Pre season training is only a week away and the transfer market is about to hot up, but we dont want a repeat of last year.
Last summer Saints got the summer window off to a good start, Jay Rodriguez, Steve Davis, Nathanial Clyne & Paulo Gazzaniga were all done and dusted by mid July & all played a part in the season, the three outfield players to a good degree although Gazzaniga was to a lesser extent.
However from then on our transfer targets seemed to be well documented in the media and high prices were being quoted, but we just couldnt seem to land them, to the layman it seemed dutch auctions were being conducted in public by the players club or agent and time and time again we seemed to be unable to agree terms.
Our first four signings were as mentioned in place by mid July, yet it would be 29th August on the eve of the window closing before we would make another signing, in the space of two days three players came in quickly and the bst part of £20 million pounds was spent in transfer fees, I think most would agree that we didnt really get value for that money, Mayuka started one game and when his sub appearances were added just about squeezed two hours on the pitch, Ramirez showed flashes of brilliance, but seemed unable to adapt to the pace of the game in the Premier League and under Pochettino played less than a third of the time on the pitch he could of, only Yoshida made a significant contribution and even with him the jury is still out with doubts remaining about his concentration lapses and positional sense.
Last summer seemed to be about splashing the cash and making a statement, in hindsight it wasnt about concentrating on getting the right players in the right areas.
It was hoped that lessons might have been learned and initially it seems that they might have been, in that Dejan Lovren certainly seems to have on paper at least all the attributes we need, however when I see Saints chasing Wanyama from Celtic for £12.5 million alarm bells start ringing again, of course we want quality players, but Wanyama is a defensive midfielder and arguably that is our strongest area with Morgan Schneiderlin and Jack Cork both having better seasons than most, with the nes that Cardiff are likely to hijack the deal, that seems to say here is a player who will go to the highest bidder wages wise not for footballing reasons.
This is an important season for Saints, the second season in the Premier is often tougher than the first and often a team that has survived its debut season after promotion finds that in the second year its much tougher and they end up relegated, QPR showed that its easy to spend big money on players and pay them big wages, but it doesnt mean you get the calibre of player that you should be getting.
Getting our transfer strategy right is very important, if we want proof of that look at two players who arrived in the UK from the Low countries in July 2011, one Steve De Ridder was signed for £1.5 million and another Victor Wanyama was signed by Celtic for slightly less at £1 million, look at their values now, it not about what you pay for a player but about getting it right and signing the right players in the right positions and who can do the job you want them to do.
Our transfer record last summer and indeed in January could quite easily have cost us our place in the Premier league, in the end it didn, but that doesnt mean we should be complacent, if we take our eyes off what we need to achieve then we will soon find ourselves back in the Championship.