Lovren joins Liverpool - Official

[DJ_TOAST]

good riddance to the c*nt

and wtf is up with this top he's wearing in various pics

[lordswoodsaints]

All I can say is koeman must have BO and bad breath

[SNSUN]

All I can say is koeman must have BO and bad breath

 

I reckon it's because the Skates are too close to us and there's been a strong Westerly wind this summer...

[UpweySaint]

I'm suprised nobody looks at this from the players view. They are professionals with a career of about 15 years. Whatever the clubs " ambition" a job offer from Liverpool, Man U or Arsenal is a promotion. Not just in salary. Do we really expect platers to turn down these oppertunities. It's not as if we're losing players to QPR or even Villa or Newcastle.

If the really big clubs start tapping players up, the only thing you can hope for is a good price. And we've certainly been getting that. Now invest wisely and another set of fans will be in turmoil.

 

At a basic level that is right but it is more the manner in which Dejan has gone about things that has upset folk.

[LostBoys]

I have already suggested to both him and his twitter mate Shaw that they should avoid this congratulatory stuff as football has a habit of biting back - or in other words they can both P*ss Off. Childish yes - does it make me feel better yes - will I welcome them warmly back - Shaw ok but Lovren and Lallana dogs abuse

[St Jim]

Seriously, what has happened in football? Not long ago there were many players with loyalty (and if not loyalty, integrity) with a good handful of c***s. Now it seems that the staple is that the vast majority of players are complete c***s with a very small minority with integrity.

 

Money has ruined the game.

 

Good riddance to the ***!

[angelman]

True. will be interesting to see the game implode. Maybe it will be us, maybe Villa, maybe someone else. But the whole thing deserves to close down.

[adrian lord]

...

Edited 28 July, 2014 by adrian lord

[CB Fry]

Staggering statement. Incredulous that our CEO can say that with a straight face.

He didn't. Well not about Lovren anyway. Made up on here.

[VectisSaint]

I reckon it's because the Skates are too close to us and there's been a strong Westerly wind this summer...

 

Not sure why a westerly wind would be a problem, unless you live in Brighton

[obelisk]

A tidy profit made on a slightly better than average defender. The bloke obviously prefers to sit on the Scousehampton bench looking at his groaning bank balance so not sorry to see him depart if that's his attitude. Plenty more out there to replace him.

[Toon Saint]

A tidy profit made on a slightly better than average defender. The bloke obviously prefers to sit on the Scousehampton bench looking at his groaning bank balance so not sorry to see him depart if that's his attitude. Plenty more out there to replace him.

The revisionism begins. Slightly better than average?!

[trousers]

@SchneiderlinMo4: Best of luck @DejanLovren05 for your new adventure!

#qualityplayer

[John B]

I preferred a strategy as outlined by one. I would have preferred a more honest approach as it was much trumpeted when this lot came in. Something like we may sell some players this summer but they will be replaced and we will look to build on the excellent work of last year would have been fine.

 

It amazes me that people still continue to defend the board despite this unprecedented selling of players.

 

The board are doing a great job as they seem to be ****ing you off .

 

But seriously how were they going to stop Shaw over £100k per week going to Man U and Lallana /Lovren going to their spiritual home at Anfield for CL Action and doubling of their wages.

 

It would have been nice to have kept them but we need to get real the PL with all its money is ruining football for us fans with players showing no loyalty and the National team being a joke because of all the foreign players coming in. In the 1960s when I was a student I could afford usually to go to a couple of Div1/Cup games a week in London something which would be quite impossible today.

 

I doubt we will get relegated but of course it could happen but when we get the new players we should be able to develop a good team over the next few years but only time will tell unfortunately we are in Kats hand it is her club and she can do whatever she wants to do with it and I think she wants in run in a sound and ethical way rewarding people for employees efforts

[Lallana's Left Peg]

I never really thought he'd hang about too long if things went wobbly because he is just far better than anyone else in that back line. £20m is great money for him however now the pressure is on to find a real leader and quality central defender and that is where I worry - can our current Board get a deal done for one?

[Window Cleaner]

Jog on

And Wreak it Ralph can jog on as well absolute useless clueless ****head

 

All this is nothing to do with Krueger, he was just a patsy enrolled to win over the wimps with his gab. The writing was on the wall when we failed to hire a real CEO from some sort of football background.

[Professor]

The board are doing a great job as they seem to be ****ing you off .

 

But seriously how were they going to stop Shaw over £100k per week going to Man U and Lallana /Lovren going to their spiritual home at Anfield for CL Action and doubling of their wages.

 

It would have been nice to have kept them but we need to get real the PL with all its money is ruining football for us fans with players showing no loyalty and the National team being a joke because of all the foreign players coming in. In the 1960s when I was a student I could afford usually to go to a couple of Div1/Cup games a week in London something which would be quite impossible today.

 

I doubt we will get relegated but of course it could happen but when we get the new players we should be able to develop a good team over the next few years but only time will tell unfortunately we are in Kats hand it is her club and she can do whatever she wants to do with it and I think she wants in run in a sound and ethical way rewarding people for employees efforts

JohnB, in answer to your question:

1. When you sign a player you negotiate a length of contract, for example in Lovren's case, 4 years from 2013-2017;

2. When a club makes an offer for a player you don't want to sell, you say 'not for sale' (you don't say 'not enough money');

3. When the player says he wants to go because he can get more money somewhere else you suggest he looks at his contract and that he comes back to you when it has less than a year to run;

4. If the player then makes threats about not turning up for training, or not playing to his best, you tell him he may suffer financial sanctions and that he may be dropped from the first team squad, pointing out that after a few months his career will have been damaged by his own actions.

 

There are plenty of examples of clubs retaining players who want to leave so it is case of how it is handled.

[hypochondriac]

JohnB, in answer to your question:

1. When you sign a player you negotiate a length of contract, for example in Lovren's case, 4 years from 2013-2017;

2. When a club makes an offer for a player you don't want to sell, you say 'not for sale' (you don't say 'not enough money');

3. When the player says he wants to go because he can get more money somewhere else you suggest he looks at his contract and that he comes back to you when it has less than a year to run;

4. If the player then makes threats about not turning up for training, or not playing to his best, you tell him he may suffer financial sanctions and that he may be dropped from the first team squad, pointing out that after a few months his career will have been damaged by his own actions.

 

There are plenty of examples of clubs retaining players who want to leave so it is case of how it is handled.

 

And even if you can't do that for every player, you don't make it easy for them to leave. You certainly don't allow 7 first team players to leave easily and definitely not a young prospect with a handful of first team appearances for 11 million.

[sfc1976]

Why on earth would anyone want to stay here? We're going backwards. The only players who will sign are going to be mid-career mercenaries chasing a few quid on their way out. What a mess.

[pap]

We paid £8.5 million for a committed and quality centre back that gave us a season of quality football.

 

We received £20million on a wantaway prima-donna that'll probably file a missing person's report for his head in a year, suspected to be in Madrid.

 

Damn good business.

[Wes Tender]

Good riddance. I don't want players at the club I support who aren't totally committed to us and would leave at the drop of a hat for money and glory at one of the big teams.

 

Just remember Lovren, your career at Lyon was going nowhere. You were sidelined and unpopular and we took a chance on you. Thanks for deserting us so soon for purely selfish reasons.

 

Our main consolation is that we will have got well over twice what we paid for you and with that money there are plenty of players as good or better than you are.

 

I'm sure that you will be in your element with fellow judas greedy bastards like Lallana and I look forward to giving you and him the bird when you come back here. But with luck, you'll only be a bench-warmer by then.

 

As for Liverpool, they are signing all these rotten apples, players who would threaten to strike if they don't get their way and I hope that it comes back to bite them in the bum.

[angelman]

Why on earth would anyone want to stay here? We're going backwards. The only players who will sign are going to be mid-career mercenaries chasing a few quid on their way out. What a mess.

 

I see it slightly differently....

 

It is obvious from Lovren that we can be a stepping stone for players to get to bigger clubs. That in itself is attractive for them. Sadly I think that we will approach this sort of thing with nothing but scepticism, as this dismantling of the team will last a long time. But....if we were to play hard ball, cause acrimony with the players wanting to leave rather than acquiescing to their demands, then maybe future players would say that although it could be a stepping stone, what is the point of coming here if we are going to make is too hard to take that step? Same with the academy. I imagine parents will see us very much as a stepping stone and enrol their kids with us in the hope that we can turn them into a Shaw or Bale. Make it too hard for their little darlings to reach the top, then they might consider going elsewhere.

 

It's (possibly) a fine line.

[Um Bongo]

[Saint Without a Halo]

Good riddance. I don't want players at the club I support who aren't totally committed to us and would leave at the drop of a hat for money and glory at one of the big teams.

 

Just remember Lovren, your career at Lyon was going nowhere. You were sidelined and unpopular and we took a chance on you. Thanks for deserting us so soon for purely selfish reasons.

 

Our main consolation is that we will have got well over twice what we paid for you and with that money there are plenty of players as good or better than you are.

 

I'm sure that you will be in your element with fellow judas greedy bastards like Lallana and I look forward to giving you and him the bird when you come back here. But with luck, you'll only be a bench-warmer by then.

 

As for Liverpool, they are signing all these rotten apples, players who would threaten to strike if they don't get their way and I hope that it comes back to bite them in the bum.

 

Have you stopped to question why they are all suddenly not committed to us it is so easy to blame the money and CL football etc yes that has and will always influence players but what did the old board do to overcome these temptations that this one so obviously seems incapable of doing.

 

If I was a player and had just seen a successful team I was a part of being systematically dismantled I would question what am I staying for too. This could and should have been dealt with since NC left but appears to have been left to fester to an extent that the board have a revolution to deal with amongst the playing staff that has even infected the home grown up and coming players the likes of chambers

 

They were not rotten apples last year ! what changed? Also do you really believe all this money we are making will be reinvested?

Edited 28 July, 2014 by Saint Without a Halo

[pap]

They were not rotten apples last year ! what changed?

 

They said and did things that corrupted the fruits of their labour.

[trousers]

If I was a player and had just seen a successful team I was a part of being systematically dismantled I would question what am I staying for too.

 

If all of the players who were/are pushing to leave actually stayed then there wouldn't have been a 'systematic dismantlement' for them to have observed in the first place.

 

Whilst I accept that the board could have turned a blind eye to their desire to leave (but why would they want to keep a clutch of players that didn't want to be here?), the players themselves are ultimately the architects of the exodus. It's self-perpetuating,self-fulfilling and self-defeating (and any other 'selfs' one can think of)

Edited 28 July, 2014 by trousers

[Bearsy]

 

yeah right who sponsors the club is more important than who plays for it

[Beckenham Saint]

Maybe one of our stat whores can answer my question but has any other PL club sold 6 of its outfield players in one window before? I mean starters of course. Not looking for arguments or point scoring, it would just be interesting to know if this thing has happened before?

 

Oh shush, we haven't lost 6. So far we have definitely lost 4 and it seems increasingly likely one more will be added to that. So 5. Schneiderlin is up in the air but so far the majority of the panic from that one is coming from paper talk.

 

In summer 2012 Fulham lost Dembele, Etuhu, Johnson, Murphy, Pogrebnyak, Helge Riise, Orlando Sa and Clint Dempsey. 8 first teamers!

 

In the same window, the scousers lost Kuyt, Bellamy, Aquilani, Rodriguez, Aurelio and Charlie Adam, so 6 first team players. They weren't all as integral as the 4 we have lost so far, but my point is that the figures are not unheard of.

 

Looking back, summer 2012 seemed a bit of a merry go round as Spurs sold Sebastian Bassong, Vedran Corluka, Steven Pienaar, Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric, Louis Saha, Giovanni dos Santos and Rafael van der Vaart that summer.

 

I might add, as well, that none of those players (Bar van der Vaart or Modric) went for the silly kind of prices that we have received for our 4 sold players.

[saint_ed]

The board are doing a great job as they seem to be ****ing you off .

 

But seriously how were they going to stop Shaw over £100k per week going to Man U and Lallana /Lovren going to their spiritual home at Anfield for CL Action and doubling of their wages.

 

It would have been nice to have kept them but we need to get real the PL with all its money is ruining football for us fans with players showing no loyalty and the National team being a joke because of all the foreign players coming in. In the 1960s when I was a student I could afford usually to go to a couple of Div1/Cup games a week in London something which would be quite impossible today.

 

I doubt we will get relegated but of course it could happen but when we get the new players we should be able to develop a good team over the next few years but only time will tell unfortunately we are in Kats hand it is her club and she can do whatever she wants to do with it and I think she wants in run in a sound and ethical way rewarding people for employees efforts

 

Just to be clear, Shaw is on £50,000 pw, but your point still stands.

[Bearsy]

In the same window, the scousers lost Kuyt, Bellamy, Aquilani, Rodriguez, Aurelio and Charlie Adam

 

lol

[syd_barrett_saint]

Just to be clear, Shaw is on £50,000 pw, but your point still stands.

 

Do you know something about Shaw's wages no one else does? It's been quoted as 100k p/w or more in most news outlets.

[Polaroid Saint]

Oh shush, we haven't lost 6. So far we have definitely lost 4 and it seems increasingly likely one more will be added to that. So 5. Schneiderlin is up in the air but so far the majority of the panic from that one is coming from paper talk.

 

In summer 2012 Fulham lost Dembele, Etuhu, Johnson, Murphy, Pogrebnyak, Helge Riise, Orlando Sa and Clint Dempsey. 8 first teamers!

 

In the same window, the scousers lost Kuyt, Bellamy, Aquilani, Rodriguez, Aurelio and Charlie Adam, so 6 first team players. They weren't all as integral as the 4 we have lost so far, but my point is that the figures are not unheard of.

 

Looking back, summer 2012 seemed a bit of a merry go round as Spurs sold Sebastian Bassong, Vedran Corluka, Steven Pienaar, Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric, Louis Saha, Giovanni dos Santos and Rafael van der Vaart that summer.

 

I might add, as well, that none of those players (Bar van der Vaart or Modric) went for the silly kind of prices that we have received for our 4 sold players.

 

It seems that those of us with dry beds are now seen as the mental and irrational ones!!

 

But I am not worried. The number of departures stands at Four (4). Chambers would surely be a 'squad player' so it would still be four first-teamers plus one. MS would be the worst and would make it '6' in total.

But, as of this morning, it is still four out and two in. Two down and (by all accounts) we are intending to replace one academy player with another (really we should have replaced Fox last year, why didn't MoPo do that?). So I make that one down - the defender who left yesterday.

 

For the money we are getting it would be IRRESPONSIBLE of the board NOT to sell these players. I could make pretty decent football arguments for why each one would not be a great loss (even Morgan). But the argument for taking the money (much more than each player is worth) and securing the future of SFC is too strong for anyone who knows half an ounce about footy finances (IE they are fuxked and weighted always in favour of the big teams).

 

We are all fan(atic)s; we want the best team possible, but we are also all supporters too.

[LGTL]

Oh shush, we haven't lost 6. So far we have definitely lost 4 and it seems increasingly likely one more will be added to that. So 5. Schneiderlin is up in the air but so far the majority of the panic from that one is coming from paper talk.

 

In summer 2012 Fulham lost Dembele, Etuhu, Johnson, Murphy, Pogrebnyak, Helge Riise, Orlando Sa and Clint Dempsey. 8 first teamers!

 

In the same window, the scousers lost Kuyt, Bellamy, Aquilani, Rodriguez, Aurelio and Charlie Adam, so 6 first team players. They weren't all as integral as the 4 we have lost so far, but my point is that the figures are not unheard of.

 

Looking back, summer 2012 seemed a bit of a merry go round as Spurs sold Sebastian Bassong, Vedran Corluka, Steven Pienaar, Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric, Louis Saha, Giovanni dos Santos and Rafael van der Vaart that summer.

 

I might add, as well, that none of those players (Bar van der Vaart or Modric) went for the silly kind of prices that we have received for our 4 sold players.

 

And look where Fulham have ended up a few years later. Please don't try to compare the significance of those losses for Liverpool or Spurs to ours either.

[Mr X]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xuhfxcnfzfpc9yb/WP_20140727_004.jpg

 

tend to agree with the comic for once

[Polaroid Saint]

And look where Fulham have ended up a few years later. Please don't try to compare the significance of those losses for Liverpool or Spurs to ours either.

 

Please don't try to compare Fulham's league position two seasons after that summer (2012) with our current situation...

...Fulham spent over £20m before last season began (2013) and bought in a lot of free agents and loans - I understand Fulham were relegated with the highest wage bill they have ever had in the EPL.

 

Although it appears that's what everyone wants Saints to do?!

[TheCholulaKid]

It seems that those of us with dry beds are now seen as the mental and irrational ones!!

 

But I am not worried. The number of departures stands at Four (4). Chambers would surely be a 'squad player' so it would still be four first-teamers plus one. MS would be the worst and would make it '6' in total.

But, as of this morning, it is still four out and two in. Two down and (by all accounts) we are intending to replace one academy player with another (really we should have replaced Fox last year, why didn't MoPo do that?). So I make that one down - the defender who left yesterday.

 

For the money we are getting it would be IRRESPONSIBLE of the board NOT to sell these players. I could make pretty decent football arguments for why each one would not be a great loss (even Morgan). But the argument for taking the money (much more than each player is worth) and securing the future of SFC is too strong for anyone who knows half an ounce about footy finances (IE they are fuxked and weighted always in favour of the big teams).

 

We are all fan(atic)s; we want the best team possible, but we are also all supporters too.

 

Yeah - good post. Football wise, Lovren is the biggest loss (obviously a **** though). MS will be a big loss too but our midfield is probably the strongest part of the team. Lambert needed replacing anyway. Lallana had one great season and is not irreplaceable (remains to be seen if Tadic is the player to do that - and Ramirez might step up). Shaw - stupid money. Chambers is also understandable despite the protestations on here. Almost impossible to keep hold of both him and Clyne - they're both good enough to play for a top 6 club so trying to keep both of them at a top 8 club was a losing battle. Clyne (at the moment) is a better player.

 

But, we do need some quality signings very soon. I'm far from a bedwetter but we need (at least) 2 or 3 decent additions in the next couple of weeks.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Please don't try to compare Fulham's league position two seasons after that summer (2012) with our current situation...

...Fulham spent over £20m before last season began (2013) and bought in a lot of free agents and loans - I understand Fulham were relegated with the highest wage bill they have ever had in the EPL.

 

Although it appears that's what everyone wants Saints to do?!

 

Check out what Fulham did in the summer of 2007 and who was responsible for it!

[Super_Uwe]

See you later Dejan. Glad you've finally been able to join the club you always wanted to.

 

I'm sure you must be struggling to get to sleep every night coming to terms with the fact that you scored the winner against your dream club last season. Still, thanks for your "commitment" last season, what a class act you are.

[Saint Without a Halo]

They said and did things that corrupted the fruits of their labour.

 

So all our players and manager who were largely a loyal and committed team all suddenly overnight became mercenaries chasing money and fame and wanting out!

It was already been stated that no other premier club that has stayed up has ever lost so many first team players in advance of a new season the question is why has it happened to us and who let it happen?

 

Yes players are ambitious some even greedy however for this cancer to run so deep and so rapidly surely something inside the club is rotten too and we are seeing the symptoms only after it spread to the fruit?

[Bearsy]

Football wise, Lovren is the biggest loss (obviously a **** though). MS will be a big loss too but our midfield is probably the strongest part of the team. Lambert needed replacing anyway. Lallana had one great season and is not irreplaceable (remains to be seen if Tadic is the player to do that - and Ramirez might step up). Shaw - stupid money. Chambers is also understandable despite the protestations on here.

 

yeah i agree individually you can countenance each of the sales, collectively however, it's a clusterf*ck!

[Verbal Kint]

So all our players and manager who were largely a loyal and committed team all suddenly overnight became mercenaries chasing money and fame and wanting out!

It was already been stated that no other premier club that has stayed up has ever lost so many first team players in advance of a new season the question is why has it happened to us and who let it happen?

 

Yes players are ambitious some even greedy however for this cancer to run so deep and so rapidly surely something inside the club is rotten too and we are seeing the symptoms only after it spread to the fruit?

 

Can you please tell us all which of these players had, prior to this summer, top clubs prepared to meet our inflated valuations of them and be prepared to pay them 6 figure weekly salaries?

 

How many clubs that finished below us last season have players the big boys a)want and b)are prepared to pay 20m+ fees for?

[buctootim]

collectively however, it's a clusterf*ck!

I doubt swinging was part of the deal.

[Beckenham Saint]

Check out what Fulham did in the summer of 2007 and who was responsible for it!

 

Signed Steven Davis?

[alpine_saint]

Dejan Lovren is a mercenary c**t and a liar, and no longer features on my radar scope where SFC is concerned. That is my last comment regarding him.

 

I only care that we no longer have a functioning defence and the club are in a fire sale, borne out by the sale of Chambers primarily.

[Saint Without a Halo]

It seems that those of us with dry beds are now seen as the mental and irrational ones!!

 

But I am not worried. The number of departures stands at Four (4). Chambers would surely be a 'squad player' so it would still be four first-teamers plus one. MS would be the worst and would make it '6' in total.

But, as of this morning, it is still four out and two in. Two down and (by all accounts) we are intending to replace one academy player with another (really we should have replaced Fox last year, why didn't MoPo do that?). So I make that one down - the defender who left yesterday.

 

For the money we are getting it would be IRRESPONSIBLE of the board NOT to sell these players. I could make pretty decent football arguments for why each one would not be a great loss (even Morgan). But the argument for taking the money (much more than each player is worth) and securing the future of SFC is too strong for anyone who knows half an ounce about footy finances (IE they are fuxked and weighted always in favour of the big teams).

 

We are all fan(atic)s; we want the best team possible, but we are also all supporters too.

 

 

 

Your view is the money is available to secure the future of the club!

 

This begs the following issues

 

1) Is the money really available for the club? and until a reasonable amount of the 85m or so collected to date is spent (i.e. excluding Chambers and Morgan) how can we be sure?

2) Do we really need so much money to secure the future of this club wouldn't say 30m be enough

3) Even if all the money is to be reinvested how are we able to attract the good players we need given to the outside world all at the club are looking to leave

4) If we get in new players in the last few weeks what about the risks? are they going to be good enough?, will the team gel in time? will they have the spirit to succeed?

 

Yes it is possible we will go out and buy a new team and all will be rosy but is it likely/probable? the probability drops with every passing day and every latest sale!

Edited 28 July, 2014 by Saint Without a Halo

[Saint Without a Halo]

Can you please tell us all which of these players had, prior to this summer, top clubs prepared to meet our inflated valuations of them and be prepared to pay them 6 figure weekly salaries?

 

How many clubs that finished below us last season have players the big boys a)want and b)are prepared to pay 20m+ fees for?

 

Can you from your side therefore confirm that until this summer no one was interested in any of our players of course neither of us can confirm our views without being involved closely however I always like to work on the basis of probability

 

It is highly unlikely the main spine of our team and manager suddenly all decided to become mercenary over night it is far more likely there was a catalyst inside the club leading to this exodus. i.e. they knew the club intended to sell its assets and drop its ambitions and its bid to be different from other run of the mill clubs leading to this mad rush to get out. For the naïve approach and its inability to manage the need to sell a couple of players whilst retaining commitment and ambition in those remaining the board must be held responsible.

the whole way this sad scenario has been managed from the beginning has been nothing short of a disaster as whilst it is true the board is raising cash it is also true the price of the club as a going business continues to drop and could drop by more than the cash brought in by the end of the coming season

 

Koeman now has one hell of a job! I hope he turns it round it is possible but is it probable?

[Andre]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xuhfxcnfzfpc9yb/WP_20140727_004.jpg

 

tend to agree with the comic for once

 

Fonte isn't going, and who cares about Ramírez really?

[hypochondriac]

Fonte isn't going, and who cares about Ramírez really?

 

I care about him when we have no players!

[Beckenham Saint]

[buctootim]