Do you honestly think that it is simply a case of spending more on better known players? We're not an attractive proposition for really good players (no European football, wage limits) so we'd always be looking at players who wouldn't quite be good enough to play for the big teams - if we want someone who is proven.
Looking for undiscovered gems or young players with potential is the right approach in my mind, but imo for every gem we will have to put up with some players who simply aren't good enough.
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I think it is a combination of things tbh.
Firstly, I think it is a motivational thing too in part. I think when we bought Mane, he was on something fairly paltry like £35k per week- there is a desire for him to be motivated and obviously he is reaping these rewards at Liverpool now. I believe even Toby was on something low as £40k. Of course, this went all out of the system when we started offering new contracts and a higher pay scale. I reckon players like Elyounoussi are on 60k minimum, and tbh he'll acknowledge himself he won't get more anywhere else and is quite content. With hindsight, these long contracts are hampering us now as we see we are finding it hard to get rid of anyone.
The other thing to consider might just be arrogance- we probably thought we were some magicians when it came to recruitment and maybe 2014/2015 recruitment was all a one-off fluke.
There is a whole host of factors to consider too- our managerial recruitments have also hampered us in part...
There isn't an all-inclusive answer tbh
He is utterly diabolical. It's like his footballing brain is powered by hamsters.
His problem is he's not just slow, he's remarkably slow. Considering people have been banging on about the pace of the PL for years now, it would seem a pretty good rule of thumb that you shouldn't spend serious money on attackers who aren't quick unless you have a really, really good reason for doing it (exceptional technique, vision, strength). His other attributes just aren't anywhere near impressive enough (underhit passes, ponderous decision-making) to make up for his utter dearth of speed.
Tadic was slow too, but had superior numbers from a superior league and even he would've probably been 10x the player he was with an extra yard of acceleration.
I'd argue on this evidence that Elyounoussi's signing is an even bigger error than Carillo - any competent scout should've been able to tell after ten minutes of watching him (let alone six sodding years) that he's far too slow to cut it.
If he was a horse he'd have been shot by now.
The scout who recommended him needs shooting too.
I remember listening to the saintsfc pod with Claus on it, he was asked what he thought of the recent Moi signing being a fellow Norwegian.
He didn't outright say he was ****, but reading between the lines it was clear he didn't rate him.
I actually feel a little sorry for him, 1st player I have seen for a long time who looks genuinely out of his depth.
Quite - I guess any player whose data is being regularly updated in our apparently comprehensive database is technically being tracked by the club.
I do wonder if that whole thing was a misunderstanding on his part. If we'd been so enamored of his quality that we felt the need to pay close attention to him from the age of 18, then presumably we could've picked him up for peanuts at any time before he scored one against City and added a few zeroes to his price tag. Seems far more likely that someone just mentioned in passing that the club had been aware of him since he turned pro and it got turned into an epic (and unlikely) story of pursuit.
Nah, plenty of people could see that Mane had something from his first substitute appearance in the league. I probably give as much benefit of the doubt to flair players as anyone (I still want Boufal back and regret that we never used Gaston to his full potential ffs) but I haven't seen a single thing to get excited about in Elyounoussi's play since he joined.
If you can't buy a good player,at least buy a quick one.
Really wish we had the chance to see Ralph manage Boufal and get something out of him. No one else in our attack has near the natural talent.
Gaston and Boufal were both luxury players who massively flattered to deceive. Gaston had 4 years, including an ineffective season at Hull and did naff all. Boufal scored one worldie per season and was dropped by 3 different managers, then another at Celta.
Tadic was an effective flair player, the other two are just crap.
I’ve said it a million times on here before - you can still get high prem level standard footballers for 4, 5, 6m - there’s thousands out there. It’s our scouting (and seemingly limited scope of European football) that limits us. It’s like our scouting dept just load up small database on FM and filter ‘value 20m or less’ and just randomly pick from that.
We really don’t have to spunk 15, 20m on players when there’s cheaper, better alternatives out there.
If only we had someone in that department who could identify that.
Moi’s made the team for the Guardian’s summer signings “Flops XI”...
“To class the £16m signing of a 24-year-old who had only ever played in Norway and Switzerland as a gamble is putting it lightly. Mohamed Elyounoussi had Champions League experience with Basel and plenty of international caps with Norway but it is not particularly surprising that he has struggled to step up. The winger has shown flashes of his ability but no end product in a Saints jersey, without a single goal or assist to his name in 12 league appearances, and he has played just 93 minutes in the league under new manager Ralph Hasenhüttl.”
https://amp.theguardian.com/football...flopped-season
Flashes of ability my arse. He hasn't done one single impressive thing since he's joined - nothing, not a turn, not a flick, not a shot. Nothing. He is so clearly way below the required standard. Sometimes we've signed players who've flattered to deceive, but he doesn't even do that. He's a complete waste of space. I can't believe we signed a player for so much money who has nothing whatsoever going for him.
I'm usually the first to stick up for players who show "flashes of ability" ie Boufal or Ramirez but this guy doesn't. He's utter crap at everything.
I never understood the people who didn't rate Mane at the beginning he was clearly class. As for finding "cheap" players, I reckon as soon you call and say "hello I am calling on behalf of PREMIER LEAGUE Southampton" the price shoots up because they know the premier leagues got money.
Secondly a "relegation threaten" club is not the same prospect for attracting talent who want to showcase their ability as "mid table" or "up and coming" is and that's a reality the club has to deal with till such time as they can aspire to be considered "mediocre" instead of "poor" by potential recruits.
He really is dreadful. Not holding out much hope for a change as he doesn't have any real attributes.
He is far from dreadful just has little confidence and has not got used to the PL because he has been in and out of the team.
Against Derby he had a chance but was a little late and the next time he over compensated and got to the ball to early.
At least he gets in positions to score
I just don't understand how these fringe players get a chance to play in games if there are no Reserve Games
That's b*llocks and I know that because the last time it was brought up someone posted the relevant threads where it was discussed. It was about 4 or 5 posters at most and they were idiots (and I said so in the threads at the time.) it's morphed into another sainstsmyth that everyone thought that.
Has more chance of coming good than Hoedt.
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More than 4 or 5 on here mushhttps://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthre...e#.XFCz3cmnzqA
I remember some arch-retard saying he was the worst player since Ali Dia.
The critical difference between him and Mane is that from his very first game, you could see that Mane had exceptional pace regardless of how you felt about the rest of his qualities. Elyounoussi just hasn't shown a single outstanding (or even above average) physical or technical quality in any game. If he had anything about him at all, you'd have seen glimpses of it by now, even if he wasn't ready to dominate games.
Last edited by hypochondriac; 29-01-2019 at 09:58 PM.
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