Lovren joins Liverpool - Official

[toe_punt]

I was bored so was looking around and came across this (below) on a Spurs fans forum. Apparently, Lovren is willing to go on strike in order to force a move away from Saints.

 

Nice, what is this, six weeks after saying he was happy to stay at Saints?

 

 

 

Lovren

 

This is again second hand, as although my mate speaks regularly to his agent he hasn't seen him for at least a week or so. Firstly I need to clarify the comment I made in the Lovren thread regarding him willing to strike. When Lovren joined Southampton he had better options available to him but he decided on Southampton because he bought into the long term plan that Pochetinno and Cortese pitched to him. He was made assurances that the team would be built on and not dismantled as they had a great young squad that in a couple of years could really go places. Well one year in and things are very very different. He understands though that it is not Poch's fault and that Poch has moved on to try and fulfill the same dream he had at Southampton which is to build his own footballing dynasty in his own image. Hard work, a system that is both solid defensively but has fluidity from an attacking pov. Most importantly there has to be strong team ethic where they want to win, not for the fans or the coach, but for each other. When I was told he would go on strike to get his move this was part of a very short conversation I had, where I am not sure I got the whole context. After a more lengthy chat it appears that yes he will strike but that will be a last resort. He feels that he has done things the right way by putting in a transfer request, and that coupled with a decent transfer fee should be enough. He wasn't lied to when he went there but things have changed significantly since he agreed to the move and where he originally thought it might take a couple of years to progress and start to chalenge the top sides he now believes they never will while the current regime is in place.

[alpine_saint]

Striking is a bit extreme, whatever the circumstances.

 

However, the entire context sounds plausible. The individual poster will decide who is ultimately to blame - Cortese for selling everyone an unrealistic vision or KL for sticking to the vision of her father for the 5yr plan then scaling back.

 

On balance I think the responsibilty lies with KL; I guess Cortese didnt oversell according to the vision he shared with ML.

 

Lets face it, MLs sad and untimely death let a slow-leak into the tyres of SFC..

[Firead]

Boring ..........rubbish theories made up by internet trollers!

[Fan The Flames]

It doesn't fit together; Lalanna agitating for a move, Lambert almost being sold, Shaw intended to leave, all before NC and MP left.

[offix]

Boring ..........rubbish theories made up by internet trollers!

this

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Striking is a bit extreme, whatever the circumstances.

 

However, the entire context sounds plausible. The individual poster will decide who is ultimately to blame - Cortese for selling everyone an unrealistic vision or KL for sticking to the vision of her father for the 5yr plan then scaling back.

 

On balance I think the responsibilty lies with KL; I guess Cortese didnt oversell according to the vision he shared with ML.

 

Lets face it, MLs sad and untimely death let a slow-leak into the tyres of SFC..

 

ML's project was to mid table Prem, so I would say the fault lies with NC.

[bristolsaint29]

I heard he was gonna do a swampy and live up a tree.

[hasper57saint]

Little bit contradictoryIf,and I use the term reservedly,he decides to withdraw his labour (and I doubt very much that he intends to) he will be in breach of his contract and he,with his Agent will be ostracised by any Club he thinks he can join.

[david in sweden]

it's not often we have been able to say ..money's no object, but right now we can. I'd be off with any player who didn't want to follow the " Southampton Way " . Say Thank you and goodbye.

 

No player should be bigger than his club, (except that Liverpool are about to find that out, when they have to start the season without Suarez).

[Fitzhugh Fella]

To be fair, this all adds up. It must strike everyone a bit bizarre that all of a sudden all our players want to leave. I think they all bought into the NC plan but when he "departed" they all realised it was not going to happen.

Alpine says it all started going wrong when ML died but I disagree, his passing gave NC a free hand and unchecked his ambitions widened. The only problem was the cash wasn't his and the dream he sold to the players was never authorised by Katharina Liebherr.

[doddisalegend]

So Lovern had better clubs to go to but chose us because some Italian promised him we'd play in the CL one day and now he wants to go to Spurs to fulfil his Champions league dream........OK

[saintchris23]

To be fair, this all adds up. It must strike everyone a bit bizarre that all of a sudden all our players want to leave. I think they all bought into the NC plan but when he "departed" they all realised it was not going to happen.

Alpine says it all started going wrong when ML died but I disagree, his passing gave NC a free hand and unchecked his ambitions widened. The only problem was the cash wasn't his and the dream he sold to the players was never authorised by Katharina Liebherr.

 

You post the same comment in two posts. It's a little like guerrilla advertising!

[Toon Saint]

To be fair, this all adds up. It must strike everyone a bit bizarre that all of a sudden all our players want to leave. I think they all bought into the NC plan but when he "departed" they all realised it was not going to happen.

Alpine says it all started going wrong when ML died but I disagree, his passing gave NC a free hand and unchecked his ambitions widened. The only problem was the cash wasn't his and the dream he sold to the players was never authorised by Katharina Liebherr.

 

Pretty much sums it up nicely. Don't know if the Lovren strike story is true or not, but the Ashton story that broke the news about his transfer request did talk of an email where he listed his complaints with the club. Therefore the Spurs fans post does read as plausible. I really hope that if Lovren goes, we don't sell to them.

 

KL and the board may well have vision for where they want to take the club - and I'm confident Les Reed's ambitions for the club have remained the same - but the problem is that the PR coming out of the club has been so negative and defensive from almost day one (stress on no player sales, 'difficult' financial situation, only a recent admission from Ralph that 'we have our wish players too' as though it were an afterthought) that the perception of the club, for players and fans, has shifted beyond all recognition over last six months.

 

Things have improved since Reed has been worked into a more prominent role, and I am genuinely excited about the appointment of Koeman, but in some sense, the damage has been done and there is little that can be done to stop the press chuckling about Southampton's 'amazing summer sale'. Speculation isn't immaterial and newspaper reports driving talks of meltdown have brought down far bigger financial institutions than our football club (so thank f*ck we are privately owned and not publicly listed!) While good things may be happening in the background at the club it would be naive to not see press reports as affecting the intentions and thoughts of players currently at the club.

 

Last night the perenially woeful, Andy Townsend, laughed about us on ITV during the most prominent football competition in the world about 'whether [we] will have any players left'. Whatever your thoughts on the new board, it is hard to argue they have managed perception of the club well, and also hard to imagine a similar comment being made while Cortese was at the helm.

 

We desperately need some more good news next week to start to turn the tide, and hopefully we reinvest all of this money wisely.

Edited 29 June, 2014 by Toon Saint

[westmidlandsaint]

I don't get this theory that all the players want out because they all believed what Cortese sold them and now he's gone they don't believe anymore. It was always going to be a massive task to get us in to the top 4 and if we had of get into the top 4 the chances are we would have replaced these players with bigger & better players anyway.

 

Lambert left because it was Liverpool. Lallana has the lure of champions league football, Shaw has left for arguably one of the biggest clubs in the world for an absolute ridiculous wage. As with the already mentioned & Schneiderlin & Lovren they have been on international duty with players who play at massive clubs who will probably have been talking about the 'holy grail' of champions league. They also probably think playing for a top 4 club will help them cement places in international squads.

 

I think unfortunately we have been victims of our own quick rise & more hampered this year because of World Cup. It would be nice to keep hold of Schneiderlin for at least another year. He stayed with us in league 1 when he was being told by the French set up to leave so fingers crossed.

[Whitey Grandad]

He signed a contract and he is well paid. He should shut up and play up, whether the rumour is true or not.

[Gorgiesaint]

To be fair, this all adds up. It must strike everyone a bit bizarre that all of a sudden all our players want to leave. I think they all bought into the NC plan but when he "departed" they all realised it was not going to happen.

Alpine says it all started going wrong when ML died but I disagree, his passing gave NC a free hand and unchecked his ambitions widened. The only problem was the cash wasn't his and the dream he sold to the players was never authorised by Katharina Liebherr.

 

The main board has more conspiracy theories than are currently going round the Lounge.

 

The simple explanation is usually the right one. We pulled together a fantastic team that gelled under Pochettino, other clubs in the top 5-6 realised how good they are and are buying them up with the ability to offer European football and at least 2-3 times the salary that we can offer. The one slightly different would be Rickie who is going to fulfil fis boyhood dreams (still probably on double the salary).

 

We hit a glass ceiling last year, we know that, the players know that, their agents know that & the top 5-6 clubs know that.

 

There really is nothing bizarre about it.

[SaintRobbie]

To be fair, this all adds up. It must strike everyone a bit bizarre that all of a sudden all our players want to leave. I think they all bought into the NC plan but when he "departed" they all realised it was not going to happen.

Alpine says it all started going wrong when ML died but I disagree, his passing gave NC a free hand and unchecked his ambitions widened. The only problem was the cash wasn't his and the dream he sold to the players was never authorised by Katharina Liebherr.

 

 

Mmmmmm... This bit worries me though Fitz,

 

 

"but things have changed significantly since he agreed to the move and where he originally thought it might take a couple of years to progress and start to chalenge the top sides he now believes they never will while the current regime is in place."

[Graffito]

The main board has more conspiracy theories than are currently going round the Lounge.

 

The simple explanation is usually the right one. We pulled together a fantastic team that gelled under Pochettino, other clubs in the top 5-6 realised how good they are and are buying them up with the ability to offer European football and at least 2-3 times the salary that we can offer. The one slightly different would be Rickie who is going to fulfil fis boyhood dreams (still probably on double the salary).

 

We hit a glass ceiling last year, we know that, the players know that, their agents know that & the top 5-6 clubs know that.

 

There really is nothing bizarre about it.

 

To which I would add the domino effect.

[CB Saint]

If he strikes, fine him. The next week fine him again. How long into a three year contract will he be able to go without pay?

[View From The Top]

Players were promised UCL by NC but NC never had the money to back up these ambitions. He sold them a lie and bailed out when pulled up on it.

 

NC's uncosted and unaffordable dreams have cost us our manager and will cost is AL, DL and MS; Shaw would have gone anyway, that's been obvious since Jan' and they'd have sold SRL as they'd planned to in the last window.

 

It's a great pity seeing SRL, AL and MS leave but unlike many of the feeble minded support we have, I await who we bring in and will judge our squad at the end if the window, not in June.

[View From The Top]

The main board has more conspiracy theories than are currently going round the Lounge.

 

The simple explanation is usually the right one. We pulled together a fantastic team that gelled under Pochettino, other clubs in the top 5-6 realised how good they are and are buying them up with the ability to offer European football and at least 2-3 times the salary that we can offer. The one slightly different would be Rickie who is going to fulfil fis boyhood dreams (still probably on double the salary).

 

We hit a glass ceiling last year, we know that, the players know that, their agents know that & the top 5-6 clubs know that.

 

There really is nothing bizarre about it.

 

Yep.

[SaintRobbie]

Problem with losing Lovren is I think we will lose Fonte too.

 

Not in the fire sale, but on the pitch. Fonte is a different player alongside Lovren.

[corky morris]

Funny they want him when he was so bad at WHL!

[Dellman]

Some folk say that NCs vision of a Champions League place was misleading and impossible and beyond us and he got good players like Lovren under false pretences. but in fact we came from bankruptcy and -10 points in the third tier to a Champions League spot in the Premiership until Boruc broke his hand, so we weren't that far off. If we had built at that point, but we didn't, NCs vision was not supported. If you don't go forward you go back.

[beatlesaint]

If it is true and he chooses to go on strike then fine let him.

Legally would he have a leg to stand on ?

Would the PFA support a one man strike who's sole reason is that despite signing a four year contract he has decided after one year he wants to move on ?

How detailed are players contracts ? Is there a clause whereby if you withdraw your services you dont get paid as you are in effect breaking that contract ?

Is there any difference between that and you or I walking in to work tomorrow and saying "Now that Milie has left in Accounts I dont like it here anymore therefore I'm staging a one man strike, see ya"

 

If he throws his toys out the pram this Board arent strong enough to call his bluff, they will cash in, we will hear how this is a great bit of business for Saints cos Jos is ready to step up to the plate after a poor couple of years etc etc. But its what they should do, dont be held to ransom by a effin player, make the guy look a bloody idiot.

[CB Fry]

The main board has more conspiracy theories than are currently going round the Lounge.

 

The simple explanation is usually the right one. We pulled together a fantastic team that gelled under Pochettino, other clubs in the top 5-6 realised how good they are and are buying them up with the ability to offer European football and at least 2-3 times the salary that we can offer. The one slightly different would be Rickie who is going to fulfil fis boyhood dreams (still probably on double the salary).

 

We hit a glass ceiling last year, we know that, the players know that, their agents know that & the top 5-6 clubs know that.

 

There really is nothing bizarre about it.

 

Some on here will call you a "dinlow who has never experienced professional success in their lives".

 

I'd call you absolutely spot on.

[Saint Fan CaM]

it's not often we have been able to say ..money's no object, but right now we can. I'd be off with any player who didn't want to follow the " Southampton Way " . Say Thank you and goodbye.

 

No player should be bigger than his club, (except that Liverpool are about to find that out, when they have to start the season without Suarez).

 

Mate, the 'Southampton way' died when Cortese left club. He created the conditions for that including hiring a General in Mopo to keep the players on-side. The clubs success was not down to individual players...it was down to the collective team from Cortese down. Now thats gone. Some players were not fully on board...they were marginalised. Now it's over...the project....a new way forward has to be found. You can either view it as an exciting opportunity to forge a new path to the top or a dangerous chasm. Hopefully news next week of Koemans replacements will dispell some trepidation.

[View From The Top]

Some folk say that NCs vision of a Champions League place was misleading and impossible and beyond us and he got good players like Lovren under false pretences. but in fact we came from bankruptcy and -10 points in the third tier to a Champions League spot in the Premiership until Boruc broke his hand, so we weren't that far off. If we had built at that point, but we didn't, NCs vision was not supported. If you don't go forward you go back.

 

Deluded.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Seems strange that a bloke willing to go on strike he wants champions league so badly would sign for spurs.

[saint77]

Seems strange that a bloke willing to go on strike he wants champions league so badly would sign for spurs.

 

Been told it's cska Moscow who have offered him mad money

[S-Clarke]

Some folk say that NCs vision of a Champions League place was misleading and impossible and beyond us and he got good players like Lovren under false pretences. but in fact we came from bankruptcy and -10 points in the third tier to a Champions League spot in the Premiership until Boruc broke his hand, so we weren't that far off. If we had built at that point, but we didn't, NCs vision was not supported. If you don't go forward you go back.

 

I don't quite understand how he was able to promise all of this, when it wasn't even his $$$. He's just like an Italian Peter Risdale in that effect.

 

If he was so true to his word, he would have attempted a takeover with one of the many backers he had lined up should our current owners decide to pull back slightly.

 

Where is he?

[iansums]

The irony is of course that with the Shaw, Lallana and Lambert money if Lovren And Morgan stay we could really see an improvement to the squad and a step up from last season.

 

The team has not been 'dismantled' by the club but by players agitating for moves away. I think this would have happened anyway due to the success of last season and the fact that the three players got into the England squad.

 

For me so much now hinges on whether we can keep hold of Lovren and Morgan.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

The main board has more conspiracy theories than are currently going round the Lounge.

 

The simple explanation is usually the right one. We pulled together a fantastic team that gelled under Pochettino, other clubs in the top 5-6 realised how good they are and are buying them up with the ability to offer European football and at least 2-3 times the salary that we can offer. The one slightly different would be Rickie who is going to fulfil fis boyhood dreams (still probably on double the salary).

 

We hit a glass ceiling last year, we know that, the players know that, their agents know that & the top 5-6 clubs know that.

 

There really is nothing bizarre about it.

 

Players were promised UCL by NC but NC never had the money to back up these ambitions. He sold them a lie and bailed out when pulled up on it.

 

NC's uncosted and unaffordable dreams have cost us our manager and will cost is AL, DL and MS; Shaw would have gone anyway, that's been obvious since Jan' and they'd have sold SRL as they'd planned to in the last window.

 

It's a great pity seeing SRL, AL and MS leave but unlike many of the feeble minded support we have, I await who we bring in and will judge our squad at the end if the window, not in June.

 

Agree with both..spot on

[alpine_saint]

Saints fans are totally hillarious.

 

The amount of revisionism, abuse of the old regime, "Oh, I knew it all along", Über " I'm a better than you, you know nothing about footall" fan mentality and general abuse of dissenters whenever we face change, is truly a sight to behold....

[VectisSaint]

I don't quite understand how he was able to promise all of this, when it wasn't even his $$$. He's just like an Italian Peter Risdale in that effect.

 

If he was so true to his word, he would have attempted a takeover with one of the many backers he had lined up should our current owners decide to pull back slightly.

 

Where is he?

I think it is quite probable that this is exactly what he was trying to do, but KL refused to sell. From the time last year when KL finally took control of the Club following the conclusion of the Probate process NC was reasonably confident he could move us forward either by persuading KL to invest further or with Plan B to sell us to another owner who was willing to invest more. Where it all went wrong was that KL dug her heels in and thought she could do as well with a lower level of investment than NC knew we needed to fulfil not just his ambitions but also those of his close friend Markus. In the end he could not persuade her to either to buy into the dream or sell and so he left. The dream he sold to the players and coaches may seem unrealistic and perhaps it was but with proper funding it was not impossible. Once that ambition had gone the rest crumbled away, firstly with Pochettino and then the players. We were not so far off of the ambition, last season if it hadn't been for Boruc's broken hand and the injury crisis in December/January, together with a slightly more realistic view of the back up that was needed and was not there we could well have ended up at least challenging for the Europa League spots. Maybe we would have still fallen short but we really were not that far off based on the first 4 months of the season. I don't buy this argument that the players all want to leave simply for money and because they want CL football, they are leaving because the ambition of the Club with its current owners has diminished.

[Nolan]

If Lovren went on strike, he wouldn't get paid. And it saints didn't have to pay him, we really wouldn't care about him striking.

Counter intuitive really.

[shurlock]

I don't quite understand how he was able to promise all of this, when it wasn't even his $$$. He's just like an Italian Peter Risdale in that effect.

 

If he was so true to his word, he would have attempted a takeover with one of the many backers he had lined up should our current owners decide to pull back slightly.

 

Where is he?

 

Thought you were slightly more sensible than to invoke every self-respecting mong's Peter Risdale analogy.

 

That's what happens in business - people spend other peoples money. Unless you are your own boss and have no liabilities, we're all Peter Risdales.

 

Now if you want to imply that money was being uncontrollably, setting us on the course to financial oblivion a la Risdale, would say you're talking b*****ks.

[Fan The Flames]

The main board has more conspiracy theories than are currently going round the Lounge.

 

The simple explanation is usually the right one. We pulled together a fantastic team that gelled under Pochettino, other clubs in the top 5-6 realised how good they are and are buying them up with the ability to offer European football and at least 2-3 times the salary that we can offer. The one slightly different would be Rickie who is going to fulfil fis boyhood dreams (still probably on double the salary).

 

We hit a glass ceiling last year, we know that, the players know that, their agents know that & the top 5-6 clubs know that.

 

There really is nothing bizarre about it.

 

Bingo.

[alpine_saint]

I think it is quite probable that this is exactly what he was trying to do, but KL refused to sell. From the time last year when KL finally took control of the Club following the conclusion of the Probate process NC was reasonably confident he could move us forward either by persuading KL to invest further or with Plan B to sell us to another owner who was willing to invest more. Where it all went wrong was that KL dug her heels in and thought she could do as well with a lower level of investment than NC knew we needed to fulfil not just his ambitions but also those of his close friend Markus. In the end he could not persuade her to either to buy into the dream or sell and so he left. The dream he sold to the players and coaches may seem unrealistic and perhaps it was but with proper funding it was not impossible. Once that ambition had gone the rest crumbled away, firstly with Pochettino and then the players. We were not so far off of the ambition, last season if it hadn't been for Boruc's broken hand and the injury crisis in December/January, together with a slightly more realistic view of the back up that was needed and was not there we could well have ended up at least challenging for the Europa League spots. Maybe we would have still fallen short but we really were not that far off based on the first 4 months of the season. I don't buy this argument that the players all want to leave simply for money and because they want CL football, they are leaving because the ambition of the Club with its current owners has diminished.

 

Well I for one think this is close to the truth. KL has been naiive and we are paying the price

[Fan The Flames]

If NC really wanted us to push on and saw these players as the future why did he put then on such mediocre contracts. If he had a master plan to break into the top 4 then he would have wanted to keep them by signing them up on good wages or escalating wages. Or was it naive 1 seasons only chance which blew by not having enough depth to the squad.

[Polaroid Saint]

We are five years into a five year plan. The primary goal of which was to leave saints in the top half of the top division and able to survive 'within our means' as dictated by the rules governing the game.

That has been, to all our joy, amazement and gratitude, achieved.

We do have to sell (players, tickets, shirts) in order to fulfil the goals of that plan. Part of the plan was to have our own way of generating cash from player sales by the development of decent young players.

This was never hidden and was always part of the plan. Or 'Project'.

 

I am failing to see where anyone really has a problem with this and also failing to see any point to all these insider rumours and gossip.

 

Was Lovren really sold a longer term plan by NC and MP? Hmmm. When everyone else knew we already ahead of the plan and it had just a year left to run? Hey maybe, I dunno.

 

Just seems the club did absolutely everything it promised. With the failure to 'get into Europe' of course.

 

Next plan next.

 

 

Aha. still sent from my effing nexus 4, but I have found the setting now dammit.

[david in sweden]

Mate, the 'Southampton way' died when Cortese left club.

He created the conditions for that including hiring a General in Mopo to keep the players on-side. The clubs success was not down to individual players...it was down to the collective team from Cortese down. Now thats gone. Some players were not fully on board...they were marginalised. Now it's over...the project....a new way forward has to be found. You can either view it as an exciting opportunity to forge a new path to the top or a dangerous chasm. Hopefully news next week of Koemans replacements will dispell some trepidation.

 

 

well has it? .

 

I don't think they threw out the baby with the bathwater when NC left. It has been built up over the last 5 years, but no-one has suggested there is "alternative formula" in place, nor was there anyone there to change it, although I do think that the " vacuum " has left uncertainty with some people.

 

Admitedly, there is " a new megaphone (Kreuger / Reed) now, and no two bosses have the same manner, but in both videoed interviews I've seen have references to the " Southampton Way," is the accepted structure for the club's future. Les Reed has been here longer than anyone else on the Board and he seems to have bought the original (Cortese) idea.

If great visions, simply died with " the man " who created them...we'd have no Democracy ...or, Christianity in the World.

 

I think it's an amazing opportunity to start over, but this time with a good structure in place and seemingly (a lot of ) money in the bank to support it.

[JonnyOldBoy]

Lovren can go.... why the fuss...... he is the most over-rated player at the club......

[Dellman]

It's wishful thinking to imagine the Cortese vision is still alive, it is well and truly destroyed. we just hope something else arises and that its not a relegation fight. By the way, where is the chairman while all this is going on? On holiday?

[shurlock]

It's wishful thinking to imagine the Cortese vision is still alive, it is well and truly destroyed. we just hope something else arises and that its not a relegation fight. By the way, where is the chairman while all this is going on? On holiday?

 

Look we've been told the aim is still Europe.

[david in sweden]

If NC really wanted us to push on and saw these players as the future why did he put then on such mediocre contracts.

If he had a master plan to break into the top 4 then he would have wanted to keep them by signing them up on good wages or escalating wages.

Or was it naive 1 seasons only chance which blew by not having enough depth to the squad.

 

That may have been one solution, but this time last year we'd managed to survive the relegation zone and some people were tipping us to struggle again and only a brave few suggested otherwise

 

Commiting to enormous wage deals for several seasons is what ruined Leeds, Pompey and a quite a few other clubs. Fortunately (for them) several of the top clubs have mega-millionaires as owners, who seem to have a different perspective on money to the rest of us. To have committed ourselves to expensive contracts that we might well regret if things went " pear-shaped " in a year or two.

 

Personalities aside..different circumstances seem to have worked in our favour.

...if Lovren goes were to go...we would have made a 100% profit on the deal. Who on Earth would have paid over £4 million for a 32 year old in the Prem?....Liverpool did. Neither is totally irreplaceable.

 

Though I admit that he will be our biggest loss......Lallana's 26 year old legs have already had run over 12 years (for Saints)...so a £25 million fee sounds a pretty good deal to me... and who in their right mind would pay nearly £30 million for an 18 year old - very few. Not only is Shaw the most expensive teenager, but has a lot to live up to in the coming years. That's quite a burden for anyone to carry.

 

I hope their new clubs get value for the money, but first the players have to fit in...that's another story. Fortunately, their " reported salaries " are not Saints' problem...or our future liability.

Edited 29 June, 2014 by david in sweden

[david in sweden]

It's wishful thinking to imagine the Cortese vision is still alive, it is well and truly destroyed. we just hope something else arises and that its not a relegation fight.

 

By the way, where is the chairman while all this is going on? On holiday?

 

Whether he's on holiday,(or wherever) is immaterial. He doesn't need to know the difference between a hockey puck and a football, or understand the offside rule.(although I'm sure he does now)

 

He doesn't have to have a bunk bed in his office ....and be at SMS 24/7. Important decisions are made at Board meetings, he should turn up then. It's about making decisions, and delegating to others.

 

Les Reed said (in interview) he has the authority to make " footballing decisions " and the club relies on him for that, (the same as the CFO to control spending and the CEO for day-to-day activities).

 

The Board have no possibility to affect results on the pitch, that's why we employ a manager and coaching staff....in the final analysis ....it's down to those on the pitch, not the ice rink.

Edited 29 June, 2014 by david in sweden

[cellone]

Who has said (apart from Toe punt) Lovren is going on strike? Where is the source of this pretty serious rumour?

[1576]

So if I post I was up Kylie Minogue all night last night does everyone believe it? It seems to me people are far to believing of **** posted on the internet. This is probably one of the best to quote "my mate speaks regularly to his agent". What a crock of ****. I'm beginning to wish we could go back to the 80's where you just waited for news to be announced.

[S-Clarke]

So if I post I was up Kylie Minogue all night last night does everyone believe it? It seems to me people are far to believing of **** posted on the internet. This is probably one of the best to quote "my mate speaks regularly to his agent". What a crock of ****. I'm beginning to wish we could go back to the 80's where you just waited for news to be announced.

 

Would be rubbish, as she was with me all night.