CanadaSaint

Thanks, Enskied, for an excellent post and the thoughtfulness behind it. As fans we tend to personalize everything as "them against us, so screw them", so it's great to read your reminder that you lot are really just like us lot. And we're all rapidly becoming the victims of the game rather than the fans of it. I remember watching you at The Dell on a chilly evening in Division 2, not long before we signed Jimmy Melia and you went on to win everything in sight. Although we've both come a long way since then, I can't help but feel that a lot of the "soul" of the game from those days is now missing.

... the events of the past few weeks are not indicative of a Board that has lost control, but a Board that knows exactly what it's doing. I know that's a stretch (I'm not even sure I believe it) but hear me out. We have often said of the "Big Six" that they have more money than sense, but perhaps our plan is to succeed with more sense than money. There's no point in keeping disgruntled players, so the issue of whether we're a "selling club" is not really relevant and perhaps not even that important to a club like ours. What IS important in that situation is that A) we get "top dollar" for disgruntled players, B) we scout well and find quality replacements at value prices, and C) we have the incoming transfers lined-up before we let the outgoing players leave, so that we lessen the chances of being asked to pay inflated prices because we're perceived to be desperate and rolling in cash. IMO that's a realistic and credible business model for a club like Saints. Scout well, buy low, sell high (if you have to sell). And always keep the academy conveyor belt rolling and a top-notch scouting team. In fact, I'd say that's the only way we can function in today's world. The problem is that it's hard to sell that kind of rational concept to fans whose connection is not rational but emotional. Hence the recent silence from the Board. Although Pelle and Tadic look like excellent acquisitions, the only part we blew was a big one - failing to secure replacements before selling the core players, so we'll end up struggling to attract quality and we'll have to pay "over the odds" for it.

I've watched Krueger up-close for a number of years. He's a highly-principled man and a very decent guy. He didn't lie - his thoughts were expressed in the genuine belief that they were correct. It was the circumstances that changed, and his "football naivety" (plus Les Reed, I suspect) didn't help him much.

I suspect that they're taking the risk that we'll be able to keep him, because stemming the outflow is now more important than low-risk prudence. And that would be a good, tide-turning decision - for fans and for potential signings, don't you think?

Good post.

My "bottom line" for maintaining at least some optimism for the year ahead was keeping the core of our success - the midfield "engine room". So, for me, this is huge news. That engine room was at the root of things, supplemented by a decent back line and a front that (J-Rod apart) didn't create and convert chances very well. I can see Pelle and Tadic helping a lot with that problem. Still much to do but this is massive.

That from the guy who posted this yesterday:

I don't think it's laughable at all. If Pochettino had already decided he was going (probably after "unofficial" contact with Levy & Co, which may have pre-dated Cortese's exit), the sacking/resignation of Cortese provided him with the perfect excuse for walking out on his contract - and also an excuse for delivering unsettling messages to certain players. There's a hell of a lot we'll never know - not his week, not next year, never. And one of the things, I suspect, is the part Pochettino played in the events that have unwound this summer.

So far it's only been bent over with arse upraised.

What I find nauseating is that the very media that fuels the greed and disloyalty with their sycophantic pandering to the big clubs will now throw a ton of ink at sympathizing with Saints and lamenting the state of football. Hypocritical scumbags.

True, but A) Cortese was a veritable chatterbox compared to the current 'leadership' recently, B) if Cortese said something you knew he meant it, and C) there was always a sense of direction about the club. I haven't given up on this, but the longer Katharina stays silent the more doubtful I become that she's still committed and that we can get the ship righted for a decent season.

Yes, seriously, sonny. Just about the last thing you could ever call me is a bedwetter. If anything, I go too far in the other direction. But Markus's silence resulted from the fact that Cortese did all the talking (a fair bit of which was "he's not for sale"), and Katharina has spoken before to set to rest any unease about the club or her intentions. The longer she stays quiet now (because Reed's and Krueger's credibility are decidedly lacking), the more devoid of leadership and direction we appear to be. And the longer that continues, the more likely it is that she doesn't plan on being here long. The messaging isn't just important for the fans but for players we're targeting - with less than three weeks until season start. Right now we look like a basket case, and I can't see too many quality targets joining us unless someone (other than Reed or Krueger) injects some positivity and direction. If that viewpoint makes me a bedwetter, I guess I've crossed over into the dark side.

The most deafening thing at the moment is the silence. And I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that the only credible explanation for it is that some time after the end of the season Katharina pulled a 180 and decided that football isn't for her. I really believe that she had the best of intentions to honour what she knew to be her father's wishes, but the starting point had to be re-taking ownership of the Club from Cortese. She came to games and by all appearances enjoyed them. She put her own people in - good people, honourable people - and they have been eaten alive by the sharks who infest the game these days (which include her own manager and players). And the only one of the inner circle who knew anything about football didn't have the skills to hold things together - and might even have been a root cause of the problem. That's when she realized she'd lost control. I'm sure she wishes us nothing but the best, and will do what she can to leave us in good hands, but for me her deafening silence is the loudest statement of all. Unless Katharina speaks up within the next few day, I'd say she's a goner.

I hesitated! But it adds a little objectivity to the hand-wringing process.

You need to look back over your own posts. You've already made your judgment. Countless times.

I'm shocked and disappointed that we've sold Chambers because I think he has a lot of potential. However, in the interests of objectivity, I'd like to mention an important statistic - plus/minus rating. It's the difference between goals for and goals against while a player was on the pitch. Last season I think Chambers was -8 and Clyne was +12. Sure, it's not a "be all and end all" stat but it is quite insightful.

What do we do as fans? Well, for a start, this forum might have fewer active members by the time this is all done. If things are looking much better by late-August, those who have been irrationally negative will hopefully disappear up the orifice from which many of their opinions seem to come. (In truth, some will do what they usually do when they've shot their own credibility all to hell - return with a new user name.) If things turn out poorly, some of us with a more positive outlook might not want to stick around for the "I told you so's'". I have a feeling that we'll see a bunch of head-turning signings in the coming weeks - and some new user names shortly after that.

I wouldn't be upset if we didn't get Forster, although I hope we have some decent alternatives. For me, Forster's biggest asset is being 6' 15" or whatever the hell he is. From what I've seen of him, his reading is questionable and he is (as tall keepers usually are) vulnerable to low shots. He could get away with those weaknesses in the SPL and playing for Celtic, but they would be ruthlessly exposed down here. And it's really important that we get this one right because Boruc's weaknesses (poor distribution and frequent brain f*rts) hurt us last year, and IMO we should really be looking for a starter rather than a back up.

If, as Koeman maintains, we haven't had bids for either Schneiderlin or Lovren, just what are people expecting right now? Not only did we have to wait for the WC to end. We also have to wait until the PL big boys have shown their cards with formal bids. Not media speculation, not agent flame-fanning, not tweets from people who know SFA. I have faith in the club and it wouldn't surprise me at all if there is indeed a "domino affect" waiting to happen, with multiple outgoings and incomings happening within the space of a few days.

"The challenges faced by Southampton over the Summer show how difficult it is to break into the top six." "We've received an e-mail from someone who goes under the name "Alpine Saint', and he's deeply concerned."

There's no point in keeping disgruntled players, so the issue of whether we're a "selling club" is not really relevant and perhaps not even that important to a club like ours. What IS important in that situation is that A) we get "top dollar" for disgruntled players, B) we scout well and find quality replacements at value prices, and C) we have the incoming transfers lined-up before we let the outgoing players leave, so that we lessen the chances of being asked to pay inflated prices because we're perceived to be desperate and rolling in cash. IMO that's a realistic and credible business model for a club like Saints. Scout well, buy low, sell high (if you have to sell). And always keep the academy conveyor belt rolling. In fact, I'd say that's the only way we can function in today's world, so I'm becoming more comfortable with the situation with each passing day.

It will be interesting to see if Lovren now starts back-pedalling a little. Saints don't have to hold tight until the window closes - just to the point at which Spurs and Liverpool sign someone else because they can't afford to risk waiting any longer. And maybe just Liverpool. Reading between the lines of the Pochettino saga, which may well have started much earlier than many of us think, it seems to me that Saints are angry enough that they wouldn't give Spurs a spot if they had the measles.

For all his undoubted talent he's always been a bit of a tactical f*rt in a thunderstorm, and Rodgers won't tolerate that. And his Cruyff turn has a limited shelf life. He's got a lot of developing to do in a high-pressure spotlight, especially with Liverpool buying so many high-cost players and knowing that not all of them will pan-out.

I tend to agree with GM, although I really enjoyed the way we played last year and certainly wouldn't call any change of tactics "long overdue". Our late-2012-13 and 2013-14 style was the product of a unique combination of a manager and a player group. We won't have that combination next season, but I have a feeling that Pochettino won't either; it will be interesting to see if he can successfully impose that style on an entirely new player group which includes some who may not be suited to it, physically or psychologically. And, even if he can, it will be interesting to see if it's effective enough to push Spurs much higher than where they finished last year. The other angle is that World Cups tend to set a new style trend, and I've never seen a World Cup more likely to do so than this one. It's very much a skill-based front foot style and it has been great to watch, it has shown a number of established countries to be "behind the times" (including the hitherto-dominant Spain), and it has enabled some less-established countries to progress far beyond where most of us expected. By the time our Summer transfer business is done, we just might be looking at a better season than the last, with a deeper squad of players who are better suited to the way the game is going. Whether we did it by luck or good judgment is a debate for another day.

No Kidding. In the last few days we've seen Suarez playing without Sturridge and Sturridge playing without Suarez. None of our players are irreplaceable on anything like the same level as Suarez is for Liverpool. Yes, I'm a little anxious about our back row BUT optimistic we'll be more effective up front (all that possession for so few goals) and I'm very happy that we look like keeping our engine room intact. The alleged budget, used effectively, could easily make us a better side - and especially squad - than we were last year. We were ticking along nicely until the injuries hit.