one of them until a couple of weeks ago.
 
No. Lovren and Banega are like that, but I don't think Wanyama hated Celtic nor was Celtic broke. Clyne wasn't in that position, or Jay Rodriguez. Ramirez wasn't at the most stable club, but I don't think he hated it there. For those guys, they simply wanted to advance their careers and get that huge paycheck that would set them and their families up for life.

If those players had gone to a bigger club, they wouldn't be any closer to CL football than they are at Saints. They'd be putting their time in at the reserves and trying to fight for a first team position. If Saints don't progress with the player, then they'll leave. But if Saints do progress with them, they may stay.

Banega could easily be playing in CL at a huge club right now if he could get his act together. If he comes to Saints and puts in a half season of the kind of football he's capable of, he could well be off in January (at a huge profit to us, of course) to a powerhouse somewhere. We can't move as quickly as he potentially can.

Lovren's career has stalled out as well, but he is less proven, so his timetable could be similar to ours. But what Lovren and Banega need most is a change of scenery, not first team experience or finding the right club where they can get noticed. They are at Saints because they messed up at their old clubs. I don't think that's the case for our other signings.

Point taken, I assumed you were arguing that we should only sign players who dream of coming to Southampton rather than only joining us because nobody better had come in.

In Banega news though, he's not in the squad at all for their friendly tonight. I don't know if he's injured and it could just mean nothing, but yeah.
 
Turns out he is playing anyway, got subbed on at the start of the second half despite not being named in the team.