I got to a point where I was constantly being branded a miserable bastard by all who knew me. So just shy of a year ago I thought I’d give this thing I kept hearing about, called ‘optimism’, a go.
I recall watching Pellegrino’s first interview and thought “Yeah, this guy sounds like the nuts. Can’t wait to be rid of the memories of Puel and the slowest attacking build up of any team in history”
Fast forward a year… Jesus Christ… how wrong I was.
Serves me right for deviating from my ‘glass half empty’ outlook.
That said… I’m willing to give optimism ONE more go!
Allow me to justify this. SURELY there is not a single person employed by Southampton Football Club who thinks that last season was anything other than a complete shower of shit. They must have learned some lessons and some arguably inflated egos have been bruised to the point where self reflection is inevitable.
I for one won’t mind a clearout in the summer (or ‘another mass exodus’ as the wanky media will headline it) because there is a lot of underperforming players in that squad. I also accept Bertrand will move on, but to be fair he has done well for us in the large part so I won’t begrudge him that. Plus we should be getting a decent fee for him. If that happens then why not try to get Luke Shaw back? On loan perhaps. That tubby little bastard will probably be up for it as he knows exactly where Nandos is in Southampton, plus his pals are likely still there.
The club will have money to spend from sales, plus the VVD money. What we then need is genuine quality. Four players to strengthen the TEAM not the squad. A CB, a replacement for Davis (ACM), a direct winger with pace, power and an eye for goals (Quincy deal resurrected perhaps) and then an absolute unit of a centre forward. (it may well be too early to rule out Carrillo as a pre-season under his belt could transform him). If I was being really greedy then a slightly taller right back would be great.
Either way, my reason to be optimistic is that the season before last we flattered to deceive by finishing 8th. However, the one just gone, we stared over the edge into the abyss and can count ourselves fortunate that our arrogance with player sales and inadequate recruitment has not cost us dearly. The fact they were apparently willing to pay £30m for Promes in January suggests that perhaps Les has realised that £15m - £17m buys you Redmond in this current market.
Onwards and upwards lads!
