Southampton

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VirginiaSpur said:
If they compound the misery by selling Schneiderlin and Rodriguez then surely they're going down, right?

They're facing the practical fact of having to replace their entire outfield starting lineup. Even if they splash the cash before deadline then how many of those transfer are going to work, on average?

Say what you will about the promoted teams, and the endless fail-train that is QPR and their massive wages, but at least with those teams there is going to be a nucleus of players that have actually played together.

And what professional is going to look at them right now as an attractive move? Say what you will about them getting inflated fees for average or above average players, but at this rate are they reasonably going to be able to move for superior options that won't laugh in their face?
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I was mulling this over last night. Selling 5+ of your best players is a horrendous idea. Replacing them is going to be hard, given that every club in the league knows that they have a lot of cash to work with - they'll try to take Southampton for as much as possible. Fair enough that they get rid of people like Lallana and Shaw, they were always going to go (especially for the money that Shaw demanded, with Targett ready to fill in his place), but what about the rest?

There has to be a point where the chairman puts his fist down and says 'enough is enough.' Unfortunately, they seem to be riding high in a sea of £50 notes and not actually caring about the upcoming season. The signings that they do bring in will take a while to bed in, so who is to say that their early form will be any good? And what happens after that? After a few bad results at the start, with a squad full of new, unfamiliar faces under the stewardship of a new manager and coaching staff - surely panic buttons will be pressed and morale will be low?

They won't finish in the top half this season, and if Newcastle can go down with the squad they had a few seasons ago - what makes Southampton any better off? The money they received from all these deals will mean absolutely fuck all if they're playing in the Championship.
 
Park Lane James said:
Yeah, very unfortunate. If this talk about Liebherr selling the club is true - she will be a very rich lady!
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I think ultimately that's the point of it all. Even if Southampton do get relegated, that academy and the parachute payments wouldn't ensure that the club would still survive, but its still not ideal for the fans.
 
Re: the Soton Essays

They are placing way too much importance on Cortese, Pochettino and "the Vision" - it's pretty simple - their players have been offered more money to play elsewhere and so wanted to leave.........this the reality for every club, they are no different.

"The Southampton Way"

WALOB.
 
Transfers (guttings) like these will turn the PL into a 'spanish' league where there are 4-5 teams competing for titles and the rest are fillings. It makes me sad to see a team that played entertaining and good football be butchered in such manners. I dont see Soton coming back from such a huge loss. They might be making the big buck now but I cant see them doing anything valuable(maybe blackjack/hookers/coke) with their money. If financial fair play wont balance these issues out, in a few years we will see 100+mil transfers for the top teams and the rest will try and fight to avoid relegation.
 
Blanchflower said:
Re: the Soton Essays

They are placing way too much importance on Cortese, Pochettino and "the Vision" - it's pretty simple - their players have been offered more money to play elsewhere and so wanted to leave.........this the reality for every club, they are no different.

"The Southampton Way"

WALOB.
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I disagree. Have you read about what Cortese was doing at the club? He had everyone believing, from top to bottom, that their potential is limitless and they can achieve great things so long as they were pulling in the same direction. This is a club that was in League One only a few years back! He took the 'marginal gains' approach of the British Cycling team by ensuring that no stone was left unturned in search of a competitive advantage.

Yes, the reality is that these players will earn more at their new clubs than they did at Southampton. But do you not feel that if they wouldn't have left the doors wide open for any offer than they could have kept more or them? We dug our heels in with Modric and Bale (as others have said), and were able to get them to stay for another season despite huge sums of money being offered for them (£50 million from Chelsea for Modric).
 
Joe Clash said:
There is no way Southampton are going down under Koeman. They have a classy academy, and a fuck load of money. They will be fine.
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Yep. All that money will get them past the 40 point safety net. Just ask Tony Fernandes. What is it these days, £5m for a win, £3m for a draw?
 
Park Lane James said:
I disagree. Have you read about what Cortese was doing at the club? He had everyone believing, from top to bottom, that their potential is limitless and they can achieve great things so long as they were pulling in the same direction. This is a club that was in League One only a few years back! He took the 'marginal gains' approach of the British Cycling team by ensuring that no stone was left unturned in search of a competitive advantage.

Yes, the reality is that these players will earn more at their new clubs than they did at Southampton. But do you not feel that if they wouldn't have left the doors wide open for any offer than they could have kept more or them? We dug our heels in with Modric and Bale (as others have said), and were able to get them to stay for another season despite huge sums of money being offered for them (£50 million from Chelsea for Modric).
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So why did Cortese leave? - He realised they'd gone as far as they could and he jumped......

The players have had the same realisation, as soon as one or two go from a team like this it falls apart.

I fail to see any comparisons between them and us with Modric and Bale.
 
Millbanks said:
I'm not sure they can simply replace the players sold. The heart of the team has been ripped out. I can't see how they won't be involved in a relegation battle this season.
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Half the PL were flirting with relegation last season, there are other teams that are waiting to be found out this season too. If Swansea lose Bony and don't replace him, they could be in trouble and Villa have been getting closer each year.
 
Murphy said:
Half the PL were flirting with relegation last season, there are other teams that are waiting to be found out this season too. If Swansea lose Bony and don't replace him, they could be in trouble and Villa have been getting closer each year.
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Swansea bought Gomis though, so I don't think losing Bony and not replacing him is necessarily terminal for them.
 
Murphy said:
Half the PL were flirting with relegation last season, there are other teams that are waiting to be found out this season too. If Swansea lose Bony and don't replace him, they could be in trouble and Villa have been getting closer each year.
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I'd be surprised if we see such an open bottom half of the table again. But the point remains, rather than improving on their dazzling performances, push for Europe and top half finish, they will no doubt slide and battle to remain a Premier League side.

Swansea have already replaced Bony with Gomis.

Villa are a dreadful side and have been for a few years, but not for this reason.
 
Blanchflower said:
So why did Cortese leave? - He realised they'd gone as far as they could and he jumped......

The players have had the same realisation, as soon as one or two go from a team like this it falls apart.

I fail to see any comparisons between them and us with Modric and Bale.
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I'm not entirely sure as I don't work at the club, but supposedly the working relationship wasn't fruitful anymore and there was a conflict of interests. He held the club together - one of my friend works there and said that he always had time for everyone at the club and was a real positive energy. When someone that influential leaves the club, it is very hard to replace him. If that isn't done, then the identity and ambition of club depletes and it seeps down to the players and the manager.

The fact is - while we have always had stability at boardroom level and a consistent transfer policy, the same cannot be said of Southampton after Cortese left the club. Promises that were made under Cortese (and were probably fulfilled before he left), could no longer be held because of the conflict of interests that led to his departure.
 
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