note to self for later - concoct some complex joke about medicals and the fact that he has liver in his name - perhaps referencing over sized organs or something similar.
Wouldnt be a proper season if there wasnt a bust up with the manager. Wasnt Ronnie supposed to have fallen out with Tadic and one or two others? Didnt Poch have his issues too?
I thought the same, but then i read Stoke offered £12m for him. Not so cheap.
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It’s prob gonna cost i.e. £8m+ or something even if you wait to summer and it goes to Tribunal. I also heard a little titbit from the same source that bros what know him from the U21s like i.e. Redman and i.e. Ward Prowse have Vouched for him with the Authorities. Think this rumour has got legs tbh,
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Rob Dorsett @ RobDorsettSky 5m5 minutes ago
# scfc and # wbafc deal for Saido Berahino “getting closer”: Sky Sources. WBA want # watford striker Odion Ighalo, but only if they sell Saido.
Dead in the water Bearsy, obviously not the same person that told you about big Vic then
Sky Sports News HQ
@SkySportsNewsHQ 34s35 seconds ago MoreBREAKING: Sky sources: Stoke agree fee for West Brom striker Saido Berahino: http://skysports.tv/blwJ3x
#SSNHQ
£10m ** ** by all acounts, rising to £15m.
Football has officially gone mad.
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I’ve been mulling it over for a few days now but keep ending up at the same conclusion - this is a massive couple of weeks for our football club.
The fixtures of course but also the remaining 9 days in the transfer window.
Over the years we have become accustomed to recruiting top players and then losing top players and in particular centre backs. First there was Lovren. Then he was upgraded to Alderweireld. He in turn was arguably upgraded to VVD. In all likelihood this trend will continue in the summer and Virgil will be sold for a pretty penny. This isn’t pessimistic or defeatist, it is as close to fact as can be in advance of an event. Although it will be incredibly hard to improve upon the last couple in the list. But to this day the club has done it. So why worry? The club has shown it can ably replace quality players with arguably better specimens. My concern is the fact that all of the aforementioned players played alongside Jose Fonte. He was the mainstay, the constant. Offering leadership, stability and continuity to our backline. Not to mention the lone survivor of our League 1 journey.
This is why I believe we have a big 9 days left in this window. Somehow we have to replace Fonte as well as preparing to find another centre back to line up and replace VVD in the summer.
In Les Reed’s recent interview he said something along the lines of, and I paraphrase (because I looked quickly but couldn’t locate the exact quote, and can’t be fucked to look any longer) “If we hadn’t sold Lovren, we wouldn’t have had Alderweireld. If we hadn’t lost Alderweireld we wouldn’t have got Van Dijk”. He then went on to say that it is foolish to think we could have had both. Okay fair enough, I can see where he’s going with that. The last pairing would be the best in the league.
However…we always had Fonte. So we only needed the one replacement. Now we need two. And this time, with Fonte, it feels very different. He didn’t go for a longer contract in the end and he didn’t go to a better club or for Champions League football. Even the rumoured salary is unspectacular in modern times and apparently less than what we offered (surely not?). So was it a massive signing on fee or was he mind fucked by his agent? Who knows or cares, it’s done.
So who do we replace Fonte with? If we can’t have Alderweireld AND VVD, then by that logic we can’t have two equally capable centre backs at the same time. They’d have to stagger their departures if they were a success and the big boys came a knocking. But that wouldn’t necessarily be in our control if the players wanted out or if their heads were already at Andield/Old Trafford or The Olympic Stadium! (Ha!!)
In my opinion Yoshida, Gardos and Stephens (at this stage) are not the answer. Gardos has made 11 starts for Saints in 2.5 years. He has been badly injured during this time but even before then he was 4th choice behind Yoshida. Gardos also suffered a very serious injury like Jay Rod and we all know how long it has taken/is taking for Jay to get up to speed.
The club gambled in the summer and didn’t recruit another striker, hoping that Jay could get back to his form that saw him net 15 goals. That seems to have backfired and our current goal scoring problems are testament to that.
Im a bit worried that if the club makes a similar gamble in the centre back department then we could be in trouble and in for an uncomfortable end to the season. Due to the above mentioned lack of goals, keeping them out at the other end is all the more important in order for us to pick up valuable points. I mean, clearly we aren’t going to outscore teams!
Admittedly there are noises about Sakho being targeted on loan which would indicate that we are actually trying to bring somebody in. Presumably he isn’t the only target should they be unable to get a deal done.
During the ‘meltdown’ summer Ralph Krueger asked us fans to judge the club at the end of the transfer window. They didn’t let us down so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt until February 1st. If we don’t get that goalscorer or a competent Fonte replacement then I for one will be very disappointed and more than a little concerned.
Say what you want about West Ham signing a 33 year old for £10 million, but they have bought a player off of an immediate rival that will improve their team. I looked at their squad today and it contained Reid, Ogbonna and James Collins was on the bench. Therefore Fonte isn’t a panic buy, he has improved their squad and more than likely their first eleven. He is fit enough to play for another couple of years at this level.
I just hope Saints also identify the need to strengthen and not rest on our laurels like we arguably did in the summer with our attacking options. This league is brutal and unforgiving. Football is crazy and ridiculous. If you have to pay a few extra million for the right player in January then so be it. Suck it up. The TV money and player sales should help keep us in the black.
I’m conscious of recent posts damning the negative vibes on here of late, and I accept that I have been a part of that and that this melancholic essay probably wont help matters either. However, I’m a product of my environment and sadly there hasn’t been too much to celebrate in the footballing world of late. Even the highlights have been bitter sweet (we should have scored more against Liverpool). I just have a horrible feeling at the moment that cracks in “the Southampton Way” are starting to show.
Then again, I’ve been wrong before!
Oh well. 3 points tomorrow and the world will no doubt be a brighter place I’m sure.
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Holy crap, Pap is there a badge for the longest coherent post ?!
Agree with you (mostly) mate…
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Good post Simon. pretty much echoes my thoughts except for your assessment of Yoshida. Given more game time and responsibility this season, he’s really kicked on and I think he’s a natural successor to Jose, both in quality and leadership ability. His impressive performances this season have elevated him to a level that he can now be considered one of our ‘senior pro’s’ and deservedly so, he’s earned it.
It’s easy to be dismissive of him on the back of half a dozen howlers in the past but he looks a different beast nowadays. It would be no surprise to me if in a year or two’s time, it’s him moving on for a hansome profit
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There is, but nobody has troubled the scorers until now.
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Gerrard showing he gives a shit about us, no, really he does.
Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers
Sourced from Daily Star article
Steven Gerrard: Liverpool should try and sign this player
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That is according to Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. The former Reds captain returned to the club as an academy coach on Friday after retiring from football at the end of last year. And he has some transfer advice for his old team.
“I would go and try and bid for van Dijk from Southampton,” He would love Luis Suarez to return to the club but says van Dijk is more needed. “Who I think we need, I would go and try and bid for van Dijk from Southampton,” he said on BT Sport. " But we’ve had enough of their players so that will probably go down like a lead balloon."
Jurgen Klopp is yet to make any additions in the transfer window with less than 10 days remaining. Van Dijk has been linked with a move away from Southampton, with Liverpool a possible destination.
Go to the original article…
…willfully brought into being by Optimus trousers…beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
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The Echo suggesting we’re not signing a CB and that Gardos will get his chance instead.
Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers
Sourced from Daily Echo article
Puel: Focus on Leicester not Wembley
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CLAUDE Puel believes Saints “cannot have any other ambition” but to stop the rot in the Premier League – even with a dream Wembley final up for grabs in the League Cup.
With Saints losing four straight top flight games, Puel revealed that he can ill afford to put importance on anything other than turning around their ailing fortunes in the Premier League.
That means the St Mary’s chief intends to put all his effort into the visit of Leicester City today, partly disregarding Saints’ trip to Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday night, in which they take a 1-0 aggregate lead.
“I think the most important game is Leicester,” he said. “It is important to stop this situation, the losses in the Premier League.
“We need a good result and points now to be sufficient. After, the cup is a good thing. It is an exciting game and we will have time to consider this game.
“The most important game is Leicester. After that to play Liverpool after this game in the semi-final leg is another thing.”
He added: “It is not important for me at the moment to see with a good focus about this game and our possibility in this moment.
“We cannot see other things in the future without taking points and good results.
“Now it is important to come back and find a good solution to win our games and see in the future.
“We cannot have any other ambition at the moment other than to win just this game.”
With Saints starting the weekend in 13th place in the Premier League, with struggling champions Leicester just three points behind, Puel knows that climbing the top-flight is essential before they are sucked into a battle in the lower reaches of the table.
“It is very important for us,” he said. “It is important to find the solution and keep the attitude up from the last game because it was very interesting without the clinical and now it is important to find this efficiency and to take points with our fans and all the support of the fans.
“It is important now to find the solution and be a game between two teams in difficulties. It is an important game and I think the maturity and experience of the game will be important without thinking of other games in other competitions.”
Saints are eyeing a return to the top half of the Premier League, after sliding glumly into the lower part of the table after their 1-0 defeat at Burnley last time out.
“For the moment it is the same situation as Leicester, it is to go up and find a solution because we cannot have other ambitions at the moment to see the top part of the table. For the moment we are in the second part and we want to go up into the first part.
“It’s important to stay focused about this game, two teams in difficulty in the Premier League, in the same situation,” he continued. “Leicester, then us, we want a good result, points, and it’s important to have a good concentration about this. It will be a difficult game against a strong team, back on the pitch.
“This is a physical game also, it’s important to have a good analysis, a good concentration, and a good attitude, like the three last games, like Burnley, or Liverpool. It was interesting. the attitude, and it’s important to see this again in the next game against Leicester.”
Go to the original article…
…copiously originated by Optimus trousers…beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Looking at the Chinese version of Gillette Soccer Saturday (a blatant copy) .
Some of the headlines on there are hilarious.
The club who were pursuing Costa have ended their interested because “He is too much of a bastard”
A player has been suspended because he told the Referee that “His mother sold Avon”
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Originally posted by @Smuggins
A player has been suspended because he told the Referee that “His mother sold Avon”
Hahahahaha! I’m using that.
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Originally posted by @saintbletch
The Echo suggesting we’re not signing a CB and that Gardos will get his chance instead.
tbh, I think The Liverpool Echo’s got it’s finger on the pulse of Saints affairs more than the the idiots at the Daily Echo
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TBH, I think The Echo is going out of its way to be provocative over the last 2 months or so.
I know it’s their job, and some would say their role, but they’ve definitely been looking to exploit the Puel uncertainty.
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Their shit stirring goes back a lot further than 2 months Bletch, 2 years more like … it’s almost like they’ve got an agenda but I can’t for the life of me understand what it’s all about
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Jack Stephens is clearly the answer.
Now, what was the question?
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Wasn’t there a,falling out with the DE and Saints a while back resulting in the DE being excluded from stories etc - or am I misremembering?
tbf the standard of journalism is so shite it seems all they’re interested in is getting click-bait out the to drive online revenue - cunts
True, stevesintoponies, but it’s definitely geared up in the last couple of months. Perhaps that the team and Puel have given them more material?
I suspect that it’s nothing more sinister than they sell more papers and get more views when they focus on negativity.
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