I did an uncharacteristic thing yesterday. Annoyed by the media alerts to ManU apparently making overtures to Luke Shaw, I went onto the Not606 forum and had a tiny rant, for which I apologised. Not at them, they were fine, but at lazy journos and I said that Luke wasn't interested in going elsewhere. They were very nice about it and several admitted that Shaw wouldn't leave. One or two asked how much it would take to get Cortese to look up from his work. I didn't reply but they thought £30M would get the Don interested. Popped back there this evening for a minute or two and lo and behold, a couple of other Not606 members were doing the same thing. All very polite about it too. Made for a reasonable read.
I can remember as a boy lying on the Downs at Uffington by the White Horse and watching the skylarks soaring high above. Just heaven. But we live in a fantastic city. Today the very lovely Mrs Godders and I went on a guided walk around the city's vaults. It was brilliant. If you want to entertain the children and learn a little about the city then you must go on one of these walks. There is one everyday in August starting at 11.00 am usually by the Bargate and costs just £3. This link provides details:- http://www.stga.org.uk/calendar.html Never forget that we have a great football team but we also have a great city. Learn more about it and make sure your children appreciate it as well.
The difference is these aren't lowball offers. These are joke offers that are a million miles off the mark. This isn't a negotiating strategy at all. Bidding 12 million for Baines and 16 million for Fellaini (who cost Everton 17.5m in the first place) is a piss take. As is even contemplating bidding around 10m for Shaw.
A lowball offer is a declaration of interest. You start low when a team is interested in selling, so that they know that you are interested but not the extent of your interest. It makes no sense to make a lowball offer when the other side isn't interested in selling and doesn't want to care whether you want to buy or not. "How much for that car?" "I'm not interested in selling." "Really? Well, how about..... 1 Euro?" "**** off." You have to start high-- maybe even higher than you actually intend to pay-- in order to change their minds about selling. Float out a rumor that you might pay 30 million pounds for Shaw. Get them thinking about it, and making plans for how they'll spend the money. Then formally contact them and offer 20.
Southampton are in the position that we have to go in high for any player we want to get the selling club on side before trying to corrall the player. This is because we have to overcome our present low profile in the PL. After the Oxo deal with Arsenal, I have the lovely image of ManU thinking they have bought Shaw only to find in clause 3,203 (that can only be read with an electron microscope) that he has to continue to play for Southampton but ManU have to pay his wages
Haha just had a look, good man! To be fair, most of them seem very well-informed and entirely reasonable in their judgements. One obvious exception...
More rubbish! "At 18, Shaw is at a perfect age to come and work underneath Evra. Baines would expect to come into Unitedâs first team and it wouldnât be a long term solution to replacing Evra given his age. Shaw could come in and be an understudy for Patrice, learning from him for a couple of years before eventually replacing him in the first team at around 20/21.No disrespect to Southampton but if United went in with a good offer, they may be powerless to stop him leaving. The likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain have all come through their youth academy and left when given the opportunity at the right age.Already touted as Englandâs new left back, Shaw would be exactly the type of signing that United have made over the years. Young, hungry and ready to improve, he would be a great acquisition by Moyes if he decided to make the move."
Actually, that's a well argued post, you've quoted there, Lamb. However, it's the sort of thing one reads that's been written by someone who has formed an opinion from a distance. I'm bound to say one of us may have come to the same conclusion if the tables were turned. Let's face it, nobody turns down the glamour clubs [well, Shearer did, but that's another story], but it's a conclusion that doesn't fully take into account the ambitious journey Saints are on. Whenever you see new acquisitions come in, they invariably talk about the project as if it is a special thing, and they all want to be included. Well it is a special thing and they all want to play their special part. This appears to be more exciting to them than just joining an already successful behemoth of a club. It's also something that anyone writing from an uninformed position can't comprehend.
Rubbish!! The difference between now and when we sold theo / the ox / bale etc... is immense. Saints dont need to sell anymore. New Southampton has players on 5 year contracts and can tell UTD, with the greatest respect, to piss off.
We did not have to sell Ox, we tried to keep him but his dad forced the sale. That is why NC got everything he was after and Arsenal got a talented youngster that has not progressed much in 2 years. Same would happen to Shaw if he left. Shaw should be looking to be Baines no2 in Brazil next year, not no2 at Utd
totally. There's no way saints will sell Shaw. It would go against eveyrthing the club stands for now. Saints are not to be messed with these days.
No one has apparently ever made an offer for a senior Saints player since Oxo...not true I suspect, but offers must have been made and rejected with no publicity.
Just in case that is in answer to my post, the point I made was that players don't even want to leave now, irrespective of offers coming in, if any. That's the distinction between the times of Walcott, Bale, Oxlade and now. Oxo could probably still be playing for Saints had he wanted to stay. As posters have said, when it came to the time when Oxo was sold, Saints didn't and don't need the money to stay alive, but would've rather had the player quality. Now, being in the Premier League, with the enormous ambition, that the players are clearly buying into, means that they want to stay and have absolutely no need to move.
There is a lot of truth in these observations but I would tend to agree that there is no need for Southampton to sell. The club is in a far better position than it was when we sold Oxlaide- Chamberlain, Bale and Walcott and is clearly set to have one of the most rewarding seasons since the days of Hoddle. I really think that we can achieve quite a lot this season and am quite confident that, if everything gels, we should finish ahead of teams like Arsenal who are clearly on the wain. That said, a move to Man Utd would be a fantastic one for Shaw. As much as I dislike Man Uts, they are the biggest club in the world and Shaw will fit in nicely amongst a skilled squad and on the biggest stage football has at a domestic level. Setting aside the kind of money Utd could offer Shaw, he would be stupid from a point of view of personal development to turn down a move to the Manchester club. In my opinion, what we have seen to date illutrates that he is quite capable of playing at the PL and of acquitting himself with aplomb. Should a bit come in, Cortese will make Utd pay top dollar yet I can't see Shaw turning down a career defining move should a bid come in. He would be foolish to do so and whilst I can see him as an understudy to Evra, I can't see this position lasting too long and Shaw will take the position from him quite quickly. I would also add that I think Shaw in a Utd shirt would catapult him in to the England first team too. As much as I would like him to stay, Uts have a proven record with young, British talent and a move to Old Trafford would suit him just as a move to Arsenal under the stiltifying effects of Wenger would be a catastrophe. still, I really hope he remains a Saints.
