Wesley Hoedt is being reported as being about to join Sofiane Boufal in La Liga according to the Spanish media.

Wesley Hoedt is about to join Sofiane Boufal at Celta Vigo according to Victor Lopez of Spanish news station Radio Galega on what would be a loan move to the end of the season.

Hoedt of course has been a scapegoat for many and has yet to feature under Ralph Hasenhuttl.

But Hoedt has not been the worst player in the centre of Saints defence this season, in fact I would say he has been perhaps the best of a bad bunch, but when you are a whipping boy for certain sections of the crowd then there is no leeway.

People forget the man of the match performances that Hoedt had at Crystal Palace & Bournemouth and only remember the odd error, the defeat at Fulham saw the Dutchman blamed for the defeat for a poor clearance up the line rather than blaming those who left players completely unmarked on all three goals.

Hoedt has not been played by Hasenhuttl who stated at the start of his reign that everybody would be given a chance and he has stayed true to his word, it is strange that academy players have been given a run out but Hoedt has not, which suggests that his departure is not about his playing ability, but about his desire to play for the club.

Whilst most have knuckled down and embraced the new regime it seems that Hoedt may be one who does not want to get on the bus and would prefer to move on.

From the point of view of the abuse he has got from supporters you cannot blame him for that and we need to learn a lesson from this, Ralph Hasenhuttl seemed to have noticed this tendency for certain players to be abused and felt it necessary to urge the crowd to get behind the team and keep them going by supporting their endeavours not abusing them.

We should note that in the past few weeks players like Nathan Redmond, James Ward Prowse, Shane Long and even Jannik Vestergaard, just four who have had more than their fair share of abuse have put in match winning displays that have helped us win games and move up the league, I hoped that might have been the case for Wesley Hoedt but sadly it seems not.

If you are sat there reading this and feeling pleased tat a player for this football club has failed and is leaving the club then that is a strange way to support a football team, I criticise players on this website and in the pub etc, but I don't hate them and want them to fail, I don't scream at them if they slice a ball into touch, I want them to prove me wrong and succeed, because if they do then it means that Southampton FC have a better chance of achieving it's aims.

If you think I am wrong and that abusing a player all the time encourages him, don't take it up with me, take it up with Ralph Hasenhuttl because you are certainly not on his bus.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 10:08 - Jan 21 I am not pleased that he has 'failed'. I would be pleased to see him move on because I don't think he is awfully good. He had plenty of opportunities to prove he was the player that Nick wanted him to be and quite frankly wasn't up to the job. The Les Reed legacy in the centre of our defence has led to lots of angry words and recriminations. Supporters used to the likes of Lovren (yes he WAS good for most of his time with us), Toby, Fonte and Van Dick expected a better lead centre-back. All the childish 'hate' and pointless abuse and barracking does not hide the fact that he wasn't good enough. To argue that he isn't the worst of the CB bunch says much more about Reed's appalling recruitment than it does about the quality of Hoedt. I wish him well and it can't have been easy stepping into a team on a slippery slope but in the end you get paid enormous amounts to overcome such things. Our defence was there for a powerful CB to take hold of it but sadly Hoedt was not that man.

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underweststand added 10:21 - Jan 21 Another example of buying players from Euro. countries where they performed well but just couldn't come to terms with the intensive pace of the Prem. Aside from 2 O.G.s this season, he has a record of making poor decisions and getting caught on the ball leading to disaster. Not good for us , or for the player's confidence. I don't rate him as a bad player, but (as with Gardos) somehow he just seems out of his depth with Saints. A (good) loan-out could lead to him finding form and an eventual move, meanwhile it will thin out the squad (per Ralph's comment) and when Yoshida returns, we will still have a strong back line. Now we need to resolve the " Cedric situation" ....although I'm also wondering if Ralph (dares) to call Boufal and Carrillo back and challenge them to perform "his way" .?

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SanMarco added 10:25 - Jan 21 No problem with Ralph 'daring' but do they work hard enough underweststand??
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perazi added 10:44 - Jan 21 Hoedt is easily the worst of our CB's and quite rightly Ralph is moving him on. About time you owned the mistake you made in labelling him our best CB.
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highfield49 added 10:46 - Jan 21 A bit of a strange rant at supporters, on behalf of Hoedt, this morning Nick. Personally I don't think that he is necessarily better or worse than any of the central defenders, apart from Bednarek who is maturing rapidly. I suspect that I'm like many others who presumed that Hoedt wasn't prepared to train harder or listen to advice and had decided that hard work wasn't on his agenda. I wish him well wherever he goes but also wish that he'd grasped the opportunity which others have clearly embraced. Strange that he is potentially joining Boufal at Celta Vigo because my impression is that both have serious ego issues that will prevent them reaching there potential.

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highfield49 added 10:49 - Jan 21 *their potential
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saintjf added 11:06 - Jan 21 I always thought that Hoedt was given a hard time. When he made a mistake he was hammered for it and when Yoshi made mistakes it was ignored. Hoedt was 'jeered at' which was not acceptable and certainly not fair. I hope it works out for him in Spain. We still need to sort a decent CB as 2 of those we are left with are little better than Hoedt was.
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Number_58 added 11:36 - Jan 21 Are you related to Hoedt, Nick? Your obsession with him is truly bizarre. The irony is that you slag off Yoshida and Stephens week in, week out and then moan about Hoedt being the 'whipping boy'. The only difference is that fortunately the vast majority of the fanbase don't share your same view.
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skiptonsaint added 12:00 - Jan 21 Of the 5 centre backs I think it makes sense for him to move on because clearly him and Ralph haven’t bonded. If he had been a 5m one for the future itwould of been a different story for me. But he is clearly expensive on our wage bill and we need to clear the decks in some areas ready for the rebuild which looks like it is going to be very exciting.
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Colburn added 12:12 - Jan 21 Yeah this one surprises me too Nick. I can’t agree. Firstly as Number 58 says, you don’t rate Stephens who is 10 times a better footballer than Hoedt. Also not sure you saw the quality and potential of Bednarek, esp when Hughes was manager. The defence needed to be fitter and better coached and now they are. Finally... have you gone all PC all of a sudden? Franny the legend got more stick than anyone and got on with things. I’m not saying it’s right but seriously, pay me 50 grand a week to play the game I love and you can shout what you like at me, especially when I’m underperforming or not working hard enough! It comes with the territory. Don’t become soft Nick, there’s no difference between moaning at defenders on here or during games. It’s always been the same so don’t start this nonsense calling it abuse and turning all Europansy.. it’s just passionate fans getting frustrated with lazy or underperforming players who can afford to buy a house a month!

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bstokesaint added 12:43 - Jan 21 I’m with SanMarco. I don’t hate Hoedt and I’ve never abused him, but I’ve always thought he looks out of his depth. I think you could put Stephens and Vestegaard in that bracket too. For years we’ve been blessed with three or four world class centre backs and that is the new benchmark. Why should we accept anything less?
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ThermosNBlanket added 13:26 - Jan 21 So you write an article calling for the fanbase to be united then write that attacking the fanbase slightly hypocritical don't you think?
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davepid added 13:33 - Jan 21 Hi As a matter of interest when we post on here, do we think the players access this site to read what we write or do we assume they don’t so it’s safe to say what we like. Ive always assumed that don’t but who knows.
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SaintBrock added 13:39 - Jan 21 Hoedt's absence from the team sheets of late is one of those mysteries that probably will never be explained. "What is said in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room" will be about as much as we will ever be told. What we do know if we are to believe the words of Herr Hasenhüttl is that he has sat down with every player and had long get to know you conversations one on one with every player. It could be that Lesley Hoedt or his family just do not like it here and regret signing up to come to Southampton? Maybe whoever brought him in oversold the place and the team ambition and he has become disillusioned. It is these kinds of personal factors that are more likely to be the reason he wants out than football matters itself as in fairness Hasenhüttl has not really spent enough time watching him in action in league games to conclude that he doesn't fit in with his long term plans.

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pintsizedsaint added 13:55 - Jan 21 Any transfer is a gamble; even those involving ready-proven, world class footballers. This is because it is not just down to form and ability, but also affected by psychological and social factors too. I suspect any loan move isn't simply down to Hoedt not living up to his potential yet. A key factor for me (IMO) is our policy of looking for ball playing CB's that are marked as 'potential' in european leagues. Hoedt and Vestergaard are in a similar bracket here; looking for players who are deemed to be useful to play out and quickly transition defence to attack. There is nothing wrong with that; it's part of Southampton's tactical foundation. Yet it has meant that an incoming defender has been brought in on the assumption they will acclimatise to the rough and tumble of the EPL. That hasn't happened for Hoedt and he has also had the issue of having to play in overtly negative squads (i.e. Puel and MoPo2). Will be interesting to see how Saints approach the area of CB going forward now.

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SaintPaulVW added 13:57 - Jan 21 And Yoshida and Stephens have had man of the match performances too and then gone on to drop a bullock in the next match. Some one has to go and Dave clearly doesn't rate Wes or Wes doesn't rate Dave. Hey ho. Eggs broken, Omelettes made. Next!
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the_saint added 15:47 - Jan 21 Who cares what he thinks I still get paid (reaction to Hasenhuttl chat with him and what he told a player afterwards ) that’s why he does not feature. So stop feeling sorry for him and good riddance
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Dave__C added 21:43 - Jan 21 Maybe we can swap him and Boufal for Pione Sisto.
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the_saint added 08:14 - Jan 22 I could even name the player he told saint brock but won’t as it would get a very good friend of mine into trouble
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