BBC Article - The inside story of the great Southampton sell-off

[Solid Saint]

Wah, the club didn't talk to me, wah, even though I'm on England duty and still have 4 years left on my contract wah.

 

Wah, they sent me a contract extension in writing, wah. Why couldn't tell call me to tell me they were going to send me a contract extension in writing, wah.

 

Wah, my 15yr old son is feeling unsettled because all these academy products are being sold to CL clubs, wah.

 

Feck off the lot of you, you whinging entitled 4rseholes.

 

A great TL/DR version if you ask me.

[saint1977]

Smith needs banning from all SFC property and a clear message to the BBC that if Smith comments on SFC any further, there will be legal action and KL can afford much better lawyers than the BBC. These articles are garbage but need nipping in the bud so the academy and other areas of SFC's activities don't suffer detriment. BBC won't want the fight in their weakened state and would probably keep Smith away.

[Brave Sir Robin]

Zzzzz

 

It's all history now. Time to move on and support the Saints

[angelman]

Smith needs banning from all SFC property and a clear message to the BBC that if Smith comments on SFC any further, there will be legal action and KL can afford much better lawyers than the BBC. These articles are garbage but need nipping in the bud so the academy and other areas of SFC's activities don't suffer detriment. BBC won't want the fight in their weakened state and would probably keep Smith away.

 

No point banning or suing.

 

You sue a news organisation at your own peril. Start with the BBC, and then the rest (probably heading the queue would be the Mail) start ripping you a new one.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

Smith needs banning from all SFC property and a clear message to the BBC that if Smith comments on SFC any further, there will be legal action and KL can afford much better lawyers than the BBC. These articles are garbage but need nipping in the bud so the academy and other areas of SFC's activities don't suffer detriment. BBC won't want the fight in their weakened state and would probably keep Smith away.

 

I never agreeing with banning but the BBC should have to respond to the criticism of this article. It is absurdly one sided nonsense.

[Minty]

I've only just read the full article and to be honest, there's not a lot there that bothers me that much. Most of it is clearly his interpretation of information given to him by one or several third parties, but all of which sounds like it has come from a specific viewpoint. In other words this is just one side of a coin and the more we react to it or profess it to be ********, the more credence it gives it. There may well be some truth in a lot of it, but things are never as straightforward as they're made out to be.

 

Just move on.

[CB Fry]

Wah, the club didn't talk to me, wah, even though I'm on England duty and still have 4 years left on my contract wah.

 

Wah, they sent me a contract extension in writing, wah. Why couldn't tell call me to tell me they were going to send me a contract extension in writing, wah.

 

Wah, my 15yr old son is feeling unsettled because all these academy products are being sold to CL clubs, wah.

 

Feck off the lot of you, you whinging entitled 4rseholes.

 

Well said. It makes me laugh that the some of players are whinging that there was no communication from the club over the summer. Some were on World Cup duty and should have been concentrating on that, the others were on holiday. I don't know about you but if I was on holiday I wouldn't want my boss ringing up every five minutes to tell me the latest gossip and going on. The only two that might have cause for complaint are cork and Fonte as they'd be waiting to hear about their contract situation, but even then they have a year left and surely they'd understand that the priority was to sort out the management situation and let them enjoy their break, that can be sorted out on their return.

 

As for complaining about getting a contract offer in writing, isnt this totally normal? Who had ever heard people commiting to nothing more than a verbal agreement?

 

It's absolutely pathetic.

If you are Crab Lungs this kind qualifies as "stuff that would make you eyes water if only you knew" and how the club is, like, a disgraceful shambles and evil and everything.

 

To the rest of humanity just a handful of stroppy players looking for any excuse to double their money but appear like the oh-so-wronged helpless innocent party.

 

If only Les Reed had never broken Lallana's heart he would never have even considered signing for Champions League Liverpool.

Edited 1 August, 2014 by CB Fry

[View From The Top]

I'm more and more convinced that the club were more than happy to see Lallana go and we know Dejan said at the end of the season he was going. Lambert was clearly on his way out, alas.

 

It's the boards lack of clear, concise, non cliché ridden communications that have let the press run riot thus making the whole situation spiral out of control.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

I've only just read the full article and to be honest, there's not a lot there that bothers me that much. Most of it is clearly his interpretation of information given to him by one or several third parties, but all of which sounds like it has come from a specific viewpoint. In other words this is just one side of a coin and the more we react to it or profess it to be ********, the more credence it gives it. There may well be some truth in a lot of it, but things are never as straightforward as they're made out to be.

 

Just move on.

 

The BBC is supposed to be impartial and if you write something so derogatory about the club they should have given the club an opportunity to respond or at least the author should have balanced the article out with lines like....

 

'despite signing a four year contract less than a year before'

 

'the club had been duped into believing that their efforts to keep Pochettino had been successful only top realise he had been playing them along'

 

'although a new manager had yet to be appointed and the club thought they should wait'

[Chez]

I'm more and more convinced that the club were more than happy to see Lallana go and we know Dejan said at the end of the season he was going. Lambert was clearly on his way out, alas.

 

It's the boards lack of clear, concise, non cliché ridden communications that have let the press run riot thus making the whole situation spiral out of control.

 

At no point did the club want to lose any of the best players (Lambert apart), but they certainly didn't want to match the wages they were being offered by the CL clubs.

[hasper57saint]

I've read every word and still believe there is an element of 'press speculation' in the piece.

[View From The Top]

At no point did the club want to lose any of the best players (Lambert apart), but they certainly didn't want to match the wages they were being offered by the CL clubs.

 

I'm not so sure.

[Saint IQ]

Callum Slattery maybe? Haven't seen him mentioned in any of the U18 stuff this summer.

 

Playing for england under 17s

[Saint IQ]

Wah, the club didn't talk to me, wah, even though I'm on England duty and still have 4 years left on my contract wah.

 

Wah, they sent me a contract extension in writing, wah. Why couldn't tell call me to tell me they were going to send me a contract extension in writing, wah.

 

Wah, my 15yr old son is feeling unsettled because all these academy products are being sold to CL clubs, wah.

 

Feck off the lot of you, you whinging entitled 4rseholes.

 

This.

[MorningtonCrescent]

How old is Pochettino's nipper...?

 

 

MoPs's son played in the U14s last season - so it could be him!

 

If I was MoPo, i'd probably want him out of the academy too as it wouldn't be a great place to be for his development any more.

[pap]

I'm more and more convinced that the club were more than happy to see Lallana go and we know Dejan said at the end of the season he was going. Lambert was clearly on his way out, alas.

 

It's the boards lack of clear, concise, non cliché ridden communications that have let the press run riot thus making the whole situation spiral out of control.

 

I was told that Lallana and Shaw were both going the morning of the Man Utd game. This was via a family member who was going out with someone who worked at the club, and was why I wasn't that arsed about seeing the players parade themselves about after the game.

[FloridaMarlin]

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the piece and I can tell you BBC Sport are certainly not biased against Saints (you'd be surprised at the number of Saints fans who work there).

 

It's just not a very good piece of original journalism. As I said in my previous post on this, what damns it is its lack of relevant quotes. The only quotes used are those already in the public domain.

 

Any piece like this which purports to tell the inside story should carry quotes to give it justification. If it has none, then it runs the risk of being derided as speculation. It might well be informed, but if it contains no quotes it is reduced to speculation.

 

There's no doubt on this forum there are some well-informed people who have good contacts inside the club, but don't quote their contacts for fear of exposure. It's why they take stick, but then, this forum does not parade itself as a font of responsible, rigourous journalism.

 

As for the club banning anybody, that smacks of censorship and by banning a reporter, you give a credibility to his work. It's probably best ignoring it and rising above it.

 

And as somebody else pointed out, once you go down the road of banning the media or certain journalists you are inviting big trouble as the media does get itchy and stand on its principals at times like that.

[Ken Tone]

It' s not an inside story at all though is it? There is very little in the piece that I couldn't have written myself, and I am very definitely not ITK.

 

An an inside story would tell WHY we sold the players and whether KL's intentions really are what we've been told etc.

[sotonist]

what a peculiar article. everything he says supports a scenario where the players had no intention of staying beyond last season, but he's spinning it as if the club's handling of them after their decisions were made have affected that.

[View From The Top]

I was told that Lallana and Shaw were both going the morning of the Man Utd game. This was via a family member who was going out with someone who worked at the club, and was why I wasn't that arsed about seeing the players parade themselves about after the game.

 

The Shaw deal was done in principal in Feb' as soon as Chelsea withdrew. They paid the exact amount that any club was going to have to, £27m.

 

Lovrens also said he was off as soon as the season ended to they knew well before MoPo changed his mind about staying and as they club didn't appear to try to keep them we can only surmise that the club was comfortable in letting them go, for whatever reason.

 

The major fucck up was the board gobbing off when clearly deals were done but then the board appear to be utterly clueless at times.

[Verbal]

If you are Crab Lungs this kind qualifies as "stuff that would make you eyes water if only you knew" and how the club is, like, a disgraceful shambles and evil and everything.

 

To the rest of humanity just a handful of stroppy players looking for any excuse to double their money but appear like the oh-so-wronged helpless innocent party.

 

If only Les Reed had never broken Lallana's heart he would never have even considered signing for Champions League Liverpool.

 

Exactly.

[Minty]

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the piece and I can tell you BBC Sport are certainly not biased against Saints (you'd be surprised at the number of Saints fans who work there).

 

It's just not a very good piece of original journalism. As I said in my previous post on this, what damns it is its lack of relevant quotes. The only quotes used are those already in the public domain.

 

Any piece like this which purports to tell the inside story should carry quotes to give it justification. If it has none, then it runs the risk of being derided as speculation. It might well be informed, but if it contains no quotes it is reduced to speculation.

 

There's no doubt on this forum there are some well-informed people who have good contacts inside the club, but don't quote their contacts for fear of exposure. It's why they take stick, but then, this forum does not parade itself as a font of responsible, rigourous journalism.

 

As for the club banning anybody, that smacks of censorship and by banning a reporter, you give a credibility to his work. It's probably best ignoring it and rising above it.

 

And as somebody else pointed out, once you go down the road of banning the media or certain journalists you are inviting big trouble as the media does get itchy and stand on its principals at times like that.

 

This absolutely. And you know what you're talking about more than most.

[um pahars]

Still trying to do some digging about Chambers departure, but first indications were that Koeman thought £16m was good business (not sure I 100% agree, but more than happy to defer to the boss).

 

BUT everything I have heard about Lallana, Shaw & Lovren puts them in the same boat as shysters such as Kenwyne Jones, with them demanding to leave & threatening not to return/refuse to play. Although the article points out they refused to return & play, this piece somehow absolves them of any blame and glosses over their selfish, spiteful and disloyal behaviour.

 

I fully accept that loyalty is a rarity in the modern game, just find it nauseating when players & their advisors try to manufacture bullsiht stories to try and shift the blame.

[pap]

The Shaw deal was done in principal in Feb' as soon as Chelsea withdrew. They paid the exact amount that any club was going to have to, £27m.

 

Lovrens also said he was off as soon as the season ended to they knew well before MoPo changed his mind about staying and as they club didn't appear to try to keep them we can only surmise that the club was comfortable in letting them go, for whatever reason.

 

The major fucck up was the board gobbing off when clearly deals were done but then the board appear to be utterly clueless at times.

 

Reading between the lines, looks like the club quite fancied the cash for the transfers, but not the hassle. Besides, good ol' Les bunged in the use of the word "probably" when saying our players wouldn't leave so he's covered - sort of.

 

It was clear in January that sustainability was a key phrase coming out of the clubs. With the elevation of three players to the national squad, all the bóllocks they must have heard about salaries there and the inevitable demands that would ensue, might have been a canny move.

 

The jury was out on the new board before it came in. They couldn't have said "we'll let any player that wants to leave go", or we'd have had a fan revolt and an even larger committee of vultures circling about, aloft on the thermals the board's "it's all for sale" encouragement. The reality is that the board said one thing, and did another - probably because more than any of us, it knew the reality of the situation.

[doddisalegend]

At no point did the club want to lose any of the best players (Lambert apart), but they certainly didn't want to match the wages they were being offered by the CL clubs.

 

Replace that with clearly couldn't afford and you'd be spot on. Lambert needed replacing soon sadly but I'm sure the club would have happily kept the others if the players weren't so set on leaving.

[doddisalegend]

what a peculiar article. everything he says supports a scenario where the players had no intention of staying beyond last season, but he's spinning it as if the club's handling of them after their decisions were made have affected that.

 

I think you've just summed up the last few weeks of argument on here in one sentence.

[Supersubpuckett]

Not an inside story at all, just a generic swipe at the club using some stuff we all know.

 

Looking forward to The inside story of the great southampton buy in and how they remained a reasonable force in the premier league - I'm sure mr ben smith will be writing that one too!!

[Bearsy]

It's a peculiar piece for BBC to run tho ain't it? Don't normally see them doing hatchet jobs like this, full of opinion and subjective tittle-tattle.

[itchen]

It seems to me that this journalist has phoned Lallana and got all his information from him. I mean, come on, many people on here questioned whether Adam was the right choice to be captain long before we knew he wanted to leave. A captain generally plays the whole game for a start and he didn't seem to show any leadership on the pitch. Perhaps, and Clattenburg's remarks hint at this, we had to make him captain to keep him happy. The guff in the article about other players being influenced by his poor treatment seems unlikely. He said he wanted to leave but somehow also wants the board to have fought harder to get him to stay. Maybe the board thought they were being offered a load of cash to get a giant ego out of the door? I realise that this could read like sour grapes after Adam's departure but it really isn't. I just think that maybe the board faced with a player's desire to leave and the prospect of a silly load of cash in return couldn't believe their luck.

[Saint IQ]

It's a peculiar piece for BBC to run tho ain't it? Don't normally see them doing hatchet jobs like this, full of opinion and subjective tittle-tattle.

 

Ben smith has been writing these types of articles ever since Cortese left.

[FloridaMarlin]

It seems to me that this journalist has phoned Lallana and got all his information from him. I mean, come on, many people on here questioned whether Adam was the right choice to be captain long before we knew he wanted to leave. A captain generally plays the whole game for a start and he didn't seem to show any leadership on the pitch. Perhaps, and Clattenburg's remarks hint at this, we had to make him captain to keep him happy. The guff in the article about other players being influenced by his poor treatment seems unlikely. He said he wanted to leave but somehow also wants the board to have fought harder to get him to stay. Maybe the board thought they were being offered a load of cash to get a giant ego out of the door? I realise that this could read like sour grapes after Adam's departure but it really isn't. I just think that maybe the board faced with a player's desire to leave and the prospect of a silly load of cash in return couldn't believe their luck.

 

He does not have Lallana's number, take it from me.

[derry]

Basis of factual events but put together total bull****. Adam Lallana went from very happy at the Everton game to ' doubling his money' at the MU game. Not from Ben Smith, from his father first hand.

[Jez]

At no point did the club want to lose any of the best players (Lambert apart), but they certainly didn't want to match the wages they were being offered by the CL clubs.

 

Didnt want to? More likely that they couldn't as suggested in the following article:

 

http://www.footyplace.com/features/ffp-to-blame-for-southampton-exodus-0730298110

 

Perhaps everyone should read that article instead of the BBC rubbish - no idea if the above link has already been posted, can't obviously see it has anywhere, but with the accelerated posting going on at the moment whilst everyone panics, there is not enough hours in the day to keep up with this board!

[farawaysaint]

Ben smith has been writing these types of articles ever since Cortese left.

 

Actually been quite disgusting.

[Saint IQ]

Actually been quite disgusting.

 

Yep Neil Ashton is even worse, probably due to the mail having no limits on what tosh they can spout out. Always will remember him putting in one of his bold headlines READ IT AND WEEP SOUTHAMPTON FANS before swiftly taking it down the morning after, whether this was due to me abusing him on twitter for it or his employees told him to is anyones guess.

[A Nut Can Cut You]

Time magazine is focusing on the real inside story in its September One edition.

 

[View From The Top]

Didnt want to? More likely that they couldn't as suggested in the following article:

 

http://www.footyplace.com/features/ffp-to-blame-for-southampton-exodus-0730298110

 

Perhaps everyone should read that article instead of the BBC rubbish - no idea if the above link has already been posted, can't obviously see it has anywhere, but with the accelerated posting going on at the moment whilst everyone panics, there is not enough hours in the day to keep up with this board!

 

That's a brilliant read.

[Patrick Bateman]

That's a brilliant read.

 

This paragraph did actually give me a football buzz;

 

"Southampton, relative minnows that they are, have an academy system with a worldwide reputation for producing the best players in the Premier League, and the most expensive players in the world."

[Goatboy]

Didnt want to? More likely that they couldn't as suggested in the following article:

 

http://www.footyplace.com/features/ffp-to-blame-for-southampton-exodus-0730298110

 

Perhaps everyone should read that article instead of the BBC rubbish - no idea if the above link has already been posted, can't obviously see it has anywhere, but with the accelerated posting going on at the moment whilst everyone panics, there is not enough hours in the day to keep up with this board!

 

Thanks for that. Some interesting ideas in there.

[DuncanRG]

The article is missing one important element - relevant quotes.

 

The only quotes used are those already in the public domain, and from Nick Illingsworth.

 

Otherwise, there is nothing to legitimise it or - as somebody earlier pointed out - to give it veracity.

 

It is a typical piece of Ben Smith journalism. On the surface it looks authoritative and based on inside knowledge but when examined closely, it is mainly supposition and clever re-working of the known facts.

 

No doubt, he is trying to convince the reader that he has contacts deep inside the club who have provided his information but the lack of attributed quotes completely undermines this.

 

And while some of this might be new to the wider public, there is nothing in this piece that any competent member of this forum could not have written based on the whispers and gossip they have heard.

 

Ben Smith is not liked by many of his BBC colleagues who dislike his style of tabloidese, hit-and-run, ambush journalism..

 

I don't know anything about his relationship with colleagues, but you wouldn't bat an eyelid at this piece if it was about another club. Neither would anyone else.

 

It's a perfectly good article, written to inform the average football fan and not Saints obsessives who follow things every day. And even we learnt a few things from it, eg an offer for Hooiveld.

 

You don't get quotes on the record from people at football clubs when it comes to back room dealings.

[The9]

Ben smith has been writing these types of articles ever since Cortese left.

 

On the contrary, Ben Smith has been writing these types of articles since the first moment there was any inkling that Cortese might be leaving, long before he actually went.

 

Having read them all a couple of days ago to see how much of what was written in January was prophesy, given that all the information looks like it came directly from Cortese at the time, it's pretty obvious now that his contacts at the club have all left and now he's just writing stuff to keep the sources he did have previously on side in case they become relevant again.

 

This is a tedious hatchet job again designed to attack the Board and promote Cortese, which I linked on FB last night with the phrase "I haven't read it yet but it's by Ben Smith so I bet there's some Cortese love in there"... The only real interest is whether Cortese is keeping up the onslaught out of pettiness and revenge, or if he's doing it because he has some interest in the board being discredited to make things cheaper for any future investment he might be considering... or of course it could be someone else heaping the crap onto the Board to get a cheap takeover - the last bit is pure speculation on my part.

[KingdomCome]

Didnt want to? More likely that they couldn't as suggested in the following article:

 

http://www.footyplace.com/features/ffp-to-blame-for-southampton-exodus-0730298110

 

Perhaps everyone should read that article instead of the BBC rubbish - no idea if the above link has already been posted, can't obviously see it has anywhere, but with the accelerated posting going on at the moment whilst everyone panics, there is not enough hours in the day to keep up with this board!

 

Very good article, I just wish it were possible. I think the problem is that our academy is as successful as it is because of the investment and the staffing.

 

I just can't see franchises having the same level of investment or expertise it has taken to establish our current set-up. Without this, they may get a few set up, but the interest would soon wane after it being shown to be less productive. Hope I'm wrong though.

[SaintRobbie]

'There was no attempt to persuade Lallana or Shaw to stay. Not once did a club official hold talks with the players to ask them to reconsider, to delay their moves.'

 

I doubt the integrity of BBC reporting less than I do the integrity of our Boardroom.

[Window Cleaner]

'There was no attempt to persuade Lallana or Shaw to stay. Not once did a club official hold talks with the players to ask them to reconsider, to delay their moves.'

 

I doubt the integrity of BBC reporting less than I do the integrity of our Boardroom.

 

So the delays were just about the club asking for more money....can't be about anything else if you believe the Ben Smith version... Ben Smith I know little about though, Romain Molina a bit more.