Saint-Fred

Teams can play well and not score? How many teams were "too good to go down" but still did go down? I think you are over simplifying the game somewhat..goal scorers are worth their weight in gold. No one can say aguero makes no difference to city? Or that without Vardys goals LCFC would have still been champions?

Ŵ It's no coincidence that Portugal conceded 4 goals when he didn't play and only 1 In the games he did play at the Euros! :-)

My lad got a Saints Keyring!

Hi nice to have another fan posting. Fonte has been just superb for us, he's our captain and deservedly so. You won't find many Saints fans he do not think he has been the dogs nuts for us for years so we all think he got something he richly deserved. perhaps the question should be back to you...has the Euros made Portugal appreciate him as much as we always have?

Surely the TV deal will cover the pay rises?

I know it's not a lot of money in relative terms these days but I really never thought I would see the day when Saints could field so many 10 million pound plus players! Welcome Pierre!

A shame lovely guy, some great moments in a Saints shirtbut in reality probably the best move for both parties, especially with him moving abroad. Good luck Pelle..it's magic you know!

If the rumours are true it must have a nationality switch! All of a sudden it's stopped looking at Dutch or Dutch league players and it's gone all French! TBF it's a tool and still needs a human to make a decision regarding the outputs and humans are prone to unconscious bias!

I never understood why Cedric didn't get more game time, unless it was due to health and safety concerns with his head injuries! If the club don't rate him enough to be a regular starter then I assume he'd move on? However the article says this guy can play in a few positions so maybe just a squad addition rather than a replacement?

http://readwestham.com/2016/07/09/southampton-set-land-pied/ Don't know a lot about him but Puel obviously will.

Lol the Aston Villa board were als professionals and they did a good job! For our board the facts are: appointed 1 successful manager, improved on the league position 2 years running, invested heavily in the academy, invested in the squad with a number of high quality and not cheap (8-12 million) players. They have increased commercial revenue. The negatives, they have sold a lot of high profile players, they have allowed the club to become a selling club in the perception of everyone, they have not held onto players or managers they wanted too at best agreeing one more year then lettin them go. Staff (Mitchell) have joined the brain drain. There has been no investments the squad other than that bought in through sales. For me the questions still to be answered are: did they or Keoman sign Pelle, Tadic mane, VVD, Clasie, etc...did RK over achieve or is it the club ethos which go us to sixth, did RK Achieve through ignoring the club ethos and not playing young players? Did the club choose a cheap option with Puel or is he really the first choice? If the black box is so good why does it seem to suggest players who the manager knows? Why are Les and Ralph the only people in the world who can do what we do, so much so he manager changing every two years is irrelevant? How are they right and everyone else wrong(those buying our cast offs at top dollar for example). I suppose a lot will be answered this year. If Puel plays youngsters, and we are successful then the board are bang on and beyond any recriminations.

We have only made one managerial appointment and did he follow the ethos? Were we successful because of him or the ethos? You could even argue he made the player recruitment given where they came from? Sorry yes as a business we are well run and as I said I think we should be able to consolidate in the premier league. However we won't progress further As a number of other clubs (the big 4) plus Spurs, Everton, Liverpool and maybe West Ham will probably take our better players and finish in a higher average position over the next ten years. There is also the risk that a couple of bad signings one summer, or the wrong managerial appointment and we could really struggle whereas a struggle for those clubs is finishing 8th! However I whichever way we were run the risk is probably the same for a club of our size.

TBF none of us really know if we are run well? Since NC left we have had one manager who if rumours are to be believed did not follow the club ethos of promoting youth etc. This managerial appointment will determine if we are well run or if RK put a team together and over achieved with that team. You could argue that any company with the turnover in staff (and I don't mean just players. Also managers and back room staff) that we have had, would be concerned...unless of course short term success masked any underlying issues and led to an arrogant or complacent attitude. IMO if we have a good season this season then The model works and the board cannot be questioned in future. If however Everton pass us then actually RK was a good appointment, he masked the true capability of the model and if Newcastle (To use your example) had chose him instead of Steve McLaren then we would probably be sat here saying they spent all that money wisely! IMO it's a between the two extremes, the model is sustainable and will ensure that we stay in the premier league hovering probably between 14th and 8th. Exceptionally we may have a good season and finish top 6 or 7 but that is likely to be the exception rather than the norm and for a club our size that's as good as we can hope for and a success in its own right. My frustration is the talk of top 4 etc..clearly the model we run will not get us in a place where we constantly fight for the top 4, it's a pipe dream and the club should not peddle that sort of rubbish. Finally the model is not "fan friendly" we will never grow our fan base to a big club level as new fans want success and the constant selling our our "stars" mean that new fans looking for a team are highly unlikely to choose Saints. The counter is every club is a selling club and yes they are to an extent eg Liverpool sold Suarez however they do not sell their best players every season like we do! If we had Spurs team which of those who will be in their team on August 13th would have started with us next year?

Is deadline day or after the season starts (like VVD) a bit late? We seem to be happy to give of rivals our players prior to pre season so they get a full one with their new team? If the black box knows who we want why can't we get them in sooner? It would also ease the meltdown talk?

I can't see relegation on the cards and I am sure we will strengthen as you cannot afford to just sit back and watch others fly by.

I get the policy and if it works it's great. Managers and players come and go! We sell, usually at maximum value, and buy players who aren't the same standard- so they meet our budget and we can sell on at a profit if we improve them. You list the players this year but You know VVD, FF & RB won't be here long despite their contract lengths. It's a great business model. It is however not that exciting as a fan..selling your best players every summer, watching a new one develop then watching him at his prime at another club! Wouldn't it be good just once to have a marque signing? You know someone that says we won't always just be Liverpools feeder club? Growth is great but everyone else is growing too!

#wemelton Why is everything that doesn't say everything is good a melt down? It's a fact we value the cash..I am not saying it's good or bad..personally there were loads of times I thought we should get rid of Pelle...I am pointing out that it's our policy!

Just 36 days until the first game!

Puel has got to be a cheap choice for manager. No club to pay off , comes from a league where the wages will be less than the premier league. Not saying he will be good or bad just its a fact we didn't aggressively go after another clubs manager and chose the option we thought was best, it might be a coincidence that it was also probably the cheapest option. As a club it seems we value money above all else.sell players before they can go for free, sell at the highest value. By all accounts Pelle would have stayed but we want to "cash in". only buy players with a resale value etc etc Hopefully Les etc know what they are doing! It has worked for them so far. But yeah the silence is deafening and the ITKs have also gone quiet.

Not sure they could show enough to be sure in what 6 days?

Have we not learned anything from Liverpool? Buy a load of players from a team which finished 8th and you finish....surprisingly enough....8th! So it's a no from me.

Yes I was joking lol

Shirt numbering is just getting stupid now... 2021?

Could be worse we could have just paid 30 million for a player and then have seen him blast his penalty wide!

I think the point is that quite a few players, even late In their careers, have been called up either for the first time or more regularly once they joined Saints..egPelle, Fonte, Bertrand ,Morgan, the other defectors, to name a few!