SaintRobbie

7th for me is to advance Toadhall. 7th. Incremental is good for me. Right now, I can't see it.

Great news, we've replaced Osvaldo, possibly. Who we getting in for Lambert, Lallana, Shaw, Lovren................?

It's a sign of the individualism of our Americanising society. Selfishness over selflessness. Adam Lallanna, makes loyalty look ****e.

Rickie Lambert: transferee Luke Shaw: transferee Adam Lallana: deserter.

g) Guts of a team ripped out. h) Managerial appointment that is failing to retain our best players i) No known transfer targets that match any of our losses man for man j) a club that is demonstrating lack of ambition and failure to retain players is not as attractive to potential signings as we were with proven internationals. g) a strange Boardroom dynamic - a capable football appointee but ineffective CEO (Krueger) h) An owner who was given something rather than wanting it passionately. i) a very angry fanbase who are either accepting of our status and lack ambition or are massively disappointed and concerned j) no time to rebuild a team and bring in players to compete in the Premier league. k) strong possibility that we are entering a relegation battle. all things considered, I doubt many managers who have been given 3 years to better a team built over ten years have had such a challenge to better the position of their predecessor.

Cortese was going to sell Rickie for £9m - not get ripped off by Liverpool and signal early to agents and players that saints were prepared to sell this summer.

The reappearance of this thread makes me wonder if the loss of Cortese's ruthless ambition and steel is costing us our best players this summer. Les Reed has been given his chance, found the best manager he could, but is failing to retain. Can't help but think Cortese would have provided the steel now to Les' football spotting. But we have Krueger instead, and he has brought what to the party since he arrived? Nothing that I can see. Les and Nicola, that is a team I wish we still had. I guess KL has to shoulder the blame.

This. Far better post than mine, but exactly what a poll like this is designed to articulate to our boardroom.

Thanks Luke. Bye.

I disagree. It's defeatist. Attitudes like this - no matter how pragmatic they sound - are the defeatist, unambitious seeds of failure. Aim high and be ambitious and you progress a little at a time. Give in to the perception of failure before you start and you will always fail. CB Frys words are not for me. Insist on success, even if it seems to be against the odds. Ambition leads to success. Saints can get there. But, too much to do with too little time will make it hard for Koeman now. Very hard.

I've been campaigning for years on here for a statue or bust of Matt Le Tissier at the Players Entrance at Saint Mary's with a plinth and LOYALTY in big brass letters on it. Our youth set up should have LOYALTY as their motto. Ingrained into them before the agents arrive and tempt their parents. Unlikely to work, but would still like a bust of LeGod there!

I can't see how we can advance this season - for me we can replace Shaw, our strikers. Lallana, impossible to replace fast. Losing Lovren and Spiderman and others... I can't see how Koeman can be expected to do more than stay in the league. He has no time left this summer to buy half a team and make them competitive through training. Start a season badly and it's also hard to attract talent in January (& let's face it there's not as much on offer). Les Reed must fight hard to retain Spider-Man and Lovren for at least one more season or just remain firm and say no. We don't need the cash for them, sometime he has to be firm. Players and agents will keep poking his skin until they reach steel. All very negative and we have to get behind Koeman - we as our fans will have to get into survival mode early. Don't expect this season to be the last one. It's good old Saints again... Survival. Going to take a mindset change led by the Northam. Still - by the time we start the season we will find some optimism from somewhere! Perhaps we'll be in stripes?

Had to try something to cheer us up!

We were ripped off for Lambert. I agree Shaw was good business. But the key for me is not the money but the failure of our Boardroom, and it has to be said new manager too, to retain our stars. Anyway, I fail to see how we can guarantee to replace all of these players regardless of the cash. It's too much to ask. Our team needed to be expanded and built on to compete not contracted - and contracted significantly. It is a fire sale I'm afraid. Fires start when you get complacent and your goods get damaged. Our players are damaged and our Boardroom failed to stop the fire that led to this. Koeman was signed for 3 years. Honestly, I don't think that's enough time to rebuild to regain our ambition with this exodus. God knows now how Les Reed stops it. The genies are out of the box and Koemans attraction has failed to convince them to get back in. It's not good at our club. Not good at all.

Yes. Koeman will be able to sign players of equivalent talent to maintain our position and advance. No. Koeman will have lost too many players to advance. Maybe. It's too hard to call? Osvaldo gone. Lambert, Shaw, Lallana. Gone and each in their own way irreplaceable. (All to teams that could've been classed as rivals during last season). Schneiderlain, Lovren likely to leave. Ramirez, Wanyama interest, Jay Rod incapacitated and eventually to follow? THE WHOLE CORE OF OUR TEAM APPEARS TO BE BEING ALLOWED TO LEAVE BY OUR BOARDROOM. LES REED IS FAILING TO RETAIN OUR PLAYERS. Koeman's signing has also seemingly failed to keep our star players. It has not been enough to attract keep our players. Does Koeman seriously think he can replace these players? Is he really getting all the cash from Reed? We have also seen with high priced players that there is no certainty they will work. It all beggars the simple question that Les Reed hailed when he appointed RoKo- can we advance after all? Grateful for the thoughts of the fans. Poll please Mods.

It's an interesting point. There is certainly no doubt that letting Lambert go for a song to Liverpool opened the players eyes to the fact that they could leave despite their contracts. What's more - letting Lambert go so early actually signalled to the money grabbing agents that a big pay day was available. My view is that Lamberts exit has had some effect. It was bad business, was badly handled, we were made to look amateurish by Liverpool and we looked disorganised and weak at Boardlevel. Added to the fact that MoPo said he was off as his players were being sold it looks like it was part of a very very poor bout of Boardroom decision making.

Is it just me or will the biggest cheer of the season be when Victor Wanyama flattens Lallana at Anfield on the first day of the season?

Great signing, but I'd feel sorry for Burnley.

I think your words are commendable, but I think Saints fans will boo and ridicule him for the whole of his career for the arrogant and disloyal way he has gone about leaving. For what it's worth I can't see how he could stay. He burnt bridges, turned arrogant, was seduced by Gerrard, proved Mark Clattenburg was right (despite the club standing up for him), talked outside the club about leaving and broke club loyalty and it would be difficult to see how he could remain captain and would ever play as well again. We are probably better shot of him. But the one think I hate is the embarrassment and loss of pride I feel in seeing Liverpool get their way again. I'd rather have seen him sold to Burnley for a song and an Ings than go to that club. Lovren better go to Europe Les Reed, because if you sell again to Liverpool you're misjudging the mood.

That's what I was getting at. Enough is enough. Every replacement is unproven - reed has to minimise the amount.

No me too. I am not fussed about Shaw. Will never forgive the arrogant arse Lallana but Lambo going is a morale breaker extraordinaire. Understand why but will miss him most.

If it's true Les Reed is failing. Lost Lambo, lost Shaw, lost Adam but gained a good manager. X3 irreplaceable players - although I suspect Shaw and Lallana will go for way over what they're worth in reality. Not good at all - lose Lovren and Spider-Man and frankly I am afraid I will have serious doubts about our leadership again. Stop the exodus Reed or join it.

Start of the fire sale? Shaw, Lallana next, Lovren thereafter, Ramirez to follow that? Or just good business - if they have a better replacement? I hope for the latter.

Saints legend or uninspiring Liverpool short term journeyman? What would you chose?

Wow. £40m! If that's true that's a big statement of intent by Koeman. Shame he doesn't appear to want Lallana. But it's in the Mail, so it's bull.