david in sweden

of course it's the manager who gets the media coverage (as well as the plaudits and the criticism)..and in our case it's Ronald Koeman. According to interviews; Ronald and Les Reed agree a list of possible targets to sign and Les does the deals...for better or worse. Few of us know the influence that Erwin has on his brother's thoughts and opinions, but he obviosly does ...or else... why is he there ? Even less media on Sammy Lee, but every picture I see, he's encouraging and so full of enthusiasm that one can scarcely picture Saints without his incredible input.

Let's face it, Ronald Koeman has seen a lot of players in his previous clubs (and many Dutch ones, of course), but now plenty of us are going to say .... ...why Ron Vlaar ?..he's already 30 ...and injury-prone. isn't a that a big gamble. Of course we don't know that there is any truth in this " rumour ".. Those two facts are undeniable, but a player of his experience - even with those negatives, might be a valuable signing - on a free transfer and with a view to a possible Euro campaign this season. If we get past Vitesse and get into a group....we'll need real experience later in the season. Lazio seem to have backed down on their interest for Vlaar (according to the Express)... and maybe he doesn't have too many choices left ?. I don't see Vlaar as a 38 game-a-season player, and we do have other options; Yoshida, Gardos, and Turnbull and Stephens knocking on the door. Note: Arsenal, Chelsea and Man U. made no secret of the fact they had different team line-ups for Premier League games and those in European competitions.

" Recruiting " ..for the want of a better word....takes many forms. Players are "head-hunted " that's what the "Black Box " is all about, and it's down to knowledge and good intelligence. If I were a manager who had signed a new player, I might well ask him.....who else is a good player in your former club? If the answer was not appropriate - no problem, I might disregard the comment .....or take a closer look if he sounded an interesting addition for my team. We know that the old adage " buy' em in pairs " has been popular for several decades past - especially with foreign internationals. Not everyone's a success, of course.... but it helps the " homesick syndrome " - if your " star " player has a mate to socialise with. - in international squads ..players are bound to exchange viewpoints on each others club / managers / training regimes etc. and many managers are likely to exploit this. Picking through Les' interview comments, I noted his criticism of " false agents " who try to become " middle-men " and who jump start negotiations by pretending to represent another club..and agents (and probably clubs) who use the media to force ....or even " create a deal " that can't get off the ground. Past reports had Charlie Austin linked with several clubs (incl.Saints) - yet SFC a few weeks back - denied that we wanted him and certainly hadn't made any bid.(!) and seemingly neither has anyone else met QPR's asking price. "Creating an auction" by throwing other names into the hat is a favourite, and some clubs (and a lot of fans) may panic a little if they think they should be bidding. If Chelsea had really wanted Toby, they could have outbid Spurs without blinking an eye, but they were also named on many sites as a likely bidder at the time. I suspect that a few people reading this may - at some time - have been approached by a " head-hunter " or acquaintance from another employer about a move. You may even have talked to someone in another organisation about work there, if you fancy a change...it's difficult to imagine that the soccer world is much different. The main issue here is that clubs, (and agents) are dealing with multi-million pound deals, signing-on fees, long-term contracts and outrageous salary levels, and that's obviously quite different from you, or I simply changing employers.

Excellent article in Echo interview with Les Reed of the " ethics " of transfer dealing in the Prem. and Saints' philosophy on the subject. Straight talking about " crooked agents " and how some Prem. clubs manipulate the media to "create" a deal. A brief lesson for all those impatient fans who think that signing a player is just agreeing a fee with the club and getting the player to sign on the dotted line.......

well......he did ! Need to define BIG......we're bigger than the 85 other League clubs......

No problem . We can have some t-shirts printed ........

me too.....

my comments were a general overview of many " critics " on here, but keeping to the topic ...I agree 100% with your post above. Although it's fair to say that quite a few of those who left SFC failed to replicate their form, mainly due to playing elsewhere in another formation /system. personal note: it still amazes me that Rodgers hasn't realised that the success of Lambert and Lallana was that they played in games at the same time. He seems to play one or the other, but seldom plays them together. Still it's his problem and their good for£une.

Good for them. Only hope they (and all visiting fans) can afford their ticket prices.

It's disappointing (or short-sighted) for so many fans to criticise players who move on , as in any other job, if you see a better prospect or you don't get along with the management / fellow workers you'd look for something better. Sadly the grass isn't always greener. In most "ordinary jobs" you can plan a life, and in time know your goals etc, but in the life of a Prem. footballer .....a serious injury ...can be career ending. Very good players can be established at 20..(sit down Raheem, I'm not talking about you) but it's a minority who get to play much past 30 (goalies being the exception). For Saints, perhaps only Lallana (and possibly Bridge) came through the youth ranks and ended up playing for England whilst still at SFC. Terry Paine was an exception. I was sad to see Lallana go, but didn't feel the same vitriolic reaction than some others did. 14 years with Saints and no real hounours was worth a move, and the same with Schneiderlin. Already a legend, Rickie Lambert was a genuine Roy of the Rovers saga, and I didn't begrudge him his move, but wish he'd stayed another year. As for the others....lives change, managers change (and we had our share of those after 2000) but we must be philosophical and can't dictate other people's lives. Sad we lost them, but it's equally exciting to see new talents emerging, and they deserve a chance, too. The Paine's, Channon's, Nick Holmes' and Le Tissiers of this world gave most of their careers to one club (ours) - very few players do that nowadays.

well we might think that, ...not sure about Celtic fans but...... .... an interesting item I read recently said that Dutch fans are more likely to applaud their former players rather than ridicule them. Their attitude is that it's good to see one of their own " go on to bigger and better things" ...not an English reaction - is it ? Anyway we should take note of the sort of reception Clasie gets when we play Feyenoord. So for me, it's not difficult. In almost 40 years, I've seen almost every transfer between the Spurs and Saints as a rip-off, and the Spurs fans I've met have been totally insufferable. (I don't use the word hate, but they are not my favourite club amongst the other 91.)

There was an element of relief to hear of the departure of Dani Osvaldo, although there are Saints fans still smarting from the thought that he cost SFC £12 million, in the first place plus (I assume).. a considerable salary which could have been better spent, had Pochettino realised that he had nil chance of reforming Dani. Now it seems that Tottenham have started their own clear-out (a recent report) stated that Daniel Levy has told MP to sell some of the squad if he wanted to buy more. The losses that they are likely to incur may make the Osvaldo deal seem like petty cash. After the euphoria of selling Gareth Bale (£85 million), Spurs spent £100+ million on 7 new players, the majority of whom are already gone - at some considerable loss. Paulinho cost £17 million. and managed 6 goals in his 45 games and has ended up in CHINA (!) for just £10 mill. Soldado's £26 million fee looked an embarassment from the start and an expensive deal with just 7 goals from 51 games. Now in Spain,TH let him go for £15 m. Capoue, who cost £9 million has moved after only 24 games (and broke Watford's club record transfer) ....at £3.25 million. Chiriches £9.5 million fee wasn't recovered either with his recent £7 million transfer out.....after only 27 games with Spurs. TH just about recovered their investment (£2mill.) by selling Lewis Holtby to Hamburg....but the announcement that Kaboul has moved to Sunderland for an "undisclosed fee " (one wonders how much profit there may be on the £9.5 million they bought him for)... has surprised many, especially as his agent once said... " it would take an earthquake" for his player to move to Sunderland ...(oh yeah ?) The fire sale continues as high-profile names like Aaron Lennon and Emmanuel Adebayor may be given a cheap exit-if only to clear their enormous salaries off the books. Now we know that this is only "small potatoes" for " a big London club " like Spurs, but I suspect that their fans may wince a little when they get to see the price of season tickets in the new stadium they are building. One can hope they will be able to fill the 61,000 mega-stadium every match - or maybe NOT.

I'd go with that too Vectis. Matt was branded as "injury prone", after a knee ligament op. in 2003. The knee was damaged further with "bad rehab", and he was in and out for a couple of years. Worried about his fitness, Burley only offered him a 1 year contract, after having played over 250 games for Saints. Rightly disatisfied, he moved instead to Derby, then Leicester and clocked up another 200+ games before moving on to Exeter in 2102. 38 years old in August he has played for them over 100 times - so far ....and already past 550 League games ...Not bad after all that.

he has a special role in the club...that of recommending Saints players for Brendan Rodgers to buy ..... (if he carries on at this rate, we should get the City Council to award him Freedom of the City ......).

.and I think ..that their fans will feel the same if Liverpool (sans Sterling) aren't battling in the top 4 by the end of September.......

Don't worry Brendan..we know what we're doing....and by the way.....we've released Dani Osvaldo from SFC, now there's a player you could really use at Anfield ..

Koeman's new tactic....... the player runs through the defenders legs after he's nutmegged him ....

oh well, that must be what we call " pin-point passing " - what a signing

Uh?,,,,do they have VEHO as a sponsor, too ?

..whilst Spuds are rejoicing about signing Toby, they'll need him to shore up their leaky defence with today's news that Hugo Lloris has broken his wrist. such injuries can be very tricky.....my daughter broke her wrist in a freak accident 8 years ago, and the doctor said it would heal in six weeks.(!) She had tendon damage that wasn't operated on until two years later...and a second op. last month to remedy the damage that the first surgeon had missed.... I don't wish HL the pain and discomfort that she has endured, but his absence in goal might slow them up a bit at the start of the season.... If Spuds hadn't had him in goal, and Harry Kane scoring at the other end..... they might have had real problems last season..

and I suspect, several others who have played in Holland in recent years......

No !...Koeman's new tactic is having them run between the defenders' legs, whilst they nutmeg them at the same time.

what more can you say......? Interesting, funny at times and down-to-earth.

well not until next summer, anyway. If Victor continues to improve and Saints don't, he'll certainly be in the same price bracket by then....stay or not.

that only illustrated the power of the finance behind the " big clubs ". You can bet anything that if Bale had stayed at SMS, he'd never have been sold for £85 mill.