And also when people assume it would all be hunky dory if Nicola stayed...short term, perhaps...but none of us know what was going on.
Let's all try to be a bit philosophical about it all. For what it's worth I think we still have a decent side too. But mostly: We are Southampton. Sure everything's falling apart and we don't have the ambition we started to believe we might just be able to have after the last season-and-a-half, but we're still in the EPL with a squad good enough to stay up: We are Southampton. I don't believe Kat is letting it happen intentionally, it's just football these days. It's like with England in the world cup - you could just see them thinking "well it's kind of a shame we didn't have the guts to even try to perform, but we can all take comfort from the shed loads of cash we'll earn this week alone..." Well our loyal and under-rated players from last year are now unscrupulous money-grabbing turn-coats this year. But we are Southampton! It's always been the case that when we do beat the big boys it tastes so much sweeter. Bring on Liverpool!!!
The great thing about being a Saints fan over the last couple of years is that we've been playing so well and challenging the "big" teams - we've not felt constrained by any sort of glass ceiling and we have had realistic aspirations of Europe etc.... While I think there is a good chance that RK can assemble a side thats capable of avoiding the drop, its absolutely gutting to see the dream crushed in such a brutal fashion. It seems so obvious to me that its a vicious cycle that needs to be broken - would the same four teams be dominating if they couldn't just throw money at everything? What if Saints were able to benefit from the products of our academy for a few years, would we then be a "big" club? Also, when Calum Chambers makes it clear he feels that his future lies elsewhere, whats wrong with saying "tough s**t"? The message that is being sent out is damaging, and undermines our chances of having success in the future. The message should be "we decide if people leave" not, "every single player is yours if you pay for it". There comes a point where we have to be prepared to lose out on £15m and stick a player in the reserves for a couple of years for the sake of making it clear that we are not a selling club!!! When Lovren said he could hear the fans singing you'll never walk alone, the response should be "you'll be training alone, son". I fear this is perhaps where we miss Nicola. Still, it will be interesting to watch our new / young players. And its true that a couple of good buys and things start looking up again. COYS!!!
You cant refuse £16m for a player who has only played 22 games. He could get a bad injury next week and.............
Chambers was very promising and I would love to see him develop at Saints, but he thinks Arsenal will be better for him...moneywise perhaps, but I think a year or two here would have done him more good as a footballer IMO. The money was excellent and Koeman may well have thought he could do better. The problem is that each deal on its own is good, but not when added together. I feel better now the board have spoken (via Kreuger)...but it is entirely possible that every deal we chase will fail...not likely, but possible. We've taken a risky strategy. I would have made a stand with Lovren...you can't go till we get a CB in...probably wouldn't have wanted to keep the poisonous little rodent, but he would be a back up.
I agree with one of the later posters - in isolation it looks good business (particularly as we have Clyne) but taken together with everything else it loooks terrible. The problem is that when things are perceived to be bad, they can become bad even if actually there is not issue. For example, we sell 5 first team players with the intention of getting in quality replacements, but the media etc... tear into us painting a picture that we're totally screwed, then the agents get a whiff of cash, stir it up with remaining players who then start to want to leave, other clubs sense we're unsettled and come swooping in etc....etc... Like I said before, it would do us good to leave a player in the reserves for a couple of years to prove a point. I
Fonte has covered RB before, as well. As has Cork. As has JWP. Then we've also got McCarthy and Stephens.
Read this. http://positivesaints.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/do-saints-fans-need-to-worry/ I think it is a very positive way of looking at the current Saints situation.
In Morgan's case I sensed this would happen because of Deschamps' attitude - he overlooked him for ages, and then when he made the team every time he was asked about him he kept saying how "he plays for a small club that nobody has heard of etc.." W****r Heartbroken as he was always my favourite player. Now I want to boo him - I haven't felt this way since the last time I was dumped. COYS!!!
Slightly surprised that Ralph hadn't already got the positivesaints domain name tied down for our OS...
Out of interest i looked through the dediacted and heavlily trafficked saints threads on a few of the big clubs boards. I was interested in seeing an outsiders perspective so I looked at rawk, redcafe and bluemoon and there a few themes running through 'em Almost all of the posters feel sorry for the saints fans and sad for what has happened. FFP is blamed by the majority. About half think we'll avoid a relegation fight. Many believe it was a domino effect from cortese leaving. They somehow still manage to work their rivals into it all (Scousers blaming the Manchster clubs, Man u fans blaming Man city oil money, everybody agrees abramovich is involved etc) About half think bertrand is a good signing Majority feel Tadic is great Take it for what its worth but they're worth reading as they offer some different perspectives and outlooks on our situation.
