Lovren joins Liverpool - Official

[vince]

Sky sports reporter saying Liverpool have bid 18M, which we've knocked back and want closer to 25M. In isolation, that would be cracking business, but given what's gone before and spidermans situation, its a dangerous place to be.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I don't know what people expect though. We've got a world record deal for a left back, an incredible fee all being told, and a pretty shiny £25m for a 26 year old.

 

The club doesn't want to sell, it doesn't need to sell - but the players want to go. I posted a quote on here from Morgan from last year, which was along the lines of ''If NC and MP go, then it will bring all players positions into question' - so that's what's happened. They bought the waffle NC fed them, and it was waffle because it wasn't his money he was trying to achieve it with. He should be bloody crtisisied for building up this mutiny as much as anyone else. He created an unhealthy environment full of promises and ambitions that weren't going to happen.

 

He didn't have the finance and KL didn't have the finance, so why was he banging on about winning the league?

 

At the end of the day, as I've said, elite club wants player - they go. Barca want Suarez - he goes. Chelsea want Torres - he goes. PSG want Luiz - he goes. We got ourselves into quite a unique position by having so many players that elite clubs are after, and as we're not an elite club ourselves, it's almost impossible to bat the interest away.

 

What is happening now would have happened whoever was here. We hit a glass ceiling, we cannot break that glass ceiling, so the best players will leave and go their separate ways. NC knew what was going to happen. Trust me.

 

Pretty much spot on. I said all this a week or two ago but got laughed at but I still maintain the truth lies in there somewhere.

[Black Sea Saint]

great question on AskLovren from Luke Shaw:

 

Luke Shaw ‏@ShawsSecrets 22h

#askLovrenpart2

Which would you rather do? Slap Jose Fonte with a wet fish or listen to a Steven Gerrard interview on repeat for a day?

[Fitzhugh Fella]

With regard to the Lambert to West Ham scenario in January I honestly think NC was trying to destabilise the club in the weeks before he left and selling RL to WHU would have upset quite a few. Then there is the debacle re the kit which it seems NC was engineering.

And then there is his spiteful banning of the book despite placing a large order for it.

His departure may well be the catalyst for all our stars departing but I am still glad this most destructive of men has left our football club. I said all along it would, with him at the helm, end in tears. It was inevitable. Now we must concentrate on picking up the pieces, nurturing those who want to stay and making sure we get some decent replacements in. I would be happy just to avoid relegation this year. With all the comings and goings that would be a satisfactory achievement.

[saint_ed]

great question on AskLovren from Luke Shaw:

 

Luke Shaw ‏@ShawsSecrets 22h

#askLovrenpart2

Which would you rather do? Slap Jose Fonte with a wet fish or listen to a Steven Gerrard interview on repeat for a day?

 

Thats not Luke Shaw.

[View From The Top]

Seems unlikely we would be that strong in negotiations. After all, we weren't with Adam or Luke or rickie.

 

So the money gained from the sales of LS, which was always going to happen, and AL, isn't top end of expectations? We just rolled over and they paid us peanuts?

 

I'll exclude SRL as that's a different scenario considering what happen in Jan'.

[View From The Top]

Thats not Luke Shaw.

 

Too abstract for Luke's limited brain.

[Big Bad Bob]

So the money gained from the sales of LS, which was always going to happen, and AL, isn't top end of expectations? We just rolled over and they paid us peanuts?

 

I'll exclude SRL as that's a different scenario considering what happen in Jan'.

 

Thank you, but I prefer to think that we turned around, parted our cheeks and asked them "How deep??"

[saint_ed]

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fc-target-dejan-lovren-7370889#.U7aIQrxYm0o.twitter

 

Fact #6 - it seems the whole Liverpool fan base are tuned in with the clubs tapping up methods.

[notnowcato]

Seems unlikely we would be that strong in negotiations. After all, we weren't with Adam or Luke or rickie.

 

Yeah - bad business there, right?

[Wes Tender]

You resent the implication he is too good for us? Deal with it. He is. We signed a great player and he is clearly destined for better things than we can ever offer him. You seem pragmatic enough to understand Saints' place in the football pyramid so what makes you think for one second we can hang onto him? The idea that we could make an example of him is laughable. I'm as gutted as anyone else about the way they are going about this but strong reports emerged at the start of the summer about how the Board were not communicating with the players about their plans etc. So the club isn't faultless as far as I am concerned. Maybe this can be a lesson to them that when they have some good players they may want to let them know what is happening otherwise they'll just up sticks and force a move. We've already had two players do it to us this summer.

 

Let us just concentrate on your statement which I resent, that a player who we signed is "too good for us" shall we? Lovren signed for us, so patently it is absurd to suggest that he is too good for us. If you fail to realise that, then it is you who need to deal with it. Undoubtedly players develop and become the targets of the bigger clubs, but the fact that we are able to either develop them in-house via our academy, or buy them in from other clubs means that at that time, they are not too good for us. Keegan wasn't too good for us when he came here, even though he was European Player of the Year when he arrived. He didn't think that he was too good for us, or else why would he have signed for us? Any player who signs for us is not too good for us, although they might feel further down the line that they can do better than to play for us.

 

The board, (or Gareth Rogers) were at fault for issuing that naive statement about the difficult financial statement they had inherited upon Cortese's departure, which produced the media feeding frenzy, with stupid headlines claiming that were a club in meltdown and open to a firesale of our best players. The board retaliated with a statement that no player would be for sale that the incoming manager wished to keep. The fly in the ointment has been the World Cup, where several of our players have featured, putting them in the spotlight of all the World's top football Clubs. It irked clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United that little ole Southampton had as many players in the England squad as they did and their egos dictated that if they were good enough for England, they really ought to be their players. If they bought them before the tournament started, they could even bask in the glory of saying that here was another Liverpool or Manchester United player in the England team to impress their plastic fans from Tunbridge Wells to China. No doubt there are several players that we now covet from some of those teams like Costa Rica, Algeria and Mexico and we have the money to buy them. Needless to say, if we do buy them, then they are not players who will be too good for us.

 

The idea that we could make an example of Lovren is not laughable at all, but it requires a club to make a stand, at some financial cost on a matter of principle. That cost has to be weighed up against the cost of other players in the squad taking the blackmail route to leave themselves if it succeeds. As I said in another thread, I don't know what the implications for us are if there is a release clause in Lovren's contract of say £20 million that has been triggered, but presumably even if there was, we are not then obliged to sell to a club of Lovren's choice. If we have to sell, then let's p*ss him off by selling him out of the Premiership if we can. Liverpool or Spurs definitely ought to be out of the reckoning.

 

I also think that it is a bit naive to expect us to believe that these professional footballers came here because they were pursuaded by Cortese that they would be playing CL football with us. The players who have left, (with the exception of Ricky Lambert) didn't leave because they felt upset that Cortese or Pochettino were gone and the new board did not share his ambitions, they left for reasons of pure naked greed when a bigger club feted them and massaged their egos. As I already pointed out, how can they claim otherwise when they have not even had the common decency to see what the new manager's plans and ambitions are, in the indecent haste to leave before he even had a chance to speak to them?

[buctootim]

With £50m of Liverpool's money for Lovren and Lallana we'll have enough to hijack the Suarez deal.

[Mowgli]

Thats not Luke Shaw.

 

But this sounds more like him

 

Luke Shaw‏@ShawsSecrets·Jul 3

#askLovrenpart2

Remember when we mitched off from training, ran to the shops &bought 24packets of Space Raiders,then was sick over Fonte?

[SaintSteve]

Lovren is no different to the other four who have/will leave.. the goal posts have been moved by KL and they no longer believe we are an ambitious club.

[buctootim]

the goal posts have been moved by KL and they no longer believe we are an ambitious club.

 

I know. We really were going to win the CL with Cortese. Really.

Edited 4 July, 2014 by buctootim

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Let us just concentrate on your statement which I resent, that a player who we signed is "too good for us" shall we? Lovren signed for us, so patently it is absurd to suggest that he is too good for us. If you fail to realise that, then it is you who need to deal with it. Undoubtedly players develop and become the targets of the bigger clubs, but the fact that we are able to either develop them in-house via our academy, or buy them in from other clubs means that at that time, they are not too good for us. Keegan wasn't too good for us when he came here, even though he was European Player of the Year when he arrived. He didn't think that he was too good for us, or else why would he have signed for us? Any player who signs for us is not too good for us, although they might feel further down the line that they can do better than to play for us.

 

Lovren signed for us because he bought into the vision he was given by the Manager and Chairman. He took a step down in my opinion. No doubt he is paid very well of course, but he was talking of CL from the moment he got here. For whatever reason, he believed that the team that was being built and things he was told made him think it was achievable. He did not sign for Saints to be as good as they were when he signed. He signed for the team to become even better and push on. We did exactly that. Only then people left. So where is his vision and dream that he was sold? Do his reasons for signing not matter any more? He is now of only two outstanding players at our football club, a football club which has sold three of its best players in the last month. Just tell me why he should want to stay and be a part of a weaker team? He's an international player with Champions League experience. And remind me, how long did Kevin Keegan spend at Saints?

 

The board, (or Gareth Rogers) were at fault for issuing that naive statement about the difficult financial statement they had inherited upon Cortese's departure, which produced the media feeding frenzy, with stupid headlines claiming that were a club in meltdown and open to a firesale of our best players. The board retaliated with a statement that no player would be for sale that the incoming manager wished to keep. The fly in the ointment has been the World Cup, where several of our players have featured, putting them in the spotlight of all the World's top football Clubs. It irked clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United that little ole Southampton had as many players in the England squad as they did and their egos dictated that if they were good enough for England, they really ought to be their players. If they bought them before the tournament started, they could even bask in the glory of saying that here was another Liverpool or Manchester United player in the England team to impress their plastic fans from Tunbridge Wells to China. No doubt there are several players that we now covet from some of those teams like Costa Rica, Algeria and Mexico and we have the money to buy them. Needless to say, if we do buy them, then they are not players who will be too good for us.

 

It did not 'irk' Liverpool and Man Utd that Saints had players in the England squad. That is an incredibly egotistical way to view it. They wanted our players because they are good and our lads couldn't wait to get out of here. It's a harsh reminder that Saints will NEVER be able to achieve something better than we did last season in the modern game. Player behaviour will not allow it.

 

The idea that we could make an example of Lovren is not laughable at all, but it requires a club to make a stand, at some financial cost on a matter of principle. That cost has to be weighed up against the cost of other players in the squad taking the blackmail route to leave themselves if it succeeds. As I said in another thread, I don't know what the implications for us are if there is a release clause in Lovren's contract of say £20 million that has been triggered, but presumably even if there was, we are not then obliged to sell to a club of Lovren's choice. If we have to sell, then let's p*ss him off by selling him out of the Premiership if we can. Liverpool or Spurs definitely ought to be out of the reckoning.

 

Can you tell me how many clubs have done this with their best players and top earners? Has it ever worked?

 

I also think that it is a bit naive to expect us to believe that these professional footballers came here because they were pursuaded by Cortese that they would be playing CL football with us. The players who have left, (with the exception of Ricky Lambert) didn't leave because they felt upset that Cortese or Pochettino were gone and the new board did not share his ambitions, they left for reasons of pure naked greed when a bigger club feted them and massaged their egos. As I already pointed out, how can they claim otherwise when they have not even had the common decency to see what the new manager's plans and ambitions are, in the indecent haste to leave before he even had a chance to speak to them?

 

If they haven't had the decency or desire to speak to the new Manager then that suggests to me their mind was made up the moment Cortese and Pochettino left. And as I pointed our previously, it was reported that our new Board did not communicate with the players at the start of the summer and so this ****storm was always coming. Lets just hope the Board have learnt a few lessons about this so if we are ever on the verge of something special again they don't give the players ANY reason to agitate for a move.

[Mowgli]

Let us just concentrate on your statement which I resent, that a player who we signed is "too good for us" shall we? Lovren signed for us, so patently it is absurd to suggest that he is too good for us.

 

He has always shown promise of being top class defender but actually we took a gamble when we signed him - taking on a player that has a reputation for red mist moments that can tarnish and otherwise excellent defensive display. Since joining us, he lost it in the Croatia -v- Scotland game (resulting in a £17k fine) and then for us in the Spurs game away. If you know the right buttons to press you can get in his head very easily. So for me he is worth every bit of £20m but still worries me with that flaw in his character.

 

It's that same flaw that appears to be leading him toward a strike action to get his own way. Basically not a nice person. Do I want him playing for Saints? Probably not. We will miss him but there are other central quality defenders that can be bought for that sort of price. Potential for another 'upgrade' I think.

[Wes Tender]

the problem is that any player we are looking to buy will be looing and seeing our squad decimated. To somebody outside would then perhaps think they were joining a relegation threatened season and may look at other offers. Perhaps NC vision he used to get some decent players to join is now not being used and Reed etc cannot persuade quality to come here. The next fortnight will show how much NC's departure has hurt us. I accept some players would have left for big wages but all of them???

 

Will they? So conversely you don't see the players leaving as being a massive incentive for players to come here? The academy is surely seen as being a fantastic route for youngsters with the likes of Bale, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and now Lallana and Shaw going to top clubs. Our academy will have received a huge boost in its ability to recruit the very best youngsters. But even players bought in will see that the likes of Lovren who was in the doldrums when he came here, has enhanced his reputation here to the extent that he is now coveted by the top clubs in England and Europe. If Lallana can be bought by Liverpool, why shouldn't Tadic be pursuaded that he is a better player and that if he proves it here, then we are a stepping-stone to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich? Surely Pelle has the opportunity to prove that he can be a top striker in the Premiership with us before returning to a top Italian club with his reputation considerably enhanced.

 

By the category of player that we are approaching will we be judged as to whether we are relegation fodder or not. Ambitious signings will reflect our ambition to succeed, in the same way that players coming in really have to be impressed with the calibre of manager we chose to replace Pochettino (who also used us as a stepping-stone to better things; even if deluded that he will succeed at Spurs)

[buctootim]

Basically not a nice person.

 

Most good CBs have a nasty side to them. Its a bully or be bullied position.

[melmacian_saint]

Do we have to pay Lyon any amount of a potential transfer fee?

 

I can see this being a Lallana 2.0, where the price is negotiated everywhere but in the meeting table.

Edited 4 July, 2014 by melmacian_saint

[View From The Top]

Thank you, but I prefer to think that we turned around, parted our cheeks and asked them "How deep??"

 

Then you're an idiot.

[View From The Top]

Lovren is no different to the other four who have/will leave.. the goal posts have been moved by KL and they no longer believe we are an ambitious club.

 

Oh noes, we're not going to be a top 4 UCL team. I think I might cry that the dream has been wrenched away from me.

[Handyman]

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.

 

Exactly!

[Huffton]

I wonder if we're trying to get Agger + cash, wouldn't be the worst bit of business we've done

[badgerx16]

....the goal posts have been moved by KL ...

 

She told you this, did she ?

[doddisalegend]

25m is a good price again. But, hard to get excited about it. Morgan will go for 20m+ too, so rumoured 30m to spend and a further 100m in sales.

 

We aren't going to spend £130m.

 

Thing is what else are the club going to do? Even if the club plays hardball and Lovern relentes and plays he is unlikely to give his best all the while probably dragging down the rest of the squad with his negativity (anyone who has had to work with an unhappy work college will know what I mean). Is it worth keeping any of these want away players around if they are just going to drag the team down? I'd rather play a committed acadmey player than a good player going through the motions.

 

While I'd be happy to see the club lay down a marker and force him to see out his contract in the development squad I think the club. probably correctly, would rather have the money.

[SaintSteve]

Oh noes, we're not going to be a top 4 UCL team. I think I might cry that the dream has been wrenched away from me.

 

I don't think you need to worry about that... your mind can't cope with ambition obviously.

[buctootim]

I wonder if we're trying to get Agger + cash, wouldn't be the worst bit of business we've done

 

I'd prefer Ron Vlaar from Aston Villa, which floated yesterday. Out of contract next summer so not too expensive and a good age for a CB.

[Smirking_Saint]

I know. We really were going to win the CL with Cortese. Really.

 

Doesnt really matter the reality of it if your able to convince the players of the project, up to you whether you think that makes the players stupid or not

[buctootim]

Doesnt really matter the reality of it if your able to convince the players of the project, up to you whether you think that makes the players stupid or not

 

But Cortese most likely lied about the resources available in the hope that with some expensive signings and good youth he could catapault Saints into the top table. It might even have worked for a year if he got exceptionally lucky, but he wasnt as smart as he thought. Instead of buying really productive players we largely wasted £40m. Thats when it all started to come apart, nothing to do with KL.

[OldNick]

I know. We really were going to win the CL with Cortese. Really.

did NC say we were going to win the CL?

Many oh here are happy to accept mediocrity (Me also, as i want stability and understand our limitations of the club)

ML and NC did not have those low expectations.People forget it seems that ML had total trust in NC and they had a bond. In business I have seen many people whose siblings were never as smart or business savvy and the wealth lost. So far i have not seen brilliant business decisions since ML passed away. To me NC turned a 13m asset into a 100m asset. This time next season we may be back to a 50m asset.

NC IMO had a desire and confidence that he could turn the club into a force, (he may of been wrong of course)and that could well have transmitted as he got the better players to either sign long contracts or indeed sign for us. He may have cancelled a book order (again there could be valid reasons) but he drove our football club to a level that we had not envisaged some time ago. I doubt Dortmund fana or Athletico fans really believed they would reach the heights either

[Wes Tender]

Lovren signed for us because he bought into the vision he was given by the Manager and Chairman. He took a step down in my opinion. No doubt he is paid very well of course, but he was talking of CL from the moment he got here. For whatever reason, he believed that the team that was being built and things he was told made him think it was achievable. He did not sign for Saints to be as good as they were when he signed. He signed for the team to become even better and push on. We did exactly that. Only then people left. So where is his vision and dream that he was sold? Do his reasons for signing not matter any more? He is now of only two outstanding players at our football club, a football club which has sold three of its best players in the last month. Just tell me why he should want to stay and be a part of a weaker team? He's an international player with Champions League experience. And remind me, how long did Kevin Keegan spend at Saints?

 

I have already said more than once now, that in my opinion anybody who believed that an ambition to play Champions League football at Southampton is a dreamer. It is also naive to believe that Lovren wants to leave because poor diddums is upset that his Svengali Cortese has left and now his dreams are shattered. He wants to leave because he has been offered barrow loads of wonga by a glory club, pure and simple. Although the team is weakend by the departures of those players, it will almost certainly be strenghtened within the next month, potentially to the extent that it is a stronger team than it was. Part of that strengthening possibly will be to find an even better CB than him if he goes.

 

It did not 'irk' Liverpool and Man Utd that Saints had players in the England squad. That is an incredibly egotistical way to view it. They wanted our players because they are good and our lads couldn't wait to get out of here. It's a harsh reminder that Saints will NEVER be able to achieve something better than we did last season in the modern game. Player behaviour will not allow it.

 

Funnily enough, when it seemed that we would only accept vastly inflated prices for those players of ours in the England squad, those clubs started putting it about in the media that there was a list of alternative players they could buy in who were at least as good, but available for much less money. Why didn't they buy them, then? There is certainly an element of them wanting our players, partly to satisfy the home-grown criteria, but also to stamp down on the whipper-snapper upstart club who should be put back in their place. And at the same time, they get the glory of having more players in the England National Team, to satisfy their plastic fanbase. Shame it didn't last longer than three matches and that by the time the next World Cup comes around we will have the next batch of players in the team from our academy. And then they will want them signed up before the World Cup starts too. In the ematime, no doubt our scouts are aware of those alternative players and perhaps we will sign some of them ourselves.

 

Can you tell me how many clubs have done this with their best players and top earners? Has it ever worked?

 

Players going on strike isn't a common occurence, so there aren't many examples. And then again, it requires a wealthy club to take that action and one also strong on matters of principle. If the Lallana case was true and now Lovren reportedly wishes to take the same route, we patently are victims of two such incidences, so it might be more necessary for us to set this example, or else we might see Schneiderlin and others follow suit. If it becomes endemic with us, then the football authorities might need to take sanctions against players taking this route, or face anarchy in the future once precedents become commonplace.

 

If they haven't had the decency or desire to speak to the new Manager then that suggests to me their mind was made up the moment Cortese and Pochettino left. And as I pointed our previously, it was reported that our new Board did not communicate with the players at the start of the summer and so this ****storm was always coming. Lets just hope the Board have learnt a few lessons about this so if we are ever on the verge of something special again they don't give the players ANY reason to agitate for a move.

 

I agree to a certain extent. But how much is the board saying with good reason, that they should wait until they speak to the new manager about his hopes and aspirations and the plans he has for individual players and how much was players being tapped up by the likes of Gerrard about how rich and famous they could be just by warming the bench there?

 

I think that it is far too easy to shed tears about how our team has been decimated by these nasty big clubs and far more difficult to accept that we might well come out of this even stronger, if we spend the bulk of the monies received wisely on stronger replacments. On the face of it, one step backwards to go forward two steps.

[badgerx16]

To me NC turned a 13m asset into a 100m asset. This time next season we may be back to a 50m asset.

 

NC IMO had a desire and confidence that he could turn the club into a force,

 

But without a seismic shift in the capabilities of the club's commercial arm / sponsorship, this could only be achieved with Katarina's money. Look at how much Man Utd are reported to be shelling out to try to get back into the top 4 - NC could never have had access to such sums.

[S-Clarke]

But without a seismic shift in the capabilities of the club's commercial arm / sponsorship, this could only be achieved with Katarina's money. Look at how much Man Utd are reported to be shelling out to try to get back into the top 4 - NC could never have had access to such sums.

 

This is exactly it. Getting us from L1 to the NPC, doesn't require enormous investment - ditto from NPC to PL, a bit of spending here and there. Getting us to the Top 10, a bit more investment but a sustainable amount of investment for a club like us.

 

To get us to the level beyond that..............it will require investment we've not had or had access to.

[DuncanRG]

Can you tell me how many clubs have done this with their best players and top earners? Has it ever worked?

 

Rodgers did it to Suarez last summer, so in a word, yes.

[Greenridge]

Sorry if already posted but see SSN are reporting saints have turned down an £18m bid for Lovren and believed to be holding out for £25m

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9371534/transfer-news-liverpool-bid-for-dejan-lovren-rejected-by-southampton

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Rodgers did it to Suarez last summer, so in a word, yes.

 

What, they shoved him in the reserves and didn't play him to teach him a lesson?

[Lord Duckhunter]

Seeing as the champions league is the holy grail of football, and Nicola was quite capable of taking a club like ours there , I'm surprised he isn't back working in football. Let's face it, he managed to persuade all these players, poch , plus their agents,accountants and assorted advisors that we were top 4 bound. Surely clubs all over Europe and England will be banging on his door to head up their " project" . I just don't get it.

[Mr X]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3yy1p61086eonum/WP_20140704_004.jpg Edited 4 July, 2014 by Mr X

[OldNick]

I agree to a certain extent. But how much is the board saying with good reason, that they should wait until they speak to the new manager about his hopes and aspirations and the plans he has for individual players and how much was players being tapped up by the likes of Gerrard about how rich and famous they could be just by warming the bench there?

 

I think that it is far too easy to shed tears about how our team has been decimated by these nasty big clubs and far more difficult to accept that we might well come out of this even stronger, if we spend the bulk of the monies received wisely on stronger replacments. On the face of it, one step backwards to go forward two steps.

Lets see how much we spend. IMO we are a playing a game of smoke and mirrors where we make noises to spend a lot but will spend a fraction of the money we take in,I do hope to be proved wrong

[simo]

Lets see how much we spend. IMO we are a playing a game of smoke and mirrors where we make noises to spend a lot but will spend a fraction of the money we take in,I do hope to be proved wrong

 

Tbh i only expect 4 or 5 signings including 1 or 2 marquee signings then save the rest of the cash until January , harder to make a team gel the more players you buy !

[gazzzza]

What' date=' they shoved him in the reserves and didn't play him to teach him a lesson?[/quote']

 

no they threatened to pull his teeth out !

[gazzzza]

Is anyone after Fonte ? ;/

[Mr X]

Is anyone after Fonte ? ;/

 

nah hes crap mate

[derry]

Do we really want the extra exposure to one club if we sell them three players, total over £50m? What will Lovren do on 1st September if we haven't transferred him?

[Mr X]

Do we really want the extra exposure to one club if we sell them three players, total over £50m? What will Lovren do on 1st September if we haven't transferred him?

 

see post no 340

[SnailOB]

Let us just concentrate on your statement which I resent, that a player who we signed is "too good for us" shall we? Lovren signed for us, so patently it is absurd to suggest that he is too good for us. If you fail to realise that, then it is you who need to deal with it. Undoubtedly players develop and become the targets of the bigger clubs, but the fact that we are able to either develop them in-house via our academy, or buy them in from other clubs means that at that time, they are not too good for us. Keegan wasn't too good for us when he came here, even though he was European Player of the Year when he arrived. He didn't think that he was too good for us, or else why would he have signed for us? Any player who signs for us is not too good for us, although they might feel further down the line that they can do better than to play for us.

 

The board, (or Gareth Rogers) were at fault for issuing that naive statement about the difficult financial statement they had inherited upon Cortese's departure, which produced the media feeding frenzy, with stupid headlines claiming that were a club in meltdown and open to a firesale of our best players. The board retaliated with a statement that no player would be for sale that the incoming manager wished to keep. The fly in the ointment has been the World Cup, where several of our players have featured, putting them in the spotlight of all the World's top football Clubs. It irked clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United that little ole Southampton had as many players in the England squad as they did and their egos dictated that if they were good enough for England, they really ought to be their players. If they bought them before the tournament started, they could even bask in the glory of saying that here was another Liverpool or Manchester United player in the England team to impress their plastic fans from Tunbridge Wells to China. No doubt there are several players that we now covet from some of those teams like Costa Rica, Algeria and Mexico and we have the money to buy them. Needless to say, if we do buy them, then they are not players who will be too good for us.

 

The idea that we could make an example of Lovren is not laughable at all, but it requires a club to make a stand, at some financial cost on a matter of principle. That cost has to be weighed up against the cost of other players in the squad taking the blackmail route to leave themselves if it succeeds. As I said in another thread, I don't know what the implications for us are if there is a release clause in Lovren's contract of say £20 million that has been triggered, but presumably even if there was, we are not then obliged to sell to a club of Lovren's choice. If we have to sell, then let's p*ss him off by selling him out of the Premiership if we can. Liverpool or Spurs definitely ought to be out of the reckoning.

 

I also think that it is a bit naive to expect us to believe that these professional footballers came here because they were pursuaded by Cortese that they would be playing CL football with us. The players who have left, (with the exception of Ricky Lambert) didn't leave because they felt upset that Cortese or Pochettino were gone and the new board did not share his ambitions, they left for reasons of pure naked greed when a bigger club feted them and massaged their egos. As I already pointed out, how can they claim otherwise when they have not even had the common decency to see what the new manager's plans and ambitions are, in the indecent haste to leave before he even had a chance to speak to them?

 

This

 

Always remeber the jokey question asked once of Abbey Clancy along lines of, what was it about the multi-millionaire footballer Peter Crouch that first attracted you to him.

 

Same could be applied to outgoing players - what was it about the Champions League / Astronomical wage paying Liverpool that first attracted you to them!

 

There are no FACTS available to us fans as to why these players chose / are choosing to leave but IMO I think the offer of huge wages and chance of playing for a high profile football club plays a much bigger part in their decisions rather than being upset by Cortese or MoPo leaving. To think otherwise is pretty naive.

[Mr X]

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/03/southampton-reject-liverpools-20m-dejan-lovren-bid-but-defender-will-force-move-4785555/

[farawaysaint]

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/03/southampton-reject-liverpools-20m-dejan-lovren-bid-but-defender-will-force-move-4785555/

 

So... rehashed story then with no new information?

[angelman]

Originally Posted by Saint Fan CaM

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

 

I understand the "dream" but, and I have asked before, what exactly apart from PR bull****, is "the Southampton Way"?