Nick, name the players we can get for 20 million who can score a minimum of 12-15 goals. Don't be vague: name the players we are going to get who will scare other teams the way Mane did whenever he got the ball..

As for our attacking options: J-Rod and Austin are unfortunately for them, question marks. That leaves Shane, who runs his heart out, but you have to admit, with an open goal, it's a coin toss, and Redmond, who's team got relegated.

I look forward to see what top-notch game changers we have "unsettled" with Les'checkbook.

Totally disagree with this. Pathetic capitulation if true. His contribution to destabilizing defenses has been consistently underestimated and the likes of Long and Pelle would not have been anything like as effective without his impact. Very poor judgement on behalf of the decision makers if true.

The bit about Mane you have continually overlooked about Sadio Mane in your comments is the value he added beyond the goal tally - his ability to open up space, find others with good touch and range of passing and crossing and the many assists he provided.

By the way just who are these many other attacking options we have? Mane's a huge loss and will not be easy to replace.

I read that Liverpool said 30m and we said 40m. You don't have to have a phd in negotiating skills to work out that the final figure should be somewhere around 35m. Also "cashing in" is perhaps an unfortunate phrase - makes our players look like bets or disposable trinkets on the market stall.

I agree with Boondock + all of those who will say that this is unwise. The longer you keep on with a bad habit the harder it is to kick and the longer you live up to a reputation the harder it is to shed it. Will we "cash in" when the VVD to Everton rumours start? Our players and managers have been allowed over the past three years to think that they can leave on demand. Of course we will all pull ourselves back up and support the team again next season but a little bit of something or other is lost each time a thing like this happens.

How ever you dress this up it isn't progress, for a start at 11 mill I would of expected the goaly Declan Rudd and Redmon, and then to lose our only goal threat from open play Is complete madness and definitely not logic, I too would like to see these 10 or 20 mill replacements probably Joe allen and Borini, I'd like the club to make an announcement about all this exodus and the way forward because you can gloss it up and say its good business but fans wont be renewing there tickets in a hurry next season and surely even Saints bizarre strategy cant afford that, coyr

I've read about Les saying after the 'big' exodus that they held on to Scheiderlin for another year because they thought the supporters would have been in uproar. Not for footballing reasons then? Without this, where would it have stopped, as with last year. This seems to be the club's 'raison d'etre'. As it happens, I think anything over £30m is excellent money for Mane, but what will they do with the money?No excuses this summer to syphon it off. Unless this is a precursor to major investment now, What little faith I have left in the board,s motives will evaporate

They really want to be Southampton fc

"Cashing in" this year was Pelle and Wanyama...or so I thought. The keys to saints success and the 'family jewels' were Koeman, Forster, VVD, Long, Davis and Mane, and if they are to be sold..they should be big money and not go to our rivals.

We have an amazing end to last season, beating the big boys with ease, qualify for Europe, new TV deal. If ever there was a time to hold em, this is it.

I am having to completely change my organisation's strategy after Thursdays vote, strategies can and must change. Selling Mane would confirm that we are still operating like a club looking to survive in the EPL. We are now a club pushing for honours.

We had a good thing, it costs little to hold it for another year.

Nick, I think that your comments are on the whole balanced and informative and I respect your right to state them, after all football is all about opinion. However just lately I am beginning to wonder if you are becoming a little too close to representing the point of view of the club thus running the risk of turning the Ugly into the house magazine of Southampton F C.

Unless I have missed something I can think of no other businesses where continually selling your best assets brings you long term success.BoondockSaint is right on the money and for you to suggest that our future is best served by Jay Rod and Austin is frankly ludicrous given the evidence ie that neither managed a full game for us last season.

My own view for what it is worth is that the club has reached the end of the road as far as ambition is concerned and is giving every indication that it is happy at where it finds itself. Unable to keep it's best managers and players together with no desire to increase the ground capacity.

I am beginning to wonder whether the daughter of our saviour could in fact be the problem rather than the solution.

First time post on here as I'm sick to the teeth of my team selling their star players every summer! HOWEVER to add perspective over Wanyama & Mane, we would of finished in the top 4 if Wanyama wasn't sulking or suspended! Mane went FIVE months without scoring and he couldn't even control the ball! The big question is how long can we keep this up? Are we becoming the new "Arsenal" without the top 4 finish? .....a possible French manager would be the start of it 😜😜

Agree with a lot of the comments above.
The proof of the club's ambition and direction will be in how we spend the cash from this sale. The signings in the last 12 months have been generally below par, with van Dijk the exception. Selling your key assets requires you to ensure that at least 75% of the players bought in are more than adequate replacements. That's risky - see Villa and Newcastle.

I would also question whether running a football club as a good business is actually compatible with real success (i.e. winning things). Football clubs are not normal businesses because so many owners are willing to plough in money, not to mention wage structures. I love what the Liebherrs have done and I'd never criticise them, but in my opinion there's a glass ceiling on our success if the club continues to be run as it is

Hi all,

This is what I'm said on forum when Koeman's departure surfaced in the rumour mill:

"I don't care what anybody says. If Ronald goes then this should be a major wake-up call to everyone on this forum and Southampton FC as a whole.

The brutal truth is if the situation was the other way round (i.e. Everton finished in the top 6 and Koeman decided to swap for Soton who finished 11th) it would be considered career suicide for Ronald---not a sideways move.

The reason it isn't the case with him swapping for Everton is simply because Southampton FC has created a reputation as being a selling club lacking in ambition. I understand the word 'ambition' is a bit dirty on this forum and in many regards has become a subterfuge for greed/disloyalty with previous managers leaving. However, the problem is ambition is actually a valid reason. Ronald has clearly taken us as far as he can and believes the board will not back him to take the club to the next level. I don't think his motivations for the move is entirely about money. He knows Barcelona, Holland and possibly Arsenal are one season away. However, he knows his stock will lower if he's not giving adequate funding to maintain or better our position next season. Next season is going to be very competitive. Man Utd have Mourinho, Liverpool has Klopp and City have Guardiola. Furthermore Leicester, Tottenham and Arsenal will strengthen significantly-- not to mention West Ham, Stoke, and Everton. We need to change our strategy and stop selling our best players it's not sustainable.

We are not taking advantage of our position. Our top players are constantly being linked with moves away. We are never strengthening our core but always replacing them. Where is the money going? We have been in the EPL for 4 seasons now. The sponsorship money has gone up enormously. We should be investing heavily.

When you consider the investment put in by the board last season we didn't deserve to finish in the top 6. We were extremely lucky! Ronald has done nothing short of a miracle the past couple of seasons and he knows it.

I really think Katherina Liebherr and the rest of the board should get off their ass and start really investing in this football club! If they don't then why are they involved?

Lastly, if Ronald does leave, there needs to be a change of ownership. It is inexcusable to lose a manager that got us back-to-back highest points tallies in the EPL. Let's not forget this is the very same manager that beat Man Utd (away twice), Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City in the two seasons. He will not be easy to replace if we lose him."

I think it's clearly evident on this forum people are starting to say very similar things. Let's not forgot I have developed a reputation for being antagonistic. I do it mostly as devils-advocate to keep points of views varied and to allow different opinions a voice.

However, I've never experienced a situation on this forum where so many people are echoing my point of view. That is worrying for Southampton FC because it means this trend of the board selling our best players is becoming untenable.

Someone needs to do something. Because ultimately it's the fans that lose out. If we're not careful we could end up like Aston Villa #LierbherrOut

In basic economic terms this is bad business. The pound has depreciated against the euro because of Brexit. As we operate in a European market for football talent this means that players cost more in £ terms. So £30m doesn't buy you as good a player as it did before. Therefore, we should have held out for more money.

Very disappointed after such a great season. Top manager goes, 2 senior players go, it seems others are in the queue. Do we have a top manager coming in ? with all respect to Puel he is not the name I was hoping for. Redmond will be a good squad player but his price is £20m less than Mane for a reason. Are those who say we are a selling club with little real ambition going to be proved correct?

This buy and sell on for a profit 'strategy' is deeply embedded in the psyche of the club and is taken as a given by our rivals and by our new players to alike. A club like Liverpool doesn't think "I wonder if Southampton will sell him" when they make initial enquiries - they KNOW they will get their man. Redmond knows that play well for a season and we can 'cash in'. It positively discourages loyalty and team spirit. Obviously it creates an incentive to play well but as many have pointed out the gravy train will run out. The Academy cash cow has gone quiet and we will not keep making the right choices.

SaintMark says we've reached the end of the road in terms of ambition. I would revise that to say our 'ambition' is totally tied up in the psychology of buy cheap and sell dear. When we buy a few duds all at once our 'ambition' will blow away like dust in the wind. The only way we can break the cycle is to look at players as players who are there to play football rather than being solely assets to "cash in" on as soon as they have a good season. For me continued 'ambition' would be shown by actually showing players and rivals that we are capable and willing to retain valuable 'assets' if it suits us on the pitch. Some will say Mane wasn't that man and we have done 'good business' and fair enough, that in reference to one player is a reasonable opinion, but when the next player joins the queue (and Everton WILL be in for VVD) will that be good business and the one after that and the one after that and the one after that who condescends to stay on being promised a move next year??

The net result of all this will NOT be that we come sixth every year - it doesn't work like that. Unless we radically alter our psyche we will be making steady progress the wrong way. Of course we need to sell players sometimes and profit is not a dirty word but please soon we need to KEEP one of these people.....

Sorry to add a PS after such a long rant but I think our friend TeamCortese, the 'devil's advocate' talks much sense but the 'Liebherr Out' slogan is a dangerous one. The odds on a buyer having good solid season-in-season-out money to spend are not low enough. Ambition is not a dirty word, it is a concept open to interpretation. Selling Mane doesn't feel like ambition, Liebherr Out feels simply unwise.

I have a feeling this is why RK jumped ship. He probably knew they were being sold and felt it was the wrong decision.

Seriously have some of you not learned a thing from the last three years? Yes Mane is going and Wanyama and Koeman have gone.
We will be replacing them. We replaced Adkins and that was OK although we had never heard of MP. We replaced MP with a big name player but not really seen as a big time manager and that was OK. We are now doing it again now. Puel could well turn out to be another gem. We are also going to recruit to replace those players. Let's see who we get before we have a meltdown. The club has done this very well over the last few years. Yet it appears that even with the track record of success, we still won't cut them any slack.
Ask yourself this, if we were announcing the signing of Mane, for 32 million, knowing what we know about him now, would you be happy? Or saying it's a waste of money?

SonicBoom: You talk a lot of sense but I think the word "could" in your sixth line gets to the crux of the issue. We 'could' keep selecting good managers and players who hit the 'cash in' jackpot but on the other hand....

I think to summarize most of our thoughts, we have been patient, trusting and positive up to a point. But I think our patience has f finally run out. We are all of the opinion that selling your best players year on year is a strategy that WILL NOT last forever. There is a feeling that this could be one season too far.

On a more positive note, we still have have the basis of a strong squad (for now) I suppose we must wait and judge on who the club brings in between now and the start of the season.

Saints is a business not a be nice to fans club. Accept it and be grateful that the business is thriving and making the correct decisions. Long may it prosper and if it doesn't then that is the time to have a right moan.

San Marco: very VERY good post.

So do we like the 'Black Box' method of player recruitment which other clubs envy us for and has brought our best ever sustained league performance or do we just want to stick with the first half decent player we come across and that's good enough for us. Yes teams need to be built but some players will always join for a short period looking for a big money move to a club that can pay them far more than our tiny commercial operation can currently support. Yes I want Saints achieving the highest results but no I don't want that at the risk of financial ruin as happened all too soon ago. As long as the transfer fee goes back into the team either in transfer fees or higher wages to lock key players Forster, VVD etc in on long term deals I'll be happy

SaintPaulVW - I think you're right in saying that we should be cautious about seeing the Mane sale as a disaster. You're also right to point to our good recruitment policy over the last 3 years.

But, since Paul Mitchell went to Spurs our purchases have been very mixed. Of the 10 or so players we've bought since then I'd only put VVD in the 'quality' category; the others are either ok squad players or haven't worked out at all. So we need to be cautious about trusting the Black Box too

Forget the "Black Box" myth-it's just a game console with the FIFA player database.
Why don't other teams find players like us? THEY DON'T NEED TO! WE DO IT FOR THEM!

The whole point of the Moneyball strategy is to get players to win championships, and then sell them! Les hasn't figured this out, he just stands at the door of the troop plane and pats the player on the head as he jumps.