Are Southampton being sold down the river?

[MissGull]

For me, anyone who can beat all the big boys home and away gets admiration from me, even Palace. Last year for them was a good footballing story, however much i despise the club.

In terms of them selling off all their best players - yes. But for most football clubs its about money now, not good football. Unless you are able to win trophies in order to make big money, then for smaller clubs it's all about selling your best players for big money.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

There are four parts to a football club - The board - the fans - the manager & the players.

You need all the parts to work together and have the same ambition and targets.

When Southampton had a owner & board that worked together they put together a buying team and manager that picked and bought players and the fans flocked in and it worked.


Now the owner has gone its falling apart, manager and team gone and the club and fans will fall.


Same thing is happening to us a little and TB needs to put it right - He perhaps needs to open his chequebook a bit wider for players - I say this only because even though he has invested so much we need to be grateful for he could actually lose that investment if we don't have another good season.

 

[Mowgli37]

I know it would never happen but I would love us to sign their Steven Davis, quality player.

 

[Phat Baz 68]

Yeah ! Good isn't it ? ha ha ha
The only thing I wish for more is that it happens to those slagbos from Croydung !!

 

[Wally Goulds right toe]

Wishful thinking. I can't see Palace being relegated any time soon.

As long as Pullis stays I think you're right.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I have no real feelings about them as a club, at least not in an Albion context.

I do feel for their supporters though: last season must have been such a feel-good moment for them, with a team packed with players they've developed through their own system. I'd love it if the Albion ever got to that point. And in terms of the bigger picture of England football, they seem to have done more than most clubs to bring through talented, technically skilled, and mentally grounded lads who simply have to be the future of the national team.

I'm sure they have more decent young lads coming through, but it's going to be a huge challenge to overcome the loss of Lambert, Lallana, Lovren, Shaw, probably Chambers and quite possibly Jay Rodriguez too, if rumours are to be believed.

Penalty of being successful but not rich, I guess. It sucks for them (but hey, could be worse #Pompey).

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

They have had LOADS come in for their best players so they can easily get decent players in to replace them.

It isnt a case of them selling their players and then never replacing them !!

 

[TonyW]

Except the owner couldn't give a monkey's about football.
Expect them to die soon!
The club, not the owner

 

[TomandJerry]

"Celtic have rejected a bid from Southampton for England international goalkeeper Fraser Forster."

"Arsenal set to sign £16m Chambers"

"Liverpool close on Origi"

"£20m Lovren to have Liverpool medical"

"Southampton sign Italian striker Pelle"

 

[Bwian]

Wishful thinking. I can't see Palace being relegated any time soon.

Sadly, neither can I.

 

[Ernest]

I think their decline is wishful thinking for some, they've mugged money off clubs and are still getting some decent youngsters coming through. There will be at least 3 worst teams in the Prem, West Ham, West Brom, Burnley, Hull for starters ,next season

 

[TomandJerry]

There will be at least 3 worst teams in the Prem, West Ham, West Brom, Burnley, Hull for starters ,next season

You forgot to mention Sunderland

 

[Paris]

A lot depends on whether Ronald Koeman hits the ground running, assisted by Mr mini-me traitor. I have no idea about Koeman's career in management or any success he might have had. When I think of him all that springs to mind is him pulling David Platt down when he was clean through in Rotterham and getting a yellow card. He then went up the other end...

 

[London Irish]

I have no real feelings about them as a club, at least not in an Albion context.

I do feel for their supporters though: last season must have been such a feel-good moment for them, with a team packed with players they've developed through their own system. I'd love it if the Albion ever got to that point. And in terms of the bigger picture of England football, they seem to have done more than most clubs to bring through talented, technically skilled, and mentally grounded lads who simply have to be the future of the national team.

I'm sure they have more decent young lads coming through, but it's going to be a huge challenge to overcome the loss of Lambert, Lallana, Lovren, Shaw, probably Chambers and quite possibly Jay Rodriguez too, if rumours are to be believed.

Penalty of being successful but not rich, I guess. It sucks for them (but hey, could be worse #Pompey).

Would their supporters feel sorry for us? What is the real difference between them and us? Market valuations have been hit and players have left, both here and there.

Yes Southampton are probably effectively telling their fans that they have no ambition for top 4 and probably no reasonable expectation of even top 8. They are settling for midtable or lower midtable possibly and that loss of ambition will sting a little for their fans.

In selling Ulloa, we have certainly ruled out top 2 and the jury is out until we spend some money whether we are ruling out top 6 also - we'll see.

Certainly Southampton fans would laugh at us expressing any kind of sympathy, they at least have top flight football for all their curtailed ambitions.

 

[withdeanwombat]

I think their decline is wishful thinking for some, they've mugged money off clubs and are still getting some decent youngsters coming through. There will be at least 3 worst teams in the Prem, West Ham, West Brom, Burnley, Hull for starters ,next season

Think Swansea could be in the.... er ..... s....oup as well.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Shame, they were good to watch in the prem, but the team has been ripped apart, plus losing their manager. They're going to struggle this season. Good candidates to go doen one would think.

 

[MissGull]

Would their supporters feel sorry for us? What is the real difference between them and us? Market valuations have been hit and players have left, both here and there.

Yes Southampton are probably effectively telling their fans that they have no ambition for top 4 and probably no reasonable expectation of even top 8. They are settling for midtable or lower midtable possibly and that loss of ambition will sting a little for their fans.

In selling Ulloa, we have certainly ruled out top 2 and the jury is out until we spend some money whether we are ruling out top 6 also - we'll see.

Certainly Southampton fans would laugh at us expressing any kind of sympathy, they at least have top flight football for all their curtailed ambitions.

We had Ulloa last season, and he didn't bring us top 2, so how do you work that one out?

 

[Diego Napier]

Watching Southampton getting cherry picked could be like looking at a future version of our own club.

Could be, all depends on the man at the top!

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with most people on here.

Katharine Liebherr, the new owner, isn't asset-stripping, and there's no suggestion that the family money will be pulled out. Re-tooling, more like. She engineered the departure of a highly unpopular executive chairman in Nicola Cortese, whose transfer activity last summer left them with a £27m deficit, which was effectively wiped out by the Shaw deal - unbelievably good business for an 18-year-old left back.

Lallana and Lovren made it very clear that they wanted to go, and Liverpool have paid massively over the odds for both, IMHO. And £4m for Rickie Lambert, who makes me look fast, was ridiculous on Liverpool's part. West Ham offered £1m, which was about right. And Arsene Wenger has taken a bit of a punt on Callum Chambers, I think. By selling English players, who go for well above market value as usual, Saints have now got a huge transfer kitty to spend on additions to a few decent young players that they have pushing for the first team as ever.

Ronald Koeman is a manager who has been around and won trophies in Holland and Spain, and he's picked up a couple of bargains from Dutch football already. Dusan Tadic, the replacement for Lallana at a fraction of the cost, was the top provider of assists in Holland last season and the fourth-highest scorer. Graziano Pelle, although twice the price of Lambert, can contribute more than just free kicks and penalties.

The departure of Cortese has also had a very positive effect off the field, from what I've heard. The local paper has been un-banned, fans are regarded with less suspicion, and former players are being invited to St Mary's again. Matthew Le Tissier had been told he wasn't welcome, which is rather like us barring Peter Ward.

Much as I'd have a chuckle or two at Southampton's demise if it happened (not to mention spending fewer hours of my professional life at the Estadio Santa Maria), I won't be putting any money on them to go down. Eighth place again is out of reach, but I'm sure there will be three wosre teams than them.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

It seems mad, considering they've already made huge cash on Lallana, Walcott, Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaw, Lambert, and in all probability Lovren, Schneiderlin and Chambers, but even so, there are still talented youngsters coming through their ranks who are being talked about in fine terms.

Gallagher is one, I forget his first name but he's a striker. Lloyd Isgrove. Harrison Reed. Matt Targett. All on the verge of the first team.

I can't quite see them as relegation fodder just yet as I think there are considerably worse sides, including at least two of the three promoted teams (I'll exclude QPR for now on the basis that Harry has yet to conclude his last minute transfer window dodgy dealings yet and is bound to pick up at least ten more players).