I like the league table (especially at the moment). It should be the first and last point of reference. With that in mind, there is one team above us and Clyne wouldn't necessarily get a starting berth. Ambition for him should be very much staying here.
If this happens (which it won't surely), us fans should seek retribution somehow in a way that the club won't be able to.
That works in several ways. Of course, there's Henderson and Sterling. Henderson's no advert and Sterling is just out of school, so I reckon Clyne's sensible thoughts would err on the no thanks. Besides, he turned down ManU to get regular games at Saints, so he doesn't automatically jump.
I can't see that Clyne would want to play in a team where Sterling was upfield of him on the right. Compared to the excellent partnership Nat and Oxo developed the other night, there was just no effort put in by Sterling to defend once he came on. That led directly to Scotland's goal, as Sterling just stood and watched the attack develop. Hopefully that would have been enough to put Clyne off the whole idea of moving to Liverpool. I just hope he didn't get any ideas of moving to Arsenal!
If these guys are offered jobs by the few clubs who can afford to double or more their wages then its hard to see them not going for it. We mightnt like it but we will almost always be faced with this situation and we just need to accept that it will happen. Clyne has been very good for us since the day that we got him from Crystal Palace, but i cant see him ending his days here somehow.
I think he is capable of playing at the highest level, the champions league. I actually could see him going to United over any of the other big clubs. They are short at right back, and could re-create the shaw Clyne duo from last season. It won't surprise me if he leaves in the summer. It's not nice for us, but saints currently operate in the dangerous area where our players are good enough to attract attention from top, top clubs.
I think he'll sign a new contract, assess his options in the summer and make his decision based on where we finish. If we get top 4, I'm sure Clyne will stay. If we don't then at least we will be able to negotiate a better price for him (am I right in thinking there's a sell-on clause owed to Palace?)
If Chelsea are going to play Azpilicueta as a left back then Clyne could well be a long term replacement for Ivanovic. In this instance i genuinely believe he would get regular football at any club in the Prem bar maybe Manchester City where Zabaleta is a fan favourite and therefore would be hard to replace!
It would be nice if we keep these players that are good enough to play at the highest level ( CL) and maybe make the champions league with saints. I mean, if we have so many players that are good enough, then we ought to be pretty close to it. (I know its not that simple but one can dream)
It says a lot about our league if the team in second can't keep its players. I might as well start supporting the stock exchange.
Couldn't agree more. I'd love to see a wage cap, but the reality is if that happened everyone would just go abroad. Literally the only thing we can do to try and stop this is to improve all aspects of the club until we can genuinely compete - a task which no other club has managed. Generally the big clubs have been the big clubs for as long as I can remember. (Except clubs that spend stupid amounts.)
