Jannik Vestergaard - Official: Signs for Leicester

[SFC Forever]

Thank the lord for that.

[Colinjb]

2 minutes ago, USaint said:

Confirmed gone

https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2021-08-13/announcement-southampton-leicester-city-jannik-vestergaard-transfer

So long and thanks for all the fish.

[AlexLaw76]

Glad it is done quickly.

Wish we acted like Leicester in the transfer market when we were good

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Glad it is done quickly.

Wish we acted like Leicester in the transfer market when we were good

with £400k a week off the wage bill and £55m in from transfers we're certainly running our of deadwood to shift. I wonder what the new excuse will be

Edited 13 August, 2021 by Turkish

[davefizzy14]

Good luck to Jannik, hope he does well at Leicester obviously apart from when we play them

Edited 13 August, 2021 by davefizzy14

[gaz]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

I wonder what the new excuse will be

100% this, nowhere to hide now. Recruitment policy is my guess.

[SNSUN]

Obviously Leicester wanted him since January, but without Fofana's injury and Denmark's impressive showing in the Euros I doubt they'd have come in for him this summer. And we'd probably have ended up keeping him until the end of his contract and him leaving on a free. This way we get £15 million to spend on his replacement meaning we should be able to bring in a better replacement than we otherwise could have afforded next summer AND will probably have some left over cash to strengthen another position. 

 

Let's see if we can get this recruitment right...

[Baird of the land]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

with £400k a week off the wage bill and £55m in from transfers we're certainly running our of deadwood to shift. I wonder what the new excuse will be

Quite legitimately without new investment, there’s a massive pile of Covid debt to be paid off.

[East Kent Saint]

Getting rid of the deadwood is a Saintsweb solution which would open up the sun lit mountains in future . It is a necessary process which all clubs go through . Rich clubs do it without much comment because they have dozens of players on their books , loads on loan or in the junior ranks waiting to come through to the first team . Part of rich clubs strategy is to hoover up all decent looking players to deny other clubs their services and it is easier to check them out in house before selling them to poor clubs like Saints.

[S-Clarke]

5 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Quite legitimately without new investment, there’s a massive pile of Covid debt to be paid off.

Which the loan is there to cover, and has covered.  Obviously that loan has to be paid off, but Martin and co have confirmed that this isn't something to worry about in the 'here and now' and transfer fees are not going towards it. That loan was so we didn't have to rely on 'sales' to prop us up as a club, so these sales should still give us the funds to reinvest. Maybe not every penny, but at least 80% I'd have thought.

Anyway - I think this was one of the most inevitable exits of the summer. I'm not going to lie, I wanted more $$ for him and I thought we could have got more - but I think it became clear that it was £15m or £0 next summer, so we took the cash.

He improved massively under Ralph, but I'd say that our defence has been one of our weakest elements. So we now have the funds to improve on this position and bring in a player much more suited to how we play. I'll miss Jannik for his passing and switches, but that says it all really. I certainly won't miss him for his defending.

Edited 13 August, 2021 by S-Clarke

[leon0286]

Glad that it has been confirmed so quickly, and that he is available for tomorrow....So fair play to our owners once again.

Seems a likeable guy in his first interview, interesting to hear how close his is off the field to Schmeichel, and a lesser extent to Bertrand.

 

What do you guys mean that he's 'not suited' to how your manager wants to play?

I read similar to Bertrand, after he left....

Does Ralph not like to play out from the back or use attacking full backs then?

 

[Baird of the land]

9 minutes ago, leon0286 said:

Glad that it has been confirmed so quickly, and that he is available for tomorrow....So fair play to our owners once again.

Seems a likeable guy in his first interview, interesting to hear how close his is off the field to Schmeichel, and a lesser extent to Bertrand.

 

What do you guys mean that he's 'not suited' to how your manager wants to play?

I read similar to Bertrand, after he left....

Does Ralph not like to play out from the back or use attacking full backs then?

 

Bertrand certainly isn’t suited anymore to getting up and down. That’s why saints were so predictable in only having kwp doing so last year. Not sure I agree that vestergaard isn’t suited, despite his lack of pace.

[benjii]

24 minutes ago, leon0286 said:

Glad that it has been confirmed so quickly, and that he is available for tomorrow....So fair play to our owners once again.

Seems a likeable guy in his first interview, interesting to hear how close his is off the field to Schmeichel, and a lesser extent to Bertrand.

 

What do you guys mean that he's 'not suited' to how your manager wants to play?

I read similar to Bertrand, after he left....

Does Ralph not like to play out from the back or use attacking full backs then?

 

Bertrand is virtually non-existent as a productive attacking threat any more, although he is still a good one on one defender, which left us horrendously lopsided in attack, and Vestergaard is the slowest player I've ever seen so isn't really suited to a high-press game. Vestergaard is good at passing but not very good at defending.

[S-Clarke]

24 minutes ago, leon0286 said:

Glad that it has been confirmed so quickly, and that he is available for tomorrow....So fair play to our owners once again.

Seems a likeable guy in his first interview, interesting to hear how close his is off the field to Schmeichel, and a lesser extent to Bertrand.

 

What do you guys mean that he's 'not suited' to how your manager wants to play?

I read similar to Bertrand, after he left....

Does Ralph not like to play out from the back or use attacking full backs then?

 

He does play that way, fullbacks are one of the most important positions in our team. Sadly Bertrand just stopped doing it for us, personally I think he'd just gone stale here and needed a fresh start. But there have been signs, over at least hte last 18 months, that he'd lost the pace and that burst which made him a threat in a wing back role. So more often than not we relied on the right side with KWP to provide all the width.

In terms of Vestergaard, whilst he is a great ball playing centre back, it's a risk to play him alongside another slow centre back if you play a progressive high press type of game. If you get caught up field that's it, it's done. He's got the turning circle of an oil tanker and is prone to being done by tricker and nibble players in and around the box.

Don't get me wrong, he has improved massively since he first joined us but I think most fans will be honest when they say we won't miss him for his defending.

[Suhari]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

He does play that way, fullbacks are one of the most important positions in our team. Sadly Bertrand just stopped doing it for us, personally I think he'd just gone stale here and needed a fresh start. But there have been signs, over at least hte last 18 months, that he'd lost the pace and that burst which made him a threat in a wing back role. So more often than not we relied on the right side with KWP to provide all the width.

In terms of Vestergaard, whilst he is a great ball playing centre back, it's a risk to play him alongside another slow centre back if you play a progressive high press type of game. If you get caught up field that's it, it's done. He's got the turning circle of an oil tanker and is prone to being done by tricker and nibble players in and around the box.

Don't get me wrong, he has improved massively since he first joined us but I think most fans will be honest when they say we won't miss him for his defending.

Good summary.

I'd add that Vesty is just too damn weak in the air. Gets beaten to headers by much smaller players who show strength and determination. Very frustrating!

[Chez]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

Obviously that loan has to be paid off, but Martin and co have confirmed that this isn't something to worry about in the 'here and now' and transfer fees are not going towards it.

We will be paying something towards the loan...unless Gao is happy for it to mount up for some other mug to clear.

If we pay the interest only, say £9m, then that is £9m removed from our budget (that we could spend on wages and/or transfer fees).  To say that transfer fees are not used to pay the loan down is rubbish. Transfer fees are just another income stream, along with ST money and TV money. It all goes into one pot. We may not need to sell to pay the loan down, but that's a different thing entirely.

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

with £400k a week off the wage bill and £55m in from transfers we're certainly running our of deadwood to shift. I wonder what the new excuse will be

Spot on

[LGTL]

Remember writing on here last summer that id drive him up to Leicester myself. He improved last season for sure, but I’d never seen anyone so tall get out-jumped so often, and let’s be honest, slow doesn’t come close to it. 

[leon0286]

Interesting, especially regarding the comments about Bertrand's lack of pace and attacking quality, his pace, energy to get up and down for 90 minutes, and ability on the ball has been exceptionally impressive pre-season.

Perhaps it just got a bit stale for him at Southampton?

I can't comment too much on Vestergaard obviously, having yet to see him play.

[westmidlandsaint]

4 minutes ago, leon0286 said:

Interesting, especially regarding the comments about Bertrand's lack of pace and attacking quality, his pace, energy to get up and down for 90 minutes, and ability on the ball has been exceptionally impressive pre-season.

Perhaps it just got a bit stale for him at Southampton?

I can't comment too much on Vestergaard obviously, having yet to see him play.

I wish him well at Leicester but can't say I'm sad to see him go either. Our defensive record last couple of seasons has been shocking. People see his height and the fact that he can make a 40 yard diagonal pass but problem is he's slow and gets caught out a lot. When LCFC defenders are fully fit he'll back to 4th choice. 

As for Bertrand I liked him a lot buy thoughy for a while he looked like he wanted a new challenge.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

48 minutes ago, leon0286 said:

Interesting, especially regarding the comments about Bertrand's lack of pace and attacking quality, his pace, energy to get up and down for 90 minutes, and ability on the ball has been exceptionally impressive pre-season.

Perhaps it just got a bit stale for him at Southampton?

I can't comment too much on Vestergaard obviously, having yet to see him play.

Perhaps Bertie just got stale but I also wonder if Ralph's high-energy press and 4222 formation were too much for a full back of his age. They ask a lot of players in that position. Rodgers' tactics may well suit him better.

One thing is for sure - he had ceased to be an attacking threat for us last season  

Edited 13 August, 2021 by Ex Lion Tamer

[Saint_clark]

10 hours ago, Turkish said:

with £400k a week off the wage bill and £55m in from transfers we're certainly running our of deadwood to shift. I wonder what the new excuse will be

Providing we stay up we should be looking to make some really good signings next summer. Lots of room in the wage budget for Ralph to play with.

[niceandfriendly]

6 hours ago, leon0286 said:

Interesting, especially regarding the comments about Bertrand's lack of pace and attacking quality, his pace, energy to get up and down for 90 minutes, and ability on the ball has been exceptionally impressive pre-season.

Perhaps it just got a bit stale for him at Southampton?

Very possible. He could have a couple of good years left in him with different management/style of play, it happens all the time. We heard similar when we signed Bertrand after a loan at Villa. Villa fans weren't that impressed at all and his signing wasn't greeted with much joy on here. He turned out to be one of our best purchases I think in recent years and a great servant.

Things started going south for him here for whatever reason and it was his time to move on. He's found himself a cracking club to finish his career at.

[Chez]

8 hours ago, leon0286 said:

Interesting, especially regarding the comments about Bertrand's lack of pace and attacking quality, his pace, energy to get up and down for 90 minutes, and ability on the ball has been exceptionally impressive pre-season.

Perhaps it just got a bit stale for him at Southampton?

I think he just got fed up of losing. He knew nothing would change this summer and Ings would leave. He wanted to play for a side  that was going somewhere.

Bertrand may have lost half a yard, but he had a yard to spare. I was concerned about him not getting back the right side a few times after going forward, but he got up and down OK. His touch and ability on the ball is top notch. He's a class act. We needed to keep him AND sign another left back. One of the most important positions and we don't even have two options on both side. Have a good season, but hope we tonk you.

[leon0286]

13 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Perhaps Bertie just got stale but I also wonder if Ralph's high-energy press and 4222 formation were too much for a full back of his age. They ask a lot of players in that position. Rodgers' tactics may well suit him better.

One thing is for sure - he had ceased to be an attacking threat for us last season  

 

It's interesting to hear that, considering how Rodgers plays, he's one of the most progressive managers out there.

I've never been too impressed with him during his whole career thinking he was more of a 'stopper' as a full back more than anything else. But his ability to get up and down for 90 minutes, assisting and looking a goal threat too, has really surprised me pre-season. His ability on the ball and leadership has been a real surprise too.

 

I hope, in a non disrespectful way, that he and Vestergaard were both just bored of a lack of investment and quality being brought in to play alongside them.

Although I have a horrible feeling that if Vestergaard starts today, his lack of pre-season and having no relationship with the defence, means he will look all over the shop.

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 minutes ago, leon0286 said:

 

His ability on the ball and leadership has been a real surprise too.

 

Surprised? It would amaze me. He’s shown zero leadership for seasons. It’s the one thing that’s been lacking from such an experienced pro. He’s a good player, one of the best full backs I’ve seen at Southampton (40 plus years), technically good and defensively pretty sound. Best when he was linking up with Tadic. However good he was, leadership on the pitch isn’t something I’d associate with him. 

[Jack50]

On 13/08/2021 at 15:32, MarkSFC said:

Very strong. 45m for two players who were going to leave for nothing in 11 months. 

Progress is difficult to see for the short-sighted. 

Nope. Weak. When you have two top players like that you offer them big deals with at least 2 years on their contracts. Southampton will struggle to stay up this season. Squad looks weak.

[S-Clarke]

18 minutes ago, Jack50 said:

Nope. Weak. When you have two top players like that you offer them big deals with at least 2 years on their contracts. Southampton will struggle to stay up this season. Squad looks weak.

We did, but they didn't sign them.

[lambtiss]

After watching that shit shower of a defence this afternoon, I think I would take Liverpool's Phillips in a heart beat 

[leon0286]

Came on for the last 30 minutes today, when we switched to a back 3, to match Wolves up.

Got caught out with the pace of the game straight away, but it's hardly surprising, he has been here less than two days, and not had a proper pre-season....And to be fair, it was against Traore.

But after that he recovered well, and despite being here two days, was leading the back line, organising us to a probably underserved, but hard fought, clean sheet.

 

Made two excellent passes through the middle of the pitch to Tielemans and Barnes where we really should have done better, and managed to body Jimenez and Traore for the last half an hour, despite the early scare.

Impressed with his leadership, and it's a shame Bertrand tested positive for Covid as he would have probably started...Although Thomas, his replacement, was probably man of the match. 

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, leon0286 said:

Came on for the last 30 minutes today, when we switched to a back 3, to match Wolves up.

Got caught out with the pace of the game straight away, but it's hardly surprising, he has been here less than two days, and not had a proper pre-season....And to be fair, it was against Traore.

But after that he recovered well, and despite being here two days, was leading the back line, organising us to a probably underserved, but hard fought, clean sheet.

 

Made two excellent passes through the middle of the pitch to Tielemans and Barnes where we really should have done better, and managed to body Jimenez and Traore for the last half an hour, despite the early scare.

Impressed with his leadership, and it's a shame Bertrand tested positive for Covid as he would have probably started...Although Thomas, his replacement, was probably man of the match. 

Not sure anyone genuinely cares how he played. He was largely terrible for us (along with many others).

Ding well for you won't change that.

Bertrand was terrible for over the last two years also

[OttawaSaint]

3 hours ago, leon0286 said:

Came on for the last 30 minutes today, when we switched to a back 3, to match Wolves up.

What, switching up tactically to match another team and get 3pts as a result?

Is this allowed?

Someone should mention it to Ralph...