Summer 2014 Transfer rumour thread

[fatletiss]

Ok, sure, but we need more pulling power to bring in genuinely world class players. It's not as simple as selling Shaw and then bringing in players who are just as good or better. There are a lot of bigger clubs (in terms of reputation and financial clout) in the market for players like that, which is why our board (under Cortese and since) has always said the best way for us to progress is to keep hold of our young stars.

When do you think we are ready to sign "genuinely World Class players?"

I think we are years away from that. Our hope is to sign a bargain or one that maybe has stalled for whatever reason (Lovren for example).

You mentioned being in reality earlier.... we are not yet in the market for truly World Class players. There's a reality check.

 

[Lff]

If we were to sell three of our main valuable assets (Shaw, Lallana, Rodriguez, Schneiderlin, Lovren, Chambers) then I think we can wave goodbye to any realistic hopes of getting past 7th or 8th without the greatest recruitment drive in history. As long as we don't slip back to being perennial relegation battlers I won't be too gutted with just being a solid mid table team with a very good academy.

Blimey, I would. We have been fed dreams of being the new Barcelona and now we have to settle for mid-table. Thats tough. This season we have shown that we can compete with the very best whilst playing attractive football. Really, we should be much higher in the league. Please give us at least one more season with this team and see what happens.

 

[TheSecondStain]

Blimey, I would. We have been fed dreams of being the new Barcelona and now we have to settle for mid-table. Thats tough. This season we have shown that we can compete with the very best whilst playing attractive football. Really, we should be much higher in the league. Please give us at least one more season with this team and see what happens.

Same here. Cortese fed us those dreams and I believe he would have delivered too, eventually. This present iteration has yet to fully convince me they will do as he planned, and I'm besides, I'm not into mediocre anymore.

 

[pass the football]

When do you think we are ready to sign "genuinely World Class players?"

I think we are years away from that. Our hope is to sign a bargain or one that maybe has stalled for whatever reason (Lovren for example).

You mentioned being in reality earlier.... we are not yet in the market for truly World Class players. There's a reality check.

That's entirely my point. We are years away from that, and we'll never get there unless we keep the best players we have now.

 

[fatletiss]

Selling Shaw means that the club would have weakened stupidly. To state the obvious, you now have a position to fill, previously occupied by a player who is becoming world class. Strengthening intelligently means that an equal player or players of similar potential has been located for less money. Now unless Targett is that player, it is unlikely Saints would find one. Other clubs aren't silly. If Saints come sniffing, they know they have talent in their squad. Shaw attracts other players of similar quality and age. He is more than the sum of his parts. At present, he represents the very core of what is happening at Southampton FC. Produce excellent young players, play them and keep them in a team of proper ambition**. And that is very attractive to young talented players.

**That little bit I need to be reassured about still. The action that SFC takes this summer will say a great deal about the direction the club intends to move in. Selling a player like Shaw would not be a reassurance for me.

If we sold Shaw for 30m and spent 30m on 5 players (including a 5m left back) would you be reassured?

 

[Schad]

Blimey, I would. We have been fed dreams of being the new Barcelona and now we have to settle for mid-table. Thats tough. This season we have shown that we can compete with the very best whilst playing attractive football. Really, we should be much higher in the league. Please give us at least one more season with this team and see what happens.

I could live with doing our damnedest to crack the top third of the table and coming up short. But to surrender and accept mid-table by selling off players when we're rather stable financially would leave me somewhere between disappointed and furious.

 

[fatletiss]

Same here. Cortese fed us those dreams and I believe he would have delivered too, eventually. This present iteration has yet to fully convince me they will do as he planned, and I'm besides, I'm not into mediocre anymore.

maybe, maybe not we will never know. If had delivered, at what cost?

 

[Channonfodder]

No, still don't get the defeatism of some as they consider the sale of Shaw to be inevitable or even advantageous. Leaving aside the contentious World Class label, if we want to sign a great striker, one of the pluses we can offer is a steady supply of quality assists from the likes of Shaw, Lallana and even Lambert.
If we want to become a mediocre mid-table side on the cheap, great, let's flog them off. I didn't think that was the Southampton Way.
When I see Luke agitating for a move then it will time to listen to offers. Until then, no deal.

 

[fatletiss]

That's entirely my point. We are years away from that, and we'll never get there unless we keep the best players we have now.

We agree on the first bit then, but have you never heard of taking one step back to take three forward? I don't want Shaw to go, but if he was the only one and at silly money, then I'd be ok with that if we used the money on the squad.

Selling one and getting four/five/six (how ever many in) I would see as ok. With all the ambition in the world and the progression we want to make, we have to look at things over a period of time and that will never be on a straight line graph of progression. The last four years have been a very steep line of progression, so I would expect the next 4 or 5 to have some dips in there, but keeping the 'mean' on the upward curve. This is why I can't believe that I read people (not you) saying that anything less than 6th or 7th is not progression next season. I would see 12th, 8th, 10th, 7th, 6th or something similar over the next 5 years as part of pour progression.

I would be absolutely amazed if we were finishing in the Champions League in the next 4/5 years. We would have to have major commercial growth or major investment from the Liebherr family and I don't know how the latter would work with financial fair play.

 

[fatletiss]

No, still don't get the defeatism of some as they consider the sale of Shaw to be inevitable or even advantageous. Leaving aside the contentious World Class label, if we want to sign a great striker, one of the pluses we can offer is a steady supply of quality assists from the likes of Shaw, Lallana and even Lambert.
If we want to become a mediocre mid-table side on the cheap, great, let's flog them off. I didn't think that was the Southampton Way.
When I see Luke agitating for a move then it will time to listen to offers. Until then, no deal.

There is no defeatism from me. If a big club come in and his agent says do you want 8k-100k a week, what do you think his response will be? "No, I'll stay here on 25k but see if you an get me 35k"

All I am saying is that IF we sell Shaw only for big money and re-use it, it is not defeatism, but financial opportunism and can be considered part of a move forward. A decent striker will come here because he feels that we can progress and that we pay him what he wants. He won't come if our best 2 or 3 players are sold, but won't say no because we have sold one at a good price.

 

[Matth_2014]

Shaw to us ?

Yes please.

 

[- Doing The Lambert Walk]

To add some more interesting stuff to it, another guy on SaintsWeb who has been 'in the know' on transfers and ongoings at a high level within the club, for a long period, has also posted. Here is what he, Guan 2.0, says...


"This is the important part. Of course, if they protest enough, 'we' might not want them. But the fact remains, we have a transfer budget without player sales."

"i can't say i know about adding funds from sales to the existing transfer budget, but when it's 'safe' to post, i will.

I can't speak for KBSS, despite us being friends (spoiler: not our real names), but the info i receive is not on a request basis. As Cardiff have recently shown, releasing information to anyone can have a real world impact on peoples livelihoods. The information i have now is relatively well known at the club, so most cannot be traced to a single source, which is good. The VMAN may be right though, if certain players cannot be talked round, then we may see some regrettable departures. I don't know who he talks to, but again, the end of season breeds this sort of open discussion within the upper echelons of the club. I can tell you that KL is completely in love with the club, and here for the long haul, despite what some allege. And Gaston is also very happy. But besides that, frowning and happy faces may be the limit of of indication i can give soon!

Oh, and just for the record Glasgow Saint is the worst Troll Bull****ter of all time. I know KBSS has a laundry list of everything he has wrong about the club (which is basically GS's posting history), and if his contact ever retires, you may get to see it!"


KBSS = K Billy's Supersound, another long-standing and knowledgable chap with people within the club

 

[pass the football]

Well it's good to hear an ITK view that I can get behind

 

[Beef]

Shaw to us ?

Yes please.

Can't this dick head be banned from our forum? He is only going to start **** again.

 

[Dan]

Shaw to us ?

Yes please.

Honestly mate, I think you'd be better off spending that £30m elsewhere. You've got problems that a kid at fullback won't fix.

 

[- Doing The Lambert Walk]

Well it's good to hear an ITK view that I can get behind

Fran, is that you?


In all fairness, it seems a lot more balanced.

It could tally up, with Guan's comment on players protesting linking back to VMAN's comments about 2 or 3 leaving. Perhaps they've got itchy feet and are waiting for Krueger and Liebherr to convince them by backing Mauricio and signing him up.

 

[pass the football]

Can't this dick head be banned from our forum? He is only going to start **** again.

Just ignore him, he'll soon go away if he doesn't get a reaction.

 

[Matth_2014]

Honestly mate, I think you'd be better off spending that £30m elsewhere. You've got problems that a kid at fullback won't fix.

We need a left-back because Evra is out of contract at the end of the season.

 

[pass the football]

It could tally up, with Guan's comment on players protesting linking back to VMAN's comments about 2 or 3 leaving. Perhaps they've got itchy feet and are waiting for Krueger and Liebherr to convince them by backing Mauricio and signing him up.

Well the way I see it, it's perfectly reasonable for a player to casually say to a mate "I might have to look at a move at some point", and then when it comes down to it, he talks to the manager/board, gets offered a new contract, etc, and he realises it's probably best for him to stay put. Meanwhile that mate is saying "he's definitely going, I'm ITK", and so on, when really he's not as in the know as he thinks he is.

(any similarities to real people or events are entirely coincidental of course)

 

[TheSecondStain]

If we sold Shaw for 30m and spent 30m on 5 players (including a 5m left back) would you be reassured?

No, not really, and it further beyond the mediocre. These players are an incredibly tight ship. They play for each other and their best friendships are with each other. That bonds them together to be more than just a team. If you going to win things then inevitably you have to get better players to help. Not necessarily the very best, but good enough. The present squad is thin on those who are good enough. Shaw is good enough, so we want him to stay. Now if Targett is also good enough then wheel him in and Shaw can go. But you also have to be prepared for other players to then say... Well, if Luke is going, then the dream is becoming dismantled, I think it's time to jump ship. And they will.

Pretty soon, the best are all going if you're not careful. Then the supporters become disenchanted, and you're left with nothing. I'm delighted to read that Katherine Liebherr is apparently in love with the club, just like Nicola and her Father.Well, let's see her realise the dreams of Nicola and her Dad, and the vision that they had for SFC.