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VIDEO: Les Reed reviews the season and discusses the club's ambition and future plans


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Excellent interview. Les made the point I was trying to make on another tread recently much better than I could, in that for the last couple of seasons we have been the ones knocking on the door of the top 6, and Leicester came along and smashed that door down to prove that a club of our size can do that with the right attitude and momentum.

 

I'm feeling very positive about the future and next season after watching that. The club clearly have an ongoing vision and they want Ron to commit to it, which I hope and I think he will. The recent tying down to new contracts of players like VVD, Forster and JWP show that the players are buying into the vision as well, so apart from the obvious want-aways like Wanyama, I don't think we will have as much difficulty holding on to our best players as we have done for the last two summers.

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Summary...

 

 

 

2015/16 Season

 

 

- delighted that MUFC won the cup

- it means we go to the groups of the EL

- it's another step forward for the club

- we can do much more planning now

- we were lucky to an extent last year that we got Midtjylland and Vitesse (rather than a trip to Azerbaijan)

- we can get a proper pre-season in this time, uninterrupted

- it's been an incredible rise for the club

- every season we've had something to celebrate

- it's what we aimed to do, incrementally getting better every season

 

 

 

Ambitions

 

- we're now an established Premier League club who compete for Europe

- we don't want to just hang on in there, we want to make an impact

- we know we can get into the Champions League

- over the next five years, we want to build a club that is ready for the Champions League

- whenever there's been scaremongering, we've focused on our plan and stayed on track

- we had a shaky period after Christmas but there was no pressure or major panic or disaster

 

 

 

Ronald Koeman's Future

 

- Ronald buys into the club's culture and values

- We aren't pulling in different directions

- Ronald ticked all the boxes

- we're building the team around him and cooperating with him in terms of recruitment

- we've found someone who buys into us and is a good coach and tactician

- we want to play good football and do all of the things that Ronald wants, there's a meeting of minds

- he's done a great job and will continue to do so

- we're always planning for the future

- we're now at a point of discussing the detail of a new contract for Ronald

- agents and lawyers are now involved

- everything's going very positively

 

 

 

Contract Renewals

 

- we haven't finished with contract extensions for players

- I'm still talking to agents of our other players to get more signatures on paper

- we've had two summers with the focus on players leaving

- we want to turn the corner

- we want players to sign long-term contracts because they want to be here

- we're doing that now

- Ronald and I have been talking for a long time about building and extending contracts

- extending contracts of key players is a step forward

- we've already sorted Forster, Van Dijk and JWP

- that's a good sign

- there's more to do that with, but we are also looking at new players

 

 

 

Summer Transfers

 

 

- we're having lots of meetings all over the place to get things done before silly season

- we want to get our business done in the front end of the final month of the window, rather than the back end

- our focus is currently on getting current players to commit for the long-term

- we then want to fine-tune the squad

- me and Ronald have discussed the requirements, we want to keep the squad together and add more

- we don't want to make wholesale changes, there's enough teams doing that this summer

- the only problem could be the Euros

- some agents wait because they hope their client might have a good Euros and get more offers

- there'll be lots of scouts out there, some don't do as much due diligence as us

- some react to players who have a good tournament or score in the early rounds

- it skews the window but we know what our plans are

- we'll be scouting the Euros but we'll be scouting players we're already watching

- to be at the top-end of the league you need international players in your squad

 

 

 

Preseason Plans

 

- our international players will come back later to pre-season

- we'll have a young squad + non Euros players in the first part of pre-season

- we've pencilled in a training camp early in pre-season which will be in the United States

- as players return from the Euros duty we'll get them together at Staplewood

- there'll be a camp in Holland but that's easier to arrange for us

 

 

 

Loan Policy

 

- we take loans seriously

- we haven't loaned players out so much previously

- you have to be very careful

- we weren't too happy with the loans we did last season

- we're looking to be a lot more systematic with that

- I'm meeting with Championship and League One clubs who want to develop partnerships

- that way we get a little bit more control over where they go and how they're treated

- the loan isn't just about game-time, it's about everything they do from Monday to Friday

- we've got our status and reputation, so the ability to loan to quality clubs is quite good

- we are also looking at a partnership with a club in Europe so our players can experience that

 

 

 

Next Season

 

- we want to repeat a top six finish

- we want to qualify for European football again

- if there's a chance to break the top four, we need to do it

- we don't want to say 'oh well, we'll do it next season'

- it's going to be a very interesting summer and season

- five or six of the traditional top six clubs including Spurs are going to have to build and rebuild

- new managers are coming in at the top end, that's normally accompanied by big changes

- those six are all competing for the same level of player

- the idea that they'll all just buy their way back, I don't agree with that

- if it does happen, it won't be for a few years

- there's a lot of opportunity for us

 

 

 

The Premier League

 

- Leicester's situation is fascinating

- the plaudits they were getting mirrored what we were getting a couple of years ago

- we always felt there was more in us when we finished 8th

- I think Leicester had incredible momentum and that was difficult to stop

- they had the fantastic run to avoid relegation

- Ranieri did a fantastic job and didn't change too much

- they had a die-hard attitude and good team spirit which they carried forward

- the belief that the top six are invincible has died away

- I think we contributed to that

- West Ham also contributed to that

- I think mentalities are changing

- Stoke are another one who think they can take on the top clubs

- that's an indication that things won't just return to normal

- Leicester have laid down the gauntlet

- I'm sure our fans believe we can do it

- that's a worry for the big clubs

- it's a rebellion the big clubs would like to put down

- they'll spend a lot of money but I think the landscape has changed

- more teams will want to join that, Everton are one

- the league will get better and better

 

 

 

Balancing the Premier League and Europa League

 

- you can talk yourself out of it and say 'it's pointless trying'

- you can talk yourself into it and say 'it can be done'

- we can manage recovery time

- we can be good at our sports science

- we can pay attention to the small detail

- Championship clubs do it every year with the amount of games they play

- at the moment we're playing six extra games

- let's see how we recover and travel

- let's make it work

- the alternative is to persuade yourself it can't be done

- if you do that, then it obviously won't work

 

 

 

*END*

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Summary...

 

 

 

2015/16 Season

 

 

- delighted that MUFC won the cup

- it means we go to the groups of the EL

- it's another step forward for the club

- we can do much more planning now

- we were lucky to an extent last year that we got Midtjylland and Vitesse (rather than a trip to Azerbaijan)

- we can get a proper pre-season in this time, uninterrupted

- it's been an incredible rise for the club

- every season we've had something to celebrate

- it's what we aimed to do, incrementally getting better every season

 

 

 

Ambitions

 

- we're now an established Premier League club who compete for Europe

- we don't want to just hang on in there, we want to make an impact

- we know we can get into the Champions League

- over the next five years, we want to build a club that is ready for the Champions League

- whenever there's been scaremongering, we've focused on our plan and stayed on track

- we had a shaky period after Christmas but there was no pressure or major panic or disaster

 

 

 

Ronald Koeman's Future

 

- Ronald buys into the club's culture and values

- We aren't pulling in different directions

- Ronald ticked all the boxes

- we're building the team around him and cooperating with him in terms of recruitment

- we've found someone who buys into us and is a good coach and tactician

- we want to play good football and do all of the things that Ronald wants, there's a meeting of minds

- he's done a great job and will continue to do so

- we're always planning for the future

- we're now at a point of discussing the detail of a new contract for Ronald

- agents and lawyers are now involved

- everything's going very positively

 

 

 

Contract Renewals

 

- we haven't finished with contract extensions for players

- I'm still talking to agents of our other players to get more signatures on paper

- we've had two summers with the focus on players leaving

- we want to turn the corner

- we want players to sign long-term contracts because they want to be here

- we're doing that now

- Ronald and I have been talking for a long time about building and extending contracts

- extending contracts of key players is a step forward

- we've already sorted Forster, Van Dijk and JWP

- that's a good sign

- there's more to do that with, but we are also looking at new players

 

 

 

Summer Transfers

 

 

- we're having lots of meetings all over the place to get things done before silly season

- we want to get our business done in the front end of the final month of the window, rather than the back end

- our focus is currently on getting current players to commit for the long-term

- we then want to fine-tune the squad

- me and Ronald have discussed the requirements, we want to keep the squad together and add more

- we don't want to make wholesale changes, there's enough teams doing that this summer

- the only problem could be the Euros

- some agents wait because they hope their client might have a good Euros and get more offers

- there'll be lots of scouts out there, some don't do as much due diligence as us

- some react to players who have a good tournament or score in the early rounds

- it skews the window but we know what our plans are

- we'll be scouting the Euros but we'll be scouting players we're already watching

- to be at the top-end of the league you need international players in your squad

 

 

 

Preseason Plans

 

- our international players will come back later to pre-season

- we'll have a young squad + non Euros players in the first part of pre-season

- we've pencilled in a training camp early in pre-season which will be in the United States

- as players return from the Euros duty we'll get them together at Staplewood

- there'll be a camp in Holland but that's easier to arrange for us

 

 

 

Loan Policy

 

- we take loans seriously

- we haven't loaned players out so much previously

- you have to be very careful

- we weren't too happy with the loans we did last season

- we're looking to be a lot more systematic with that

- I'm meeting with Championship and League One clubs who want to develop partnerships

- that way we get a little bit more control over where they go and how they're treated

- the loan isn't just about game-time, it's about everything they do from Monday to Friday

- we've got our status and reputation, so the ability to loan to quality clubs is quite good

- we are also looking at a partnership with a club in Europe so our players can experience that

 

 

 

Next Season

 

- we want to repeat a top six finish

- we want to qualify for European football again

- if there's a chance to break the top four, we need to do it

- we don't want to say 'oh well, we'll do it next season'

- it's going to be a very interesting summer and season

- five or six of the traditional top six clubs including Spurs are going to have to build and rebuild

- new managers are coming in at the top end, that's normally accompanied by big changes

- those six are all competing for the same level of player

- the idea that they'll all just buy their way back, I don't agree with that

- if it does happen, it won't be for a few years

- there's a lot of opportunity for us

 

 

 

The Premier League

 

- Leicester's situation is fascinating

- the plaudits they were getting mirrored what we were getting a couple of years ago

- we always felt there was more in us when we finished 8th

- I think Leicester had incredible momentum and that was difficult to stop

- they had the fantastic run to avoid relegation

- Ranieri did a fantastic job and didn't change too much

- they had a die-hard attitude and good team spirit which they carried forward

- the belief that the top six are invincible has died away

- I think we contributed to that

- West Ham also contributed to that

- I think mentalities are changing

- Stoke are another one who think they can take on the top clubs

- that's an indication that things won't just return to normal

- Leicester have laid down the gauntlet

- I'm sure our fans believe we can do it

- that's a worry for the big clubs

- it's a rebellion the big clubs would like to put down

- they'll spend a lot of money but I think the landscape has changed

- more teams will want to join that, Everton are one

- the league will get better and better

 

 

 

Balancing the Premier League and Europa League

 

- you can talk yourself out of it and say 'it's pointless trying'

- you can talk yourself into it and say 'it can be done'

- we can manage recovery time

- we can be good at our sports science

- we can pay attention to the small detail

- Championship clubs do it every year with the amount of games they play

- at the moment we're playing six extra games

- let's see how we recover and travel

- let's make it work

- the alternative is to persuade yourself it can't be done

- if you do that, then it obviously won't work

 

 

 

*END*

 

Thanks for that. Interesting about partnership in Europe - good move imo

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Les Reed....

 

Very pleased with the FA Cup final result.

could have gone either way, puncheon gave us a shock

delighted United won for us, we go into the group stages

going straight to the groups is massive

we can plan properly for the new season

playing qualifiers make things a lot harder

we got lucky last season with the teams we drew as they were fairly close

we will be able to do a proper pre-season this summer

Been planning for pre-seaon a while now

the rise in the last 7 years has been magnificent

something to celebrate every single season

this is what we initially set out to do, get better every year

in the last 3 years, we have established ourselves in the top 8

we never wanted to just survive in the prem

we know the champions league is within our grasp

the next 5 years we want to grow the club to be ready for the champions league

when we have hit troubled times, we have kept to our own vision

christmas was a shakey time, there was no pressure from anyone.

we worked our way through that and it paid off

everyone at the club contributed to a 6th place finish

Ronald buys into the passion and culture of the club

ronald ticked all the boxes and we built the side around him

he is a good coach and tactician

the squad meets the profile of the club and ronald is passionate about it

Ronald has done a great job

talks with ronald are on-going all the time

we want to consolidate the core of the team

all part of building for the future

we are down to the detail of a new deal with agents and lawyers.

very important that VvD, FF and JWP signed on

we are talking to other players agents to get them to commit long term

the focus is on getting more players to commit

we have spoken to ronald about fine tuning the squad

we dont want big changes this summer

we are looking at targets for the summer, we want to do this quickly

the Euro's will slow things down this summer, always happens

we know what we want with regards to players

Euro's make summer preps a bit harder but that is the same for everyone

we will have a young squad of players in the 1st part of pre season

a training camp early in pre season, likely to be in the USA. a short week then back to staplewood

then probably to holland just like last year

we try not to loan young players out in the past

we have to be careful with the kind of loans

we were not too happy with the loans we did sent out last year

we want to improve on that. we want to create partnerships with championship and league 1 clubs

looking at a partnership with a club in europe. will be able to loan players out to europe too

aims for next season, work to establish ourselves in the top 6

we want another top 6 finish and get back into europe

we need to be ready for top 4. maybe not next season but we want it

new managers at the top clubs now normally will mean lots of changes in players

there is opportunity for us to get in the top 4 in the next few years

Leicester have been fantastic

the plaudits they got midway through the season was similar to what we got 2 seasons ago when we finished 8th

Ranieri did a great job job, they have fantastic team spirit and the momentum grew

the belief that the traditional top 6 clubs were invincible has gone. Us, west ham started to break down that belief and leicester went and killed it

stoke are another side who can beat any of the top clubs

leicester have laid down the gauntlet to clubs like us

the football landscape has changed, the top half of the league will be more competitive

Everton are another club who will want to return to the top end of the table

we will relish the challenge of managing the Europa League and the premier league

you hear people of other clubs talking themselves out of doing well in both competitions

at the moment, we have 6 extra games. we have to get the logistics right

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Les Reed....

 

Very pleased with the FA Cup final result.

could have gone either way, puncheon gave us a shock

delighted United won for us, we go into the group stages

going straight to the groups is massive

we can plan properly for the new season

playing qualifiers make things a lot harder

we got lucky last season with the teams we drew as they were fairly close

we will be able to do a proper pre-season this summer

Been planning for pre-seaon a while now

the rise in the last 7 years has been magnificent

something to celebrate every single season

this is what we initially set out to do, get better every year

in the last 3 years, we have established ourselves in the top 8

we never wanted to just survive in the prem

we know the champions league is within our grasp

the next 5 years we want to grow the club to be ready for the champions league

when we have hit troubled times, we have kept to our own vision

christmas was a shakey time, there was no pressure from anyone.

we worked our way through that and it paid off

everyone at the club contributed to a 6th place finish

Ronald buys into the passion and culture of the club

ronald ticked all the boxes and we built the side around him

he is a good coach and tactician

the squad meets the profile of the club and ronald is passionate about it

Ronald has done a great job

talks with ronald are on-going all the time

we want to consolidate the core of the team

all part of building for the future

we are down to the detail of a new deal with agents and lawyers.

very important that VvD, FF and JWP signed on

we are talking to other players agents to get them to commit long term

the focus is on getting more players to commit

we have spoken to ronald about fine tuning the squad

we dont want big changes this summer

we are looking at targets for the summer, we want to do this quickly

the Euro's will slow things down this summer, always happens

we know what we want with regards to players

Euro's make summer preps a bit harder but that is the same for everyone

we will have a young squad of players in the 1st part of pre season

a training camp early in pre season, likely to be in the USA. a short week then back to staplewood

then probably to holland just like last year

we try not to loan young players out in the past

we have to be careful with the kind of loans

we were not too happy with the loans we did sent out last year

we want to improve on that. we want to create partnerships with championship and league 1 clubs

looking at a partnership with a club in europe. will be able to loan players out to europe too

aims for next season, work to establish ourselves in the top 6

we want another top 6 finish and get back into europe

we need to be ready for top 4. maybe not next season but we want it

new managers at the top clubs now normally will mean lots of changes in players

there is opportunity for us to get in the top 4 in the next few years

Leicester have been fantastic

the plaudits they got midway through the season was similar to what we got 2 seasons ago when we finished 8th

Ranieri did a great job job, they have fantastic team spirit and the momentum grew

the belief that the traditional top 6 clubs were invincible has gone. Us, west ham started to break down that belief and leicester went and killed it

stoke are another side who can beat any of the top clubs

leicester have laid down the gauntlet to clubs like us

the football landscape has changed, the top half of the league will be more competitive

Everton are another club who will want to return to the top end of the table

we will relish the challenge of managing the Europa League and the premier league

you hear people of other clubs talking themselves out of doing well in both competitions

at the moment, we have 6 extra games. we have to get the logistics right

 

Rubbish. I prefer SA's formatting. Headings AND Bullet points.

 

Seriously, a good watch/read.

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Good interview. In this context the Koeman bit is fine IMO. Reed doesn't seem concerned.

 

He seems relatively confident that it will be a "quiet" summer on outgoings which was interesting.

 

European partnership an intruiging prospect!

 

Indeed who do we want as our European feeder club...someone Dutch (like Chelsea and Arnhem), FC Midtjylland or maybe Celtic...

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The Leicester bit was quite funny but otherwise a good interview.

 

Interesting to hear him talk about being ready should a chance of Champions League comes along. Not sure what better opportunity will present itself over last season.

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The Leicester bit was quite funny but otherwise a good interview.

 

Interesting to hear him talk about being ready should a chance of Champions League comes along. Not sure what better opportunity will present itself over last season.

 

According to big les the whole landscape has shifted. Last season's openness was not a one-off.

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Be very interesting finding out. I can't help but feel that last season was a fluke and that the top 4 will become a closed shop again from 16/17.

 

Hope I'm wrong but don't expect to be.

 

yep I agree. I think the big boys got a bit complacent but all this season just gone has done is galvanise them to bring in better managers and new (better) players. Not to mention the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool will only have the league to worry about next season.

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Les Reed....

 

Very pleased with the FA Cup final result.

could have gone either way, puncheon gave us a shock

delighted United won for us, we go into the group stages

going straight to the groups is massive

we can plan properly for the new season

playing qualifiers make things a lot harder

we got lucky last season with the teams we drew as they were fairly close

we will be able to do a proper pre-season this summer

Been planning for pre-seaon a while now

the rise in the last 7 years has been magnificent

something to celebrate every single season

this is what we initially set out to do, get better every year

in the last 3 years, we have established ourselves in the top 8

we never wanted to just survive in the prem

we know the champions league is within our grasp

the next 5 years we want to grow the club to be ready for the champions league

when we have hit troubled times, we have kept to our own vision

christmas was a shakey time, there was no pressure from anyone.

we worked our way through that and it paid off

everyone at the club contributed to a 6th place finish

Ronald buys into the passion and culture of the club

ronald ticked all the boxes and we built the side around him

he is a good coach and tactician

the squad meets the profile of the club and ronald is passionate about it

Ronald has done a great job

talks with ronald are on-going all the time

we want to consolidate the core of the team

all part of building for the future

we are down to the detail of a new deal with agents and lawyers.

very important that VvD, FF and JWP signed on

we are talking to other players agents to get them to commit long term

the focus is on getting more players to commit

we have spoken to ronald about fine tuning the squad

we dont want big changes this summer

we are looking at targets for the summer, we want to do this quickly

the Euro's will slow things down this summer, always happens

we know what we want with regards to players

Euro's make summer preps a bit harder but that is the same for everyone

we will have a young squad of players in the 1st part of pre season

a training camp early in pre season, likely to be in the USA. a short week then back to staplewood

then probably to holland just like last year

we try not to loan young players out in the past

we have to be careful with the kind of loans

we were not too happy with the loans we did sent out last year

we want to improve on that. we want to create partnerships with championship and league 1 clubs

looking at a partnership with a club in europe. will be able to loan players out to europe too

aims for next season, work to establish ourselves in the top 6

we want another top 6 finish and get back into europe

we need to be ready for top 4. maybe not next season but we want it

new managers at the top clubs now normally will mean lots of changes in players

there is opportunity for us to get in the top 4 in the next few years

Leicester have been fantastic

the plaudits they got midway through the season was similar to what we got 2 seasons ago when we finished 8th

Ranieri did a great job job, they have fantastic team spirit and the momentum grew

the belief that the traditional top 6 clubs were invincible has gone. Us, west ham started to break down that belief and leicester went and killed it

stoke are another side who can beat any of the top clubs

leicester have laid down the gauntlet to clubs like us

the football landscape has changed, the top half of the league will be more competitive

Everton are another club who will want to return to the top end of the table

we will relish the challenge of managing the Europa League and the premier league

you hear people of other clubs talking themselves out of doing well in both competitions

at the moment, we have 6 extra games. we have to get the logistics right

 

All those years transcribing soviet radio intercepts wasn't wasted then....

 

Fair play for getting it down (same to St Armstrong) though :thumbup:

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Les spoke about our ongoing improvement every year..but it's interesting to compare other clubs during the last 4 years since we came back up......

 

2012/13 ................2015/16

 

Man.Utd 1....................... 5

Man.City 2........................4

Chelsea 3.......................10

Arsenal 4........................2

Totten'm 5........................3

Everton 6.......................11

Liverpool 7........................8

W. Brom. 8......................14

 

no-one can deny that some of those clubs have spent a fortune and a half in the last 4 years, but few of them seem to have benefited as much as Saints.

 

Yes ..and almost all of them (except Arsenal) have had several managerial changes in that time, and more than a few players in and out. Didn't we do well...:D

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Lovely stuff, and particularly interesting when he got onto Leicester and the dynamics of the league. I'd never considered his point that the big clubs' upheaval could be an advantage for the continuity candidates, of which we could be one and Leicester were an extreme example this year.

 

European feeder club is all a bit Chelsea though - I know I wouldn't be too happy as a fan of a L1/Championship side to have Saints dictating how many games the loanees get.

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Excellent interview. I've got used to switching off Saints interviews after a couple of minutes because they're usually just banal questions with stock 'what the fans want to hear' answers.

 

Les Reed was great in this, real analysis and thoughtful answers.

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26/05/2016

 

Ronald Koeman's Future

 

- Ronald buys into the club's culture and values

- We aren't pulling in different directions

- Ronald ticked all the boxes

- we're building the team around him and cooperating with him in terms of recruitment

- we've found someone who buys into us and is a good coach and tactician

- we want to play good football and do all of the things that Ronald wants, there's a meeting of minds

- he's done a great job and will continue to do so

- we're always planning for the future

- we're now at a point of discussing the detail of a new contract for Ronald

- agents and lawyers are now involved

- everything's going very positively

 

 

 

Contract Renewals

- Ronald and I have been talking for a long time about building and extending contracts

everything sounds great

 

25/04/2014

Les Reed told media that the club has so far received no bids for any players. Also hinting that there was no truth behind rumours of Manchester United already in contract talks with Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana. Reed then went on to say that he and Mauricio were already planning the long term future of Southampton; and that they sometimes talk for hours on a daily basis.

oh

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Be very interesting finding out. I can't help but feel that last season was a fluke and that the top 4 will become a closed shop again from 16/17.

 

Hope I'm wrong but don't expect to be.

 

Personally I think he's got something.

 

Arsenal may well be very strong next year and are definite title contenders already, along with Spurs.

 

Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool >> all of those clubs are going to be shuffling players out and spending big money on big signings. One of those clubs might click and do well, but I can't see all the managers doing well with brand new teams. Mourinho knows the league, but Klopp's already had half a year. Unless Klopp manages to pull of the signings of the decade for a club with no European competition, it'll be Man Utd that probably excel from that group.

 

It's all hypothetical, but I do get what Les is saying. We shall see. You may be right and the top 6 is a closed shop we drop out of, but f**k it, we've got to give it a go and now seems like one of the best chances for many many years for another interesting season next year.

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Lovely stuff, and particularly interesting when he got onto Leicester and the dynamics of the league. I'd never considered his point that the big clubs' upheaval could be an advantage for the continuity candidates, of which we could be one and Leicester were an extreme example this year.

 

European feeder club is all a bit Chelsea though - I know I wouldn't be too happy as a fan of a L1/Championship side to have Saints dictating how many games the loanees get.

I don't think he was talking about a feeder club, more a club that we could loan out players to in Europe to experience European football. Seems like a great idea.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

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Les makes a very good point about last season not being a fluke. After the 2014/2015 season I was gutted as I thought our chance to come above Liverpool had come and gone and next season it would be back to normal. Of course I was wrong, and in fact we were able to jump Liverpool and obviously Leicester jumped everybody. So it actually suggests the top 4 are getting worse and have been for some time. The new managers coming into the country is understandably getting people excited, but as Les touches on they're all going to be going for the same type of players at the same time - have we ever had this many 'top' clubs in this country beginning a season with a manager in his first full season as we will do next season? (City, United, Liverpool). I think if Klopp is backed this summer (I'm not convinced he will be) then Liverpool may well challenge the top 4 this season, but it's going to be interesting just how well these new managers actually do.

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Summary...

 

 

 

2015/16 Season

 

 

- delighted that MUFC won the cup

- it means we go to the groups of the EL

- it's another step forward for the club

- we can do much more planning now

- we were lucky to an extent last year that we got Midtjylland and Vitesse (rather than a trip to Azerbaijan)

- we can get a proper pre-season in this time, uninterrupted

- it's been an incredible rise for the club

- every season we've had something to celebrate

- it's what we aimed to do, incrementally getting better every season

 

 

 

Ambitions

 

- we're now an established Premier League club who compete for Europe

- we don't want to just hang on in there, we want to make an impact

- we know we can get into the Champions League

- over the next five years, we want to build a club that is ready for the Champions League

- whenever there's been scaremongering, we've focused on our plan and stayed on track

- we had a shaky period after Christmas but there was no pressure or major panic or disaster

 

 

 

Ronald Koeman's Future

 

- Ronald buys into the club's culture and values

- We aren't pulling in different directions

- Ronald ticked all the boxes

- we're building the team around him and cooperating with him in terms of recruitment

- we've found someone who buys into us and is a good coach and tactician

- we want to play good football and do all of the things that Ronald wants, there's a meeting of minds

- he's done a great job and will continue to do so

- we're always planning for the future

- we're now at a point of discussing the detail of a new contract for Ronald

- agents and lawyers are now involved

- everything's going very positively

 

 

 

Contract Renewals

 

- we haven't finished with contract extensions for players

- I'm still talking to agents of our other players to get more signatures on paper

- we've had two summers with the focus on players leaving

- we want to turn the corner

- we want players to sign long-term contracts because they want to be here

- we're doing that now

- Ronald and I have been talking for a long time about building and extending contracts

- extending contracts of key players is a step forward

- we've already sorted Forster, Van Dijk and JWP

- that's a good sign

- there's more to do that with, but we are also looking at new players

 

 

 

Summer Transfers

 

 

- we're having lots of meetings all over the place to get things done before silly season

- we want to get our business done in the front end of the final month of the window, rather than the back end

- our focus is currently on getting current players to commit for the long-term

- we then want to fine-tune the squad

- me and Ronald have discussed the requirements, we want to keep the squad together and add more

- we don't want to make wholesale changes, there's enough teams doing that this summer

- the only problem could be the Euros

- some agents wait because they hope their client might have a good Euros and get more offers

- there'll be lots of scouts out there, some don't do as much due diligence as us

- some react to players who have a good tournament or score in the early rounds

- it skews the window but we know what our plans are

- we'll be scouting the Euros but we'll be scouting players we're already watching

- to be at the top-end of the league you need international players in your squad

 

 

 

Preseason Plans

 

- our international players will come back later to pre-season

- we'll have a young squad + non Euros players in the first part of pre-season

- we've pencilled in a training camp early in pre-season which will be in the United States

- as players return from the Euros duty we'll get them together at Staplewood

- there'll be a camp in Holland but that's easier to arrange for us

 

 

 

Loan Policy

 

- we take loans seriously

- we haven't loaned players out so much previously

- you have to be very careful

- we weren't too happy with the loans we did last season

- we're looking to be a lot more systematic with that

- I'm meeting with Championship and League One clubs who want to develop partnerships

- that way we get a little bit more control over where they go and how they're treated

- the loan isn't just about game-time, it's about everything they do from Monday to Friday

- we've got our status and reputation, so the ability to loan to quality clubs is quite good

- we are also looking at a partnership with a club in Europe so our players can experience that

 

 

 

Next Season

 

- we want to repeat a top six finish

- we want to qualify for European football again

- if there's a chance to break the top four, we need to do it

- we don't want to say 'oh well, we'll do it next season'

- it's going to be a very interesting summer and season

- five or six of the traditional top six clubs including Spurs are going to have to build and rebuild

- new managers are coming in at the top end, that's normally accompanied by big changes

- those six are all competing for the same level of player

- the idea that they'll all just buy their way back, I don't agree with that

- if it does happen, it won't be for a few years

- there's a lot of opportunity for us

 

 

 

The Premier League

 

- Leicester's situation is fascinating

- the plaudits they were getting mirrored what we were getting a couple of years ago

- we always felt there was more in us when we finished 8th

- I think Leicester had incredible momentum and that was difficult to stop

- they had the fantastic run to avoid relegation

- Ranieri did a fantastic job and didn't change too much

- they had a die-hard attitude and good team spirit which they carried forward

- the belief that the top six are invincible has died away

- I think we contributed to that

- West Ham also contributed to that

- I think mentalities are changing

- Stoke are another one who think they can take on the top clubs

- that's an indication that things won't just return to normal

- Leicester have laid down the gauntlet

- I'm sure our fans believe we can do it

- that's a worry for the big clubs

- it's a rebellion the big clubs would like to put down

- they'll spend a lot of money but I think the landscape has changed

- more teams will want to join that, Everton are one

- the league will get better and better

 

 

 

Balancing the Premier League and Europa League

 

- you can talk yourself out of it and say 'it's pointless trying'

- you can talk yourself into it and say 'it can be done'

- we can manage recovery time

- we can be good at our sports science

- we can pay attention to the small detail

- Championship clubs do it every year with the amount of games they play

- at the moment we're playing six extra games

- let's see how we recover and travel

- let's make it work

- the alternative is to persuade yourself it can't be done

- if you do that, then it obviously won't work

 

 

 

*END*

 

Thank you for the summary!

 

Regarding the preseason tour, and Les' reference to a training camp in the United States... would that mean the squad, albeit limited due to Euros, would play a few friendlies in the states? In addition to the training camp?

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Thank you for the summary!

 

Regarding the preseason tour, and Les' reference to a training camp in the United States... would that mean the squad, albeit limited due to Euros, would play a few friendlies in the states? In addition to the training camp?

 

I'm not too sure. I read a while back that they'd be heading to Baltimore for a training camp and they might play a game out there. Les did say it'd probably only be for one week, though, so I can't imagine there being more than one game if so.

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More likely Groningen.

Rather hoping it will be ADO Den Haag or FC Utrecht (my former home and place of work respectively).

I've been advocating getting young players loaned to European clubs, rather than lower league teams for some time. Netherlands or Spain especially would be good learning experiences for our youngsters. It seems to work well for Chelsea.

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Feeder clubs, it's all gone a bit Champ man.

 

The idea is sound though, Saints obviously have a very thorough approach to developing young players that goes beyond just game time and training. Making sure this is still followed through with players on loan will ensure they will get maximum benefit from it.

 

Plus there is no point players going on loan and then not playing, so i think that is what they were getting at, some of those clubs may just loan players to cover injuries etc. which is pointless, those players might as well be at our excellent facilities playing in the U21 and U18 teams.

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