Saints are standing firm with their want a way central defender now known as Vulgar Van Dijk to many supporters and are prepared to take drastic action if necessary.

Whilst Southampton Football club and indeed it's supporters are well aware of the pecking order in football as mentioned by former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher earlier in the week and can understand just why Van Dijk would want to go to Liverpool both in terms of opportunity on the pitch and financial reward off it, they are totally shocked and gobsmacked by what has gone on over the last few months.

Of course talks go on behind club's backs, that is the way of football these days with agents doing the talking, although it is technically against the rules, clubs accept this as it sorts out who is and who is available and willing to move and saves a lot of time.

But this is seen as being only preliminary contact, once a players status has been established then there are the official ways that need to be adhered too and that means a buying club putting in a bid and asking to speak to the player.

Although this is mainly cosmetic, it is the done thing and in most cases transfer enquiries are conducted in a civil and businesslike fashion.

But the Van Dijk case is different, it is everything that is wrong with football these days, it is a tale of a players head being turned by signing to an agent known for his pushy ways and for getting his clients big money albeit not at the club that offers the best in terms of career development.

It is a tale of a football club once known for its integrity and class reducing itself to clandestine meetings and breaking rule after rule as if such things do not apply to them.

Finally it is a tale of another footbal club who has had enough of being treated as if they are merely peasants there only to do as their so called masters and betters decree.

If Liverpool had gone about this in the right manner then Vulgar Van Dijk would have been their player by now, some Saints fans don't like to hear it, but we have a strategy and that strategy is to buy low and sell high and develop the squad.

Ironically this strategy was much admired by Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group, who adapted it in Baseball and their team the Boston RedSox won their first World Series in decades because of it.

Sadly for Liverpool fans it is not one that FSG apply to their team, it is buy high and then buy high again when it doesn't work out.

Chances are that if Liverpool had put in a high bid then perhaps Saints might have thought it in their best interests to sell and reinvest, perhaps not though given that Liverpool appear to have been rebuffed months ago and felt they had to use underhand tactics.

But if they thought that bullying would force Saints to sell then they have had a shock, three years ago that was the case with Saints a club in turmoil internally after the Cortese years and needing to raise funds due to budgets not being adhered too in the case of the training ground and poor transfer decisions ie Ramirez, Osvaldo, Mayuka & Vegard Forren , just these four seeing over £36 million wasted in transfer fees in the final 16 months of Cortese's reign.

That meant when Liverpool came calling back in the summer of 2014, they found a club with it's board finding it's feet, its budget in tatters and a playing squad on weak contracts, Saints were ripe for the picking.

But now things are different, the likes of Van Dijk are on solid long term contracts, the finaces are secure, we are in charge of who we sell and when we sell them, yes it is part of our strategy to sell when the price goes above their valuation, but we are well aware of what that valuation is now and what it could be in the future.

So Saints attitude now is of hard ball, they have played Van Dijk with kid gloves, put an arm round him, given him time to think, but been kind and firm.

That hasn't worked and now as Liverpool and Van Dijk are finding out it is Saints who hold all the cards.

The media are waking up to that fact Saints are not rolling over, after months of being briefed that Van Dijk's move to Anfield is close they have realised that it actually isn't and that the likelihood is that he will not be a Liverpool player come September.

They are starting to use phrases like "Saints willing to let Van Dijk Rot in the stands" and this seems to be the stance that Saints are taking.

They don't need the money at the moment, they seem ready to freeze the player out and let him sit it out till the January transfer window and then having made a point consider offers then, this is not a course they want to follow, but is one they are prepared to take rather than back down to Liverpool.

Indeed it seems that any offer from Liverpool will be turned down due to their despicable behaviour and lets get this right, we are not complaining about the pecking order or why Liverpool would be better than Saints etc, this is all about the way that Liverpool have approached trying to sign Van Dijk, completely underhand and illegally.

Indeed Liverpool admitted as much and apologised earlier in the summer and claimed they would no longer persue the player, that is why they now cannot bid, they will be liable to sanctions if they did, that is why Van Dijk has been used by Liverpool to force it through, we literally have to go to them and ask them to take him !

We are not going to do that, there are only three options now, the first is Van Dijk grows up comes back into the squad and puts in a shift for the first half of the season, if he does that, the likelihood is that Saints having saved face would consider offers in January or at the end of the season.

The second is that Chelsea or another club make an acceptable offer, we might at that point accept it, although it would need to be soon so we could reinvest, it should be pointed out that a Liverpool offer would be turned down out of hand unless it is totally way above his valuation.

Finally it is the stalemate scenario and Saints are ready to go down that road and isolate Van Dijk from their squad and let him rot in the stands, he would be required to train alone, play for the academy team perhaps and perform all the duties required of him under his contract.

But he would be missing out on bonus's for not playing for the team, he could be fined should he fail to fulfill all his contractual obligations and more to the point it would effectively write off this season, he would not be great for Liverpool or any club in the fact that he would not have trained properly for a year or for that matter taken part in a competitive game, Van Dijk has more to lose than Saints.

Those Saints fans who claimed that we are a selling club who roll over and sell as soon as we get an offer have been missing the point over the last three years, they conveniently forget that we refused to sell Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Fonte, we stand firm when it suits us, they wn't forget what has happened with Van Dijk and hopefully they will see the way football is these days, it is full of pampered players with inflated egos who think that the game is there only for their own personal gain and club's like Saints only matter till a bigger offer comes along.

Photo: Action Images

steve73 added 09:12 - Aug 9 All totally spot on, the only thing I'd add is that people keep making excuses for him, saying he's been badly advised etc. He's a grown man and seems pretty intelligent to me. I think he knows exactly what he's doing and the vitriol should be aimed squarely at him.
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Sanguin added 09:25 - Aug 9 This miserable saga will define the future of Southampton Football Club. This is the club’s opportunity to change the perception that all of our players are in the shop window, to inform top clubs that we won’t accept illegal approaches and to show our players that they can be forced to honour their contracts. It may result in ‘ambitious’ players refusing to sign long-term contracts, but I have faith in the Saints management to tie players down to these deals or sell them before they enter the final year of their contracts. This is a World Cup season, van Dijk will want to come back into the squad once the transfer window has closed. I just hope that our defence is solid enough without van Dijk that he needs playtime more than the squad needs him and his histrionics.

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highfield49 added 09:27 - Aug 9 A fair summary Nick but a satisfactory solution rather than the current limbo would be welcome. I can't help mentioning that Fonte failed, spectacularly, to get his dream move and his present club can't now get rid of him and Saints were the definite winners in the deal. However, the fact that Fonte wasn't and still hasn't been adequately replaced needs immediate attention. Also, Liverpool supporters never seem to learn from experience and are now amusing themselves by suggesting on social media that Lemina will sign for them next year. People sometimes do themselves and the team they support no favours.

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A_Saint_in_Stoke added 09:45 - Aug 9 I enjoyed reading this article, especially this paragraph - But the Van Dijk case is different, it is everything that is wrong with football these days, it is a tale of a players head being turned by signing to an agent known for his pushy ways and for getting his clients big money albeit not at the club that offers the best in terms of career development. AGENT JOB - Is to secure the best possible terms and conditions for their clients ... I understand that - but while doing that - should they not consider, where their player/clients best interests lie ..... In relation to which club would be best for his client's development ............................... NO ! NO ! NO ! it is how can I screw the maximum out of a transfer deal ----- so I can line MY POCKETS WITH CASH .... Once I have this player under contract ......... I'LL SCREW HIM FOR EVERY PENNEY. Something HAS to be done to curb these " PARASITES ", they are stealing football money - and ruining the fans beloved game, for their own greedy gains.

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SaintPaulVW added 09:49 - Aug 9 Absolutely agree. VVD wake up and smell the coffee please.
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lemmsy added 10:23 - Aug 9 Excellent article nick In general I'm getting really disillusioned with supposed saints fans running the club down at every opportunity.its time to realise what we've got & start supporting the team& making the stadium a fortress again.
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Stormz added 10:24 - Aug 9 VD wants to be in the Dutch squad for the World Cup... he has to play, and play well... even if that means for Saints. Otherwise he's stuffed! So if he really has ambitions, he'd better get his head out of his ass, apologise to the club and knuckle down to do what he's paid for. Saints hold all the cards. VD is an idiot if he thinks otherwise. Bring back Fonte'!
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Knibbosaint added 10:27 - Aug 9 The clubs stance on this issue is making me ptoud to be a Saint again. Used to dread transfer windows. Maybe he will go and maybe that would be best for us to remove the VVD cancer. However I would love it if we turn down the sort of money that's being quoted and let him rot until a grovelling apology spurts out of his traitorous gob! In the meantime we've got on with the season, brought in Wimmer and Gibson and proven we don't need him.

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Knibbosaint added 10:29 - Aug 9 Proud not ptoud!!!
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StRipper added 10:56 - Aug 9 Saints are definitely doing the right thing here, and thanks to Liverpool for providing the enemy to help us become a mental fortress. That's how you win things and that's how it worked for Ferguson and United all those years. Us against them. Bring it on
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SanMarco added 10:57 - Aug 9 steve73 is spot on. I agree that agents are ruining the game but VVD chose to sign for this bloke. Changing agent signalled the start of his campaign. He wasn't an innocent whose head was turned by a nasty agent. The same went for Koeman. I am delighted with the club's stance on this and, as the Guardian said yesterday, VVD 'blinked first'. There is, though, the major problem as to what happens if no suitable non-Liverpool bid comes in. Saints' position re VVD is strong but possible bidding clubs hold a lot of cards too. Come the end of the month 'realism' will kick in and I just don't see the 'rot in the stand' option being taken. So why put in a high bid for him now when a lower one on 31 August might do the trick. Also given his level of fitness some big boys might think January will be better. It is a mess (not of our making this time) and we desparately need one of those 'bidding wars' that are often predicted but never seem to happen with our wantaways. That 'clear preference for Liverpool' line that was spun early on was intended to prevent such a situation and may well do so. Anyone know the 'legal position' on us telling the fecker that we will under NO CIRCUMSTANCES sell him to Liverpool?

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PETEA71 added 11:05 - Aug 9 The hypocrisy of idiots like Quinn and Aldridge is what gets me. When asked why Saints should've to pay Van Dijk when he was out for 4 months, they say because it's in his contract! Then in the next breath say a contract means nothing... Scum! Advocaat getting involved now. Get back to the Chocolate Factory u Oompa Loompa!
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WanderingSaint added 11:35 - Aug 9 Does this mean we have to start calling him VVVD?
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landerwal added 11:43 - Aug 9 If he does rot in the stands and Cortinho moves to Barcelona, the boot will well and truly be on the other foot.
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Jesus_02 added 11:49 - Aug 9 Usual anti Cortese spin on this. BTW Forren was sold back for almost the same amount virtually instantly. There is no way in the world we would have got the fees we did without saint not selling anyone under Cortese (apart from the Ox). Les hasn't really done anything wrong re VVD but the line should have been dran well before Liverpool started trying to extract VVD at a knock down price. Its certainly isn't Cortese's fault that Jamie Redknapp can say without impunity that "Southampton are a selling club, if you have any ambition at all you leave them" Where is the response from the club? ...they don't have one Les is fantastic at sitting next to the new signings and leaving MP to respond to the media about VVD .

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PETEA71 added 12:13 - Aug 9 Redknapp is an utter tool, like his old man.
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the_saint added 12:22 - Aug 9 Thing we have got to be proud of is we have a great academy, great training facilities, great scouting network, good stadium, players on long term contracts, and no crippling debts and a club to be proud of all thanks to Marcus & Kat. We now need investment to take the next step which kat is aware of so no matter how it irks me about the vvd situation he is just a sad human being we are the best run club in the premier which I for one am proud of all thanks to our owner coyr

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StRipper added 12:49 - Aug 9 Jesus_02 from your comments it sounds like you want Les Reed to behave like one of West Ham's dildo brothers, jumping into the spotlight and voicing off at every opportunity. Personally I think our approach has been spot on and is hard to see how, in relation to holding on to players, the club could have done much else. Also jumping up and down and shouting the odds can make us look pretty stupid, pretty quickly. As all those Liverpool pundits I hope will find in three weeks, when VVD hasn't joined them. As Mark Twain said It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

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saintpaz added 12:53 - Aug 9 thanks Jamie Redknapp for the kind words about your ex-employers too that paid you dollar! dick!
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helpineedsomebody added 12:56 - Aug 9 MY TOTAL RESPECT IF THEY KEEP TO THERE WORD & MAKE HIM HONOUR HIS CONTRACT but can the club turn down £100 million cash paid in the next day what would you do
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sambat added 13:01 - Aug 9 I laugh in the face of VVD, he is a sorry lad who has run down the club which pays his wages, but he still has 5 1/2 years left on his contract. Liverpool cannot bid on the player, unless they offer a ludicrous amount of money which cannot be refused. I am also laughing in the face of Brendon Rogers, who has supposedly been advising VVD to push for a transfer. All of this resulting in the player with nowhere to go, he can't play for his team due to his stance and the way he has insulted Saints, he cannot transfer to Liverpool due to the back handed approach they took, and he will probably be dropped by the Dutch national team due to lack of first team time. VVD is in the process of ruining his own career. The only option left is to make a public apology to the club, and the fans, for his pathetic behaviour, or maybe an outside chance that a foreign club comes in for him. Personally I hope he goes abroad, and good riddance to him. Well done Saints FC for standing firm.

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BoondockSaint added 13:30 - Aug 9 Nick, you can't have it both ways: "Finally it is a tale of another footbal (sic) club who has had enough of being treated as if they are merely peasants there only to do as their so called masters and betters decree. If Liverpool had gone about this in the right manner then Vulgar Van Dijk would have been their player by now, some Saints fans don't like to hear it, but we have a strategy and that strategy is to buy low and sell high and develop the squad." So if the Scouse had gone about it differently, the Saints would have be happy to do what they decreed? So they wouldn't have stood up to them, they would have just taken the money, strengthened the Scouse and weakened the Saints? How do you "develop" a squad if you sell off a player as soon as he looks like he might help the team?? What's all this about Les standing up to them? He's the one who has created this culture at the club by continually selling our best players to the Scouse whenever they crooked their finger at him! Saints never pursued complaints about illegal approaches to Lallana or Lovern, and said they would never do business with the Scouse after that. No, they gave them Mane the next year! This year, only because the we fans have been in an uproar, has Les complained to the FA about them approaching Van Dyke, and then as soon as the Scouse say "Sorry", Les drops everything. No pursuit of penalties as any other club would have done. No statement that with these continual underhanded tactics in approaching our players makes it impossible to ever do any deals with them in the future. He can puff out his chest all he wants, this mess is his doing.

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SanMarco added 13:43 - Aug 9 The bias towards Manure and Liverpool in the media has long been a problem. Rednapp works for Sky and it is interesting to note that Sky will have a betting market on VVD. Along with the agents there are a lot of serious conflicts of interest here. Shouldn't there be some sort of 'neutrality' in the way that these things are reported? You don't expect that from the Liverpool Echo but surely from the monopoly (alright duopoly now) providers there ought to be balance. Of course these people have opinions but they always seem to be filtered through their extreme bias... I know I am totally naive but thought I'd moan anyway.

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PETEA71 added 13:45 - Aug 9 If they had gone about it in the right manner, it's quite possible Reed may have played ball. But the question is.... Would or do Liverpool want to pay £70/80 million? Who knows! For me the market value means sweet FA. A players worth is determined by how much the selling club will allow him to leave for.
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LoisDeem added 14:08 - Aug 9 Saints perception as a 'selling club' goes back further than Les Reed, the PL and beyond to Chris Nicholl's tenure. Having achieved an enviable trajectory under the Liebherrs we have now consistently positioned ourselves just shy of that top table /glass ceiling. If form can be maintained, then the recent posturing will not be in vain, and many -including some of our own -will get the message. This will continue to attract suitors, and the message needs to be strong and heartfelt. Saints Forever

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