Transfer Rumours The Summer Transfer Rumour Thread 2016

I don't think there was one Saints fan who begrudged Rickie his move, but, sadly, it effectively ended his career.
But what of the other glory-seekers who have moved on to bigger and better things? Better wage packets no doubt, but glory?
Our former captain Lallana, won nothing.
Lovren, lost his place with Croatia, won nothing.
Morgan. Lost his place in the French team, won nothing
Clyne, won nothing.
Luke Shaw, hampered by an awful injury, but won nothing.

Is the grass always greener when its possible to become an international player while at Southampton, and to become a European Champion?

 

Guys you need to chill. In the south of France and things always look so much better with a glass of red. Fourteen days to battle, to a very good season ( Our Danish lad to be outstanding, I hear)

To Watford and onwards

 

I'd be dissapointed if Fonte left, but I can't see it (then again, I said the same about a certain Mr Twatbeard and a Lying Dutchman) so what do i know!

 

Chill? You having a laugh? Who is not chilling? Just discussing what someone posted. Perfectly relaxed about Fonte and the whole club.

Just got back from Vendee, so I may have taken a glass of red or two in

 

I agree with every sentiment, but am slightly sad about how Rickie left. He could have stayed with us and faded but we would have looked after him as an old hero

 

Flt - as an elder statesmen like myself I am hoping you catch my setimemt. I am on hols, take a look on here and most days is doom and gloom. From what I can see we are a couple of players short

 

Don't think so. Didn't we try to sell him in January before he left? He never asked to leave us. And I have a feeling it was us that might have suggested to Liverpool that they could buy him.

I think between the fact that Lambert sensed he might not be able to end his career here AND the club seemingly in total disarray during the summer with who knows what could happen AND Liverpool being his boyhood club, he decided his best move was to go. But take any one of those three factors away, and I think he would have tried to stay.

 

So just checked Vebee (too far North does not count)- how is the food and the red? Hope it is good, and hope to meet up with you guys ald the pub before a game in the new season - enjoy the summer

 

I think we are in agreement. I think the difference is the fact that we would have kept him and the board let him go. In hind sight who made the best decision ( not me!)

 

I remember when Rickie went and not feeling too chuffed about it. Many posters at the time said they didn't begrudge him the move. Neither did I but I didn't feel good about it either. It was the first time I'd felt that Saints were a proper threat to other bigger clubs and that they wanted our players, not only for themselves, but also to destabilise our progress. For example, what did Liverpool buying Lambert serve, if only to make Saints weaker.? He didn't get a look-in and I doubted that was ever going to be the case from the start. He was just part of the Anfield welcome mat, in the end. Frankly, I thought they treated him very badly.

 

Rickie got more than a "look in" with Liverpool...he made 25 league appearances in a season. Now, the majority of those were as a substitute, but that was the role for which they purchased him.

 

TSS, I think your comments are understated. I have no idea why they bought Rickie, but they pissed on a fairy tail and for that they should never be forgiven

 

Sorry Schad. I think that is slightly demissive of one if our heroes, I get that migh be what the tossers bought him for but still, I think think we Saints fan need to show some "kind bias"

 

Well I'm actually trying to be understated because I know my opinion is a bit strong for some people. I'm firmly of the belief that the Top 4-6 have cherry picked Southampton in the past few seasons [and they've been trying lately with Leicester] not just to improve themselves [which has been questionable], but to stop our progress into becoming established as a proper rival. We're still fighting it, but if they'd left us alone, my feeling is that, we'd probably have got those extra few points we needed last season for the CL.

 

How is it dismissive? Liverpool bought him to serve as a backup to the two players they expected to be their primary strikers: Sturridge and Balotelli. Balotelli was awful, which probably resulted in Lambert getting more appearances than they anticipated. It's not "kind bias" to suggest that Liverpool expected Lambert to come in and be a key player, it's divorced from reality.

 

They didn't buy him to make Saints weaker. I honestly think they bought him because he seemed useful as a backup, and we wanted to sell. They were getting what they thought was a decent deal and by doing so they probably felt it would help to get them Lallana.

As Schad pointed out, Lambert got plenty of opportunities, probably more than they expected due to injury. He didn't do very well, perhaps because he had lost it but also almost certainly because Rodgers was terrible and no one did well under him.

To the extent they treated him badly it was due to incompetence, not bad intention. To the extent that we may have treated Lambert badly it was fully intentional. We didn't think he could cut it anymore. I believe that we could have kept him if we wanted to.

Which isn't to say we are the bad guys, either. We were able to get Lambert his dream shot, and he was not wrong to take it. It was a deal that really worked well for everyone on paper. And we took that money and bought Long and Mane with it and that really worked out well for us.

Football is a dirty business. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. There is no reason to blame Liverpool for buying Lambert.

I can agree that perhaps its a shame the way it all ended (though ask yourself if you would really trade Lambert for a Euro spot and a midtable finish) but the responsibility for it lies with Saints.

 

Having just got in from yet another night on the tiles I have decided that it is best not to worry about something that in all probability may not happen. The transfer window has not been as busy as many people would have expected so lots of stories are being made up to fill pages so let us wait and see what happens regarding Jose. I do however believe that some clubs are not only buying to strengthen their team but also to weaken rivals. In a highly competitive sport like football you are always looking for an edge. If you can't find one to push you forward then what better than one to push your opponent's back!

 

I disagree with the premise, for a simple reason: every year, the Liverpools and Man Us and assorted sides enter thinking that they are going to be in the top four. Whether that's rational is another story, but in the wild-eyed days of the summer, I'm guessing that none of them consider us to be potential rivals, because the Europa League spots are benefit their aims. Whether we're rivals to their actual positions isn't really germane to their intentions, because if they buy well, they don't expect us to be in their vicinity.

 

It's a stupid strategy in the first place. If you buy a good player and use him, then you gained an advantage over every team in the league. Even if you don't think the bottom teams are much of a threat, you still play them twice a year so it still helps.

If you buy a player from a supposed rival just to park on your bench, all you've done is improve against one team. If you are in a Barca vs. Real situation then maybe it works because you are playing in predominantly a two team league.

PL is not like that, and even to the extent that there are still 4-5 clubs bigger than all the rest, Saints are not one of them.

 

I think some people forget that our hero was rapidly becoming a spent force when we sold him. Sad and hurtful as that is, it is true. He was only going to be back up for us if he'd stayed and although it added to the pantomime of hating Liverpool (which is always good), the reality is we saw the best of Rickie and saved ourselves from seeing something horrible in our own back yard.