doddisalegend

Board can't win can they? They got s hit for allowing Lambert to engineer a move to Liverpool and not having the gonads to stand up to Liverpool and know when they appear to be playing hardball they get s hit for not bending over backwards to accommodate the player. Personally I'm backing the board on this one loyalty is a two way street and Adam playing the loyalty card misses the point that the club have got him where he is now.

Not really going to work though is it? You can tell a player the club is aiming for European football but it might take two or more seasons to achieve so If a big club comes and offers European football next season, more money and a chance to play with better players there's nothing a club like saints can do. Why would a player hang on at saints for an aim of Europe that might come true in a couple of seasons when they are getting a guaranteed offer to play in Europe right now with another club?

katharina Liebherr's hair dresser...........

Crystal palace fans views.......General seem to be enjoying our discomfort. Apparently there is a lot of bad blood between saints and palace, something to do with Channon diving , which is news to me http://www.cpfc.org/forums/showthread.php?t=249871&page=14

Stoke board talking about Lallana being worth 25 million (or not) http://oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/231181/25-liverpool-bid-lallana

I'm sure I'm not the only one who occasional takes a gander at other clubs forums. I thought it might be fun/interesting if we had a thread with links to what other clubs fans are making of our current situation. I came across this thread on KUMB (being KUMB they, of course, seem to have a bit of bee in their bonnet about us) which I found interesting just to see some non saints fans views. http://kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=153534&st=0&sk=t&sd=a So if anyone has any other links to threads on none saints boards they want to share I'd like to read them

His point was that more England players playing for one club was better for the chemistry (to use a fifa 14 term) of the England team as they would get used to playing together all the time. Basically he'd like all the England players playing for Liverpool to save him having to do any coaching.

The thing is you get the feeling the club have been trying to replace Lambert for a while. Osvaldo was clearly meant to replace Lambert and Lambert came within a whisker of joining WHU in January. Much as we all love him he was going need to be replaced soon. £4million quid is a good deal for a 32 year old player people just can't see it because Lambert has gained legendary status here and there is a general downer on all things the board do due to the current situation.

I seem to remember Everton tearing us a new one at Goodison our first season back in the PL most of their threat coming from their full backs. Arguably in Coleman and Baines he had two of the most attacking full backs in the PL so I reckon he do alright with our full backs (assuming we tell man U to f off with regards to Shaw).

Has Moyes been sound out by saints? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27655745 Since leaving Old Trafford Moyes said he had received some "very good" job offers, but he added: "I may still choose to have a break and enjoy watching and observing football throughout the world."

I think that's close to the truth. I think if this happened at any other time most people, though sad about it, would have seen it as a good move for everyone involved. Because of all the **** going on around the club at the moment the selling of a 32 year old striker for £4 million has suddenly become a massive issue for everyone.

Except a club our size is not looking to pick up the mega expensive star players. What we have done quite well (and need to keep doing) is to uncover those players we can acquire cheaper ( and hopefully improve) that can do a job for us. Cork, Lovern, Lambert, Clyne even Victor, to a point, were all players that we have picked up for reasonable money that the big clubs didn't take a punt on. We have to hope the clubs scouting network is good enough to find these untapped players and bring them here. After a couple of seasons when we've turned them into superstars we move them on for big fees and go again. Only way for a club like us to survive. If you think we are going to replace our star players with players that cost just as much you're in for a lot of disappointment.

heh??? not quite sure what your saying. Not knocking NC just think MP might have been given the heave ho this summer if NC was still here

Plus the more you look at it the clearer it becomes that the club have wanted to replace Lambert for a while so 4 million quid is a decent return for a player heading towards his mid thirties.

I actually think if NC was still here MP would have been sacked TBH. Apparently MP was tasked with a top 6 finish which he failed to achieve, NC and MP had some fallings out, and according to Adam Blackmore NC tried to sack him at Christmas.

Which he never had any attention of doing once he knew spurs were interested..........

In fairness looking at in hindsight Lambert must have known his days were numbered this last season first the club tried to replace him with Osvaldo then NC tried to flog him to WHU. Lambert probably figured he might as well move before he was pushed.

Well the last page of this thread has made me LOL Cheers boys

Fair enough maybe the club are just doing this to give KL some new shoes...

We've come a long way in a short time far the last few years it was easy to convince the players we where heading in the right direction and progress was going fast enough to keep the players onside. Any further upward movement by the club at the end of the 5 year plan was always going to be much slower. We are now at a point where the club can no longer match the ambitions of some of our players we can tell them our aims but why should they wait for Europe or trophies if a bigger club will offer the same right now? That's what is happening right now our best players ambitions are out stripping what we can offer them. I think the club might as well cash in on it's stepping stone status lets recruit and give hungry, young and ambitious players (from the lower leagues or outside Europe) a chance. Get them in cheap develop them and sell them on after a couple of years. Loyalty died in football years ago so lets use our PL status and current reputation as a good place to develop to bring players with a point to prove give them a stage and cash in on them if the excel. Not rocket science really but it does require the club to have a top notch scouting network, excellent coaches and continued improvement of the academy.

That's a good read on the strength of that he would be perfect for saints.

They probably wish they had sold him now though............... Also Swansea had delivered silverware and European football something we didn't.

Thinking with my heart I'm gutted Lambert is going. When he was signed it was the beginning of a new era and his goals were a massive part of the success that followed. He has probably done more than any other player in the last five years to bring on a new generation of saints fans my kids have grown up with him as their favourite player. He will go down as one of those players still talked about for years to come not only for his football but because he was a decent bloke to that people couldn't help but like. All that makes it sad he has gone Thinking with my head he will be 33 next season we needed to bring in a replacement for him soon anyway so if selling him help funds a new younger striker it's probably a good thing. Even if we only got 4 million we made 3 times what we paid for him and we have had him at the peak of his playing ability. If we are going to carry on playing the high press Southampton way a quicker younger striker will be better than Lambert. The club tried to replace him with Osvaldo this season and where happy to sell him to WHU when NC was here so rickies days at saints were numbered. The price seems low but regardless of everything else Lambert is in the twilight of his career how many players heading into their mid thirties go for big money? Gutted he has gone but probably the right decision by the club if I'm honest. The fact he got a move to Liverpool to finish his career is good to because try as I might I find it impossible not to like the guy.

From Wiki (so pinch of salt and all that) Early years[edit] Having retired as a player after his stint with Feyenoord, Koeman became a member of the coaching staff of Guus Hiddink during the 1998 World Cup along with Johan Neeskens and Frank Rijkaard. After the tournament Koeman was appointed the assistant coach of Barcelona. In 2000, he was handed his first managerial job as the head coach of Vitesse where he led the team to a UEFA Cup spot on a relatively limited budget. Ajax[edit] Koeman was appointed the manager of Ajax in 2001. Ajax' fortunes suffered a steady decline after Koeman got off to a successful start at the Amsterdam ArenA, winning a domestic double in 2001–02. Despite regaining the title in 2003–04, Ajax had fallen eight points behind rivals PSV in the Eredivisie. Coupled with Ajax being knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Auxerre, 3–2 on aggregate, lead Koeman to resign the following day on 25 February 2005.[8] Benfica[edit] Koeman bounced back quickly from a disappointing end to his reign at Ajax in February 2005, taking up the vacant position at Portuguese champions Benfica following the departure of legendary Italian Giovanni Trapattoni. In Benfica, against whom he won the 1988 European Cup Final as a player with PSV, Koeman only won the Portuguese Super Cup; the team finished the Portuguese League in third place (behind rivals Porto and Sporting) and was knocked out of the Portuguese Cup in the quarter-finals (after losing to Vitória de Guimarães). This, along with an offer from PSV, sufficed for the manager to leave one year before the end of his contract, even though Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before losing to Barcelona, who ended up winning the trophy. PSV[edit] In the 2006–07 season, Koeman served as head coach of PSV, as successor of Guus Hiddink. PSV dominated the first season half, putting competitors as AZ and Ajax at a reasonable distance and PSV was almost destined to become champions again. However, PSV suffered in the second half of the season, also because of injuries of players Jefferson Farfán, Alex and Ibrahim Afellay, obtaining only 19 out 39 possible points.[9] AZ and Ajax regained their momentum, making for a close finish, with all three teams tied at 72 points before the last competition day. AZ played struggling Excelsior in their final match, but did not manage to win. Ajax played at Willem II, but did not score enough goals; it was PSV eventually who triumphed against all odds, winning at home 5–1 against Vitesse Arnhem, and thereby becoming Eredivisie champions with one goal at front of Ajax. Valencia[edit] On 31 October 2007 Koeman agreed to be the new coach of Valencia after the sacking of Quique Flores, starting on 5 November 2007.[10] With Valencia he won the 2007–08 Spanish Cup, a tournament he previously won as a player of Barcelona. This was Valencia's first Copa del Rey since 1999.[11] The remainder of his tenure at Valencia would prove disappointing. The team would slump to 15th in the league, only two points above the relegation zone, along with finishing bottom of their Champions League group. A 5–1 defeat by Athletic Bilbao would prove the final nail in Koeman's time with Valencia. He was sacked the following day, on 21 April 2008.[11] AZ[edit] He was appointed manager of AZ on 18 May 2009,[12] after Louis van Gaal, who won the 2008–09 Eredivisie with AZ, joined Bayern Munich. On 5 December 2009, AZ announced that Koeman no longer was in charge of AZ, after losing 7 of the first 16 games in the Dutch competition.[13] Feyenoord[edit] On 21 July 2011, Koeman was appointed manager of Feyenoord, signing a one-year contract with the Dutch club as replacement for outgoing trainer Mario Been.[14] Through such appointment, Koeman has notably become the first man ever to serve as both player and head coach at all teams of the so-called "traditional big three" of Dutch football – Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.[15] Moreover, he has completed this in the same order as player and as manager. At the beginning of 2012 it was announced that his contract was extended. In February 2014, Koeman announced that he would leave his position at Feyenoord at the end of the 2013-14 season to pursue other ambitions. [16] Some pretty well known European clubs he has managed there

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11246786.Lambert_sale_a_reluctant_one_for_Saints/?ref=ar Echo saying 5 million plus add ons