x

Everton Deny They Have Agreed Deal With Saints

Earlier this afternoon the media went big on the news that Everton had agreed a deal with Saints to release Ronald Koeman from his contract, now Everton themselves have denied this is the case.

This is the strangest case of a manager being poached from Saints I have ever seen and believe me in the past 25 years since Chris Nicholl left the club I have seen a few.

Basically when a manager is wanted by another club he makes it very clear to his current club that he wants to go, they then reach an agreement regarding his contract and within 48 hours the deal is usually complete.

That is certainly what Ronald Koeman's agent thought when he started to brief the press last Thursday that he and Koeman were in talks with Everton.

Indeed he told the media on Saturday evening that both Everton and Koeman had reached agreement although he quickly back tracked when he realised he was admitting breaching the rules.

But even so it was expected to go through by Sunday evening and then Monday, before it was announced that Koeman had gone on holiday.

Well in any business it is very strange when one of the parties suddenly ups sticks and announces they are going on holiday half way through discussions there is plenty of time for that when the signatures are on the paper.

But that is the case with no one really knowing what the state of play is in the situation.

Saints appear to be standing fast and demanding compensation around double of Koeman's salary, they seem determined to put up a battle and almost saying to Everton that unless its worth their while they are prepared to let Koeman see out the last year of his contract virtually on gardening leave.

But strangely they have stopped short of saying this and are almost playing it with kid gloves when dealing with Koeman leading to speculation that Koeman himself is not completely happy with the move and is perhaps having second thoughts, hence the holiday to give him time.

That time gives Saints time to prepare their options and although they are not handing Koeman ultimatums, it is clear that they are not being easily rolled over, they are confident in their position and what they are doing, they seem relaxed that they have a good replacement lined up and are doing things on their terms and not Everton's or indeed Koeman or his agent.

The smart money is on this deal happening, but don't blame Southampton FC if it does, Koeman has been blinded by money.

Meanwhile Everton are not happy, they thought the deal would be done days ago, they thought that Saints would lay down and roll over and they certainly did not expect Ronald Koeman to go off on hoilday at a crucial time.

This has lead to nerves on all sides, yes Everton have a deal agreed between themselves and Koeman & his agent, but a deal agreed is not a deal signed as Saints have found out over the last few weeks.

The longer it drags on the more complicated it will get, will Everton still feel Koeman is their man if he is stalling and will Koeman be confident that Everton are the right club for him if they cannot agree a deal with Saints ?

All will soon be revealed.

What to read next:

Stoke Awaydaze
Our visit to Stoke City is on Boxing Day evening, with kick-off at 8pm, having been put back by our very good friends at Sky Sports.
From Frustration to Relief: Leeds United Equalise in Dramatic Final Moments
We should have been playing against ten men for over half this game, but in the end Leeds had to be content with a point after forcing a very late equaliser against Preston North End.
Preston Awaydaze
Our visit to Deepdale is on Saturday, with a 12.30pm kick off, and once again we’re live on Sky Sports. As the name Preston North End suggests, the stadium is a mile or so to the north of the town centre.
Leeds keep home run going against lively Middlesbrough
This time we were made to work hard for our home win, but two late goals proved to be enough to take the points against Middlesbrough.
Leeds ease to comfortable win over Derby
The game played out as most of the fans on both sides would have predicted, apart from the identity of the two goalscorers. It took a while for us to break down a stubborn Derby County defence, but once we had scored the two goals there was only going to be one way this game was going to finish.
Leeds drawn at home to Harrogate in the FA Cup
Tonight’s draw for the third round of the FA Cup threw up several local derbies, and the most enticing of all must be our all-Yorkshire clash with Harrogate Town, with the two clubs being only 15 miles apart.
Disappointing Leeds go down at Blackburn
Our defeat to Blackburn Rovers has caused plenty of moaning on social media, while Daniel Farke has blamed our hectic fixture schedule. But it was a shame the team picked the game with our biggest travelling support of the season to serve up one of their worst away performances.
Blackburn Awaydaze
This season’s trip to Blackburn Rovers is tomorrow with kick-off at 1.30, provided the pitch has dried out enough after last week’s postponement. Once again it looks like we’ll be taking the biggest away following in the Championship this season.
Farke sees room for improvement despite victory
Leeds duly went back to the top of the table with a fairly routine victory over Luton Town, but Daniel Farke thought the win should have been even more emphatic when he spoke to the BBC after the game.
Leeds fighting spirit wins through as we beat Swansea to go top
Leeds were twice behind in this incredible game at Swansea City, and then seemed to have victory snatched away right at the death. But each time we fought back and our sheer determination finally secured the victory that we needed to finish the weekend on top of the Championship.