Saints Chairman Ralph Krueger has again made a statement regarding the transfer speculation surrounding the club.
A week or so ago Ralph Krueger addressed the fans via the club's website and made a bold statement that no players would be sold until a new manager was appointed, it was a statement designed to help calm down some of the more volatile elements of the club's support who were becoming more voiciferous and only helping fuel the fires of those in the media who are looking to de stabilise the club.
The reality of the situation i that for some Saints supporters, whatever Krueger did was going to be seen as a reason to claim the club was in meltdown, if he said nothing he would be accused of being naive and doing nothing if he made a statement he would be accused of being naive and just saying fine words.
Whatever Krueger said of didnt say was always going to be a stick to beat him by for some, the news that Rickie Lambert was about to be sold to Liverpool meant that Krueger almost immediately found himself going back on his own words, no manager had been appointed yet here was a player leaving the club and the club talisman at that.
It has to be said though that just about the only thing wrong with the deal was the timing, £4 million for a player who will be 33 in January is good business, even more so if we keep our current playing style under a new manager.
But when Liverpool came calling with an ultimatum Ralph had a quandary, did he do what was in the best interests of Southampton Football Club or did he do what was i the best interests of Ralph Krueger's reputation amongst Saints fans.
The easiest decision would have been to rebuff Liverpool and keep Saints supporters off his back, but that would probably not be the right decision either for Saints or Rickie Lambert himself, perhaps some Saints fans dont realise it, at least not yet, but Ralph Krueger has shown that he is not afraid to make the right decision even if it is not the best decision for him personally.
In his latest statement Krueger has again reiterated that the club's vision and focus remains unchanged
"We are staying true to our plan and vision and, as a result, we have no need to accept any offers. We are deep in the process of appointing a new manager who will continue to move our club forward. It remains our preference not to partake in any transfers until the new manager is in place. Our scouting & recruitment department continues to monitor targets we have identified to improve our squad, and the new manager will have final input into our recruitment process."
he only thing that has changed is that Krueger has pointed out that the club's "preference" is that no players leave, Preference rather than an emphatic "Won't leave" this shows that he has perhaps learnt that he has to pick his words, what it doesnt mean though is that the club are no longer resolute, as confirmed
"There may be circumstances under which the club will feel it is right for a player to move on. Those circumstances have to be right for the club and the player. This is the case with Rickie’s move to Liverpool. "
This is a trying time for the club at present, its made harder by the fact that as of yet we don't know how good or bad Ralph Krueger is as as Chairman, what we have learnt though so far is that he leads from the front and he is not afraid to change direction when he feels that it is right for the club.
What we also need to realise is that at the moment we are in the hands of Krueger and indeed Katharina Liebherr, yes only time will tell if they will take the club forward, but we have to trust them, if for no other reason than we have no other choice.
So the best thing we as supporters can do is support them and help them through a difficult time, if we do so then it can only help the situation, it cannot worsen it, indeed the only thing that can worsen it at the moment is ourselves making it seem more of a crisis than it is by knee jerk reaction social media postings that only fan the flames.
If supporters realise that the fact in modern football is that players and managers move on when they get better offers whether they are at Manchester City, United or Saints and that all that matters is what happens next and not the past then perhaps we can move on.
Ironically Nicola Cortese's entire manifesto was based on forgetting the past with the future all that matters, some of his die hard supporters are now conveniently forgetting that and not allowing his successor the time to show that he knows what he is doing.