One club that builds community spirit in the lower leagues. Sells the message of building something with loyal players, lots of "family" style stuff. Fans buy into the whole something special malarky. The fans don't seem to mind when the club casts off players or managers they don't want. (Too numerous to list) The fans want to replace the ones that we are stuck with that are loyal. (Davis, Yoshida) The fans moan about loyalty of the ones that we wanted to keep. Club loves how they always manage to spin themselves as the good guys. Not so much the club's fault but loyalty is BS in professional football not just the Premier league. Every player in every team in the league is looking to get the best deal for themselves, not be loyal to any set of fans. Thats just what happens to every team in every league across the world. No6 is empty for while. No6 will be back again soon. Different face and different attributes but No6 will return. All we need now is for No3 and No17 to do their best while there is a body in those shirts and for No9 and No7 to do as well as they can until No10 can put his shirt back on again. Could do with No1 upping his level a bit while No6 is empty and No22 could do with being a bit less selfish. No8 seems really loyal to us though but everyone wants him replacing too. Can't wait for next July's bingo to see which numbers we have. Whatever number they are they will all be red and white (bar one in green) and we'll have 11 of them on the pitch.
Nothing wrong with speculation on a forum though is there fats? Obviously the number of people who know the truth first hand can be counted on one hand. Anyone beyond that will hear whatever the person telling wants them to. My point (if my comment was one of those considered imaginative speculation) was that regardless of it was the case here or not, we can't all believe that everyone that's left the club is because that player/manager has wanted the deal to happen more than the club, followed by the club thinking "oh bugger" each and every time. Sometimes the club will actively want the sale to happen, and yet that's very rarely (if ever) reported. Lambert/Pelle/Fonte for example have all left for reasonable sums at ages that were coming on for the twilight of their playing career. I don't doubt if N. Ireland had won the Euro's we'd have sold Steven Davis for £8-10m in this window. They didn't. There's no over the odds offer there from someone willing to overpay both club and player. He doesn't move.
I believe Ralph much more than I believe Les because Les seems to have this idea that he has any power over any of this. I'm sure Ralph cringes every time Les starts warbling on about faster than realistic timeframes of moving upward and especially when Les says "We won't let him go." I've called BS for a long time on the whole "they told Morgan he couldn't go" myth. Told he couldn't go because a decent bid had not come in and even Morgan couldn't really argue if bids of £10m were on the table. I have no doubt if a £20m bid had come in that season before Morgan would have gone too.
The "we won't let him go" quotes are very often posturing to get a better deal from whoever has approached. Everyone has a price, it's just whether it's met or not. The same as the comments about Gardos playing from Puel could be posturing that we have a plan in place if we don't sign a replacement CB. The best managers/DOF's won't exactly come out and say "well we sold so and so, and we're gonna be in a pickle if we don't sign a quality replacement asap" because that would undermine the short term replacement, and would also increase the price of any deals in negotiation. The best never show weakness or disharmony in the public eye.
Fair commment, especially with Rickie and Pelle. I don't think the board would have chosen to move one of our two first choice CBs on this season though. Those other sales were out of season. The deal they have done is amazing when looked at in isolation and purely on a numbers game. £8m for a 33 years old is good stuff. Just need to shut our eyes to the rest of it
With all due respect Imps, you can have as few doubts as you like on Morgan going - nobody knows so purely speculation and opinion. What we do know is he stayed.
I agree with the premise but they also have to take into account how the fans will view it and as we have seen for a long time it seems most Saints fans take every single word as gospel and then we have meltdowns when what was said doesn't mirror the reality.
You may think it was wasted, but I was only answering someone who quoted me directly. I clearly said I was speculating and didn't try to pass it as fact. Not sure what your issue is here.
Not sure what your issue is. Who mentioned you? Ps. I think my issue is clear. Too much speculation. He's gone. Time for Frozen.
Well you didn't, but your comment did come only a few posts after mine I've already said what's done is done. My only concern now is his replacement.
I think Latvias conspiracy theory gets to the crux of the divide in the fan base when it comes to the board. It seems you either believe they do all they can to not sell players or you believe that they're complicit in those sales. Is Les Reed calling us a showcase club an acceptance of our reality in the football pyramid or a self fulfilled prophecy bought about by our actions as a club
Like with most clubs we Fans are the last to know about the goings on behind closed doors. We all have the knack of speculating as well as the so called ITK's. Then you get the kind of surprise, albeit has been going on since the Summer, of a core player openly demanding a transfer. Can anyone remember the last player to openly demanding a transfer? We will all know of players wanting away, but demanding a transfer? I certainly cannot remember a single one! The ultimate insult probably is the player going to a club of a similar stature!? I except that Saints had little or no choice, I also accept it was an exceptional fee for a player of that age. Like a lot of people though I am wondering what kind of club we have become for this kind of thing to happen? Are we still a family club? Are we really....... or are we just a business? Do they actually think about us fans anymore, do we get any consideration anymore? Then I guess you have to ask yourself.........What if anything could they tell us?
