If his performances on the pitch are anything to go by he will still be strolling round the changing room clearing his kit out. Watford should finally get him through the door by novemberToodle-oo Capoue
I heard Stambouli was going to Watford, I thought. But it was only a rumor.
The thing is, sometimes you need the "decent" players in your squad. Look at Wes Brown or John O'Shea: neither of them were top quality defenders at any point, yet they were solid pros who could do a job when brought on to close out a match or to fill in for a few games here and there while the first choice players got rested. From that standpoint it makes sense to keep Stambouli around, especially since we're still in the market for a defensive midfielder after Kondogbia joined Inter while Southampton tucked their Schneiderlin-shaped ball under their arm before stamping their little feet all the way home, and given we have previous in failing to secure players in key positions we shouldn't tempt fate.I read an interesting article, ’The Curious Case of Benjamin Stambouli." The most interesting theory was that Stambouli was forced out not because he didn’t work hard and play fairly well, but because Pochettino was trying to say, "Look, he’s fine. But to reach our goals, we need to get players who are better than fine. And we can do it and break even if we sell the fair to middling types as well as the outright disappointments, and use it to get a few of the best players who’ll come here, along with some cheap, eager younger players."
That’s about what I would have said, any way.
But I would have kept Stambouli. DM’s are unpredictable, to me, and Stambouli had a chance of becoming really good.
I'd go with just your 4 or 5 if I was youSouthampton claiming that Alderweiled (excuse spelling) says he wants to stay at southampton...so either
1) they are lying in order to put pressure on the player
2) he is lying in order to keep southampton fans on side
3) he has changed his mind and now wants to stay
4) the media are lying about what has been said or
5) we have wasted a lot of time and energy bidding on a player who will not join us
Beginning to get very very bored of this
I’m really pleased about this. I think he can develop into an outstanding player for us, and has become good already. The question to me is what his role should be. He’s very versatile, yet the combination of him and Mason were not good enough defensively last year. It says a lot that the only team of the week I saw him on was when he was pressed into service as a left back.In other news, Spurs have just announced Bentaleb has signed a new 5 year contract
Bentaleb's contract is smashing news. Glad we got any issues there were, if indeed there really were any as reported, out of the way.