| News Comment | Who Will Be The Next Southampton Manager ! A Surprise Candidate Emerges. at 09:00:24
Nick, you are spot on about Ralph. The figures do not lie, and at best they should at least prompt his detractors into considering the decision to sack him may not have been the right move. Yet, you are jumped on for even mentioning it, as no doubt I will be for this comment. I find it interesting that some are so forcible and quick to argue against your opinions on Ralph. Many were screaming for his head back in October, they got what they wanted, but it made things worse. Perhaps this is a door some do not want to look behind, or even consider approaching, particularly as we are now getting relegated. No matter who the manager was this season, with the squad we had, including no new striker, it was always going to be difficult. That blame lies above the manager. |
| News Comment | Are Newcastle Seeking To Gain An Unfair Advantage By Calling Games Off at 10:55:32
The Premier League need to get far more involved in these postponements. They need to independently test the players to see who can play and who can’t play, and if it’s the latter, they then need to determine whether they can’t play because of Covid, suspension or injury. By all means get a game postponed but for the rescheduled fixture, only the players who were originally fit, or who had Covid for the first game, should be eligible for the rescheduled fixture. No team should be gaining an advantage by allowing players time to regain fitness, or to come back from suspension, or time to buy new players, in time for the rescheduled game. This approach should be applied to all teams in the league, not just Saints and Newcastle. To be honest, this idea is not rocket science, the fact that it’s not been implemented so far does hint at the quality (or lack of quality) of the people involved in the governance of the league. Best league in the world we are told! |
| News Comment | Could Virgil Van Dijk Play For Saints Next Week ? at 17:54:47
Did none of you read Virgil's heartfelt transfer request the other day? He's obviously been treated disgracefully by the club and is looking for sympathy from the fans. Put him in the squad as a sub for Saturday, then make him run up and down the line to warm up so the fans can deliver their sympathy directly!!! |
| News Comment | Saints V Burnley The Verdict at 11:01:27
Good rally call Nick, I agree with your comments but in addition, I believe the onus is now on the club, not the fans, to show positive commitment to the cause by signing a few good players (add one more to that list if/when Fonte leaves). We made 25m in the last transfer window and it's been showing all season. |
| News Comment | Saints V Watford The Verdict at 13:07:59
Puel's first game so it would be ridiculous to show any discontent. But the man should be given every opportunity to succeed, however this is not happening. Our recruitment team has proved again this year, like previous years, that it can find some great talent. Transfers this summer alone mean we currently have a net transfer profit of 40m. Give a fair chunk of that money to the recruitment team and let them do what they do best, which will then give Puel every chance of success. |
| News Comment | Koeman Situation Nearing Conclusion ! But What Will It Be ? at 15:58:22
My guess is Koeman committed himself to Everton last weekend, albeit verbally, but could not sign a contract to make it official because compensation had not been agreed. The delay is the result of Everton trying to put pressure on Saints to accept a reduced compensation amount because they know we can't move on until he's gone so we would be keen to get the situation sorted asap. I imagine Everton are happy to splash the cash (and some) when it comes to paying their new manager because he's one of theirs, but are reluctant to pay too big an amount for compensation because ultimately they are paying a competitor. In short, it's a game of chicken, someone will flinch sooner or later and the deal will get done. But I hope I'm wrong and you are right Nick. It would be great to see a decision made in football that's not all about money. |
| News Comment | More Misery For Mourinho at 10:30:53
I like Mourinho, his ego is so big that whatever the situation he always provides a rubberneck entertainment. But the man has always lacked class, making him a perfect fit for Chelsea. Needless to say, he's even more entertaining at the moment because his team are in disarray. Still, to resolve the situation they'll chuck money at it, and when his team that cost ten times more than anyone else's starts to win again he will be lauded once again as a great manager! |
| News Comment | Lovren Admits He Has Not Found The Same Happiness At Anfield As He Had At St Mary's at 13:43:01
I agree with bstokesaint, I recon Lovren will have a good season. Funny thing psychology, last year with the weight of a 20m price tag on him he was shit, this season with Liverpool fans expecting more of the same he'll probably play well. Still, before that happens, lets at least take the piss a bit by reaffirming how bad he was last season by putting in a bid for 8m. While we're at it, chuck in a 10m bid for Lallana too! |
| News Comment | Lovren Admits He Has Not Found The Same Happiness At Anfield As He Had At St Mary's at 13:11:38
Offer them 8m to 10m for him and see if he'll come back. I guess most Saints fans will be disgusted at such a suggestion but cut the emotion out of it, and would it be such a bad deal for both clubs? Liverpool get rid of a player they obviously don't rate and Saints get the central defender they are looking for, one which has already had a proven quality partnership with our first choice centre back. Wages could be a problem, and also Liverpool's inability to swallow their pride by losing 12m on the player, even though they'll probably sell him for no more than 8m next summer after another season of being dropped. Something has to happen, Lovren's unhappiness is keeping me awake at night!!! |
| News Comment | Is £15 Million A Good Price For Clyne ? at 11:31:22
In my opinion Clyne is better than any of the three who left for Merseyside last summer, and I would consider him up there with, if not, the best right back in the Premier League. To me he is Champion League quality. So why go to Liverpool? If Liverpool's squad quality matched their clubs self pretensions then Clyne would definitely get CL football with them but the reality is, despite all their past glories and ex-pros spouting off as pundits, they are no longer the team they used to be, and are unlikely to qualify for the CL anytime soon. So if you are going to go Nathaniel, go to a team that can definitely offer you CL football and don't go to a team that can only offer you a chance of that level of European football in the future, especially when the team you are currently at can offer that same level of potential. |
| News Comment | Taider Leaves Southampton ? at 11:36:13
Going by his girlfriends comments the bloke obviously didn't want to be here from the off. He probably told her what to write to get it out there about how he really felt. Perhaps if he had the same attitude as his girlfriend then things might have worked out differently but with his evident bad attitude he obviously was never willing to give the move a chance, after all how can you hate a place after one day! Why the bad attitude? Probably a mixture of being paid thousands each week and having recently been on the books of one of the top teams in Europe has resulted in an overinflated ego leading to a believe that Saints aren't good enough for him. Some comment that he is a good player but in RoKo's eyes I'd say this is irrelevant, his bad attitude from day one at Saints meant RoKo would not play him (even in a league cup game) until his attitude changed. The club have obviously now given up hope that this will happen so with a few days left before the transfer window shuts have decided to get rid. In the modern game I certainly don't like how players can act the way they like but the majority now seem to have this mercenary attitude, but dare I say it, because I know we're not allowed to say anything positive about The Don on here!! but at least he seemed to grasp what modern football was like and used to sell some ambition (CL aspirations) to any quality players so that they would sign willingly and play wholeheartedly for the club. We can argue all day long whether those ambitions were pie in the sky or not but it really doesn't matter, because the important thing was that the players were stupid enough to believe what The Don said, and they would then sign to long contracts, meaning high transfer fees for the club if they left. Of course this is all just opinion and guess work but we didn't seem to have these transfer issues last summer, and we certainly didn't lose out to transfer targets to Sunderland. |
| News Comment | Sharp Rewarded For Shoddy Treatment By Saints at 08:31:15
Good luck to Billy but I have no sympathy. The reason the club are offering him on a free is that they want his large wage off the books, and they know that with a year left on his contract by offering him on a free this is the best way of achieving this. They also know that this affords any potential buyer the money they would have spent on a fee to instead put this money towards his wages, which I guess will have to be hefty enough to entice him off the one he's already on. This all adds up to a good chance of a deal happening. As for the journalists who argue we can't complain about lack of loyalty from other players because of the way we have treated Sharp, what a load of rubbish. We have just spent two years paying a large wage to Sharp despite it being made very obvious at the outset that he wasn't good enough for the Premier League and that we didn't want him to stay, I would say the club has been very loyal. As this summer has proved, the players you want to stay leave because they want more money, and will pretty much do anything to achieve this end, whereas they players you want to leave stay because they won't get the same money elsewhere. Either way, the players always win. Perhaps the journalists should write about that because for me, it's ruining the game. |
| News Comment | Poch Says Don't Fear Future at 09:51:00
I think we're just days away from losing the best manager we've had during the Premier League era, and if you need confirmation of the latter look no further than our points tally. How people can be so accepting of him leaving is beyond me. Don't give me all that 'the club is bigger than any man' rubbish. Clubs are made up of individuals and if those individuals are good, even great, at what they do then that results in a club that achieves. Yes, our manager would be replaced if he left but would the next man be as good? I doubt it, it's taken us this long to find a good one, they're not buses. What makes it even more frustrating is that like many people who have post on here I believe we are just a couple of good signings away from giving it a right good go, and pushing our way in amongst the cherry picking elite who always finish in the top seven. I feel we are at a crossroads this summer and it boils down to what sort of club we want in the coming years? Do we want a club that is an also-ran in the Premier League that sooner or later might get caught out by relegation and who just sells it's best players all the time. Or do we want a club that keeps it's players (that they developed) and god forbid sorry for even suggesting it to the top seven clubs, Sky and anyone else who long ago accepted the status quo of football, do we want a club that tries to challenge the top teams and win something. I want the latter, but nothing about the post-Cortese set up suggests to me that they do too. Still it's their money, not mine, so they have every right to decide. I just feel the club will be a house of cards this summer, MoPo, Lallana, Shaw and probably a few others will go. I wonder what Markus would have done at this crossroads, would he have pushed on from here? |
| News Comment | Saints At Fulham The Verdict at 14:05:57
Could Wanyama play as a centre back? He played there a few times for Celtic. I'm not saying he could slot straight in there now but with a bit of training, it could be a great position for him. With the cover we've got in that position after Lovren and Fonte I think the idea of Wanyama at centre back is worth exploring. If he could adapt, his physical attributes suggest he could be a mainstay along side Lovren at the back. Both Wanyama and Cork are too good not to play. |
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