Saints supporters have bemoaned that they have never known anything like it, that never has a football club seen so many of its players targeted by other clubs, well older fans might tell them different.
As Saints prepared to play in the newly formed Premier League in the summer of 1992, they were experiencing a targeting of their squad in a manner that would not be repeated up till this year, in fact given Saints standing at that time, it could be said that the departures that summer were of a far more serious nature than those we have seen leave Saints so far this close season.
Basiacally the spine of the team was ripped out as Barry Horne, Neil Ruddock and Aaln Shearer all left for pastures anew, in the case of Shearer there was some consolation in the fact he left for a then record British transfer fee, but Horne and Ruddock left cheaply.
Horne was never quite the favourite of Ian Branfoot and although he was a regular in the team his contract was allowed to run out and he left to join Everton (ironically his boyhood supported club) Ruddock was far more controversial, Spurs tapped him up and Terry Venables offered a derisory £250k little more than Saints had signed the player for and the same fee Venables had sold Ruddock to Millwall for only 4 years earlier when he was a 20 year old reserve, back then if clubs didnt agree the fee then it went to a tribunal and Venables knew that tribunals always went to the lower scale, Saints eventually getting £750k far lower than his true worth.
But although Saints squad losses ended up being only three departures, the damage could have been far worse, also being persued that summer were naturally Matt Le Tissier, but also Tim Flowers who would join Blackburn a year later, Richard Hall who was attracting interest after a great first full season.
To add to that we also had a pair of young full backs who were hot property, Jason Dodd who was first choice and the younger Jeff Kenna, Dodd would of course stay at the club for another 13 years but Kenna would join Blackburn a few years later to join Shearer and Flowers, make no mistake the Lancashire Club seemed to want to buy our entire team just as iverpool do now.
So the truth is this summers transfer speculation is a rareity but it isnt something new and given Saints overall squad strength back in 1992 and compare it to this years situation, the truth is that 1992 was far more of a blow to our chances of staying in the fledgling Premier League and being able to partake in its riches, than the departures so far this summer have been.
But the big difference is that now we have a big transfer kitty to bring in replacements and a good manager in charge to re vamp the squad, back then we had very little funds and a much criticised manager who was alienating all our best players and bringing in journeyman work horses.
This summer has not been smooth or without its pain, but believe me in the grand scheme of things, even if we do lose another player or two we are still in a far stronger position than we were back then.