Transfer Rumours The Summer Transfer Rumour Thread 2016

I shall summarise the window in one word : Ambivalent.

 

Markus Liebherr bought the club as mostly an emotional decision, but backed up by knowing he was getting Saints VERY cheaply and he had the capital to quickly turn it around. It was a good business decision, even if we hadn't had the rapid success we did.

Everyone buying into clubs over recent years has mostly had their eye on the prize of the income from Sky/BT/Overseas rights. For years you had to go deep into the red in the hope of making a profit. Now, you can tick over nicely spending what used to be a lot of money, but getting far more back from TV income. I expect nearly all Prem clubs will make a big profit this season. Saints will make a huge one (although they may do a few financial tricks to make the bottom line not as good as it could be)

So, what is the motivation now for Katarina Liebherr? Is it to carry on as we were, or are they actively wanting to recoup the capital investment funds via revenue profits? Are they (as I believe) actively trying to find either a new owner for the club?

I think the next month for our club is going to be "interesting"

 

What I'm interested in is what we do next. Financial prudence isn't going to be an excuse going forward; we'll either have a large pile of cash on hand, or we'll have paid off the majority of the debt (though potentially less than if we had spent a little more, counterintuitively; the difference between ~7th and ~14th in the table could be worth £20-25m, between merit payments, facility fees and club revenues). We'll have a very good idea of whether first-team chances for the kids is genuinely a top priority. And we'll get a good idea of how the board responds to adversity if we take a sizable step back.

And, we'll have a good idea whether our current owner is here for the long haul, I suspect.

 

I find it interesting when people talk about Katerina carrying on Marcus's legacy. She is his legacy. The football club was his hobby. It's a bit like your dad dying and everyone expecting you to take up golf...

 

For me, 12th is the absolute minimum we should be finishing. And that's if we have a good cup run. We should be finishing in the top 10 really.

 

I said before the end of last season that I thought this was the Summer we needed a positive net spend due to the new tv money and other clubs would be upping their spending and we run the risk of being left behind.

The stat CBK posted about our comparison to Bournemouth is pretty damning whatever way you look it.

I also believe we are being geared up for a sale in the next year or 2 and we are using the tv money to pay off existing debts to the owner before that happens.

Don't get me wrong though I think she's well within her rights to do that considering what they have done for the club but they need to be very very careful as in a league competitove is as this it doesn't take a lot to drop like a stone.

 

I think you're going to be disappointed. To finish in the top 10 with this squad, a manager new to the league learning as he goes on and the EL would be a minor miracle imo.

 

A reminder of the club's debt position this time last year (well, October)

"The gross debt of £62 million includes £32.7 million owed to the owner Katharina Liebherr (up from £14.7 million the previous year), a Swiss loan facility of £15 million secured on the owner’s personal estate plus a £13.9 million loan with Macquarie Bank (replacing a Vibrac loan on better terms)."

Rogers : “It’s a figure that we aim to reduce over time, but in a managed way, so it doesn’t affect the on-field success of the business.”

It would appear the club now easily has the increased revenue (from all sources, not even touching player profits) to at least pay off the £15m & £13.9m "loans".

The £32.7m is the legacy figure for buying the club, clearing the stadium debt and some of the initial Staplewood work. I don't believe a person with net worth in the billions would have any recourse to ever want to call in that debt in one lump, or at all? Although, I suspect we could probably afford to pay it off now.

 

Yep Have said it before and will say it again.....After a lot of Posturing by the board before the window opened...about how they wanted to get things done early and strengthening the squad. I am so disappointed with their intake.....I don't mean the players themselves but they have not remotely strengthened the team.
I would agree losing Koeman would not have helped however they had plenty of time with the new manager in place.
Losing Wanyama was always on the Cards, Pelle, I suppose was a surprise but understandable, yet they could not keep the other forward who to a certain extent was a prime player for us.
I am sorry to say as a very, very long time supporter, Saints do not seem to have learned the lessons of yesteryear. Back in the 60/70s they did not take the opportunities offered then. They were small minded then and despite their posturing seem to be now. Oh and for the fans that will obviously disagree......They had their so called 5 year plans back then too. They didn't support Big Laurie Mac who really would have put them on the football map had they backed him, the same could be said about a couple of other managers too.............Saints you have really disappointed this fan....and a fair few others too........I have and will stay as a hopeful supporter but if you don't get your finger out you will lose a lot of the younger element which is the future of the club...........I'm off for a coffee.......

 

So did we sign anyone else?

 

Nah.

But did we try?

 

I have no idea. So we play this season with 1 fit striker. Yay.

 

No, but Isgrove stayed.

 

I'm interested to know why making a profit in the transfer window is a bad thing....if we are the only team that keeps doing it, we may be the only team that is right. However, the proof of the pudding etc, so we have to wait and see. I think part of the problem was the difficult transfer window....though we never saw any real sign that we were after a lot of players (apart from the usual rumours). Our willingness at one point to let Jay and Cuco go suggests we were happy to run a tight ship....ok as long as no one gets injured. Risky strategy as Pied and, to a lesser extent, Forster are injured already.

Did Jose sign his improved contract? He may have but we chose not to publicise it as the length of the contract was not extended. If he didn't, his wages haven't changed and are we going to have the same upheaval in January?

Overall, pleased with who we brought in, but concerned if we get injuries as the season progresses....I can see us being active in January.

 

Now I'm way too young to remember back then but I know many older Saints fans who say that our history is littered with moments where we've had a real chance to push on but have failed to go for it.

2003 possibly was one in my lifetime and could this be another?

 

One side-note about the five-year plan to reach Champions League that we mooted to keep Koeman. A year previous, at the tail end of the '14/15 season, Les stated that he believed that we had the structure in place to reach Champions League in five years. Close to the beginning of that season, he talked in various venues about targeting a spot in the top four within five years.


At some point, will we reach year two of a five-year plan?

 

Whoever scores against Liverpool. Martina, hopefully.

 

I would say the problem is that 9/10 times the top 6 in the league are the biggest spenders. Now with the tv deal we are being outspent by teams such as Bournemouth & Palace.

History suggests that if we carry on in this trend it will only end in one way.

I also don't buy that it was a difficult transfer window. Plenty of other clubs have done fine despite us being a much more attractive option than them with Europe etc.

Think what disappoints me is that this Summer is probably the most attractive we've been to potential players in my lifetime. We don't seem to have really taken advantage of this, who knows when it will next come round?

 

I must admit that was a bit of a wind up as I'm on nights this week and was hoping for more bites to keep me occupied for a couple of hours

Obviously wasn't subtle enough

I do believe he'll be gone next Summer though.

 

My dad doesn't play golf.

I can't think about Saints without thinking about him though. The two will be forever linked in my mind.