Beefy said "Yeah Maya would be gone. But if it improves our defence who cares?" Is this callous regard for our players a consequence of footballers following money and their total lack of loyalty to the club? I have had my heroes in Big Ron, Mike Channon, Stevie Williams, Matt Le Tiss, Francis Benali, and of late Morgan and Jose but with Morgan gone the only player I am left to admire as a hero is Fonte. I am starting to like Marne but he will be gone at the end of this season as in all probability will Big Vic. I am worried that given the transient nature of footballers today I may never have a hero again, I will never feel a sense of loyalty to a player. For goodness sake even our youngsters don't hang around long enough to be regarded as heroes. Are we moving to a time when there will no longer be footballing heroes just mercenaries and we will have no affection for them?
May sound sad, but reflects where we are. The game as a whole has changed, but it is also about changes here. In the time I have been watching (not going back as far as you), we were a steady side attracting average young players glad to be in the PL and older players finishing their careers...other clubs were not clamouring for them. Now we are chasing young players that the bigger clubs have overlooked....inevitable we should lose them if we (and they) do well. Lallana should have been a Saints hero, but even he left. JWP could be if he makes that next step up and stays here. Perhaps we will have to go for more temporary heroes....like the guy who scores and wins the Europa for us .
I think you're not wrong, Godders. We'll always have affection and loyalty to our club, because we're supporters and that's what we do and feel, but the days of a true hero who will be loyal, give his all for a club and want to remain there are gone forever. With agents whispering in their ear and putting out rumours so they can increase their take, the modern-day footballer (and let's face it, they're not going to be THE most intelligent people are they) is always going to follow the money - even if it means bench-warming ("I'm sure I'll make a breakthrough into the Man City/Chelsea/Man U/Liverpool/Spurs/Arsenal ....... team VERY soon") and the possibility (however small) of Champions League, etc. It's not helped by the FA effectively picking players "only" from big clubs ("because they have big match experience") and, whilst I understand that football is a short career so they need to earn as much as they can in a relatively short time, I DO feel very strongly that players can be terribly short-sighted and wreck their careers (I know we can all name many who have done so) by following the dollar. I would LOVE to be able to look up to a true hero again in the mould of MLT, Micky Channon or Stevie Williams (and, let's face it, the last 2 went for money and fame and it didn't work!), but I fear, like you, I will never be able to. Just a short season or three and then move on, get some more faces in and start again. The problems of being a "small" club ..........
I understand 'chasing the money' because we'd all do that....fine if you are a mature player (like Morgan and Lallana), but could be a big mistake if you are a young player. They always seem to put their development back by a couple of seasons....if they ever recover. Getting match time at a good PL club like Southampton (where young players are nurtured) is worth far more than sitting on the bench or having a traumatic time at a top club.
Not just the palyers, but managers aswell. Possibly even owners, one thing i've realised since Markus took over is that be surprised by nothing Saints related good or bad anything can happen and probably will. We really only have Kelvin as a player that is now part of the furniture and will more than likely still be part of the club in 5-10 years time. Jose is a legend but for me this is his last season.
After the memorial for Markus on Saturday, I am at least reassured that Katharina intends to hang around. Mainly pleased because of who she is, but also (as they say of the Queen) who she keeps out.
I have to agree. The days of players being regulars for year after year are dead and buried. I think that a large part of the problem is not particularly the huge salaries but the distorted judgement of players' needs being pushed by their agents. Apologies, as I've said this before, but what Adam Lallana needed more than anything else was someone to put their arm round his shoulders and say "Look, Adam, £4m a year is not going to make you any happier than £2m. It's not going to make your life better or your retirement any more secure. So, what you need is to make the rest of your life as good as possible. Stay at Southampton and people will almost literally worship you when you walk down the street.". Instead, they have a venal agent spouting the opposite argument: short career, make the most of it, big clubs are better, etc, etc. These guys are not generally well-educated and they need impartial advice rather than agents on commission. It's got to the stage where when Onionman Jr suggests a name for his shirt I have to wonder if the guy will still be here after January. There's no use railing against it: it's just the way it is. Vin
I have to say, it is a 2-way process. Maya wouldn't be the first player Saints have discarded in our drive to get to where we are now. Billy Sharp, Dean Hammond, Dan Harding, Jos Hooiveld, and of course dear old Guly, and there are many more. They helped us rise through the leagues and were considered not good enough for the Premier League. Now we're talking about players like Yoshida not being good enough for that elusive "next step". Loyalty to a player, or loyalty to a club, is a very rare thing nowadays, almost entirely down to money, and the inconceivably large amounts of it there are awaiting a club, or a player, who gets to play Champions League football. Before the Premier League, there was still a huge gulf between "big" clubs and the rest, but today the gulf has become almost immeasurable. Clubs like Saints who are trying to bridge that abyss, sadly, tragically, can't afford to offer loyalty to long-standing servants like Maya Yoshida any more, so I suppose we shouldn't complain about players moving to where the money is.
I hate it personally, but there's nothing we can do about it. Even Ron will probably be off at the end of next season, as well as mane, wanyama and anyone else that plays well enough to be preyed upon. I think we just have to support the team now, not the players. To use another example, Danny Ings who was heavily linked with us and is a saints fan, is now going to be completely wasted sitting on the bench and playing for Liverpool U21's. When Sturridge is fit, he is NEVER getting in the team over Benteke or Sturridge.
I believe we have already reached that time. Occasionally you'll get the odd player you have affection for (in my case Jack Whatmough) but they're few and far between.
I think it probably reflects how you feel about football in it's current form overall. You've been falling out of love with it for a while if I remember correctly Godders? (That's very different from falling out of love with Saints by the way).
one club men are rare even in top clubs. We shouldn't feel bad were not seeing that at saints. Money maketh the world go round.
It's how I have felt for a while Godders. Yeah I will still have a player (or players) I like, but I won't get too attached to them. There is really no point in getting too attached to a footballer. I just see it as anything that can help Southampton the club is fine by me. Players come and go, the club will always be part of my life.
This is the thing, there is no team without players, and football is so transient i.e. the players, managers etc are gone before we know it. It's kind of unnatural in the sense that we like to make attachments (human nature) and football clubs used to represent routine and consistency I guess. I'm a bit disillusioned with it really, and it is about the money unfortunately. Saints have thus far done a fine job of managing these changes, so credit to them.
That's why I like Portsmouth Ladies, they're such a consistent side. They lost quite a few players to the Super League, but in general, many of players have been there for years. If we go back to the earliest season I can find playing squad information from (2004/05) Gemma Hillier, Charley Wilson, Sadie Blakely, Leeta Rutherford and Fiona Mcmillan was the club recently but I'm not sure if she's still there. I expect the same can be said for Southampton Saints, so if you want consistency.... women's football is clearly the place to be.
I actually don't think there will be no heroes. I just think they'll be our heroes for a shorter time. I usually see anyone who plays in a Saints shirt as a hero while they're here and hope they stay a while.some who don't get a hold of a regular staring place don't always grab me, but if they're mostly a regular they become a bit of a hero... well for a time anyway.
I was always disappointed with how we treated Hammond. He captained us to promotion, but never played in the Premier League for us. He would have been a useful squad player that season (not now).
