Tbf, the reason why clubs don't keep hold of players under contract is simply because they don't. It just isn't done. Doesn't mean to say it can't be done. Legally, Saints were perfectly entitled to keep every player they had under contract. It just suited their purpose better to allow a few to go for extraordinary money.
I think if Lovren and Lallana hadn't have acted how they did, they would still be here. Shaw was always going. Chambers went as soon as a bid came in. Lambert needed replacing anyways(as a first teamer)
Problem though started with lallana. He set example for his teammates. Club allowed it and queue the rest acting like toddlers. I'm not saying turning down kind of money they have made they should have done but they should have made their players tow the line. My opinion if they had done it with Lallana there might be less players doing same as they would have seen clubs response to such behaviour. It has snowballed since him
twatbeard burned his bridges though didn't he. lallana and lovren are villains for that reason. i absolutely blame lallana for the exodus. him and pochettino. I dislike lovren entirely for his personal conduct.
Simple fact is . If others are saying we should have made them stay and rot in the reserves , we do not have the squad depth to do that . Players & agents hold ALL the cards these days . sad but true .......
I understand the points about peer pressure and players wanting out. My point I'm making [and it's a fine one, I'll admit] is that if players are under contract and there is no release trigger in any of them, the club they play for are legally entitled to keep any and all of them. Which means saying to Lambert, Sorry Rickie, no romantic return... all the way through Shaw, Lallana, Lovren, etc... [with the exception of Chambers if Beefy's info is correct] to Schneiderlin where Koeman said, You're staying, get used to it. Whether it would have been a wise thing to do is another matter entirely. It would have been possible. So no can't keep the players please. They could have, they just didn't. All in all, I'm happy with the way Saints have gone about their business.
right. to have lallana, shaw, and lovren at a minimum all sulking would have been incredibly risky. schneiderlin manageable. cork and boruc, sadly backup. i think most of us would have been happy to see a decent understudy for boruc come in or an understudy for forster with boruc leaving for first team football. we can't get that though.
Think a decent backup for Forster if boruc goes won't happen. They are trying to hang onto boruc at all costs
it's difficult to bring in decent back up without overpaying for dross. sadly our academy is hopeless at producing goalies
I'm sure Cork will get games this season though. And not many Prem teams are giving him 30 starts. Palace might be one but they're not that tempting right now. He should wait until January. Boruc moves to Legia with our best wishes as soon as we identify a 21 ish year old replacement costing less than £3-4m. Anyone know any?
Why do saints fan think at 34 still wanting to play for Poland that boruc wants to go to legia? It is a genuine question
It has to be someone who fancies competing with a 26 year old england international who just cost us £10m. It either has to be an insane optimist or someone who thinks we'll sell forster soon enoguh for their career prospects.
Not for me. Wouldn't mind trying to get McCarthy from Reading. They are in a bigger crisis then we were.
Yeah not easy. If I was a good young GK I wouldn't come here. Inevitable conclusion - Boruc is staying for a year.
alternative is you pick up someone surplus to requirements at another club or from a lower level who will simply be grateful for the pay packet and doesn't have any realistic chance of challenging for a place in their international side. someone washed up in their late 20s. not sure there's anything better than kelvin on the market though. newcastle seem to have one in rob elliott. edit: just realised elliott has been capped by ireland this year... someone ask newcastle how they do it.
