Les does it again

the egos, the greed, the incompetence and the short time scale of a January transfer window.

I dont think you can say all that about Les

The thing I thinkit is fair to say, what with KL looking for an exit strategy from the club, is that money seems to be the most important issue at SFC currently.

Les didn't mess up. We had two big CB targets lined up for the summer but were forced to enter the market early for one of them. A number of deals fell through because of injury and reasons out of SFC's control. Remember we have to deal with other clubs (who aren't as well run as us). Sometimes things just don't work out. Its easy to blame LR but think of how many people are involved in a transfer nowadays and then imagine the egos, the greed, the incompetence and the short time scale of a January transfer window. It isn't easy.

You can't separate the recruitment from the decision to allow Fonte to go without a replacement having been secured. LS has a good record but retreiving the CB situation looks like Houdini management to me.

The thing I thinkit is fair to say, what with KL looking for an exit strategy from the club, is that money seems to be the most important issue at SFC currently.

What evidence do you have for that?

There is a significant difference between "an exit strategy" and looking for an investment partner.

Liebherr in her statement called it a "potential partnership"...

https://southamptonfc.com/news/2017-01-26/club-statement-southampton-football-club

A partnership is not an exit.

Man City sold 13% to the Chinese in 2015, did you call that an "exit strategy"?

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group

Not if Fonte's behaviour was having a detrimental effect of the squad & Puels authority. How do you know that Puel took the decision that he'd rather not have Fonte round the place, had no intention of playing him and would rather get by without him.

 

It makes me laugh the "Reed screwed up" line. It's said with so much certainty and belief, but is based on absolutely nothing. We don't know Puels thoughts, we don't know the budgetary constraints, we don't know how much other centre halves wanted or how much their selling clubs wanted. We don't know who was available & whether any were realistically going to come to Saints. I seem to recall some experts claiming Benteke was an ideal signing we should of got , how's that one working out for Palace. One thing for sure is that once VvD got injured dozens of agents will have been on the phone offering us centre halves. The fact we didn't get one could be down to a number of reasons , not just Les ****ed up. It's perfectly conceivable that Puel wanted Fonte out at all costs, that Reed didn't want to get in an auction with Palace over Sakho. That Reed & Puel didn't feel others available were worth spending mega dough on( because the price would have gone up once VvD got injured). What if Kat's budget only stretched to Gabbi & a cheaper option that fell through. Puel & Les may have decided that with Stephens, Yoshida & Gardos a striker was priority ( and who knows Martin may have been on the radar by the end of the window)Somebody once said, and I think it was Tony Pullis, that we're well run and one of the reasons is around who we don't buy, just as much as who we do buy. Throwing money around like a sailor on shore leave is not the answer to a set back. Walking away from a bad deal, sometimes is.

 

Les Reed has done enough good over the years, so I intend to give him the benefit of the doubt, rather than just assume ( without knowing any details) that he'd ****ed up

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're putting words into my mouth. I have not advocated that the club fix its problems with rampant spending. If the club could not afford to replace Fonte in January having reviewed all the reasonable options, they should not have sold him. It seems like straightforward due diligence to me. VVD's injury highlighted their recklessness. I like Reed's record overall but to me this situation is a blemish. It may be resolved if he gets Caceres over the line and the player can stay healthy until the end of the season. It may also turn out to be OK if Yoshida and Stephens stay healthy, but it is a risk. I am fine with the sustainable, business-like approach adopted in the post-Cortese era, and certainly would not expect the club to shatter its wage structure to bring in a player like Sakho if he had accompanying untenable wage demands. I certainly would never have advocated for Benteke but that is mainly because he is not very good.

The thing I thinkit is fair to say, what with KL looking for an exit strategy from the club, is that money seems to be the most important issue at SFC currently.

I really wish we bought that £17m striker from Italy we were after.

What evidence do you have for that?

 

There is a significant difference between "an exit strategy" and looking for an investment partner.

 

Liebherr in her statement called it a "potential partnership"...

 

https://southamptonfc.com/news/2017-01-26/club-statement-southampton-football-club

 

A partnership is not an exit.

 

Man City sold 13% to the Chinese in 2015, did you call that an "exit strategy"?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group

He wont reply because the answer is NONE...