Ronald Koeman has claimed that he was forced to leave St Mary's after the club insisted he signed a new deal.
Ronald Koeman has finally spoken about why he left St Mary's and claimed that it was not about money, but about how Southampton were insisting that they could not go into the final season of his contract without him sgning a new deal.
Speaking to the press up on Merseyside Koeman said.
"My first option was to continue at Southampton, to do my last season of contract, but it was not possible,"
"They said it's not good because we like to know the future. I said it was not a problem because I signed three times a one-year contract with Feyenoord in Holland."
"I then got a proposal from Southampton and in my opinion, it was not what I liked to see."
"Then the whole Everton story came out and the interest and also the interest from my part."
"But Les Reed said to me that it was no possible to go through my last year of contract without knowing what would happen after. That made it more difficult."
This story will not please some Saints fans who will blame Les Reed for pushing Koeman out of the club, however before they point fingers they should also consider that there are two sides to every story.
Of course Saints would have been keen for the Dutchman to sign a new deal, indeed this is what every Saints fan was demanding and asking why the club had not done so long before the season ended.
Given that contracts for managers are not as binding as they are for players as we have just found out, we also have to question Koeman, this is a convenient excuse that paints the picture of a man who was willing to stay and is almost being forced to accept Everton's £6 million offer against his will.
The reality is that Koeman had little to lose by signing an extension to his existing contract, it is said that a new two year deal was on the table, this would have only extended his current deal by a year, it would have given him more money and little would have changed.
That being the case although as he says he was happy to work with a one year contract, in contrast in terms of being able to accept a bigger offer from the likes of Barcelona etc, he was in no different position really whether he had two or one year left on his deal.
Indeed if he was so against signing a three year deal, then why did he sign one at Everton ? only one reason and that is they like Saints would not accept him on a one year deal and it was three years or nothing, an easy choice when there is £6-7 million a year on offer
It is a sad end to a great two year period in Saints Premier League history, but the club will move on and the supporters have to, it is a disappointment losing Koeman, a big disappointment, but there are two sides to every story and both the Dutchman and the club will be keen to paint themselves in the best possible light, the truth is somewhere in the middle.