I think that both Morgan and Lovren are unlikely to be in the Saints squad next season and it would not surprise me in the least if Wanyama and Ramires are off-loaded. In the fluid world of today's football transfer system the fact that last season saw Saints playing the best football since the days of Lawrie Mac made it extremely difficult to retain the squad once one part of the jigsaw came apart. The writing was on the wall as soon as Cortese left.
In the light of Koeman's statement about the better players needing to stay and the fact that both Lallana and Shaw have joined Lambert in departing to fresher fields is indicative of either a strategy in place to enhance the squad with Koeman's input or a case of Koeman being undermined even before he has had the first training session. It's good to see Saints linked with players like Danny Ings but I can't see him joining us having secured promotion with Burnley who may be a smaller club than Southampton but one that has a deeper footballing tradition.
What worries me is that Saint's have generally been better at signing players for a middling sort of fee with big bane transfers often going wrong. Osvaldo and Ramires may be the latest in the expensive flop category yet records transfers from the days of David Hirst, Augustin Delgardo and even Alan MacLaughlin have all been spectacular disasters for us. For me, I feel the emphasis has got to come through the academy which is then augmented when "Southampton type" players become available. Poch was almost unique amongst Saints managers in that the larger sums of money paid in transfer fees generally added to the squad in terms of ability.
Next season will never match the last one nd I think the PL will be a harder proposition in 2014/5. Koeman is an exceptional acquisition but my worry is that he has already been somewhat undermined in that our best three players have been allowed to leave with our potential next best two cited as also going out the door before August. I'm not connived that Clyne or Wanyama will still be Saints players next season although Calum Chamber's mooted move to Arsenal would be good business for us as I think Clyne is far superior. Chambers is good yet somewhat over-rated. It will be interesting to see what happen to Ward-Prowse as he does look a good prospect and seems a cultured player.
Next season will be a relegation battle and unless the team is radically strengthened, the likes of QPR and Leicester will easily surpass us. However, Saints look like being amongst the likes of Palace, Hull, WBA, Swansea, Sunderland and Burnley who will struggle in the next campaign.
