Yeah, I'm there now. I knew early in the year that Lallana, Shaw and probably Morgan were going so had prepared myself for that, but this is starting to take the piss.
Was always going to happen. NC got almost everyone to believe his champions league dreams including the players and a massive section of the supporters. The progress that has been made over the past 5 years was amazing but the total cost was relatively small compared to what we would need to spend to go the next level. Once NC, Poch and the players realised the owner wasn't willing to invest to the level that would be required to reach that level (and who can blame her) they were always going to move on.
Nope, nothing to do with it, in my opinion. Throughout their history, Saints have just been content to be mediocre. In times past it was about how cheaply the club could be run for us to survive. It's a theme that runs through the club's history. During the Lowe era he grossly miscalculated and Saints started falling, well and truly. The only time the club have shown real proof of actual planned ambition has been since 2009. Yes, Saints have been successful in times before that, but it was due to the extreme efforts and ingenuity of the incumbent manager of the time, for example Ted Bates, Lawrie McMenemy, Gordon Strachan, etc. Those managers over achieved like crazy. But since 2009 the force has come from the Boardroom. It's been the single era where the club has been dragged kicking and screaming towards success, due to a planned assault towards and within the PL. But now, as far as I can see, we are content to be mediocre again. All the evidence, or lack of it, that I see points towards that. And all that momentum has finally run out. I'm a fan [sometimes I so wish I wasn't], so there's always hope. But there's 3 weeks to the new season, and half the first team from the last few years has either departed or want to. And don't count out Wanyama, Yoshida or Ramirez eventually getting fed up either. Or Jay. When Jose decides enough is enough then we might as well set out the stall and get the auctioneer in.
Well I slightly take issue with TSS over the ambition thing. It's too early to say. Bearing in mind that the original project was to achieve success on the field, but in a sustainable way using the academy, this would not be unexpected. We all know that to get an extra two places up the table requires an extra 14 points from last seasons showing, the top 4, an extra 23! Can you bridge that gap? Well you can try throwing money at the problem which is a very risky game. Or, you can build over time, accepting that some players may well take the opportunity to jump ship for better pay/instant CL football. What matters is the ultimate target, which lest we forget, was never about the Champions League when Marcus bought the club. It is more important to look at the direction of travel. The ambition may well be there, but doing it in a way that is consistent with Katherina's philosophy.
I look at it slightly differently, but agree with the end product. I don't think it would've made any difference if NC was here or not. Sure a large majority of the fans bought into the CL dream, and the players probably hoped so, but when he was in charge the sorts of teams bidding for our players were ones which could be seen as not THAT much of a step up, so the players were probably not that fussed about going. The teams after our players now are the biggest ones in the country and if most people are given a choice about staying and fighting for a CL dream or going to a team already in it and who are there or there abouts for qualifying every year, with a massive payrise, Cortese or no Cortese, they would have left.
For me it used to be unequivocal. The club had a stated ambition to try to reach the Champions League and also win the Premier League. So OK, this was possibly/probably not going to happen, but if the club didn't try for it, it certainly wouldn't have happened. Now it is clear to me that they are not even going to try. Read about better times: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27498644
I think it would have made a massive difference had NC still been here, as were he still here, it would have meant a massive difference in what our stated ambition was. Still, I'm actually more 'interested' than 'worried' at the moment. I'll get worried if we don't buy people.
Well for the first time, I'm worried. It's shockingly silent from Saints of late and I'm starting to question things. Lets hope they're as good at making good deals in terms of incomings as they are at quietly selling the stars.
Players go, players come in, the club continues. Premier league remember, not league 1 and not a squad of untried and untalented kids but quality coming through... Targett isn't far off being ready, we have blooded a number of the youngsters and have the likes of Ramirez who will finally have the chance to play in their preferred position regularly... Add to that a couple of signings and things don't look so bad.
I'm not worried about intent. If I am worried, it's about incompetence, as it has been since the end of the season in all honesty.
I'm interested to see what happens, but not worried about no incomings, or the wrong incomings. I'm worried we still have a great deal of incompetence hovering around board level. That's my stated position right now
Only that we have contacted a few players. I will hardly ever know if we sign a player. I tend to only know outgoings or bids we have made. DTLW or Guan on Saintsweb will know more.
Well its not like the players who have left went for free. You've got loads to spend at least. At the end of the day your board agreed to sell the players so they must have a master plan. If not you're ****ed.
