It is though, the entire situation is way different ............ the manager has said he'll walk and some players have escape clauses if Cortese leaves. I've never seen that before.
I was just recognising that Southampton were a well run and organised side in another post and having some banter with one of their supporters. The woman who has kicked this storm off is the owner (and a right porker), not sure this will motivate or demotivate the players, lets hope the latter!
What I meant Smug is that this change of chairman/owner happens all the time but as I have said the worrying thing is the pace this is all happening. Events could steamroller the club into a nose dive (starting at the weekend hopefully). I was aware that the manager had said if Cortese goes I go but I wasnt aware that players had escape clauses? That seems a ridiculous scenario for a club t have allowed happen surely? Players sign for the club not the manager and especially not the DoF or chairman? That makes the whole situation even more perilous.
To be honest - im not that bothered about the long term effect on them. I wouldnt wish bad of them, but im more interested in the short term knock it gives them for the game. Which it will
Osvaldo did the same celebration after scoring that belter against Man City, I think we received it a little better though haha.
Well he's staying put for now. Pochettino that is. Could have mentioned the match for the quotes section
Sunderland face Southampton this weekend – and it’s an excellent time to face the Saints. They are a club in turmoil at present given the recent departure of chairman Nicola Cortese. Club owner Katharina Liebherr has since installed herself in the vacant role – a move which has sparked wild speculation over the future of boss Mauricio Pochettino. Obviously talk is cheap in football and it would be unprecedented if Pochettino were to actually walk out on the club, especially given the fantastic job he has done since his controversial appointment at the expense of Nigel Adkins last season. With such wild speculation over the future of a club, both at board room level and on the touchline, it comes as no surprise that the transfer bandwagon has rolled into town, bringing with it all kinds of conjecture over Southampton’s star assets. It’s far from ideal given that we are smack bang in the middle of the January transfer window. With all the commotion at Southampton comes an opportunity for Sunderland to take advantage. Fans always hope that transfer speculation will not affect the form of the player involved, and that as a professional they will get on with their job on a Saturday afternoon. However, as is more often the case, footballer’s minds tend to wander when their agent is on the phone to clubs multiple times a day, tempting them with bumper contracts and signing-on fees from numerous attractive suitors. Football is ruthless and while I have sympathy for Saints fans, I also hope that Gus Poyet and his side show no mercy come Saturday lunchtime – and look to ruthlessly take advantage of a Southampton side that may very well be distracted from the job at hand. Each and every one of Sunderland’s home fixtures from now until May is set to be its very own mini cup final, such is the importance of home advantage, and if I’m being perfectly honest, Southampton always looked to be one of the trickier fixtures the Black Cats would face in their run-in. If Sunderland are indeed to take something from the game, it could very well come down to fine margins, very fine margins indeed. Gus Poyet will be looking to benefit any which way he can, such is the club’s desperate need to put points on the board. With a monumentally huge game on the horizon in the shape of a Capital One Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday night, there are indeed some fears that Sunderland may also already be thinking towards the game at Old Trafford. But Poyet has proven to be a very effective man manager since his arrival on Wearside – and I would be both surprised and disappointed if he were unable to keep his squad’s feet on the ground and focus on the task at hand this weekend. http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/16/will-...side-against-struggling-southampton-4265381/?
Ex Men: Southampton Published: 16 January, 2014 by Ashley Houghton safc.com profiles three of the 24 players to play for both the Black Cats and the Saints. Kenwyne Jones Trinidad and Tobago international joined Sunderland from Southampton in 2007 after three years with the Hampshire club. Jones made 80 appearances for the Saints after joining from Caribbean side W Connection and scored 22 goals. He moved to Wearside ahead of the 2007-08 campaign and he scored in his first game at the Stadium of Light in a 2-1 victory over Reading, going on to bag seven goals in 33 games over the course of the season earning him the club’s Player of the Season award. In total, Jones made 101 appearances for the Black Cats and scored 28 goals before moving to Stoke City in 2010. Since moving to the Britannia Stadium for a reported club-record £8m, Kenwyne has made 115 appearances, scoring 26 goals. Kevin Phillips One of the greatest players in the club’s history, ‘Super Kev’ made 235 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 130 goals. He started his professional career with Watford after an impressive spell with Baldock Town and, after scoring 24 goals for the Hornets, he was snapped up by the Black Cats in 1997. He spent six years on Wearside, forming a formidable partnership with Niall Quinn before joining Southampton in 2003. The Saints were relegated in Phillips’ second season at St. Mary’s and he left for Aston Villa ahead of the 2005-06 campaign after returning 26 goals in 73 games. After joining Villa, he suffered an injury-hit campaign and his opportunities were limited prompting him to join Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion the following campaign. Phillips has since played for Birmingham, Blackpool, Crystal Palace and currently Leicester City and he has passed the 600-appearance mark in a career spanning 20 years. Wayne Bridge A product of Southampton’s successful academy system, Wayne Bridge spent five years with the Saints’ senior team, making 173 appearances before moving to Chelsea in 2003. The former England international spent six seasons at Stamford Bridge - winning all three of the major domestic trophies in the Barclays Premier League, the FA Cup and also the League Cup. He made 142 appearances for the Blues before joining Manchester City in 2008 for a reported fee of £10m. Whilst with City, Bridge spent time on loan at West Ham before joining Sunderland for a brief spell at the end of the 2011-12 campaign. The Southampton-born full back made ten appearances for the Black Cats before returning to City. Bridge spent last season on loan at Gus Poyet’s Brighton before moving to Championship outfit Reading ahead of the 2013-14 campaign on a permanent deal. Can we guess any others? Kelvin Davis
Yeah, it kinda became his thing, it's class, he actually nicked it off Batistuta like, he just chose his moment badly. Very badly.
Would take a point now, but reckon this game will finish 2-2. Now that Pochettino is staying, I think the players will be okay (apart from this mystery person with the clause!).
We're playing very well and bang in form. With your stop start form on the road and not having an away game for a while combined with that beast being suspended I think we'll nick it 2-1
Lovren has been a rock for us this season, great signing who has been fantastic for us. He pretty much carries the other CB that he plays with though Fonte has formed a good partnership with him. Colback will have to be fit guy to keep up with Lallana, much easier to isolate Rickie or JRod. The three are England Internationals yet they are our weakest point, thier overall play is good, but we should be scoring more with all our neat football being too complicated around the other teams penalty area. Shaw and Clyne do like bombing forward but can leave the back door open and we get hit on the counter. Shaw has been abit off for the last 6 games (good instead of excellent), maybe because we lost Boruc and had to chop and change our CBs so he felt he had to stay back to cover any weaknesses. Its good that you are running into form at the right time, we are a hard team to beat but a team that does not win as many as we should. Interesting game with different styles of play
You won't find many teams fitter than ours. One good thing PDC brought to the squad and it's been very well Maintained by Gus. The bit in bold has been our problem too. Though raw, we try to do much and don't see the simple effective pass. Expect us to retain, pass and move though we're starting to develop our direct style on the break recently to good effect. I can see both side having long spells in possession.
Gus Poyet is convinced Southampton’s week of boardroom turmoil will take its toll – with Sunderland ready to cash in. But the head coach has told his Black Cats they have only done “half a job” in getting to within a win of safety. The Saints’ seeds of instability were sown by the departure of chairman Nicola Cortese this week, which left boss Mauricio Pochettino and key players pondering their futures. Poyet said: “When people say it doesn’t affect the players, it does. You wake up and if you care about your club, and something is not normal it will affect you. “That doesn’t mean it affects you badly, but it is a difficult, strange, unique situation what is happening at Southampton. I’m surprised that everything has come out, surprised because they were doing very well and everything was looking fine from the outside. “But you never know what goes on inside, behind the doors. It’s unexpected because they’re having a really good season. When things aren’t going well on the pitch you normally expect things off the pitch, but this is the opposite.” With the Wearsiders bidding for a fourth consecutive win, Poyet says his men must remain focused on their big chance to leapfrog out of the bottom three. He added: “We are halfway there, but if we don’t do the other half, it will count for nothing. We were very far away when we started this, and everybody was looking at the table and writing us off, even some of my friends! “Now we are there in the mix, but that is still only a job half done.” Poyet has confirmed midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng will remain at Sunderland until the summer, as Swansea had to recall him by December 28 if they were to cut his season-long loan short. The pursuit of Estudiantes defender Santiago Vergini has been complicated by third party ownership, but Sunderland still hope to strike a deal. Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...-affect-players-against-3030177#ixzz2qboQJhTW Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
