If he hadn't majored on being such an honourable guy, then maybe. He didn't have to go on about honouring contracts so deserves what he gets for treating the fans as a complete bunch of plebs.

I also don't happen to like Everton and I hope they both fail miserably.

While this is a very bitter pill to swallow we must accept that Koeman has left the Southampton FC. He added a lot of value in his 2 seasons here but one must question why he left us when things were going so well. Regardless I wish him all the best with his managerial career.

As for us I hope we are able to find a better replacement and fast! We have to look forward and trust board. I am still skeptical regarding their ambitions but so far the clubs has improved over the last 6 years, so it remains to be seen whether I'm proven wrong.

I really hope I am wrong but it's hard not to feel in the back of my mind whether the board are really making decisions in the interest of the football club.

I have a feeling that the club won't hire such a high profile individual again. The statement mentions 'a new management team' and I think that will be the focus moving forward. Sammy Lee and Dave Watson are in place and I think the club will be looking to get the right individuals in to work with them rather than going for one big hire.

It will be difficult for us to improve yet again and make the top 4 . It will beeasier for Everton to improve on their position last season and make top 6. Result another great achievement for RK and his cv. His move guarantees that with a large budget the club that RK manages will enhance RK's credentials . It's all about his future ambitions to manage Barcelona. Thanks for allowing us to be a stepping stone RK towards your ultimate ambition, but like many others I believed you when you said you would see out your contract with us. On the negative side just how ambitious did he feel we are to becoming a top 4 club, and why did Les Reed yet again release a statement that proved completely false.

sidsaint: If Koeman was lying to him then Les wasn't knowingly issuing a false statement.

It is worth stating and re-stating that this has nothing to do with any 'ambition' or lack of it that Saints have shown. Koeman has ruthlessly decided to gamble that in a short stay at Everton he may be able to advance his CV and he has greedily decided to take the money. Saints having the sixth best paid manager in the world would be just as ridiculous as Everton having the same.

I do fear that Lord Lucan might be right in that Saints will take the twice bitten third time shy approach but that would be a mistake. After all both MoPo and Koeman advanced us and to take the safe and mediocre approach would get the stability/progress balance all wrong. One day an ambitious manager may realise we are no longer a stepping stone. The worst that can happen if we get an Emery or the like is that they will leave too soon, the worst that can happen if we appoint Martinez or Steve Mclaren.............

Koeman always said he wanted to one day manage Barca. If that opportunity had come at the end of the season then I don't think Saints would have stood in his way. It won't look good on his cv if Moneybags Moshiri sacks him at the end of the season because Everton didn't finish in the top four.

Gutted in extremis, but I for one won't boo him, the last 2 years have too many happy memories, right from that first tweet "ready for training" and rebuilding the crippled side so well, to the first win at old trafford when Tadic 'owned it', and confirmed us a side that could beat anyone, to that epic comeback against liverhampton. That is only 3 of hundreds...

It has been the best time to be a saints fan since the Le god years. Thank you Roko.....but I hope you fail at Everton!

Koeman cant guarantee Everton anything we are progressing as a club with him or without him it makes no difference, he has bolted to where the money is and the response from our old mate Boruc nailed it to a tee on twitter , check it out if you haven't already, I'm not deluded enough to think we can get the ex-Sevilla manager but I think Saints are putting things in place to limit the damage of a member leaving (lee & Watson) staying, I'm going to be an Everton supporter next season all be it a negative one because I cant wait for him to crash and burn, we had too many dodgey games last season for Koeman to be a mastermind at management coyr.

Yes I agree it is important to actually look back and see that Koeman has improved us. I do believe that he was massively helped by Saints' structure, recruitment and philosophy, but he still needed to deliver results - which he did.

He has gone for money and for the prospect of being seen as a manager that can handle high expectations at Everton. It's a gamble though - but a very wealthy one! Yes perhaps he shouldn't have said those things about loyalty etc (and he certainly can't repeat those words in the event of an Everton player wanting to join a bigger club) but then perhaps we should also come to terms with the fact that there is no loyalty in football anymore - and that we really shouldn't believe anything a player or manager says.

Instead, lets concentrate on thinking about who can improve us in the 'here and now' - someone who takes us a little bit closer to not being seeing as a club who can take you on to bigger and better things. The gap between Saints and the so called 'big' clubs is diminishing with every season.

That's why i would be happy to see someone like De Boer come in. So what if he stays for two seasons? If he gets us a trophy and/or constant Euro qualification in the process then he has done his job. Carry on like that, and it won't be long before someone like De Boer actually says 'i'm quite happy here thanks' and actually means it!

Lots of people criticize our Chief Executive, but he actually spoke so much sense when he talked about us moving towards not being seen as a stepping stone.

And I agree Nick - it's perhaps the best time to have seen RK depart if he wasn't going to extend his stay: when we are in a strong (and attractive) position. Better than him 'going through the motions' next season and leaving us in a weaker position. It is true that he didn't give our youth much of a start and so perhaps it was time to make the break (just wish for once it was on our terms!)

Onwards.

The focus on Koeman as a liar etc is a side issue and I don't see the point in dwelling on it.
Professional sportsmen and women are wired up differently from most of the rest of us: they only aim to improve their chances for success and to bolster their CV. Koeman's aim (which he's been very honest about) is to manage Barca, and he obviously feels that the Everton project will give him better experience. I think he's wrong, but maybe it's a calculated risk.

Just a word on his 'lying'. In the last 3 years we've had two managers leave under a cloud: MoPo was quite honest and implied that he was leaving, whereas Koeman said he was staying and now has left. Which manager's action had the worse effect on the team during the season?

DPeps, we won't know the answer to that question for a little while! I can hazard a guess though:

When MoPo left it was because there was a clear uncertainty about what Saints would do next. Cortese had gone - and so had the 'vision' of spending silly money to get success (ironically, now Everton's strategy). MoPo commanded so much respect from all the players that many of them also wanted to go too (many would also have been worried about the loss of Cortese and the 'vision'). He might have even stayed had he not got offered the Spurs job - which (let's face it) offered more money and clearly walking into a decent set up too. As a result, we faced massive uncertainty.

Saints steadied the ship. RK's appointment was a masterclass in that he was a highly respected player and promising coach. We couldn't stop the exodus but Saints were prepared. As the season(s) went on it became clear that talk of relegation was rubbish and our structure was solid for competing in the top half of the league. The fact we also ploughed all the proceeds from transfers straight into strengthening the squad (along with other things) meant that the worries left by Cortese's departure began to disappear.

The players brought in were now not being greeted with the vision of 'spend at all costs' but actually with the Southampton Way as we now know it.

RK continued to do well - but there is rumour that his abrasive style of management was not fully bonding with the players (Mane, Tadic being the clear examples - Pelle less so). He also wasn't letting youth have a chance (completely against Saints' strategy), which must have started to cause doubts in the academy squad (Lloyd Isgrove has recently said he wants to move away from Saints - linked?)

It is also clear that he hasn't left because Saints are not living up to their end of the strategic deal or that there is some kind of 'meltdown' - but rather that he's been lured by getting an obscene wage and the promise of spending lots of money very quickly to produce an Everton squad that can restore past glory. As such, you are bound to have a different atmosphere in the squad. Particularly amongst the youth and a number of senior players.

I therefore think this is a vastly different situation to where we were when MoPo left.

Hi Pintsized - my point wasn't too compare MoPo and RK in terms of their leadership or to compare the relative contexts they were operating under. I was rather making a point that being honest (like MoPo) can be more unsettling. If Koeman had answered questions about his future honestly then I don't know if we'd have finished so strongly, even accepting claims that he's not universally liked by the squad.

I'm not making excuses for him, but football is a murky place and the best managers are usually Machiavellian

I liked hearing Koeman say he was here to stay, but never really believed it, because it always seemed to come from probing media questions trying to get a headline. What was he supposed to say? Even if he had run with the old "anything can happen in football" chestnut the headlines that "Koeman refuses to commit to Saints" would have run. And that stuff can destabalise a team. Koeman saying what he said kept everyone nicely, and to be honest I can understand it.

It is like a girlfriend or boyfriend asking if you are gonna be together forever - if you answer in any other way than affirmative, it invites additional questioning and causes problems.

I AM DISAPPOINTED that reportedly we could not get a clause inserted to block him from coming back to raid us for players. I am worried that that may well happen. But after MoPo, I am very grateful that we had Koeman for the time we did.

ok silver lining time.
He was going to leave us when his contract ended (next season) and thus would have not put much effort into moving the club forward in his last year and the players wouldn't have put so much effort into impressing the manager (look at Man City's capitulation after it was announced Pellegrini was leaving). A new manager will be out to improve on where Koeman left off to show he is a better manager and the players will all be out to prove they are worthy of a starting slot.
When his contract ended he would have walked away with a nice fat 'thank you' cheque and we would have got nothing. Everton have kindly given us £5 million for him.
We are in a very strong position for a new manager and I'm sure there will be a long list of applicants for the job.
When the Argy git left the club looked to be in a mess but the board went out and got someone who was better and able to move the club forward. Who's to say they can't do it again, they have done it once and we were in a worse position.
I'm actually pleased this is over and we can look forward to next season with anticipation as to where the next manager will take us.

Good point about the media Ginger but it was still dishonest to answer yes to a question to which the answer was no. I agree with DPeps that this 'liar' issue is of no long-term importance but at the moment of departure it would be strange for the fans to simply shrug their shoulders and say "Good luck Ron". I want him to fail at Everton because it is good, just occasionally, to see dishonourable behaviour get its just reward. I don't agree though with those who will rubbish his record here, it's a natural reaction but wrong - both Koeman and MoPo did well with us and the manner of departure should not affect our appraisal of that. Neither was a miracle-worker or a genius though and the next man has no need to fear comparisons.

Ok RK was totally dishonest with the fans and probably with the club. His era is over and I will remember him as a very charming man who always looked calm and in control. I will remmember his victories against the b clubs and the high position in the league for two seasons.

However I will also remember his strange team selection, his favourtism to some poor 'buys' namely Clasie and Soares. I will remember the time that I I feared we were heading for relegation and he was still picking the wrong players. Thankfully the correct team played at the end of the season and rescued RK with some grand performances. I regret that RK shared the Saints fans enjoyment at the end of the season.

RK was charming in front of the camera, but he was not a good man manager. His defensive style of football was exciting and nailbiting but never commanding

Saints march on and RK has helped but if he had picked the right players early on in the season we would have been playing Champions League football next season.