Toby signs for Spurs - official.

I dont see him saying he wants to return to saints in that de telegraf article. Or have i missed it

 

http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...eld_wil_bij_Koeman_blijven__.html&prev=search

Vin

 

I want him but 18m is a bit much for a central defender at our level of development, no matter how much we like him.

I'd be surprised if we'd offered that much.

On Chelsea and Spuds, and the like. I think it's funny when their team or local papers are all saying players will go to them, and how great they are. As soon as it looks like they might not get the player the papers come out with articles like "is he the right player for us" and "would he improve our squad". Don't know how people don't see right though it, I guess it's what they want to hear.

 

I really am surprised at the reluctance to pay 18mill for him. He's quality - best CB I have ever seen in a Saints shirt and it would be a massive coup if we signed him.

 

"Southampton makes a lot of opportunity, because I know the club. They have always been good to me and I have helped them."

Nice comments, but he is not exactly saying he wants to return. Hope he does tho.class player

 

I guess it all comes down to any alternatives we have i mind. If we have none then we will have to pay what we can to get him.

I just don't think we have that kind of money to throw around if we can bring someone slightly worse, or even two slightly worse defender for less. Especially with our knack for bringing out the best in players

 

If we've got the money available then why would we go for someone worse? FFS we're looking to get into Europe on a regular basis. We need to spend big money to do that.

 

Why do fans get hung up over transfer fee's its not as if its our money, as long as the club gets the players it feels it needs who gives a toss how much it cost. We've signed 3 players for less than 10 million now i'm guessing that puts our remaining budget at more than expected so we can afford to splash the cash a bit on Toby.

 

That's my drum...hand it back! It isn't our money and we must trust the board to spend it wisely (conveniently forgetting Osvaldo, Forren, and that big-headed guy who never even made it to preseason). I'm sure we have ample funds as long as fans don't expect us to compete with the big guys (those sort of players won't come here anyway).

 

This. The club wont spend what they cant afford

 

Toby is the master of the diplomatic speech....mainly because he is a nice guy and (that rarest of creatures) a footballer with a brain. He had a good season here and I'm sure he would see it as no hardship to remain in the EPL with us, but he can't afford to offend Atletico Madrid (nor would he want to) or put off any other team vying for his signature if we can't reach an agreement. I am still hopeful.

 

So dtlw post is slightly misleading then

 

Given what is at stake...go for believing DTLW. I want to.....I sometimes tend to looking at things from all angles....let's go for optimism.

 

I am also slightly surprised. Ok, we don't want to pay any more than we have to, but the guy is proven quality in a Saints shirt. The gamble doesn't come any less than that.

 

And what is our level of development.?

We are only a couple of places behind where an £18M defender would be commonplace. Didn't Liverpool pay £20M for a defender only last season.? I call them ourr rivals, don't you.?

 

That's not a good attitude.

 

Would be a bad attitude for the board, but ok for a fan.

 

At least we would get a defender who can defend

 

We payed 12 million for Long, and he was only ever going to be a squad player. Toby - just a boring ol' defender - is probably as valuable as a twenty goal striker. 18 million is a steal if we get him for another 3-4 seasons.

 

Shake the old Saint out of you, or do you want to accept staying outside the top 6 forever? I'm not saying we will break through, but I will say that the club are deadly serious about trying. They are being very clever, by signing bargains where they can and allowing big funds to be spent where needed. 18m on a CB isn't that big when you consider PSG paid 50m for a crap one, United paid 28m for Rio 10 years or so ago and Liverpool paid 20m for Lovren.

We may not make the top, but we are going to have a bloody good crack at it.