Smirking_Saint

Spot on IMO

Everyone is overpriced, keep up and get used to it for god sake, prices aren't going to suddenly drop Benteke in his form pre Liverpool would have been great, and with the crosses we threw at utd's box last night I wouldn't of said he was far away from fitting our system at all

And people are commenting about how stuck in the past Arsene is. The prices arent going to suddenly drop, or fluctuate, they have been growing year on year, and this year unfortunately, due to the amoung of money available has exploded. You either keep up or you get left behind. It is however difficult, you need to find the right purchase, as we have found previous the incorrect will set you back, a la Osvaldo and Ramirez. But it's no good to sit on your laurels and hope, as falling down the table will cost more than the depreciation of a failed transfer IMO. Much is held of the herralded black box, so if there are targets pay the asking price, I struggle to see how we are in any debt considering our outlay/income ratio over the past few years. Of course Palace etc are behind us right now, but with the right investment they will be at our level if we fail to act. And right now we need a DM and a Striker atleast. So puel was Arsenes understudy ?....... Figures

No... Ive been seriously thinking this too Id love an AM to replace Manè but if Im honest my pressing concern would be a DM (romeu isnt the answer) and a top(ish) level striker, a hold the line type, Benteke or Bony types if their wages weren't so restrictive That, IMO, was what we missed last year, Pellè was ok, but I honestly believe that extra 15-20m would have got us through our winter slump and into a CL place potentially. This year just feels the start of a decline really, an admitance that we can't compete, we are, imo significantly weaker then before, partly due to the investment around us

Not to mention capitilalising on last years successes, we could have potentially opened up a market to new fans and players that would not be there if we fall down the table. There is little chance we are 'saving' for a stadium increase IMO And it will only take a small bump in our road to stifle our upward momentum for a significant time

I think it is more likely that he was one of the only ones that saw value in playing our youth, which, to an extent, I don't have an issue with, but they need to be good enough. It certainly put pay to Pellegrini's interest if the rumours are to be believed, no real investment in the playing squad, players leaving and a push to field youth players, yet still attempt an upwardly mobile trend is not just a tough ask but bordering madness

I dont particularly think we are either, but that sort of attitude is what has taken the likes of Newcastle, Leeds, Middlesborough etc down in the past, all big clubs in their day, all fell out of the Premier League and took a while to recover. Its not about spending money, or else QPR would have easily stayed up. It is staying at the required level to compete, and I would say we are in danger of turning the wrong way. Of course we are climbing the mountain right now, and its a real struggle for a club our size to keep up with those at the top but we only need to lose our footing and it can all come tumbling down. Our transfer policy, for instance, has been excellent so far, but it only takes a couple of bad replacements either in management or playing staff to have a bad effect on things. I don't see why or how we 'have' to lose 3-5 top players every year, its frankly embarrassing. Of course we have done excellent to nurture them into the talents they are but right now Im looking at this and thinking is this the first year we have lost control ? For instance, we tookour time replacing Koeman, and now it seems we are struggling to replace those we have lost. And if we are worried about the playing staff, what do the rest of the players think ? They aren't fools, and they'll look after themselves, if they see the good old ship Saints sailing into unsteady waters they will do their best to get off and the management so far has done nothing to prove they can handle an exodus, or atleast prevent one. I do wonder sometimes quite why, despite our upward mobility and so called 'southampton happy atmosphere' we are supposed to have still results in an inability to hold on to our brightest talents for more than a year or two.

I could'nt care less what you smoke or how much of an idiot you look aslong as you respect the fact that I don't and I still don't want it blown all over me

Did it work well ? They had a man down and sat everything they had just outside their 18 yard box, so I wouldnt of said it worked that well. That said I agree, I just can't see him going for the 4231 formation, and realistically I don't think he has the men defensively to do it. It'll be a struggle against what will be a very fluid attacking and well disciplined defensive side with no doubt Ibra, Pogba and Mkhytarian (or however you spell it) eager to perform on their first home match and possibly Mata/Depay etc eager to prove their place. I cant see anything other than a loss really, and Id say so far Im a little concerned by our strength this year. Definately require a DM to replace Wanyama properly, and a quality attacking midfielder and Striker we have required even when he had Pellè and Manè. Was looking forward to this year at the end of last season... I really don't know what to expect right now

How often are we going to say this ?

If we get Barahino and West Brom get benteke Id argue we are getting the worse deal

You can't question our spend, the Liebherrs are recouping their money.... Despite the 100m+ a year for the past 3 years etc etc

Apparantly yes

Never seen what the issue is with Cedric, I think we were spoiled previously by an excellent RB in Clyne. However, as far as Ive seen he is very able, of course he gets caught out from time to time but overall he is IMO pretty good. And showed his value in the euros aswell. Not that I am a particular fan of stats but Im sure I read somewhere that he scored pretty high on a sqwaka list of fullbacks. All in all Im very happy if we are doing what we can to keep our top players. If we are indeed 'ambitious' enough to retain our status as top 6 contenders (a very difficult ask this year with the reinforcement of liverpool/utd/city etc) then we need to pay the going rate. And hopefully we will see some incoming improvements, especially from a striking point of view.

Pretty much my thoughts batman, I dont always agree but IMO its a difficult year, on the one hand Im very happy about the fact that we have tied down some of our big players, but on the other very dissapointed at the lack of any real reinforcements despite a bumper TV deal and over 50m incoming for player sales

Not much has changed has it ? The whole Ethos of the set up needs to be a pathway to the first team, much like Saints. With a management structure that talks to each other at all levels and all levels playing the same way, to the same formations and philosophies. Players should be allowed to get tournament experience when they can, and this means allowing the bright young talents to play in the U21 tournaments and not just picked for a pointless friendly. Players should be reminded that refusing to play for an age group effectively means they will not be invited to play for a senior side. And honestly Id be looking at a combination of Southgate and Hoddle if it were me

Spot on

Unfortunate truth

Pretty much, why post twice ?

Im not talking wages, I talking the playing budgets

Still plumping for the lack of ambition card, or lack of any real player funding to push on. Managers of course want to push on, not settle for the good of their career I wonder on the terms we offer, for instance, are we looking for a maximum return for medium or minimal outlay ? It sometimes feels that way, and the more and more its going on it makes me more pessimistic Ive no doubt we have our targets, but securing them has never been our strength. It seems our top targets have pulled out of the running after speaking to us, the latest potentially being pellegrini After all we struggle to hold onto top talents or coaches for long at all Maybe Im being unnecessarily pessimistic, but its an unfortunate reoccuring theme

Of course it is

This place misses them thats for sure

Which is a complete disaster waiting to happen. Our success is built on the planning put in through all aspects of recruitment, why would we let a manager come in and wildly change the ethos and style that the club as a whole has been used to for the past 5 years ?

I wonder what caused the club to change direction with Garcia, and I wonder why we seem to be somewhat struggling to get a named manager to show real interest. We set ourselves up as a progressive, well run club that is now in Europe. I wonder if we are difficult to work with. We dont have the best track record of keeping our top coaches. Perhaps the ambition just isnt there and maximum results are expected from medium outlay.