A few months ago Saints supporters were eagerly looking forward to the World Cup in Brazil, hoping that four Saints players would be in the squad, now howeverthere is a bitter taste in the mouth.
As Saints stormed to a few good results in the Spring "We are Southampton We Are Off To Brazil" rang around St Mary's and a few away grounds to boot, there was a feeling of togetherness and that our players had a special quality about them that others elsewhere did not have, the inclusion of Lambert, Lallana, Shaw and Rodriguez in the England squad was almost a sense of civic pride.
Now that feeling is a distant memory, the injury to Jay Rodriguez saddened Saints supporters but that sadness is nothing compared to that felt for the way that those players, Rodriguez aside are behaving now.
Rickie Lambert leaving was a big blow, it wasn't that he was going, most Saints fans wish him the best of luck and know that apart from being the right deal for the club its a great chance for Rickie, however the feeling still remains that Rickie should and could have gone to Brazil a Saints player, we wanted to back him and feel the pride that we have felt for the past five years, yes we will still consider him one of ours in Brazil but deep down we know he really isnt anymore and the TV screens will say Lambert - Liverpool and not as it really should be, personally I don't know why if Liverpool were so desperate to tie up a deal that a pre transfer contract could not have been drawn up keeping him a Saints player till he returns from Brazil, but that is just me being a little naive.
But what really hurts is the behaviour of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw obviously wants to leave as well and we can see why they would wish to do so especially financially, but there are ways of behaving, so far Shaw has kept things low key, not made public statements and done things the right way, sitting back knowing that it is his job to play football not to brow beat his club publicly.
But seemingly Adam Lallana is different and thats what hurts, here is a player that has been with us for a decade making his first team debut 8 years ago, yes he showed us loyalty when we were in trouble 6 years or so ago, but that loyalty has been repaid over and over again, not least by a five year contract a year ago, back then he was content to sign it, probably because there was not a queue of clubs at the door, his fleeting inclusion in the England Squad in September 2012 was a distant memory and so confident was he that he would get another chance he booked his wedding for the middle of the World Cup.
A year ago that contract made him financially secure, now though it is not good enough and he wants away, no one blames him for wanting to go to Liverpool, it will increase his wages not to mention the chance to compete for the title and the Champions League, but there is a way of going about these things.
Now Adam is either a very immature boy or he is getting the wrong advice from somewhere, possibly a little bit of both, the constant press leaks that are saying he has delivered ultimatums etc to Saints are only coming from one direction though and that is not St Mary's.
Perhaps they are not coming directly from Adam, but they are not being denied by him which is perhaps poignant, but if anyone needed evidence that he isnt really thinking things through about what is the right way to conduct yourself then its the picture of him signing a Liverpool shirt in Miami, this given the situation was not the move of a wise man and it was compounded by him allegedly saying "I Hope So !" when the fan asked whether he would be moving to Anfield.
This is just plain stupidity and could come back to haunt him if Liverpool pull out of the deal and he is forced to stay at Saints, indeed there is part of me that thinks that Katharina Liebherr should take a leaf out of ironically Liverpool's books and steadfastly hold him to his contract as the Merseyside club did with Luis Suarez last year when put under the sort of pressure that they now are exerting on us, short memories I would say.
Sadly it all means that even seeing Adam in an England shirt is now tainted, he isnt the person he was a year ago seemingly, perhaps Mark Clattenberg was right in his alleged remarks at Goodison last season.
Perhaps the only ray of hope is Luke Shaw, yes we know that he will leave in the summer for probably Old Trafford, but he is keeping his own counsel and that means we can not only enjoy his performances for England but wish him well as we trouser a massive fee in July, of course there are the same rumours as with Lallana about him wanting to go and indeed wanting the deal done before the World Cup, but he seems to accept that the Club dont want to sell before then and that he has some respect for what is best for his current employers.
It is just sad that it has come to this, two months ago we were all looking forwar dto watching our best loved players pull on an England shirt, we nejoyed their journey as in the space of the last 10 months or so they have gone from nowhere in the England pecking order to vital members of the squad, yet our reward as fans is to see them want to go at the first offer, it turns out after all that they were no different from the other 99%