trousers

That's looks quite interesting, dodgy Google translation aside

This. God has got a lot to answer for. Transferred to heaven far to soon....

It is possible in life for people to make what seem like daft or implausible comments at the time only for them to come true. If someone had said to you last November that the team who had got Saints to 3rd place in the Premier League would be dismantled 9 months later you too would have probably labelled them a lunatic. Just because someone predicting armageddon is ultimately proved right doesn't automatically mean it didn't seem like bonkers at the time it was predicted. That said, I agree that all criticism should be constructive rather than destructive.

How many have declared they are doing this thus far? (genuine question - haven't had chance to keep up with posts over the last few days) - cheers

"It's always less disappointing to be a pessimist than an optimist" - Bobby Davro

The exact words were: "Whilst I perceive that we have inherited a difficult situation financially, there are now clear and structured plans in place to progress the club and avoid a similar situation from occurring again. Of course it's a burden, but it's a burden that has to be covered and will be covered. When I came in from the outside I had different information, I was surprised but not disappointed. It is what it is and my culture is to look to the future and accept the past." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26813363 I've always felt the "financial difficulties" were about being able to operate withing the constraints of the Financial Fair Play rules, in that our commercial income hadn't kept up with our outgoings, rather than the club being in financial difficulty in its own right.

That's a valid theory sir. Obviously a risky strategy but perhaps no more risky than blocking player moves and ending up with a demoralised squad. Hopefully we'll look back at the forum at the beginning of the season with a wry smile on our faces and wonder what all the fuss was about....

Jan Kluitenberg ‏@jankluit Today we had a good training session....players are very motivated! Gives me a good feeling!

Isgrove can do a job for us next season, of that I'm sure

Interesting. Another valid theory and would possibly explain the lack of 'honest' PR coming out of the club at the moment? If we openly declared that disgruntled players can go then wouldn't that weaken our negotiating position? Saying in public that we want to keep them (despite thinking or wanting the opposite) means we can get top dollar for them...

How do we know that we've been "pushing hard for the highest possible fee" rather than Liverpool et al simply agreeing to pay whatever the release clause value is? Maybe these clubs have offered less than the release clause and we've turned them down, only for them to come back and offer the release value? Why else would these deals be happening relatively quickly?

Yep, that's also a possibility.

Yep, that did occur to me too. I'm just thinking out loud and trying to make sense of the situation. Not looking to 'blame' anyone per se.

I'm not trying to 'blame' anyone in particular - I've always been neutral as far as the Cortese vs K.Liebherr debate is concerned - just trying to understand why players are able to leave so easily despite the Board declaring that they want them to stay. An across the board release clause is the only logical answer IMO.

Apologies if already been discussed elsewhere, but surely the only reason for the ease at which players are leaving is because Cortese must have made it easy for them to do so via release clauses in the player's contracts? I know that its common practice to include such release clauses these days, and yes, we're getting top dollar for the departees, but there must be a simple explanation for why the Board seem powerless in stopping the exodus and I can't think of another viable reason other than the release clause scenario...

The BBC chap who confirmed Chambers was going (David Ornstein) has now confirmed that JRod and Morgan are on the verge of joining Spurs

9.7/10

If all of the players who were/are pushing to leave actually stayed then there wouldn't have been a 'systematic dismantlement' for them to have observed in the first place. Whilst I accept that the board could have turned a blind eye to their desire to leave (but why would they want to keep a clutch of players that didn't want to be here?), the players themselves are ultimately the architects of the exodus. It's self-perpetuating,self-fulfilling and self-defeating (and any other 'selfs' one can think of)

That's the thing - each player that has left thus far wouldn't, in isolation, raise any eyebrows. For each transfer so far you could apply a logical explanation to. Stating the obvious i know, but its the volume of players leaving that challenges the logic of each individual player's natural desire to play for the biggest club possible. The reason the Saints "exodus" is unique and unprecedented at this level is because we had 7 or 8 players reach 'champions league level' all at the same time. Most teams in our peer group only produce one or two players in that category every season. Its a well worn cliche but we are indeed victims of our own rapid success. Yes, if Cortese had stayed and his unfettered access to Markus's legacy funds was allowed to continue then most of the players that have left would probably have stayed 'one more season' to see how things panned out. Its clear to me that they signed up for "Cortese's dream", not for Southampton Football Club per se... I'm still convinced "Cortese's dream" was ultimately scuppered by the constraints of the Financial Far Play rules, which were exacerbated by him taking his eye off the commercial income ball, but I guess we'll never know the full story (as ever)....

@SchneiderlinMo4: Best of luck @DejanLovren05 for your new adventure! #qualityplayer

Aye. It's almost as depressing as it was during our last 3 meltdowns....

You read my mind..... http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?51114-Just-a-theory&p=2003290#post2003290

I've been thinking too hard (for once) and come up with this somewhat bizarre conspiracy theory. Enjoy December 2013.... Katharina Liebherr: "Nicola, I've decided I want to sell the club. Are you still in touch with that rich Chinese fella who is looking to buy a club in the Premier League?" Nicola Cortese: "Yes, I am. In fact, I thought my cover had been blown the other day as someone on the Saints Web Forum mentioned the meeting I had with Jianlin in London recently. How much are you looking to sell for?" KL: "I want at least £200m" NC: "Blimey O'Reilly. £200m? Jianlin is only willing to pay £100m" KL: "Hmmm. Ok, how about this for an idea. We engineer your departure during the January transfer window and leak to the press that the club is in meltdown. Then, at the end of the season we get rid of Mauricio and as many as the high-value players as possible. As soon as I get £100m in player sales I'll put the club up for sale which is your cue to come back and buy the club with Mr Jianlin for £100m. It's a win win." NC: "Hmmm, but that could mean the club starts the next season a lot weaker with the danger of relegation. That might put Mr Jianlin off altogether." KL: "Fair point. Ok, how about we steady the ship somewhat by appointing a decent replacement manager and let him spend a portion of the money we make from player sales on decent but cheaper foreign imports. It might mean I don't get the full £200m but it'll still be considerably more than the £100m Jianlin is prepared to offer." NC: "That could work. I could even get that Ben Smith chap to interview me at the end of the season to reiterate that I wouldn't sell any of the players or let Mauricio leave. That way we'll put the media off the scent of our longer term plan" KL: "Excellent idea. Yes, the media must get the impression that we've fallen out otherwise this won't work" NC: "Right you are Ms Liebherr. I'll let Mr. Jianlin know what the plan is. I wonder what the fans will make of it all?" KL: "I wouldn't worry about that. They'll simply see it as me asset stripping the club but that will all be forgotten when you come back on the scene with Mr Jianlin's billions." NC: "Leave it with me then Katharina. It's going to be fun watching the fall out on the Saints Web Forum over the next 9 months or so! Ha ha ha ha" KL: "Ha ha ha ha"