The indisputable fact is that the board have built themselves into a corner with their transfer policy and there is literally only one guaranteed way out and that is to put a total ban on sales to clubs in the Premier League. I know that sounds a bit knee jerk but its the only sure way to reverse the culture. At the moment we now have a situation at the club where ANY player who performs well and starts to get the attention of 'bigger' teams is instantly going to think about a big money move away because that is what we do. Rival clubs who look at our success know they can de-stabilise us and rip the heart and threat out of our side with their cheque books. This is an incredibly bad position to be in and whilst the board have done a fantastic job of recruiting, the policy they have followed is coming home to roost and it is not going to improve, it will get worse. This year if we finish 12th there will be 11 other teams above us all of whom have plenty of cash, all of whom will potentially be a more attractive option for players. If Jose is wanting to go then it is absolute confirmation that the transfer policy has created a culture where good performances are 'rewarded' with sales to top 5 clubs. He has been the best servant we could have asked for, he has only 2-3 years left at hi sbest, he faces the potential of becoming manager in the future but he's willing to go benchwarm at ManU because thats what success means at Saints. Its all wrong.
That doesn't match up for me Ashby. I don't think players have a transfer market ambition to be honest.
I agree, although I think we should really wait until the end of the season, or halfway through or whatever rather than having emotions lead us now. If he goes but we still improve our position again then we can't really complain. Had we not already sold a few players I don't think we'd be moaning. Had he been the only one to go we'd be less panicky so I don't think this should tip us over the edge. Yes he is a good character and servant to have but he's replaceable playing wise. However my emotion right now is '**** it lets get an Arab billionaire and be the new man city.'
I am not sure its about a blame culture; we have been incredibly successful with a model that has built us a reputation for developing players to the extent that other clubs and our players now see us as a stepping stone and the point SNZ is making is that we have been victims of our own success.
Please stop judging the club on an improvement or not in one season. It's a sport, sport isn't like that. We've been spoiled rotten by 7 years of continual improvements and that doesn't normally happen in sport. I find it a little embarrassing that some fans now demand it every year, let alone expect it. Very odd. I'll forgive that for any fan who started supporting Saints in July 2009
Sorry Romsey, but I think your taking a negative snapshot. We've not been the victims of our own success, we've been the beneficiaries of our own success. I am upset Fonte might go, but all my angst will be with him, not the club. Of all the players we've had, he's known the score better than any others. The club hasn't changed, he has!
Yeah I am and of course Mendez doesn't he isn't an athlete! Not comparable to a player in any way, shape or form. Money is a factor don't get me wrong, but athletes want to be the best they can and in football that means competing for major trophies. The fact we've only won 1 in our 131 year means players will see it as unlikely to happen here. Espescially compared to the clubs they've left for. At the end of the day every player we've lost since Summer '14 has either been to a club in the CL or one of the 2 biggest clubs in the country - United & Liverpool. Do you really think if we'd offered Adam, Morgan & Sadio (for example) the same amount of money Liverpool and United they suddenly would have changed their mind and wanted to stay? Like **** they would have! Sorry flt but if you really think that sporting ambition and wanting to win trophies playing at the highest level doesn't factor into a professional athletes decision then we're going to have to agree to disagree
This post, or something very much like it, must have been written every summer for the past few years. A typical response is "yes, but it's bound to go wrong" when equally valid might be "yes, and the improvement's bound to continue". Vin
We are the only team that leak players like we do. It's not because we are the only team with players worth buying, it's because we blood players and teams above us know that we more than likely sell and don't make it very difficult for the buyers
I'd rather he stayed but if he did go there's definitely a silver lining. I suspect we're paying Fonte rather more than his playing ability warrants and that said ability is likely to decrease. So in playing terms it makes sense. Like others I'm not sure I like the message it sends to other players but that message has been out there for some time and I'm not convinced one club alone can reverse the increase in player power.
Is it though? The board have got a lot of things bang on but from where I am standing they have absolutely created a culture of do well and you can go. They may continue to recruit well but can any of you honestly say that even Arsenal would have consistently made champions league if their club had a culture of selling to Champions league rivals every season?
Yes I agree, but every season there has been a reason to discuss it. I'm not worried about the sale of Mane for what it was, we sold for too little but we made a good profit and individual players are replaceable. I do have grave concerns about the culture of the players and in my opinion whether its football clubs or working for an IT company, if every year the best performing employee's get headhunted by Google for a whopping payrise and a writeup in a dozen IT magazines then to me there is only one reason to perform at your best and give it your all. Its a negative reason to perform and that seems wrong.
Don't buy what? You think are players are the only ones worth buying, or the only ones that can be bought?
