18 May 2018 21:03:17
End of season and we are all starting to look at ins and outs. One I don't agree with so far is getting rid of FF. He had a really poor season but prior to that he was one of the best in the Prem. If we sell him we need to buy in a second choice keeper. Doesn't make any sense to me:

{Ed0333's Note - FF is the second choice keeper


1.) 19 May 2018
19 May 2018 13:05:24
Think this is the point that FF should go and we use the Academy. Get rid of the older members of the squad.


2.) 19 May 2018
19 May 2018 13:51:59
Are you happy to take the risk that if Alex Mc gets an injury or is suspended for a while that an academy player steps in then? I’d rather have FF sitting waiting for his chance. At least he has experience, and like I said has been very good for us previously.


3.) 19 May 2018
19 May 2018 19:29:40
Same people who complained about Forster not having any competition for his position now want to get rid of him and leave McCarthy with no competition. makes sense 🙄.


4.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 00:02:30
All I'm getting at is the pathway to the first team seems to be getting harder. Is the talent not there?


5.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 06:10:26
Anybody know how harry lewis been doing lately?


6.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 08:43:43
After a solid start with the Tangerines he lost his place in the starting line-up and spent the final stages on the bench. He went through a difficult time in January but says this has made him a better player. let's hope he returns with confidence intact.

The problem with FF is that we now no longer know what we are going to get. That great run of form he had a couple of seasons back was at a different time and a different team. He showed little signs of such ability or form before that, nor since. Also, we have seen players like Joe Hart, Rob Green, David James etc go from a place of consistent high ability to the startling depths of low confidence and loss of some of the most basic skills of goalkeeping. There’s a lot of pressure on the player between the sticks and more often than not, after a period of poor performance a goalkeeper struggles to recover fully. If the likes of Hart can’t, with so much positive experience to fall back on, its hard to believe Forster can when he has only managed one good season of form.

However, the major issue for the club now is that its not as simple as saying we need a new goalkeeper, a new centre back, a new striker, competition for places here and there. With the RK seemingly confirming the club’s return to selling our best and buying younger players to develop, it might be that we have no choice between FF or AM to be sold. FF may attract little or no attention after this season and so it may be AM who moves on should someone come in for him.

I hope this summer we won’t be quite so desperate to make sales as we have the majority of the VVD money to spend which could see us bring in three or four gifted young players to strengthen the team and provide competition. Also, I hope that on the back of such underperformance, the players have not done enough to attract serious interest from the bigger teams yet that would tempt the board.


7.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 12:12:19
One thing I don't wanna see is Joe Heart coming to us. Money could and should be spent elsewhere.


8.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 12:26:01
I don't understand why you're saying we're going back to selling our best players (for starters, we never stopped doing that! ) .

But still, it's not like this was a deliberate policy, we simply developed good players and generally received offers for them that were too good to turn down.

I did read your post about this Figo, and it struck me as you reading between the lines and finding things that just weren't really there? To me, the Southampton way meant that we play attractive football (which I think is the biggest thing RK was talking about here), bring youngsters through and generally run the club in a sound fashion with long-term development in mind.


9.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 14:19:51
I read the RK interview with hope that we would have some clarity on the lessons learned and an outline of the strategy the club will deploy to avoid a repeat of this season.

Unfortunately, the interview is an awful read given that it appears to have been typed verbatim but what RK is saying is quite clear. No interpretation is required on transfer policy when he states the following:
‘Maybe we didn’t deal with the transfer policy right because we wanted to consolidate the team and for the very first time we didn’t sell a player we didn’t want to sell and we left the Southampton Way a little bit. Possibly that was a reason. ’
‘…if you do the net on buys and sells possibly one of the biggest things we got away from was the pathway to the top clubs last summer. When Sadio Mane came and he told us he wanted to be the best football player in the world he truly believed that. He came and played his two years and he went and now he’s playing in the Champions League final. We allowed that pathway and we were an important part of that and we should be proud of that but we got away from that.
‘Maybe our ambition made us reach for a pathway that wasn’t ours. The consolidation of a team and the not selling of any players possibly exactly was one of the biggest mistakes we made as a board last summer. I think our club decision to consolidate last year and hang on to core players was for Southampton Football Club wasn’t the right time to do that. That definitely hurt us. ’

In short, consolidating the squad was wrong, not selling players (not just VVD) was wrong and was perhaps based on the club incorrectly believing we know longer needed to do that. That was the wrong path. By then saying we should be proud of being a stepping stone and developing players for other clubs to benefit, he is clearly stating this is the right path as this is where our success came from.

I disagree with you entirely if you truly believe that this was not a transfer policy. It most certainly was and was a foundation of the Southampton way. We develop young players to integrate them into the first team and strengthen from within as we do not have the financial clout to compete with the top half of the premier league. The whole focus of the Southampton way is for there to be a blueprint in place, followed from the youth teams up, to make the loss of coaching staff or players incidental as someone else will be in place to step in as seamlessly as possible. Player and head coach turnover was expected. Not only were we intending to be a stepping stone for players but for coaching staff too. The Southampton Way blueprint included the general tactic of playing attractive, attacking, possession based football, but you’ve filtered out the rest if that is all you think the Southampton Way is.

Note that RK does not use an example of a good young player coming up from the youth ranks and now breaking into the first team like Josh Sims. Instead, he uses the example of Sadio Mane who used us as a stepping stone. It is clear that to RK and the club see the latter is the Southampton Way and the thing to be proud of.


10.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 17:00:22
(Apologies if this is duplicated. Thought I posted it a few hours ago but its not on the site so I'm re-posting) .

I read the RK interview with hope that we would have some clarity on the lessons learned and an outline of the strategy the club will deploy to avoid a repeat of this season.

Unfortunately, the interview is an awful read given that it appears to have been typed verbatim but what RK is saying is quite clear. No interpretation is required on transfer policy when he states the following:
‘Maybe we didn’t deal with the transfer policy right because we wanted to consolidate the team and for the very first time we didn’t sell a player we didn’t want to sell and we left the Southampton Way a little bit. Possibly that was a reason. ’
‘…if you do the net on buys and sells possibly one of the biggest things we got away from was the pathway to the top clubs last summer. When Sadio Mane came and he told us he wanted to be the best football player in the world he truly believed that. He came and played his two years and he went and now he’s playing in the Champions League final. We allowed that pathway and we were an important part of that and we should be proud of that but we got away from that.
‘Maybe our ambition made us reach for a pathway that wasn’t ours. The consolidation of a team and the not selling of any players possibly exactly was one of the biggest mistakes we made as a board last summer. I think our club decision to consolidate last year and hang on to core players was for Southampton Football Club wasn’t the right time to do that. That definitely hurt us. ’

In short, consolidating the squad was wrong, not selling players (not just VVD) was wrong and was perhaps based on the club incorrectly believing we know longer needed to do that. That was the wrong path. By then saying we should be proud of being a stepping stone and developing players for other clubs to benefit, he is clearly stating this is the right path as this is where our success came from.

I disagree with you entirely if you truly believe that this was not a transfer policy. It most certainly was and was a foundation of the Southampton way. We develop young players to integrate them into the first team and strengthen from within as we do not have the financial clout to compete with the top half of the premier league. The whole focus of the Southampton way is for there to be a blueprint in place, followed from the youth teams up, to make the loss of coaching staff or players incidental as someone else will be in place to step in as seamlessly as possible. Player and head coach turnover was expected. Not only were we intending to be a stepping stone for players but for coaching staff too. The Southampton Way blueprint included the general tactic of playing attractive, attacking, possession based football, but you’ve filtered out the rest if that is all you think the Southampton Way is.

Note that RK does not use an example of a good young player coming up from the youth ranks and now breaking into the first team like Josh Sims. Instead, he uses the example of Sadio Mane who used us as a stepping stone. It is clear that to RK and the club see the latter is the Southampton Way and the thing to be proud of.


11.) 21 May 2018
21 May 2018 19:14:44
Sad reality but the matter of fact is we sell our best players because let's face it, when teams like Manchester United or Liverpool come calling then it's a no brainer choosing them over us. Maybe as fans we wear our rose-tinted glasses a bit too tight and forget that the players coming through never grew up supporting the Saints. I think only Targett is the genuine saints fan in the team atm. I do not fault any players for leaving, as football is a short career and it's natural for people to not take a risk on ifs and buts and maybes regarding Southampton reaching the pinnacle of the league and suddenly compete consistently in the champions league while being able to pay benchwarmers 90k a week wages and being a giant global brand. Besides, would anyone really want to keep a player who doesn't want to be here? (Re: VVD) It just makes no sense. There isn't much we can do. Moreover, the fact that we somewhat built a reputation as a selling club is what benefits us at the moment. Up and coming players see us as a ticket to bigger teams and be a better footballer as a result. Say if you are a young talented footballer who isn't the finished product yet and no big clubs are taking a chance on you and your only entry to possibly the most watched league in the world is through a midtable club, would you go to a team who's players seldom go to a big team or a team where they sell players to the biggest teams in the country? I truly believe Mane and VVD to mention the least see us as a stepping stone. This is what makes us a better prospect than say Watford or Stoke. Players who arrive are more determined and motivated to give their all as they consider being here means having better chances to reach their goals and move their career to the next level than other teams. When we hold back players against their wishes, won't potential players lose interest in joining us? Seeing that the ticket to the bigger stage that used to be hand fed at St. mary's itself has now been cut off. Although I might be interpreting this a bit too forward. I have no idea what the southampton way brings in the short term. Plus we sold VVD anyways and he didn't have the best last half season with us. So whatever model we used during the start of season, whether it's a far cry from the southampton way or a misinterpertation of it or an attempted effort to develop it, to me, has failed.