Saints are again going to find out the hard way that most players will care more about money & status than in potential.

Whilst no Saints supporter can begrudge Morgan Schneiderlin a move to a club like Manchester United with the prospect of Champions league football, indeed the Frenchman has served Saints well, if and when Nathaniel Clyne moves to Anfield that move will stick in the throat a little because on the face of it Liverpool can offer no more than Southampton apart from more money and the past glories of what was once a great and honourable football club.

Put when both move it will once again show that football in many ways mirrors life itself in that there is a class order with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool & Arsenal seen as the titled aristocracy, Chelsea & Manchester City seen as the noveau rich lacking a little in breeding and class, Tottenham Hotspur are similar to the errand trust fund brats and the likes of Saints as young middle class upstarts who need to be put in their place.

Clyne going to Liverpool is probably a big indication of this, despite the spending of millions in the past few years, with most of last years £140 million spend being wasted, they are again about to splash the cash buoyed by Raheem Sterling departing to Manchester City, ironically themselves finding that money talks.

But for all their bluster Liverpool are in one of their worst spells in the past 50 years in terms of trophies won, the League cup won under Kenny Dalglish in 2012 is the only trophy won since the Champions league in 2005, when you add to the fact that Liverpool have gone 25 seasons since winning the top flight title the longest spell in their history by a country mile, they are a club in turmoil.

Yet still they are a draw for some reason, logically Nathaniel Clyne should have given them a wide berth, they are in a do or die season for Brendan Rodgers who has adopted a "throw enough mud and it will stick" process to his transfer strategy. But he is keen to join them and it is the money and perceived status that is persuading him to leave rather than continue on with Saints.

So this is what Saints are up against as they try to establish themselves at the top end of the league, a class system the equal to the country itself.

But it is a challenge for Saints to take on that system and the good news is that we have nothing to lose, every step we take forward is a victory no matter how small, whereas for the likes of Liverpool, United & Arsenal the spectre of failure is forever on their shoulder.

Perhaps at the moment it is impossible for a club like Saints to break into those titled echelons, however it will be fun trying and I see the day soon when a European Super League comes into being, then perhaps the Premier will be downgraded in terms of financial reward, but it could perhaps be the savior of English football in that it would make the Premier League competitive again rather than 5-6 clubs at the top and the rest just making up the numbers fearful that a bad season could see them relegated and in financial meltdown.

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Saintpaul120 added 11:36 - Jun 26 Good analysis Nick. My thoughts would be how long can you continue to bang your head against a brick wall trying to achieve Champions League for instance, before a. the hierarchy changes and so does the ambition or b. until you just realise it's not possible until you start ripping the fans off or increasing world profiles and paying exorbitant wages to these players? If we are to lose Clyne, Schneiderlin and Alderweireld from last seasons very capable, sometimes lucky squad, how long can we keep losing class players like this before the inevitable happens? We can't keep doing it. There will come a time we'll get found out. Your point about a super league. The leagues all over the world suffer the same problem. It's always the top 6, top 4, top 3 who are always winning, always there for one reason or another - the super league will be the same. There will be a couple of clubs at the top who are always there through money, sometimes ability, so nothing changes apart from the fact that more clubs will fail because of trying to keep up with the joneses.

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IWOZTHERE added 12:04 - Jun 26 I guess it's the penalty for being successful and developing players, and I'm sure I'd be the same given the chance to earn that amount of money.I certainly agree that the creation of a European 'Super league' would make the Premiership 'real' and genuinely competitive to the benefit of football in general. I would hope though, that any new framework would include a 'crossover' competition to give the smaller clubs the chance to upset the 'big boys' arrogance. Back to Saints though, amidst all the positives after a good season, it still concerns me that ' It's happening again!' Soares may end up being better than Clyne, Clasie? better than Schneiderlin and so on but I can't see us getting away with this every year. You can't argue with the money side of the deals but at some time we've got to put a stop to this annual exodus. I hope we have another good season and that by next summer we are healthy enough financially to really demonstrate ambition.

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pintsizedsaint added 12:27 - Jun 26 Let's put things into perspective here: If/when Clyne goes it will mean Liverpool have paid over £60 million to Saints in the last 12 months. In terms of league position in that time, Liverpool dropped 4 places and Saints climbed 1. Clear winner in my eyes. Also, we can't beat ourselves up on this one. Clyne had a year left and was not going to sign. He's going to Liverpool because nobody else is interested. We're about to get £12-15 million for a RB that has a year left on his contract. RB (as Koeman as said before) is not a vital position and good, quality cover can be found for a lot less money. Liverpool are gaining a good player - but are perhaps paying a lot more than market value. Saints continue to make good business and, in Soares, already have covered the hole. Well done Saints - keep this up! It's good Soccernomics.

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SaintBrock added 12:34 - Jun 26 Saintpaul120 said it all really, we just cannot expect another great season if as now seems ever more likely, three of our top defenders from last season leave. This is known as death by a thousand cuts except that we are getting them all at once. Sad for our club really, they do everything right structurally and by bringing in top class players, mangers and support staff, very little wrong yet still the best players just don't want to stay here. Surely there will be a time and not very far ahead when Katherina, Ralph and Ronald get sick of all this and just decide that their ambition cannot be fulfilled here.

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SaintDownUnder added 13:41 - Jun 26 Nick I belive two posts ago you wrote about Saints not fearing the loss of MS an NC, what's changed? Saying somebody moves for the money isn't a shock, you'd do it yourself, in fact when was the last time any of us looked for a job that paid us less money than we're currently on? Pintsized has the right perspective.
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IWOZTHERE added 16:38 - Jun 26 Not sure what 'pintsized ' means by 'Soares covering the hole'
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aceofthebase added 21:37 - Jun 26 Gardos had a few bad moments in a couple of games but he is still young and learning his game. He also had some good games. Don't write him off this could be his season to come of age.
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