baggytrousers

Why on earth would we want to do that ? Holland have a vital World Cup Qualifier against France at the end of August and another against Sweden in October. Let him train alone for the time being. He'll see sense soon enough.

Tottenham haven't bought either. Funny how the two youngest teams in the league haven't "strengthened" over the summer. It's almost as if young players might improve with age and good coaching.

I think this whole thread stands as proof that we have finally reached Peak Mong. Well done everyone.

Good article on the UI about how we're getting plaudits for our stance on VVD : https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/46039/the-media-are-lauding-saints-for-staying-firm-!

On Saintsweb there's always smoke without fire, loads of it. The whole place is almost like a convention for arsonists. If every little puff of smoke on here had turned into even a small fire our club would have burnt down long ago. The mongboard seems to be currently wetting its pants over a real "I heard it from a bloke down the pub" level of non-story which seems to have zero credibility and you're trying to claim there's no smoke without fire. Sure.

You cynic. You're obviously forgetting the brilliant ITK scoops of our signing of Danny Ings and Clyne's definite sale to Arsenal. And the Saints Alan Curbishley glory years must have completely past you by. This info is clearly right up there in credibility, just below the the bloke down the pub.

True. Glasgow's stream of complete and utter claptrap is never going to stop

VVD is simply testing the waters with what little leverage he has. Bottom line is that he is contracted to Saints for 5 years. Agree that there's no point in getting angry. Just let the situation play out. If he wants to go on strike then so be it. Let him do it and watch his career stall from the sidelines until he sees sense. Keep him and wait for him to come around. Simple.

What utter rubbish. VVD still has 5 years of his contract left to run. Pellegrino has done exactly the right thing by making Virgil train on his own whilst still keeping day to day contact with him and keeping relations cordial. If we have to start the season with VVD out of the team then so be it. That would be Virgil's choice to not play for us and run the considerable risk of not playing for Holland in next summer's world cup. The idea of selling him for a cut price 40 million is completely bonkers. Why on earth would we ? Much more likely that VVD will eventually see sense and come around.

For what it's worth I tend to believe you although I might not have 6 months ago. Nothing against your trustworthyness but it didn't seem like a Saints type move back then. Oddly enough it's mainly Fraser's new contract that has me thinking that we're looking to spend money when it strategically suits us. As LeG has pointed out a quality No. 10 is the missing piece in the jigsaw so us being interested in Sigurdson as a marquee signing makes sense in the current context.

Our first season in the last 8 where we haven't improved our league position. I think we all need to participate in an act of mass urination of our collective mattresses to register our disgust at such a situation. That will show them we mean business.

Alternatively "Our half-witted fans don't know how lucky they are". Wonder which fans in particular the thread is referring to ?

Signing young players who will improve is exactly what we've been doing. Our 3 major signings last summer were 20, 22 and 22 years old and our only signing this summer is 21. Yet people see them as downgrades on the likes of Pelle and Mane without taking their age and obvious potential into account at all. At the same time they see Jack Stephens who is actually older than 3 out of the 4 players we signed (and only a couple of months younger than Boufal) as an up and coming young academy prospect. Same goes for Sam McQueen. There's a section of fans who seem to give these players a lot more latitude, because of their age, to make mistakes as they learn the game in the Premiership but the youngsters we buy in are expected to be seasoned pros from the moment we sign them.

Agree with most of what you say but I think calling it the 'buy low, sell high' model doesn't fully do it justice as I think we are trying to move beyond that. We have used the funds generated from this strategy to upgrade Staplewood, strengthen our squad and offer longer term improved contracts to our key players. I believe we have entered a new phase where we are trying not to sell at all unless it's on our terms (e.g. JayRod who left with our blessing). So I believe the new model is better described as "buy young and low, improve, make a key part of the squad, only sell if we have to" with a view to having a critical mass of good young talent establishing themselves at the same time to put us in a good enough position to mount a serious challenge to the mega rich clubs in a season where it all comes together.

Can the mods start a poll to Unsubscribe him ? Could be a landslide.

Yawn !!!!

Hjojberg is 21 years old so let's write him off after one season. Redmond is younger than Jack Stephens and Boufal just a couple of months older. The idea that these great young prospects should instantly be as good as Mane at his best I find completely ridiculous. When will people on this forum realise that we didn't buy the finished product last summer but bought some really promising youngsters on long term contracts with the view to develop them and form a talented squad that will grow and progress together, a trend that continues with the signing of Bednarek. Patience people. We're building something here.

Why do so many people on here not get the significance of last year's tying of our best players to long term contracts ? Isn't it obvious that our business plan changed at that point ? If VVD is so desperate to leave us then why did he sign a new 6 year contract last summer ? What was in it for him ?

Might the fact that it was our team captain's birthday this week also explain the pic a bit more ? Alternatively, Lying Les could have been at the end of the honour guard, bathing in a bathtub full of banknotes with LFC stamped on them. Take your pick as to the most likely explanation.

This one's got me excited. Real talent.

Heard that Bednarek is definitely one for the future but is expected to be the Polish centre back in the not too distant future. Stylistically he's a bit like Rio Ferdinand or John Stones but at the beginning of their journey. He currently makes too many mistakes to be considered ahead of Maya or Jack but the potential is there so maybe see him in some of the cups. For my part I would love to see VVD and Jack as our first choice pairing next season. Thought Jack came on massively last season and overtook Maya. Looks a really exciting prospect and would love to see him alongside Virgil.

Being reported that we are on the verge of signing a young midfield prospect into our academy : http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/06/29/por-southampton-to-land-bury-starlet-ferry/

Another point is that all the players we've brought in recently have been young and technically good. I believe there's a real intent from the board to settle on what they see as a young and talented squad with huge potential and encourage them to grow into a great team under the guidance of an inspirational coach. In those circumstances the last thing we'd want to do is flog off our leaders and best players. Thus the push to get them all on long term contracts last summer.

The board's strategy has been pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain : Pay down the debt from the Cortese years and the Staplewood upgrade Increase the strength in depth of the squad Get all key players to sign long term improved contracts All of these steps required money but now that we've completed them we don't need the surplus any more so why sell ? Simples !!!!!

Yes