I'd buy a good player or two (Gray would've been perfect, but alas) and drop Mane for them. Not "you don't start, but you're our only real attacking option, so you'll be brought on at some point"...dropped to the bench and left unused for a couple matches, or dropped from the squad entirely. The problem is that right now, the players have the leverage...if Mane wants to sulk, we have no one else to turn to, and we're unwilling to spend unless we sell first, so he holds the cards. Even if we sell him and get in some temporarily more hungry players, the cycle is likely to repeat. That's an untenable situation.
That's fine with me. I don't mind upcoming players being really attracted to the opportunities here, playing hard for two seasons, and leaving. Better that than young players not wanting to come here because they think they'll end up stuck and the ones who are here sulking and ruining the clubhouse for everyone else.
I remember when we signed Mane he went on strike to leave Salzburg, and I thought that if he was a success then he would probably do the same thing here. I don't know if that is what is happening, but there is very little chance he is here after the summer anyway.
He's welcome to. We need to demonstrate that players simply do not run the show. "We'll sell you, just not this window" isn't good enough.
If he goes on strike does that mean we don't have to pay the wages? We can hold him here unpaid till the Summer then?
I mind. Because the turnover ultimately means that once they've done enough to get a move, they have no incentive to put in the effort, because they don't give the slightest of damns about the club. Morgan had a little sulk when we refused the move, and he could have all but shut it down...he'd have been in demand anyway. He didn't because he's a professional, but I'd imagine his tenure with the club also made him a little less likely to torch the bridges on the way out. That's doubly true in a season like this. We're not going to Europe, so why bother? If we get relegated someone will buy them anyway.
Yep, and the money we save on transfer fees can be spent later on wages to match the sharks that will come circling when we start to do well.
That is the only way that we will get out of this cycle of buy-sell-buy and build a cohesive unit with team spirit, tie them all down on long term contracts. Young players will have a connection with the club and with each other.
TBH I think the club needs to stop sending out confused messages which leaves the fans expecting this and that. Either we are aiming for Europe by buying players in or we are aiming to have 50% of our own. Unless we have half a team of superstars coming through very soon and we can achieve both. Similarly what do the fans want? Many seem to want the top 6 part whereas some recently have asked why aren't we giving the youngsters a chance. Some seem to think we should be doing both. What do the fans want? What do the club really believe? Would the fans accept a few years of proper midtable transition while we let youngsters get game time alongside more experienced players? Or would most of them start kicking up a stink about not challenging for the top? My guess is the latter.
I would absolutely sell Big Vic now for £20m, he hasn't been the same player this season and Harry Reed and Romeu should be given their chance. Sadio needs to knuckle down right now and prove that he is a £30+m player that we know he is.
I'd much rather support a team of players that I believe in than a team that may finish top six, but then piss off to all parts of the country. If that means that we just amble along for a few seasons, but play in the "Southampton Way" that is fine by me.
Aspirationally If we are trying to knock on the champions league door then our best players have to be of champions league quality. How do we then get them to stay longer term if we don't qualify for the thing. And as we sell some eg morgan those left eg Wanyama get more restless and we get worse again
Me too. Would love to see a few kids get a chance here and there. Not all together of course. Don't want to repeat the first Dutch experiment.
I always get knocked back when I suggest us signing "big club rejects". But one of my main reasons why they appeal to me is that they've had their taste of the big time, and it went sour. So, for me, there's less of chance of them either being tempted away in the future or big clubs trying to sign them. Burnt fingers and all that. Ryan Bertrand is one such player, and I don't hear many people criticising him (yes ok there was when we first signed him, but once he'd been given a chance, people quickly realised that he was easily good enough for us). Obviously it depends on who the player is. I don't want us to go out and sign Kolo Toure any time soon. But yes, I am very open to that market. (I don't mean simply players who are over the age of 30 with the careers very much on a downturn. But players who have been there, done that, got the t-shirt.)
THe only problem is that Sunderland and West Ham sign the big club rejects and pay them more than we would.
Selling either in Jan would be borderline suicidal. What we need is them to get their heads sorted out, man-managed properly and playing every game like they actually give a ****.
