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Surprise Surprise ! Guess Who Is Stalling On Contract Talks

Saints gave Victor Wanyama a chance in the Premier League, when they signed him from Celtic they headed a small queue offering him that opportunity, he has repayed the club this season by petulant behaviour.

Im not one that think that footballers owe their clubs anything, its a two way deal where a player is well paid but will be dumped by a club when it suits them, that being the case I don't think a player has to have any particular loyalty overall to a club more than the average person in the street would have to their employer.

But football is slightly different to normal life, a player is given a contract for a period of time and the club has to pay him the terms of that contract even if he is not performing to the levels expected.

Of course sometimes there are reasons why the player cannot fulfill his side of the contract, long term injury for instance is totally out of his hands, but in today's modern game, many players are not behaving morally.

That is why id does not surprise me to read todays headlines that Victor Wanyama is allegedly stalling on a new deal in the hope that it attracts Spurs to rekindle their interest.

It was Spurs and their unsettling approaches back in August that soured the relationship between Wanyama and Saints supporters, prior to that his popularity had never been higher after an excellent 2014/15 season.

But Spurs interest saw Wanyama display signs of petulance with Saints in no hurry to sell with two years on his contract, he seemingly refused to travel to Denmark for the second leg of the Europa League game despite the tie being finely balanced.

The question at the time was whether Wanyama had let his team mates and indeed the fans of Southampton Football Club down at a vital moment, perhaps Saints would have won in Denmark with Wanyama, that fact we will never know, but it must have upset the harmony of the squad at a crucial time.

Back then it was brushed under the carpet with the club initially claiming he was suffering a stomach bug so supporters did not make too much about it.

But when he returned to action there seemed to be something amiss with his game, on his day he could be indispensable to the team, but too often he displayed an attitude and a lack of discipline off the pitch that resulted in three needless red cards, all avoidable and from tackles that did not really need to be made given the position in the field of play.

That lead to some fans questioning his loyalty to the club. Certainly so far he has started only 25 of the 34 games played so far and all of those missed have been down to petulance, sorry stomach bug or suspension. Assuming he plays in all of the remaining games he will have missed almost a quarter of the season.

Personally all I ask for a player to do is fulfill their contract, whilst they are signed to the club to turn out and try their hardest, in life we all have disappointments, but we have to get on with life and grin and bear it, Wanyama is privileged he is paid highly whatever his form or ability either physically or mentally to turn out and play to his ability.

Now just as Saints season reaches a climax, again the rumours surface about the fact that Wanyama is stalling on a contract and that he is trying to stir up the attention of Spurs, perhaps he feels that he has missed the boat, perhaps he does not need to stir things up, perhaps Spurs are up to their old tricks again.

My view is simple I have had enough of Victor Wanyama, on his day yes he is superb, but too often this season he has not been at his best, don't forget it's not just the games he missed through suspension, but the time Saints had to play in vital games with only ten men because of his three sendings off.

He either needs to sign a new deal or Saints need to play hardball, Wanyama on top form over 38 games is brilliant, but we didn't get that from him this season, so from that respect it will not be as big a loss as it should have been.

We should not fear losing him in fact we should, if not welcoming it, see it as natural progression, the squad will be stronger with £20 million in the coffers for Wanyama that it will be with him in it on this seasons form.

We have made the point last summer and indeed the one before in keeping players when their contract still has plenty of time to run, Wanyama's will only have a year left this summer, cash in now and strengthen the squad further.

Another top ten finish makes us more attractive to players than most clubs in the Premier, we have a good scouting network we can utilise that well as we have proved in the past.

Time to say goodbye Victor, sad to say that if you go you will not be remembered with the same respect and affection that the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne were last summer when they departed.

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