Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are believed to be lining up big bids for jay Rodriguez in the January transfer window as they come under increasing pressure after poor starts.

Saints fans will be both amused and alarmed to hear that Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Pochettino are allegedly looking to St Mary's in the shape of jay Rodriguez, such is their desperation that they are willing to offer huge sums of money for a player who has yet to kick a ball in anger since the start of April when he was injured at Manchester City.

Both are under pressure at their clubs, Rodgers for how after losing only one player in the summer and spending somewhere in the region of £140 million on a host of replacements including the trio from Southampton, his Liverpool side is in complete disaray with most of their signings misfiring leaving them 11 points behind Saints going into the International break.

For his part Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure for a different reason, he inherited a squad that had a lot of money spent on it the previous season and a shed load more this summer, yes some was recouped by selling players but most of that was on players already out on loan like Jake Livermore or bit part players, in short Pochettino was seen as a man to get the best out of an expensive squad that had finished 6th last year and take it forward.

Now he like Rodgers finds that his reputation is on the verge of being in tatters Spurs like Liverpool are 11 points behind us and without a couple of 90th minute winners at West ham and Villa, Pochettino's side would be lying 17th only a point off the drop zone, showing how thin the line between mid table and meltdown they are treading.

So both men will be phoning St Mary's in the coming weeks and placing their bids, but should Saints fans be scared ?

The answer is no, whichever way it goes there is cause for optimism.

The first scenario is of course that Rodriguez does not want to go anywhere, it could be that he will see Saints as a much better opportunity for glory than either Liverpool or the North London Soccer Chickens, at Liverpool he could find it hard to get into the team with so many big money signings and at Spurs he would be walking into a disaster zone with a squad that clearly are not that enamoured with their new manager as shown by their performances.

If Rodriguez stays then he will be another asset to Saints who would then have a strong squad to push on in the new year.

But their is a question whether he will come back the same player and that may be something Saints will consider when the bid comes in, he would be valued at something approaching £25 million and given that Saints have Pelle, Long, Mane & Tadic in the offensive positions the club itself may feel given the gamble on his fitness that now could be a time to cash in, 3 months ago any talk of selling Rodriguez would have been met with rage in the Saints support, but now they can see just why Saints might consider selling, £25 million in the transfer kitty plus the unspent money could really enable us to kick on with a stronger squad in the New Year, in this respect the next six weeks will be crucial, if Saints are still up there then they have some tough thinking to do.

So whether Rodriguez goes or stays will be a positive for Saints, but the good thing is we are in control of our own destiny, we are comfortable enough to make the right decision and we now have a manager in place who can make those decisions no matter how tough.

The coming weeks are going to be interesting both on and off the pitch, if come the opening of the transfer window Saints are in a League cup semi final and still holding on to a top four spot then holding on to players is going to be a lot easier, the real question though is whether we would want to.

Photo: Action Images

Waylander added 14:19 - Nov 10 It seems madness to me to consider paying out huge amounts of money on a player who is returning from serious injury without any evidence of how well he has recovered. It took him a long time (while fully fit) to hit that streak of form last season. Who knows if he will ever regain that form?
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nomorerumours added 14:58 - Nov 10 Ssssh Waylander - don't tell Brenda or Poch that they might be making another big spending gaff. Good points as usual Nick. We cannot lose either way. Last week it was confirmed that JayRod was 4 weeks ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and he may be back into full training later this month. This might give him a chance to get a little game time in minor matches during December. We should be in a better position to assess his overall fitness by the end of the year. It will still be difficult to assess whether he'll be capable of regaining last season's form but there may be glimpses of it. If he continues to recover and gets to full match fitness and appears strong (perhaps stronger than before - as he's been working hard on his upper body even whilst in a leg brace) he may even reach the 1st team bench. If we waited until the end of the January window, we might have a much better idea of his longer term fitness and playing ability - but so will Spuds and L'pool. One final point. There was similar huge and persistent media speculation over JayRod in the summer window - I think that at least 90% of it is hype and rumourmongering. We have not heard from JayRod or his agent at all on this subject. I would still be surprised if any deals were done in January.

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1teeminants added 15:22 - Nov 10 The fact is we have caught up with the likes of Spurs and Everton. Yes they might be bigger clubs but not massively bigger and certainly not big enough to entice the likes of Rodriguez to leave. There is no reason for him to leave , he could get champions league football by staying here. Liverpool are a massive club but at the moment we are better than them and surely Jay rod can see this.

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SaintNick added 15:49 - Nov 10 It is fine to say we have caught up with Spurs and Everton, but this is only this season, what we have to look at is the earning potential both have from a big supporter base and this is what funds Spurs in particular annual transfer money waste, we are talking about £40 million in commercial income per year more than us, we have to bridge that gap. That comes down to filling the ground every week no matter who is paying and brininging in commercial income

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saintwizzler added 15:54 - Nov 10 Spurs & Liverpool need a decent CB not Jay. Liverpool conceded far too many goals last year but had the goofy cheat's goals. This year they have Super Mario who couldn't hit a bull's arse with a banjo.
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BoondockSaint added 16:07 - Nov 10 MP is having the same problem his predessors had: The inmates run the asylum and know the manager will get sacked before them, also MP's short comings in tactics (which drove us crazy last year) is now out there for all to see. If they want to give us stupid money for J-Rod, fine and dandy! Anyone listen to Men in Blazers? Last week they said Luke Shaw is playing like a college freshman who just discovered weed! He certainly seems to have a bad case of the munchies! Slightly off topic: Notice how the media is always referring to the points between Chelsea and ManCity? As if we weren't there? At least in his post game interview when the reporter referred to the gap between Chelsea and City, Jose said "And lets not forget Southampton, you have to give them respect."

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IanRC added 17:13 - Nov 10 Pochettino will be sacked before Christmas and Brenda could follow him too. I doubt to Jay will leave in January and hope he doesn't. If he can return to his best he will be a great asset, particularly if we can make it into Europe.
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barry_sanchez added 18:00 - Nov 10 Spurs and Everton are an awful lot bigger than us commercially, lets not kid ourselves, Liverpool and United are on a different planet, only sustained success will bring in the cling on glory parasite, do we want them? Not a chance.
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WestSussexSaint added 18:38 - Nov 10 While I agree with the above posts and every player has a price, doesn't there come a point where we have to make a stand on transfers and tell Liverpool and Spurs to do one if they come knocking. These rumours only exist because of the summer exodus and the media now look at our squad first for any transfer rumours. By keeping our top talent this will put a lid on the scare mongering that press only do to sell papers, after all logic would point to there being absolutely no reason for J Rod to move to either club but when did logic and evidence get in the way of a good story! Rant over but the arrogance of the media and the "big" clubs makes me mad!

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ChristchurchSaint added 20:33 - Nov 10 One point that has been made is that neither Judas or Brenda may be in their jobs come January! I would think that the Spurs/Liverpool boards will be getting extremely impatient if they have not at least started the turnaround by Christmas. It does strike me as a desperate situation if both clubs are prepared to risk big money on a player who has not played for 7 months and even with the best progress, JRod is unlikely to be 100% ready and playing well by the New Year. As much as I would not like to see him leave, if we are offered silly money then maybe it should be considered. Alternatively, we just tell both clubs and JRod that no deal will be made, and the matter is closed ( as per Morgan)

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1teeminants added 22:35 - Nov 10 With respect I don't think jay rod will be that interested in who has the bigger commercial revenue. Of course they are bigger clubs than us I was talking about on the pitch. Sfc Has a Fantastic future ahead with the best academy and facilities in the country. Players like jay rod would not leave for the likes of Spurs. Sideways move IMO.
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richardmdcooper added 00:36 - Nov 11 Good article. Personally think we should do everything we can to keep J-Rod - would give us great strength in depth and good options going forward - particularly if we're in Europe next year. Same rationale for keeping Jack Cork of course in relation to the midfield. If we can keep both of them in the January window and ideally get them signed to long term deals, we'll be in good shape.

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Consigliere added 09:28 - Nov 11 Two very interesting articles in this morning's Telegraph - In the first they report disquiet amongst normally loyal Arsenal staff about the manager's tactics and strategy. In the second, they say that players are unhappy at Spurs and think that the club takes two steps back for every step it takes forward. Take note JR and JWP, take very careful note. When a move is suggested to you, ask yourself the question, "Who does this benefit, me or my agent?"

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