x

Saints Fans Need To Keep Calm Its A Marathon Not A Sprint !

With Luke Shaw going to Manchester United and the impending departure of Adam Lallana there seems to be an air of doom and gloom among-st some Saints supporters but now is the time to keep calm.

It is of course a little disconcerting to see three of your top players walk out of the door in quick succession, however a summer transfer window is like a football match in the fact that the score at the end is the only thing that matters, going a couple of goals down early on doesn't mean you won't win the game after 90 minutes, so we Saints fans need to hold steady and trust that by the close of the transfer window the squad will be as strong as before.

The word is "Squad" of course losing three key players is a blow, but they can be replaced and if we replace them well then the upshot could be a far stronger squad overall and this could actually put us in a stronger position overall, last season we relied too heavily on around 13 outfield players, that was never good and i would hope that Ronald Koeman will look to not only strengthen his first team but the squad overall.

To do that he wil be looking at having a transfer kitty of at least £60 million assuming that the Club's promise to re invest all of the monies received back into incoming transfers.

That in itself puts us in an enviable position when compared to most of the Premier League, the 12 clubs below us would love to not only have a manager of the calibre of Koeman, but to have so much money to strengthen the squad and this is key, even after the loss of those players as a whole we are still in a better position than at least a third of the league, we spend the money wisely and there is no reason why we should not continue to consolidate our position in the Premier League and then enhance it with a tilt at one of the domestic cup competitions and perhaps with that European qualification.

From this point of view I see our ambition actually being higher than before, last season the words from both the ex Chairman and manager were all about Champions League qualification, fine words but in reality we were far from having either the squad or financial clout to make those fine words realistic, indeed Pochettino rubbished the Europa League and was not interested in it nor the cup competitions, his ambitions stretched no further than a league position that kept us free of relegation.

Now that has changed, Koeman knows the value of a trophy or two and how even playing the Europa League can up your profile and make it easier to sign good up and coming players, this being the case this season might well be a lot more exciting than the last.

So we Saints supporters need to keep an open mind on the situation for the time being, let's give our new manager time to get his feet under the table and put his plans into operation, in footballing terms we have gone a goal down earlier in the game, but there is plenty of time to come back and win by the final whistle, ironically this is something we never did under Pochettino, perhaps now we will see things have changed both on and off the pitch.

What to read next:

AFC Bournemouth 3 - 1 Southampton - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
AFC Bournemouth 5 - 0 Swansea City - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Queens Park Rangers 2 - 3 AFC Bournemouth - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Swansea City 2 - 3 AFC Bournemouth - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
AFC Bournemouth 4 - 1 Leeds United - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Southampton 0 - 1 AFC Bournemouth - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Leeds United 4 - 3 AFC Bournemouth - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
AFC Bournemouth 0 - 1 Southampton - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Swansea City 3 - 3 AFC Bournemouth - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Blackpool 1 - 2 AFC Bournemouth - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.