[Albion] Is Southampton the model?

[Hugo Rune]

The academy is now starting to produce some real talent. Whilst we’re not talking about the level of Southampton where they’ve churned out plenty of top Premier League players including the world class Bale, it’s going to get very crowded next season with top young talent wanting a chance verses the established Albion stars (some legends in there too) who wish to remain at the club.

I can’t help but think that if Uncle Tony wants to create a financially stable club where he is not putting in tens of millions every single year, we’re going to have to start selling soon.

But rather than sell them young to the top six (or Leeds) as Southampton have done (with so many stars), perhaps we make way for these new promising buds by clearly out the established order by way of giving them a clear path to perform.

We also need new talent. We’ve tried to find the sort of attacking flair and goal scoring regularity in Locadia, Andone, Jahanbakhsh and Izquierdo. For one reason or another, these transfers resulted in about three goals for us this season. We need to invest.

To get the money we need to spend, I think the time has gone for Uncle Tony to pull his own wallet out. We should sell.

This is going to be very unpopular but I think we should shift the Hughton legends:

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?)
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him)
Duffy: £20m (see above)
March: £10 (Championship or newly promoted club)
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?)

Southampton spent £20m on Mane and sold him for £30m two years later. We need some signings like that, perhaps we could take the best from the relegated clubs rather than taking the cream from the Championship like we did last summer? I’d pursue:

Edouard - £25m
Sarr - £25m
Grealish - £40m
Mainland-Niles - £15m
Angel Gomes - Free

Our defence could look pretty lightweight but maybe the time has come to trust the youth of Webster, White, Burn, Clarke, Østigård & Băluță? Some will sink but as we’ve seen with Webster and Burn, there are some floaters.

Whatever happens this summer, we really need to look very closely at our attacking options and how we score goals. We need to buy some real talent, I just think we can fund them mostly by selling off some of our legends......sorry.

 

[southstandandy]

I think even £10 for Stephens is a bit cheap.

And in my view we would do well to get half of your 'hoped for' prices for Duffy and Stephens. Agreed though we need to sell a few to clear the decks a bit.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Grealish will not sign for teamslikebrighton. One of the big boys (probably Spurs) will take a punt on him.

This will please me, as he is a brilliant player, but I don't want him here.

I would happily welcome Saar, though.

 

[Stat Brother]

Huge pedestrian shopping area.
Decent cycling infrastructure.
Popular and active marina.
Large mall & even a paupers mall!
Comparatively clean.
No one man tents on the pavement.
Swimming pool.

So yeah I think so.


There shouldn't be a single metric where Southampton is better than Brighton and yet it probably is.

 

[Shuggie]

All well and good but TB’s stated ambition is to become a top 10 club. That means money is available to be spent, within the constraints of FFP, if necessary. Should there be a surplus of high quality players, TB’s strategy will presumably be to keep the better ones and sell on others, legends included. If any player outgrows BHA and wants away, funds will be used to reinvest in the primary objective of becoming a top10 team. When (if?) that is achieved, he can set a new objective which could either mean striving to get to the next level (continue to invest) or operating profitably at that level. In other words, I think we’ll have to wait another five years or so to find out the answer to the question.

The main limitation is the squad size. We need better players to move even a few rungs up the ladder. Many of the current squad will therefore need replacing. But that will be driven by football decisions rather than finance.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I am sure that it is a "model" that they see as the only realistic way of changing our income potential - selling players for big profits, so yes, in many respects it is a model to follow and to a certain degree doesn't rely sooo heavily on PL status, albeit attracting the best talent is easier I would assume when you are in the PL and have a coach who believes he has the opportunity to bring them through.
And the PL status is important because off of us (Bottom 12/13 in the PL) are really only a few results from relegation - take Ings and his 20 goals this season out of Saints and they are struggling too.

 

[Binney on acid]

Would you pay to watch that thuggery ?

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

Interesting - Grealish wouldn’t pass the No Dickheads policy though Shirley(and personally although he’s clearly talented I wouldn’t want him). I also agree about Sarr though

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I am sure that it is a "model" that they see as the only realistic way of changing our income potential - selling players for big profits, so yes, in many respects it is a model to follow and to a certain degree doesn't rely sooo heavily on PL status, albeit attracting the best talent is easier I would assume when you are in the PL and have a coach who believes he has the opportunity to bring them through.
And the PL status is important because off of us (Bottom 12/13 in the PL) are really only a few results from relegation - take Ings and his 20 goals this season out of Saints and they are struggling too.

On the subject of Ings, I am really pleased for him after all the injuries that have threatened his always promising career. He is a fine player and is what I had hoped Barnes would become when we first had him and played him as a proper striker. Somehow he got dropped back towards midfield and Never became the player he could have been with us. Lucky for him Burnley got hold of him and brought out the best.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I don't want to sell Dunk

 

[Jim D]

Grealish will not sign for teamslikebrighton. One of the big boys (probably Spurs) will take a punt on him.

This will please me, as he is a brilliant player, but I don't want him here.

I would happily welcome Saar, though.

I believe Spurs were going to buy Grealish a couple of years back, when Villa were in big debt. But they tried to be too cute with the price and then Villa got a new backer and refused to sell. I think the price was £5m at the time. It would be ironic if they finally got him at 10 times the original price.

 

[wellquickwoody]

The academy is now starting to produce some real talent. Whilst we’re not talking about the level of Southampton where they’ve churned out plenty of top Premier League players including the world class Bale, it’s going to get very crowded next season with top young talent wanting a chance verses the established Albion stars (some legends in there too) who wish to remain at the club.

I can’t help but think that if Uncle Tony wants to create a financially stable club where he is not putting in tens of millions every single year, we’re going to have to start selling soon.

But rather than sell them young to the top six (or Leeds) as Southampton have done (with so many stars), perhaps we make way for these new promising buds by clearly out the established order by way of giving them a clear path to perform.

We also need new talent. We’ve tried to find the sort of attacking flair and goal scoring regularity in Locadia, Andone, Jahanbakhsh and Izquierdo. For one reason or another, these transfers resulted in about three goals for us this season. We need to invest.

To get the money we need to spend, I think the time has gone for Uncle Tony to pull his own wallet out. We should sell.

This is going to be very unpopular but I think we should shift the Hughton legends:

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?)
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him)
Duffy: £20m (see above)
March: £10 (Championship or newly promoted club)
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?)

Southampton spent £20m on Mane and sold him for £30m two years later. We need some signings like that, perhaps we could take the best from the relegated clubs rather than taking the cream from the Championship like we did last summer? I’d pursue:

Edouard - £25m
Sarr - £25m
Grealish - £40m
Mainland-Niles - £15m
Angel Gomes - Free

Our defence could look pretty lightweight but maybe the time has come to trust the youth of Webster, White, Burn, Clarke, Østigård & Băluță? Some will sink but as we’ve seen with Webster and Burn, there are some floaters.

Whatever happens this summer, we really need to look very closely at our attacking options and how we score goals. We need to buy some real talent, I just think we can fund them mostly by selling off some of our legends......sorry.

I was admiring how much thought and planning you had put into your opening gambit. Then I saw that you think we should target Grealish. Whilst ambitious, it would be without doubt doomed to failure. He is going to a top half of the table club, most likely one of the big six.

 

[Rogero]

It is interesting that our last 3 signings have come from the English leagues as are Lamptey,Maupay, and Webster and all look to be first teamers. Our foreign buys are very hit and miss.
Also we must not forget Dan Burn who has been great for us under Potter.

 

[Beach Hut]

No thanks to Grealish, looks good in a shit team but would be less than average in a good one like Zaha found out.

 

[dangull]

The ambition of the club is to emulate Southampton?
That's an exciting prospect for the next 10 years or so. Being a bit sarcastic there, but that's the reality of being in the Premier league.

 

[Seasidesage]

Southampton are very much the model. Our biggest problem is wages and the lack of them. We need to be able to increase our budgets to be able to attract the right players, buying cheap and selling high is very much the plan although of course it is a lot more complicated than that, In simple terms if the academy can turn say £20m profit PA that would translate into say two better players than we might otherwise have been able to afford? Extra seats, new hotel, IKEA all translate to extra funds for team strengthening. This is El Presidente territory more than mine but the top clubs spend north of £200m on wages per year while we will be £70m ish finding ways to bridge that gap is the key to success in football.

FWIW I also think Dunk goes this summer or he pretty much never does. He's had a great season but he's 28 time is ticking for a big move, if we have cover in one area its central defence and for me if the right move comes for the lad and the money is right now is the time to cash our chips in...

 

[Medwayseagull]

I think even £10 for Stephens is a bit cheap.

And in my view we would do well to get half of your 'hoped for' prices for Duffy and Stephens. Agreed though we need to sell a few to clear the decks a bit.

£10 certainly is cheap in the current market - even for the Stephens haters.

 

[Medwayseagull]

The academy is now starting to produce some real talent. Whilst we’re not talking about the level of Southampton where they’ve churned out plenty of top Premier League players including the world class Bale, it’s going to get very crowded next season with top young talent wanting a chance verses the established Albion stars (some legends in there too) who wish to remain at the club.

I can’t help but think that if Uncle Tony wants to create a financially stable club where he is not putting in tens of millions every single year, we’re going to have to start selling soon.

But rather than sell them young to the top six (or Leeds) as Southampton have done (with so many stars), perhaps we make way for these new promising buds by clearly out the established order by way of giving them a clear path to perform.

We also need new talent. We’ve tried to find the sort of attacking flair and goal scoring regularity in Locadia, Andone, Jahanbakhsh and Izquierdo. For one reason or another, these transfers resulted in about three goals for us this season. We need to invest.

To get the money we need to spend, I think the time has gone for Uncle Tony to pull his own wallet out. We should sell.

This is going to be very unpopular but I think we should shift the Hughton legends:

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?)
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him)
Duffy: £20m (see above)
March: £10 (Championship or newly promoted club)
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?)

Southampton spent £20m on Mane and sold him for £30m two years later. We need some signings like that, perhaps we could take the best from the relegated clubs rather than taking the cream from the Championship like we did last summer? I’d pursue:

Edouard - £25m
Sarr - £25m
Grealish - £40m
Mainland-Niles - £15m
Angel Gomes - Free

Our defence could look pretty lightweight but maybe the time has come to trust the youth of Webster, White, Burn, Clarke, Østigård & Băluță? Some will sink but as we’ve seen with Webster and Burn, there are some floaters.

Whatever happens this summer, we really need to look very closely at our attacking options and how we score goals. We need to buy some real talent, I just think we can fund them mostly by selling off some of our legends......sorry.

You make Webster and Burn sound like something stuck at the bottom of a toilet - I would prefer to call them swimmers.

 

[Icy Gull]

I remember when Reading were the model

 

[sparkie]

It could be a disaster to sell Dunk.

We must learn from Swansea's mistake - they sold their best player for a massive fee.... and went down because of it.


So, the best bit of transfer business we can do is to keep Dunk.


As for the rest, yes perhaps it does make sense to get a nice fee for Duffy.

I don't think we'd get too much for Stephens with just 1 year left on his contract.

I suspect that Solly stays.

Also, if we can get back a few million for Ali J, then that would be welcome funding, and in the player's interest as well perhaps.