Lallana's Left Peg

If we're willing to sell our best striker for £4m then of course they will get them.

And just in case you weren't worried, Ben Smith has said that Liverpool are still in "talks" for Lallana and Lovren as well. ****s sake.

Exactly. Even if he was only good for another season he is still worth £4m to us. Pathetic how we are selling him. Absolutely pathetic. One of the worse things the new Board could do in the circumstance - not having a Manager, stating 24hrs ago no players would be sold until we had a new Manager, talk of respecting the club and the fans etc. And then they do this. They would just appear as bare faced liars and a lot of trust and goodwill would be lost.

Can you imagine the interview? Board: "So then, what would attract you to the Southampton job?" Manager: "Well, the quality in the squad is very good and the chance to work with and push great players is very appealing. The likes of Luke Shaw...." *Board all look at each other* Manager: "I suppose that would still leave Adam Lallana..." *Board all look at each other* Manager: "You've still got Dejan Lovren, Morgan Schneiderlin* *Board all shuffle uncomfortably* Manager: "Well you still have the talisman Rickie Lambert" Board: "We'll wrap this up now" No wonder the likes of Oscar Garcia are being linked to the job. He'll be asked how he can get the best out of Billy Sharp ffs.

Fee of £4m now being reported. Someone let the *****s making these decisions know exactly what we think of them.

28th May 2014. Southampton Chairman states that all player 'transactions' will only occur when a new Manager is appointed. 29th May 2014. Managerless Southampton on verge of selling talisman striker to Liverpool. Les Reed just keeps on rolling, but it's ok lads, he's fully qualified for this DoF role at Southampton

Seems like a good deal but you have to reserve judgement until you see how the money is spent. £9m will mean nothing to us if we sign someone **** with it. Can't say I'm getting my hopes up...

Would be the most underwhelming appointment ever.

Would you take the best Manager available or the best fit for Saints? And if the latter what type of Manager do we think is the best fit for Saints?

I agree with this. But for every £20m player you sell you create some pressure to replace him with a player of adequate performance (or the potential to be) otherwise the team can suffer plus no club in the world has a better transfer record than 50/50 so it still points to potentially lots of money being wasted. But as you say, better to have players that are in demand than not.

Adam Blackmore suggested there are no trips abroad this year.

Of course, but with no other football experience on the Board on what basis can they challenge him? If we had a CEO like John Williams then at least his experience would be more comforting and offer some balance and insight rather than having a single individual on the Board who has football experience and appears to have a lot of authority.

His best work is clearly shown as when he worked in the background at a club a technical level with things like the Academy etc. Which is exactly what his foremost role was with us during Cortese's reign. And he has done excellent work at Saints - anyone can see that. His time at Charlton does not concern me - he won't be Manager at Saints. His time at Fulham as Director of Football is concerning. He joined the summer that Lawrie Sanchez did. I think we all know how that turned out... Then he couldn't get another job in football and helped out a mate at Bishops Stortford. And then he joined Saints. His body of work at Saints is very good, but he was not DoF here. But I'll return back to my question. Is he now qualified to be DoF (and predominately *the* decision maker at Board level for all things football related) for a club like Saints who have European aspirations? Time will tell but I am concerned enough to ask the question.

No he hasn't. He did not set the vision for the first team direction. He did not appoint Managers. He did not handle first team contract negotiations. He had an input in transfers but not the final say. He did not make final decisions. Obviously Cortese valued his input and clearly the work Reed did with the Football Development Centre (Academy, Sports Science etc.) was outstanding. But he was not effectively DoF in the critical aspects of transfers, first team direction, and Managerial appointments - the areas some may say are what a DoF is really measured by. He was just a part of the process. The question I am asking is if he is the most suitable man to be responsible for all things football at Saints.

Have you seen Les Reed's record with first team club football? Familiarise yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Reed_(football_coach) Why would it automatically be deemed he is the best candidate to be DoF at Saints?

Reed didn't make the ultimate decision on anything. He now does. He now gets a chance to do what he wants. I am sure he has valued input but being a part of a committee and being the decision maker are two very different things.

Just walk into top half Premier League jobs do they? Do you think Saints short-list will include someone who has never managed before?

Given he's never done the job before (check Wikipedia if you want), would you be happy for us to appoint a Manager who has never Managed before? He's got new responsibilities and no track record of delivering before. A bit of a risk, no?

Who said a change in structure was required? I'm just not sure Les Reed is a qualified Director of Football.

I just listened to the Ralph Krueger interview where he clearly listed a number of responsibilities that Les Reed had, and I also listened to the Les Reed interview back in April where he clearly listed his responsibilities as well.

Understood but it appears the new Manager will be the choice of Les Reed. It appears player signings will be the choice of Les Reed. It appears player sales will be the choice of Les Reed. It appears player contracts will be done by Les Reed. It appears contract re-negotiations with existing players will be done by Les Reed. We're about to be club who on a sporting level is the image of Les Reed. He's done fantastic work with the structure of the club and the Football Development Centre. I can't be the only one worried his remit now clearly extends to first team matters?

The apparent reliance and burden being placed on Les Reed is absolutely terrifying. It appears we have one man at the football club responsible for all things football. One man.

A lot of people on here prefer to see substance over intent. It was our intent to keep Pochettino and we couldn't do that so people aren't feeling in the most positive frame of mind.

They have my backing but this is a tough situation where they need to come out the other side of it with a good result otherwise things could unravel very quickly. I haven't been too impressed with the last two weeks.