Lallana's Left Peg

Yeah maybe. Pragmatically speaking it would be hard for a club our size to spend £75m+ in one transfer window however I didn't make the statement they would and they did so it's over to them

I'd be happy if we reinvested portions of the money into renewing contracts for players as well, plus it is fair to say that we have the manage wages properly so some of those transfer fees will need to be used for wages on new players however just the thought of a panic last few weeks of the window and overpaying for some bang average players is worrying.

They deserve until the end of the window to make any conclusions however the statement that they will reinvest every penny back into the first team and we're on the verge of raising £75m of which around £18m has been spent leaves me worried as to how we'll spend £55m+ (if indeed we do, but I wouldn't like to think our new transparent era would result in us being lied to...).

I'm not pretending to be ITK. You're just not willing to listen to an opinion you don't agree with so will just dismiss. My view is that the club have made it easier for our better players to leave than they may otherwise have done. I've listed my reasons why.

So you're now willing to accept that actually his role has changed? Because half an hour ago you dismissed that anyone could. The impact of this change is hard to determine unless you are involved with the club on a day to day basis. All I've done is point out that Les Reed's role has increased considerably (he has lots of influence over first team matters now), that Adam Blackmore has pointed out that players do not like him, and that the club has lost at least 3 (and now looks to be at least 4) important players this summer.

I can only go on what he has said publicly which makes it fairly clear to me: September 2012 http://www.2ndyellow.com/2012/five-minutes-of-your-time-please-les-reed/ April 2014 http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/25042014-les-reed-statement-on-pochettino-and-players-1509755.aspx It's pretty clear to me that his first team responsibilities have increased considerably.

He listed all his responsibilities in the interview he gave in April. He also introduced himself as the DoF. He did not have those responsibilities under Cortese where he was the Head of the Football Development Centre or something like that. His responsibilities have greatly increased - especially when it comes to first team matters - in the new Board.

It's been easy for them to leave because: 1. Complete lack of communication around plans as to what the clubs plans to do post-Cortese 2. Wheeled out the Chairman for an interview where it was said no players leave or join until the new Manager is sorted and then 24hrs later Rickie Lambert leaves 3. Appointed a DoF of which it is reported players do not like 4. Club has shown no backbone in the face of the media onslaught linking players everywhere (is it so hard these days to come out with definitive statements and then follow them up with actions?) 5. Two senior, well liked, and first team regulars being allowed to run into the final 12 months of their deal And now we've seen Lallana and Lovren bully the club and the club cave in which sets a very dangerous precedent for the future. All of the above adds to uncertainty which does not lend itself towards even attempting to give our better players a reason to stay. Now even if we sorted things out quicker players may still leave - and if that is the case fair enough but to give them a helping hand out of the door is annoying.

True, but he has never wielded as much power as he does in the current structure. He calls the shots rather than Cortese.

There are two sides to this argument, and we've fallen short on both of them. There is the argument that when the big clubs come calling it is impossible to keep players. I don't entirely subscribe to that. It's very hard to keep players, but it has been done. One of the circumstances of keeping them is buying time to prove to them the club they are at can push on even more. Since the new Board came in there have been a number of reported issues which have made it VERY easy for players to ask to leave. The reports that the players do not like Les Reed and yet he is the only 'football' man on the Board. The reports that the Board have not been communicating with the players which have left them disgruntled. So whilst I appreciate it is hard to keep players when bigger clubs and bigger pay packets come calling, we've also made it very easy for them to want to leave and not given them any reason to stay. And that hurts a bit because that was something which was under our control, and we ****ed it up.

£16m doesn't mean anything unless we sign a capable replacement. Not expecting the replacement to be anywhere near as good as Lovren as I suspect our days of attracting players of that calibre are over however hopefully we'll sign someone who is good enough for mid-table.

Poor Morgan must be wondering what is going on - conducts himself with a bit more respect than some others and yet he will be the last to get his move.

I never declared it as a failure. It does however point to a club who, at least on the face of it right now, is going to struggle next season compared to last seasons achievements. So why shouldn't the media point this out right now?

I think that reason may be us failing to convince our Manager to stay and also losing three important players, and also our best defender wanting to leave. It's not as though the accusations are without foundation right now. It's down to the club to get some deals done and adequately replace players.

It doesn't feel like we're giving him any reason to stay, however there are 6 weeks left of a transfer window. Let's hope the club manage to get some things done as right now it feels like we're closer to losing him than keeping him. I think the only thing that is to our advantage is that Arsenal have him third or fourth choice as a target.

'period of transition' 'summer of change' 'struggling to adapt'

He supports Liverpool apparently. And I'm not even joking.

Adequate as 4th choice and as long as he is happy with that I think he is a solid squad member. This may even be the season he is surpassed by Stephens / Turnbull / McCarthy in the pecking order but with just a year left on his deal I suspect he will be released as Guly was at the end of last season.

And as I said in my original post our squad players were young and will hopefully improve and I also talked about astute signings. There was more to come from our team, I'll maintain that.

Either a better league position or higher points total. Given lots of our players are wanted by clubs higher than us in the league, do you not think it was possible? I don't subscribe to this Champions League being attainable narrative, but there was still much more to come from this team. If not then someone wants to have a word with all the clubs that want our players.

I agree with you - he doesn't need to be as good as Shaw to get in our team and I would love for him to be good enough for us and to see us replace one Academy graduate with another would be great. The problem is people trying to say Shaw wasn't as good as he clearly was and people building up Targett to be better than he is. I know it is a case of the King is dead, long live the King but we need to be realistic here - Targett is not as good as Shaw and is the same age. I hope he gets an opportunity but I am not expecting him to be Premier League ready just yet.

It's not too early to make predictions, but it is too early to appraise our business this summer. However I'm more than comfortable in saying that thus far our actions have left me concerned. I do not think we will be in any real danger of relegation - far from it - however I do believe that we will regress this season. Here are some facts about what has happened this summer: 1. Our Manager, a key aspect of our progress the last 18 months, has left taking all his coaching staff with him. He is also known to be a Manager that the majority of players enjoyed playing for and wanted to stay. They said so publicly. 2. Our starting left-back - possible the best in the league - has left. 3. Our Captain - and best player - has left. 4. Our best striker has left. 5. Our best defender wants to leave. 6. What is now our best midfielder appears open to leave (but is being far more respectable about it) 7. One of our most in form players of last season is out until around Christmas. 8. Last seasons vice captain and starting centre-half, along with one of our more consistent midfield performers, have no signs of a new deal with less than 12 months to run on their contract - yet we know the club are capable of handing out new contracts as Jay Rodriguez has apparently received one. Now in fairness we received good money for the players who have departed. But then the Board told us repeatedly that we'd never sell any of our best players unless we wanted to. And then again, we also sold our players without signing replacements first meaning the whole world and his dog knows we're loaded and any benefit of receiving good fees is now likely wiped out by the premium we'll have to pay for new players ourselves. There is no net gain in my opinion. For example, signing a player from Holland for £11m when he just has a year left on his contract. I fully expect us to sign more players. I also fully expect the amount of change that has occurred at the club to mean we will not hit last seasons heights and we'll have a season of no excitement either end of the table. That's ok of course, but don't tell me your expectations for Saints are not different now to what they were the day after the Man Utd game last season. So if it is quite alright with you I'll express than opinion until this club can prove me wrong.

Do you believe we will match or even better last seasons finish? Now is the time to put your cards on the table. I agree with the latter statement but then I also think by now we'd have a better squad than we do.

At the end of last season it wasn't unrealistic to think we could push on even further with some astute signings and our young players continuing to make progress. I think it is safe to say any Saints fan would be happy with a Top 10 finish as it stands right now. Whilst I agree that the wages on offer from the big clubs will turn players heads regardless I do feel there was focus and momentum that we had previously which just isn't there at the moment.

It's a fair point to be honest, Sharp must have thought he'd have a chance to try and impress this summer with the change in management at a footballing and club level and yet he's being played out of position He's got a year left on his deal and I suspect another loan move beckons before we wave goodbye to him.