Every Man Has His Price ! Sunday, 5th Jun 2016 11:44 If as expected Ronald Koeman joins Everton, then a little bit of faith in football wil die in Saints supporters. Most Saints supporters are not naive, they know that money is what motivates those who work in the game be they players, managers or coaches, but sometimes you feel that certain people are a little bit above that and Ronald Koeman appeared to be one of those people. We felt that he had a class and dignity far above most in the game, we felt that he did things for the good of his career rather than the good of is bank balance and that is perhaps why if he should leave it will hurt us a lot more than any other manager who had departed Southampton Football Club in the past. Given that a fortnight ago Koeman appeared happy at the club and had publicly said he would be here next season to see out his contract and indeed he was in negotiations to extend that contract beyond next summer, something has changed in that two week period. One thing that had definitely changed was his agent and it seems his new man Rob Jansen is determined to get Ronald a move to a bigger club and more money, of course this is nothing to do with the money that Jansen would get if he did move. So I don't particularly buy the viewpoint that Koeman wants to leave St Mary's for a bigger transfer budget, Koeman is no mug in the transfer market, he knows that if he got £150 million after the sale of John Stones and Romalu Lukaku then he would have to use every penny and that would still probably give him a team not much better than he already has at Saints. So that leaves only the question of salary and reportably it will be £7 million a year at Goodison Park. Of course Saints cannot get anywhere near that and nor would they want to, this would make Koeman joint 6th in the table of highest paid football managers in the World, as much as I love Koeman as Saints manager, he does not have the track record to warrant that position in football, the same wages as Everton's near neighbours at Anfield are paying Jurgen Klopp and more than Antonio Conte is getting from Chelsea and the £5.5 million Spurs are now paying Mauricio Pochettino. I don't blame Koeman for wanting to earn this sort of money, however it saddens me that he will leave in this way. We knew that someday he would move, but we thought it would be for a better job, Barcelona perhaps or the Dutch managers job, but Everton is very much a sideways step. Indeed in terms of his career progression in the short term it is not going to help him, should one of his dream jobs come up in the next 18 months he would not be in a good position to take it, not least for the compensation that Everton would demand. Saints of course will come in for stick from some of their own fans who will want to know why we are not matching Everton in both wages and transfer budget. The truth is we can't and indeed we would not want to, we have a very clear strategy going forward and that doesn't include throwing stupid money to try and move up a place or two, which is all effectively we would be doing, for us its about steady and continueed progress. Everton have a new shareholder who wants to make a name, although the two questions that haven't been answered are if he actually has this sort of money to hand, after all we have seen plenty of new football club Chairman come in with bluster but not back up their words with actions. The second question is how spending this amount of money will affect Everton in the financial fair play league. The other issue is that £150 million actually is not a lot, the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, not to mention Arsenal & Spurs will all spend big this summer, money does not guarantee success and realistically Everton will not be able to compete with these clubs in the transfer market for top players. That being the case will Everton's financial backer be happy to fund big to just try and compete with Saints for 7th & 8th place and indeed if that is th case will he want to fund the same amount year in year out as those so called big clubs do. Sadly I cannot see any other ending to this other than Koeman leaving St Mary's for Everton, as the title says every man has his price and that makes me very sad. I will wish Ronald Koeman luck as he leaves, something that I could not do when Pochettino left, as a club he has taken us forward and we are in a far better place than two years ago. I hoped that Ron was the man to keep taking us forward, but if he is not then I am not worried, the club will find a successor and he will continue to keep moving us forward, Southampton Football Club is based on a strategy throughout the club, unlike some it is not based solely on the manager. We are envied by many for this strategy that is why so many covet our players and now our managers, but Saints are now more than just about who is employed, it is about continuing to do things in the right way and the way we have planned it, no matter what obstacles are in our way. We March On ! Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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