The mess we're in

hmmm, CONFABULATION, now there's a word

Haha, not sure if that should be attributed to my post above.

I'm sorry I've been miserable and continue to be about the club but it's galling to see it happening, it's not purposeful, I'm not enjoying the turmoil at all. I'll type some more in the next few days if I get a chance about the players that have left, the ones that are about to leave and possible signings. More on MP departure too, as well as some other stuff about "the goalposts being moved". Whether that aligns with what anyone else hears I don't know, just passing on what I am told.

How many more to leave (excluding JRod, Morgan and Osvaldo)?

Is Crab lungs actually ITK ??

 

Does seem like it's what we have all known fir a while but it's good to have it confirmed by someone genuine (if he is )

He's sent me ITK stuff before which happened.

A few more out the door, hastily bought overpriced acquisitions to just about ensure we've got enough to stay up, a lower mid-table finish and eventually, a sale of a Premier League club with great facilities. All in a year. That's just speculation on my part. It's going to be bumpy.

I would be happy with that if we stayed up and maybe we could get a half decent owner prepared to invest a little bit.

Ok ok, let's say Katharina HAD allowed Cortese to pay the top players the sort of wages the top clubs are offering, what then? Eventually the money would run out, the club would make unsustainable losses and would eventually end up in administration again.

Unless we're saying there's a bottomless pot of money in markus' estate? How many years of losses would Cortese's "dream" have needed

How many more to leave (excluding JRod, Morgan and Osvaldo)?

Fonte's a good bet right about now.

Speculation: Pochettino sacrificed the cups to concentrate on the league because no matter how remote the possibility, a Champions league place finish and the associated rewards was realistically the only way the squad would have been kept together.

Fonte's a good bet right about now.

And Clyne? Ramirez? Wanyama?

I would be happy with that if we stayed up and maybe we could get a half decent owner prepared to invest a little bit.

I know you don't believe it, but it does not actually need that huge investment to be reasonably successful....IF as we had done we invested and developed quality kids through coaching excellence...mixed with a few acquisitions funded by the odd sale - key was the harmony and unity that we had fostered and a playing style and team ethic that showed we were better as a team, than other dudes collection of individuals. That is what ML and NC wanted... But it needed an initial spend to get things in place.... We had come up from L1 with a bare and young squad.... We also needed facilities for a Cat 1 status academy if this strategy was to work... NC saw that and spent the clubs money on it, and needed some additional capital via BVI.

Seems KL did not share the same view. I soldo think she would have sold had someone offered her what she wanted...

Fonte's a good bet right about now.

To Cardiff?

A few more out the door, hastily bought overpriced acquisitions to just about ensure we've got enough to stay up, a lower mid-table finish and eventually, a sale of a Premier League club with great facilities. All in a year. That's just speculation on my part. It's going to be bumpy.

Why not just sell the club now, its plainly obvious to everyone whats going on, do it now and who knows, maybe we get a chance to turn around what is going to be a horrible season and the level of vitriol directed at KL and LR is going to be horrendous, she must realise that? SMS will be half full most games

Crab Lungs has confirmed all my fears over the past few weeks.

The most worrying revelation sits with KLs intent to complete a cash in then sell what's left. We will know if this is true on 1 Sep as the transfer window closes. If we have not spent the transfer money, if we have not replaced our players it will be clear to everyone what her intent is.

I agree Cortese was the ambition. I agree that our Board are inept and clearly lack basic management skills. I agree they appear to be liars. I agree Krueger is a joke. I agree more players will leave. I believe we will relegate without spending all the money.

KL is destroying this club. I think I agree.

But, I will be keen to see what Koeman is left with on 1 Sep before I confirm my opinions. There is still some hope, Koeman.

I hope Les Reed, Kruger are sacked soon. I hope KL proves us wrong and spends. But this has all been clear for us all to see for months. I am afraid our owner and Board lack integrity and ability.

Pochettino

 

Mauricio and his staff were settled and more than happy to stay. Sure, he's got ambitions but he'd grown close the players and was enjoying his work. The subsequent power shift threw that all up in the air and he was talked round from resigning in January, a lot of it was out of loyalty to the players. We've seen a lot of stuff on here about him being shifty and disloyal - he wasn't. He seeked assurances about the following season and was rebutted, like Lallana and the other players. Reed and Krueger maintained they were in control but weren't. Pochettino decided after considerable time waiting to talk about the new season and the strategy for it to look elsewhere.

 

By the time Spurs had shown an interest, our board then panicked and offered him a MEGA deal to stay and all the funds from the sales of any players. He told them where to go - he was willing to accept 1-2 departures but he got no guarantees that there wasn't going to be any more. He wanted to decide his playing squad and with him staying, we would have been in a much more persuasive position. Additionally to this, Pochettino had already put a lot of work in and identified players that he'd have liked to have been brought in for the following campaign but was told there was no guarantee on what budget he'd get and whether we'd pay the money for them.

 

For him, the "project" was dead. No assurances were forthcoming when he asked and by the time the board realised he was in the sights of Spurs, his mind was already made up - and with that, so was many of the other players minds too.

 

Irrespective, MP and his family continue to live in Southampton and are due to move into a new place in OV.

 

 

Koeman

 

RoKo was aware of the Lambert, Lallana and Shaw sales but had no intention of losing any more players. He was promised a significant amount of money to rebuild the team in his style but did not sign up for a mass exodus. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts. So far, he's kept a dignified silence but I wouldn't be too surprised if the rumours of his grumbles behind the scenes are true.

 

RoKo was identified as the correct choice after his work with a young team on a shoestring budget a Feyenoord and seemed a perfect fit. That said, he didn't sign up for this. At the moment, he's likely receiving a lot of fluff talk from the powers that be about reinvestment. He should be very, very suspicious right now.

 

Irrespective of this, the Prem's a good place for him to be "seen" and I'm sure he'll make the most of his opportunity if given a fair crack of the whip. He didn't sign up for this though, that's for sure.

 

Cork & Fonte

 

In May, there were new contracts on the table for both players (still Pochettino in charge). However, these offers were withdrawn after the rumoured instruction that all the players were for sale.

 

Training Ground

 

We were always going to continue with the finishing of the training ground; the work there was never going to be halted. It's seen as an asset in any potential future sale and with the sales of Chambers, Shaw and Lallana from the very place those players were developed could be viewed as prestigious and potentially noteworthy to anyone interested in buying the club.

 

Summary

 

So where does that leave us after all this? With a threadbare squad of kids, unwanted players and established pro's with just 2 weeks or so until the Premier League season starts. I did mention a few months back of a domino effect and if you trawl my posts, you'll see that I had often spoke of this (albeit cryptically, much to many of you's annoyance).

 

Expect one possibly two players in this week in attempt to placate the well-placed hysteria surrounding the club but also expect more to follow too. We're pinning our hopes on some new acquisitions, a quick-gelling period and untested and quite frankly, ill-prepared and clearly not-ready youth team players who will be hastily thrown into Premier League football before they're even ready.

 

The problem is, with the clear lack of ambition with the sales has put a lot of players off and with the obviously huge intake of cash, it's also driven up the price of a lot of our targets as well. We've got bids in for a lot of players but we're nowhere near the valuation of many of the players because other clubs know we've got cash to burn. It's left us in a very difficult situation and it'll be quite remarkable if we finish mid-table this year, let alone anywhere higher. There's a lot of p1ssed off people right now, many of them staff and players who share YOUR frustrations. The stripes, the fan-friendly letters... it's all fluff. Is there a vision? Is there a strategy? No, not any more. We'd be lucky to tread water and that's what Les and co are hoping we do.

 

Much of this was avoidable, there was absolutely no need for a domino effect. Sure, we were always going to be victims of our own success but if we'd played things out differently with MP, AL et al then things could have been so so different.

 

That's it for now, I'll write more later.

Cheers for typing all that up Crabby, not good reading at all though.

How do you see this playing out? Do you think we will sell in say a year? Lets hope we are still in the prem when that happens.

So crab lungs version of events is very much different to Guan's. Who to believe?

Anyone know what's happened to the rest of the estate that was left to her?

The blame is squarely at the door of Fat Kat.

Crabbie, are we actually close to signing anyone?

Thanks for posting Crab. Keep posting updates / more snippets, irrespective of the numpties having a pop.

So crab lungs version of events is very much different to Guan's. Who to believe?

I don't think Guan has said much about events other than who we are bringing in.

Crabbie, are we actually close to signing anyone?

Maybe Guan can confirm this but possibility of one maybe two this week. Centre-half. Don't know who though... it's not only you that get the nudge, nudge, wink, wink treatment... I do as well!

TBH it's always easy to bash someone that puts their head above the parapet like this, but you only have to read back though Crabbie's posts to see that he's been banging on about this for some time. It does all seem rather prophetic.

Well, I thought I better give my opinion and tell you all also what I've heard over the past few months. Some of this is truth, some of this just my opinion. Some of it is me reading between the lines. Irrespective, it's not great reading and I think I'll be proven correct shortly that since Cortese left, we're on a huge downward curve.

 

Here's what I know.

 

- There was a huge upturn in atmosphere when Cortese left. The day-to-day (non-football) staff were initially a lot happier as NC could be a very difficult taskmaster at times.

- RK and KL set about repairing links and friendships with important businesses and former employees/players.

- Contractors and others Cortese had working for him via the club were a lot happier.

 

However, over time, this has changed somewhat and most importantly, the footballing side has been somewhat neglected. It soon became apparent that our objectives and ambitions had shifted and the players/staff were left completely in the dark. They bought into Cortese's long-term strategy/vision and it was him who was the glue who held everything together, despite his obvious shortcomings in other areas of running the club. When Cortese left, so did all the aspirations of pushing on and progressing as a club.

 

In the meantime, we've had;

 

- fan-pandering letters from the new setup

- mixed messages regarding the sale of players - Reed "not for sale" Krueger "will talk to clubs about our players"

- unprofessional snipes at Cortese's handling of the club with reference to the comment about our financial situation and the adidas kit debacle

- continued non-communication in this new "era of transparency"

 

Now, cast your mind back. In the early part of the season when we were riding high, remember all the talk of Champions League? This wasn't just from the players (Boruc, Wanyama, Lallana, Schneiderlin) but from the manager as well. This was Cortese's objective and the playing staff were 100% committed to delivering it; maybe not this season, but with future investment and the retention of the better players and the manager this was seen as potentially achievable. Now, fast-forward a few months later - uncertainty reigns, no-one dared uttered a word about it and the new leadership's policy is sustainability and nothing else. From February to the present day, we've had Schneiderlin, Lallana, Fonte and others all drop huge hints in the press about being happy here but only the proviso we kick on and improve.

 

If just one of those "big" players had the assurances they required to stay and committed so would the rest. Now, the opposite is in action; all it'll take is one or two to leave and it could lead to an exodus. The first and most important person is Pochettino, but I don't think he's too enamoured with the new "mid-table" project and having to face replacing key members of his squad. Surely some of you must have heard the alarm bells ringing the moment the new board started even entertaining players sales and mentioned that we were in a difficult financial situation? If that isn't greasing us up for a potential firesale of 2, 3 maybe 4 of our best players I don't know what is. Sure, no sales have been confirmed yet but I've absolutely no doubt that they will, very soon.

 

We're water-treaders now at best, unfortunately. If people are happy with that then that's their prerogative but I can almost certainly guarantee you that from reading between the lines and hearing what I've heard that we're in for a pretty sh1tty summer. It's genuinely galling to watch this unfold as like many of you, I was finally excited by the fact we were THAT close to having a thoroughly decent, competitive Premier League side that could challenge the big 'uns not off the pitch but most definitely on it. With a couple of solid acquisitions as a statement of intent and retention of our best players, we could have had a real go next year. That's what the players wanted, the manager wanted and that's what Cortese wanted. That dream died to moment he was turfed out of SMS for good.

 

Don't worry though - the pain of tumbling back into mediocrity will surely be offset by a nicely worded club statement.

Our new board is all fart and no sh1t, it'll become apparent soon if it hasn't already. Players aren't exactly enamoured by our new "mid-table" ambitions and who can blame them. Very annoying, just when we'd got a squad and a first 16 or so who could genuinely, genuinely compete. Cortese is right, they bought his vision and he was going to build on that. Yes, KL's money but we really do now have people in charge who are setting us up for a lot of disappointment - but they do write nice letters, tbf

Get ready to say bye to Adam and Luke, people. #homeiswheretheheartis

Spot on, but our wonderful new board were more motivated by having a cheap shot at Cortese than worrying about the club, as proved with later statements they've made.

 

Cortese was a **** but this lot are about to do some really significant damage. They might as well now, anyway... they've already destabilised our best squad in years.

You are absolutely spot on, sadly, and I did allude to this back in Jan when he left. We've just lost our biggest asset. I didn't agree with how he operated and handled things sometimes but his record speaks for itself. Still, the new board did write two nice letters - that's gotta count for something, right? #easilyduped #makingupthenumbersagain #itsnothappening

All of our decent players have been courted, there is offers, some are undecided, some are waiting on what happens with the club (though I think most are skeptical that KL and RK want to push the club like Cortese did) and unfortunately, MP's another one waiting on the board to show their hand. It could very well be an end of an era, and I did say this back in Jan...

 

...as for Adam, read into that what you will. All it's going to take is one to go for many of the others to do the same... dominoe's...

You're right, Defo.

 

A lot are suckered in already and have made as judgement that this is for the best. We don't know either way yet but when a similar worded statement is released after the first player sale (they won't asset strip, but won't have the same hold over the players like NC) there'll be a few people feeling a bit duped

People are very easily pleased very words. Lets have a review in 6 months or so and see where we are.

Crabbie, are we actually close to signing anyone?

Guan said probably Vlaar on another thread

Just posted on Twitter by a French journalist close to Morgan, that the club is up "FOR SALE" ,,, Now we know why everyones going!!! FFS

Much of this was avoidable

Thanks CL. An enlightening post if true.

Any chance of Crab Lungs stating where his info came from?

Koeman

 

RoKo was aware of the Lambert, Lallana and Shaw sales but had no intention of losing any more players. He was promised a significant amount of money to rebuild the team in his style but did not sign up for a mass exodus. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts. So far, he's kept a dignified silence but I wouldn't be too surprised if the rumours of his grumbles behind the scenes are true.

 

RoKo was identified as the correct choice after his work with a young team on a shoestring budget a Feyenoord and seemed a perfect fit. That said, he didn't sign up for this. At the moment, he's likely receiving a lot of fluff talk from the powers that be about reinvestment. He should be very, very suspicious right now.

 

Irrespective of this, the Prem's a good place for him to be "seen" and I'm sure he'll make the most of his opportunity if given a fair crack of the whip. He didn't sign up for this though, that's for sure.

Can somebody just clarify - as this post is unclear on this particular issue - did Ronald Koeman sign up for this?

Look at it this way... if a new owner comes in who *wants* the club, then yes, we might be in for a period of uncertainty but we might actually come out of things better in the long run. If current owners don't want to own/invest in the club, then so be it, nowt we can do, but the long term is more important... something we should know only too well after we nearly disappeared completely.

Losing good players is one thing, losing the club quite another. At least we have a pretty attractive infrastructure to sell if that is what it comes to.

Like it or not, this has always been a possibility for any club owned by a private company or individual and fans need to come to terms with it, or walk away.

Well, as someone who was glad NC left and publicly welcomed Ralph (hello Manji) I have to say Crab Lung's post, while hard to accept, has rung very true to me tonight and fits in with snippets that have come my way. But we are now very much dependant on the whim of KL and, for people like Alpine to make so many pathetic personal references (Fat Kat for christsakes) to her is massively counter productive and childish. She owns us, we don't own her. So be very careful. The day we got sold to the Liebherr family was the day we sold our soul. We were all glad at the time to be saved but their investment comes at a price and right now we are paying it. They are decent owners compared to 90% of foreign investors, Cortese raised our expectations without ever checking he had the full financial backing and now it has ended in the tears I predicted.

Just posted on Twitter by a French journalist close to Morgan, that the club is up "FOR SALE" ,,, Now we know why everyones going!!! FFS

Can somebody just clarify - as this post is unclear on this particular issue - did Ronald Koeman sign up for this?

Why not just sell the club now, its plainly obvious to everyone whats going on, do it now and who knows, maybe we get a chance to turn around what is going to be a horrible season and the level of vitriol directed at KL and LR is going to be horrendous, she must realise that? SMS will be half full most games

1. KL finds a buyer,

2. Due diligence is carried out by prospective buyer

3. Club is purchased

4. New owner authorises purchase of new researched squad members.

5. and quote, "maybe we get a chance to turn around what is going to be a horrible season"

Today's date is 28th July, first game of season 17th August, transfer window closes 1st September

Good luck with that plan.

Well, as someone who was glad NC left and publicly welcomed Ralph (hello Manji) I have to say Crab Lung's post, while hard to accept, has rung very true to me tonight and fits in with snippets that have come my way. But we are now very much dependant on the whim of KL and, for people like Alpine to make so many pathetic personal references (Fat Kat for christsakes) to her is massively counter productive and childish. She owns us, we don't own her. So be very careful. The day we got sold to the Liebherr family was the day we sold our soul. We were all glad at the time to be saved but their investment comes at a price and right now we are paying it. They are decent owners compared to 90% of foreign investors, Cortese raised our expectations without ever checking he had the full financial backing and now it has ended in the tears I predicted.

We disagree on many things Duncan, but that's spot on. Although it may not all be tears. All depends who buys us, if that is what happens. Better the devil you know mind...

Crab Lungs, will Koeman leave ?

You seem to be placing great store in a tweet from a French journalist....and even if it happens to be true, why would that be a reason for people going?

Can somebody just clarify - as this post is unclear on this particular issue - did Ronald Koeman sign up for this?

Ahahaha... sorry!

One other note on player purchases... we're giving (Reed) that everything is under control but there's a lot of frustration from the staff that we're dragging our heels and missing out on some players. Caulker, an example, messing around with the fee then steaming in at the last minute with an acceptable bid and by then it's too late.

You all knew Cortese was pre-paired to sell Shaw ?

Yes, hence his supposed to be going to Chelsea for the exact same amount Utd paid for him. I think I 1st posted about it in the October.

Some of what you post makes sense, other bits I know to be untrue. I suggest your source has his/her "angle" and is embellishing a few details to make the story fit.

It sort of backs up some players leaving because the ambition has gone!

Some of what you post makes sense, other bits I know to be untrue. I suggest your source has his/her "angle" and is embellishing a few details to make the story fit.

My money's on the pochettino and lallana bits.

The ultimate 'look at me' thread?

Ahhh right, presumeably the difference between these posts and guans is that these are negative.... Righto

Some of what you post makes sense, other bits I know to be untrue. I suggest your source has his/her "angle" and is embellishing a few details to make the story fit.

Which bits?

Ahhh right, presumeably the difference between these posts and guans is that these are negative.... Righto

Guan tends to post things we dont know.......

For the record i believe CL, nobody would go to that much trouble to blow smoke up our...........

Steve has already said on twitter that he thinks poch was always going to go and was almost sacked by cortèse in dec. is this true Steve? Mind you cortèse probably told kl we'd be in chamions league if we shelled out the money on osvaldo watch in summer so maybe that's why he nearky sacked him when we had poor dec.

If she was looking to sell the club why not just say so at the start?

Why string us along and cause a whole load of hate?

Cheers CL. If anyone doubts him, that's fine, but the intention is in the right place. I am sure that not all info is going to be correct. There is a bit of playing going on here. All those with contacts in the club seem to be being played a little.

Cheers CL. If anyone doubts him, that's fine, but the intention is in the right place. I am sure that not all info is going to be correct. There is a bit of playing going on here. All those with contacts in the club seem to be being played a little.

I get the feeling that nobody really knows whats going on, just seems a real mess atm

Some of what you post makes sense, other bits I know to be untrue. I suggest your source has his/her "angle" and is embellishing a few details to make the story fit.

All sources are bound to, to some degree. Important thing is for us to not read stuff too literally or hang off every word, but that does require people to think for themselves a bit, and we know some people can struggle with that.

He's sent me ITK stuff before which happened.

And me.