****face has left and has been replaced, Rickie has left and been replaced, Shaw has left and Targett may be upto the job if playing next to a strong CB (anyone but Jos), JRod is out for a couple more months but no suprise there, Lovren will probably leave but is anyone can get a quality CB it is RK. The kids are a year older and have been in good form pre season. Morgan may leave but CM is well covered. Generally I feel glass half full, a new keeper and a couple of CBs and all is well
I'm a little nervous, yeah. It's hard not to be nervous when there's been so much change from the top down. I used to be better about it, but I remember going into 2004-05 feeling both confident and bored it was going to be a blah season where there no way we'd finish higher than 10th or worse than 15th. You just never know what's going on behind the scenes. But then, since 2004-05 there's hardly been a season where we haven't been facing either a strong promotion or relegation possibility or even administration so comparatively, this is nothing special. At least this is a good kind of nervous where I'm scared things might go bad but also really excited to see the new players coming in and the possibility of a whole new era. It's better than the bad outcome being administration/loss of club and the good news was finishing mid-table league one. Any sort of objective look at the club's finances and squad says we are in decent shape overall.
I'm not worried either, just typical Saints pessimism! Really looking forward to watching us on box first game and the first home game I'll get to. Will also be glad to watch us in stripes, witness Lallana's hostile reception, and giving Clattenburg a warm round of applause.
we're gonna win the league, We're gonna win the league, And are ya gonna believe us, And are ya gonna believe us, And are ya gonna belieeeeeeve us............... we're gonna win the league. Not at all worried.
Well no, if we use the Osvaldo signing as an example, we signed him for £15m last summer, but if we were to pay that in installments over a year then we'd be paying that with money that was earmarked for transfers last summer; we wouldn't need to dip into what we're earning from sales this summer.
I am more anxious this season than last due more holes in the squad that need filling. Last year a CD along with a striker was all we needed (even then the striker disappeared). This season the list is longer and that is just to get us up to minimum. I always like the new guys in early so they get some time to settle and at least we have 2 in early. We have some decent fixtures in the first month so hopefully as we add new players they can learn while we take some points.
Not so much worried but more resigned to what I think will be a tougher season than last year. We were probably three players in the squad last season - with three gone and two newbies - we still need another four. I am hoping our scouting is 'on the ball' like last season. Lovren was a good find, bit of an idiot, but solid at the back and could be worth cashing in. Need another striker to replace Osvaldo, two CB's and a left back. Thats assuming we do not loose Morgan, in which case we will need another...
The reaction when the story came out was hilarious. "We owe £27m?! What are we doing to do?!" Uhh...probably pay it as planned.
I haven't forgotten. But what if she felt that some of the Shaw money should go towards the training ground, maybe? I don't know. Perhaps it'll go towards January or next summer. Who knows.
Perhaps it was not the size of the debt that surprised Katharina & others, perhaps it was that the previous chairman told her it was less... and perhaps he wasn't reflecting it accurately in the club's accounts. Perhaps.
And it's a pretty big ask for a new manager to fully assess everyone and everything in one window - would be worried if he did the lot in one go
Perhaps Krueger turned a non-story into a story as a way of turning people against Cortese and onto him. Perhaps.
The only question is whether it'll be added to an already sizable transfer budget in those future windows, or whether it will be the transfer budget.
We are all aware of Nigel Adkins maxims, but Cortese had a few of his own. My favourite was... put away money in good times for the days when you'll need it [or words to that effect]. It's a well known phrase, but I'm glad he lived by it. This was in answer to an interview question where he was asked about how other clubs run their finances**. He thought they were idiots, for the most part. There was even the time when he was asked by the FA to look over their books to see if there were improvements that could be made. He was astonished at their incompetence. So if he had an outstanding payment of £27M kicking around, you can bet he budgeted for it. **If you want to look it up, it's part of an interview where he talks about relegated clubs receiving parachute payments, and how they shouldn't be rewarded for failure. Which is certainly a different way of looking at things.
