Southampton Rumours Archive January 27 2014

27 Jan 2014 20:13:21
Saints have flown in a striker from Udinese Calcio tonight & he will be at the game tomorrow

Its doing my head in trying to find out who it is, can't find anything on twitter etc. But I know they have flown someone in for sure.

Can any shed any light?

Assuming what you're saying is true, that could be Pereyra or Muriel I guess. Or maybe 19 year old uruguayan Lopez? I hope what you are saying is true. Although many are saying we won't sign anyone (probably true) it's more fun & exciting to believe rumours

Its Luis Muriel. Loan swap with Osvaldo both with perm options at end of season.

Udinese are hoping Di Natale stays on for another season but they are not sure if he will. He is 30 but a class goalscorer with a lethal eye at goal, according to the club website. Maybe a good loan signing until the summer.

Wouldn't mind it being Muriel or Nicolas Lopez both Lacey and young

Fat saint

Muriel is regarded as an exciting prospect so would he come to us?

This was an exciting post to see! Luis Muriel would be a great investment if it's him, valued at 12 million so a swap of some sort with Osvaldo would be fair. Di Natale is a fantastic goal scorer but doesn't provide the same investment for the long term. Nicolas Lopez only signed for them from Roma back in the summer and the fact that he's only 20 makes him the most unlikely as we have our own youngsters on the fringes of the first team.

Love it to be Di natale quality player. but no hope

Why does everything currently have to involve a loan swap with osvaldo?

I think we should keep Ossie, he's quality and just needs more time to adjust to the premier league. When he learns the lingo there won't be any training ground incidents either keep the faith, even though it may seem like blind faith at times.

st Kermit

Lots of Twitter chatter about Luis Muriel. Not that that really counts for much. He does look good though. Of the players to score more than 10 goals in the top 5 European leagues last season he had the 3rd best conversion rate in front of goal (61%). Lots of numbers to digest there!

^this, considering he's still getting used to a notoriously hard league for attacking players/learning the language/learning the team a goal every 3 games isn't a bad return, if someone offered you a season where Lambert scored an average of once every 3 games most fans would jump at that, give Dani the time to settle and he'll be great.

To everyone saying the incident with Fonte was a way to engineer a way out of the club; that's a pretty stupid way to do it don't you think? It could easily backfire and put any interested club off

Nobody knows what went on, maybe it is all Dani's fault, maybe Fonte was in the wrong and fully deserved a headbutt, maybe (and this is the most likely I think) they're BOTH in the wrong.

Lets give it a rest with the Osvaldo hate, yes Fonte is popular, but that doesn't stop him being in the wrong too. It's not your problem to worry about what happens on the training ground, leave that to the club and as far as i'm concerned if everything is alright between the players then Dani fully deserves a 2nd chance, just like everyone else

Are you Dani Osvaldo? ^

No point having him here if the other team members don't get on with him. He will just rock the boat and unsettle the whole team if they are forced to train with him. If all the other players forgive him and the air is cleared then maybe that will be ok. until the next incident!

Psycho Saint

In relation to Di Natale. 'Di Natale told ssn Italia he would retire at the end of the 2013–14 season. "I have already decided, in June I'll stop playing football. It's already established. "

You haven't read his statement of how the british game is to physical and how he's always dreamed of playing for boca juniors adios is what I say

Boca don't want osvaldo right now

If Udinese want to swap Muriel for Osvaldo, they are saying Osvaldo is just as good or better than Muriel? If Osvaldo has been rubbish this season, what does that make Muriel?

Psycho Saint

Muriel can also play similar role to Ramirez so logical to go for him

I'm not sure anyone wants Osvaldo at the moment never mind Boca Juniors.
His behaviour has cocked a lot of things up at the club, so has Cortese's departure.
Lambert was going to West Ham but Saints backed out of the deal when Osvaldo kicked off.
Also one of the midfield regulars had a deal in place to go to another premiership club but KL decided against it only after Cortese left.

'Who knows maybe jose deserved the headbutt" WHAT!

I am sorry ed do not put this out there if you choose but that has to be and I am struggling to be polite here the most ignorant thing I have read on this site on which most people make constructive comments and observations with a bit of fun thrown in now and again.

The guy has a track record of hitting team mates and opponents and the comments from our senior pros make clear who was at fault.

How can you defend an assault on a team mate in that way by saying the victim deserved it. In any normal workplace the individual would be sacked and I would guess the police would be involved by now.

He has injured a team mate and of course made an attack on the team unity that MP has built. He has Left us without his expensive talents up front and made us look foolish in the media.

Since when has Jose done that.

Vocal don't want osvaldo ATM. The whole of Italy does

Yes, Osvaldo has slapped a teammate before, but, as I'm more inclined to believe what Totti and numerous other players who saw what happened said about it rather than rumour and paper talk, we'll go along with Lamela being incredibly disrespectful to Dani and fully deserving what was an open handed slap. So yes, as you nor I know what happened, there is a possibility that Jose deserved it too. To just blindly slate Dani over this is the most ignorant thing i. e you, not someone who's staying impartial and looking at things from all angles, i. e me.

He has not injured a team mate, Fonte has a black eye, hardly an injury, I bet Fonte's inadvertent headbutt on Lovren did more damage.

As for the team spirit? No one has come out and said they wouldn't welcome Dani back, no one, so if they're willing to get over it and act professionally around each other, they're footballers they don't need to be best friends ffs, then there's no problem.

It isn't Dani who's made us look foolish to the media, it was the clubs decision to make this public, they are the ones who have made it public knowledge, not Dani, not Fonte.

So again, let's drop the blind, ignorant hate for Dani whilst there's the possibility of Fonte being wrong too.

Actually, people have come out and said that he isn't welcome. See Kelvin Davis' post Yeovil match comments. See Luke Shaw twitter comments.

You clearly aren't that much of a fan if you haven't seen these.

The players are well within their rights to not welcome him back. They took him in with open arms and tried to help him settle and he hasn't.

Go and sit back in your Itchen Stand Seat

Blind, ignorant, hate for Dani. Bonkers stuff. I love my club and happen to think that Dani O as a well payed professional footballer should be ashamed of what he did.

Listen. can you hear the apology to us the fans, no, thought not.

Brilliant last night well played saints and well done Gallagher who as a teenager looks more mature than our suspended star striker. On the evidence of last night looks a better bet than Dani the misunderstood to keep his place in the team.

Davis said that anyone not buying into the Southampton Way and team spirit wasn't welcome. It was a generic comment, and while obviously talking about Osvaldo, was referring to anyone.

All that said, he didn't say that he wouldn't be welcomed back either, if he made a point of apologizing.

The club are punishing Osvaldo and said "fonte has no case to answer". at least 2 players have come out and said that osvaldo is utterly in the wrong and they do not want to train with him again. Yet some helmet (Mr Ignorant let's call him) is making out that Fonte deserved it and was in the wrong for tackling him in training. What a person Mr Ignorant is.

You have to do something pretty damn serious to deserve a headbutt, broken nose and a black eye.

Or is "Mr Ignorant" the kind of guy that decides a woman deserves to get a raped because she's also in "the wrong" just by looking pretty?

Honestly, blindly defending assault. what a chump.

Lost

Blind, ignorant, hate for Dani. Bonkers stuff. I love my club and happen to think that Dani O as a well payed professional footballer should be ashamed of what he did. - YOU DON'T KNOW, FULLY, WHAT'S HAPPENED, UNTIL EVERYTHING IS IN THE OPEN TO BLAME IT ALL ON DANI IS BLIND AND IGNORANT!

Listen. can you hear the apology to us the fans, no, thought not. - WHY SHOULD HE APOLOGISE TO YOU? IT'S NOT YOU HE'S DONE ANYTHING TO, DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T GO, SIMPLE, EH?

Brilliant last night well played saints and well done Gallagher who as a teenager looks more mature than our suspended star striker. On the evidence of last night looks a better bet than Dani the misunderstood to keep his place in the team. IF YOU THINK AN 18 YEAR OLD IS A BETTER FOOTBALLER THAN SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN PROVEN FOR MANY YEARS AT THE VERY TOP LEVEL THEN YOU'RE PRETTY STUPID FRANKLY. GALLAGHER DONE WELL LAST NIGHT, BUT THERE'S NO WAY HE'S BETTER THAN OSVALDO

Lol Gallagher missed a complete sitter last night and everyone's like ahh nahh it doesn't matter. If that had been Dani you lot would have been calling for his head. you're f'king hypocritical, the lot of you

The difference being one is a proven international striker, and the other is an 18 yr old kid making his full debut.

Gallagher caused the Arsenal defence a lot of problems last night, was sharp, and hits his shots with venom.

If he continues to play like that every game, Goals will come for him.

He did miss a glorious chance, but what is the point of slating an academy prospect making his starting debut?

Yes if it had been Dani, everyone would have been screaming, but don't knock the kids

Firstly, the club have made no statement regarding what happened apart from the admission it happened and that Dani was suspended. AND Fonte's part in the incident is being investigated.

'Yet some helmet (Mr Ignorant let's call him) is making out that Fonte deserved it and was in the wrong for tackling him in training. What a person Mr Ignorant is. '
I'm the helmet? for staying impartial? Yeah, okay then. You know exactly what happened that day then? No? So it IS possible Fonte is in the wrong too then? Oh but he can't be because I like him wah wah wah, right? you're the person.

'You have to do something pretty damn serious to deserve a headbutt, broken nose and a black eye. '
Fonte DOES NOT have a broken nose, did he play with a mask on last night? No. Torres broke his nose and played with a mask for a good month after. His nose is not broken. Maybe he did though deserve it though, maybe what's been said about Fonte calling Dani's pregnant girlfriend a whore are true? Do you even stop to think that it might not be all Dani's fault? Certainly he is to blame for some, but it's possible Fonte did something to deserve it. But again, i'm the ignorant one for looking at things from both sides, right?

'Or is "Mr Ignorant" the kind of guy that decides a woman deserves to get a raped because she's also in "the wrong" just by looking pretty?'
Not at all, but I certainly would stick up for my girlfriend if someone decided to call her a whore. Are you saying you wouldn't? Mr big nuts.

'Honestly, blindly defending assault. what a chump. '
Honestly, blaming someone fully despite not having all the facts. What a chump.

Just seems hypocritical to knock one for something and not knock another for it

Someone really loves Osvaldo, he's clearly a mentalist. Open your eyes mate

It's not that I love osvaldo, it's that I think it's stupid to fully put the blame on him despite there being no evidence either way

Blimey the whole first team training together when the incident occurred between Dani and jose. Dani suspended and quietly criticised for his behaviour. Some rumours saying that he will not play for us again.

Jose plays against Arsenal, scores, puts in a good shift against the team at the top of the league. He has not been fined and any investigation would have taken minutes as all the players were present.

I rest my case

27 Jan 2014 17:45:19
Could it be us signing Ince on loan? I think it could be with it's timing and Poch saying we may look into the market in the next few days

Highly doubt it

Wouldn't want him, his ego far out weighs his talent

If we signed tom ince his old man would
come with him
saints don't need any baggage like him

Sign Schmiechel, if his dad comes he could be Kaspers number 2 and beat the c**p out of any misbehaving strikers just for the fun of it

27 Jan 2014 14:22:11
Madest Rumours of the window hitting the mainstream. Osvaldo to West Ham, Lambert to Arsenal!

LOL

West ham can't afford osvaldo
but want him on loan
i hope he goes to italy or spain
he is big trouble so get shot of him
before friday and get someone else in

Hopefully he goes to West Ham and fills in Kevin Nolan.

Think he is going to Italy but does anyone know who we could to partner lambert?

West ham can't take ossie on loan as they are at their 25 man squad limit

Would eat juvs hand off for a swap deal for vucunic

Vucunic is s****, I would rather keep osvaldo than sign him, he can't even make the juve squad!

Vučinič can't make the Juventus squad?! Just because he isn't started over Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente or Giovinvo in a one forward formation doesn't make him a bad player!

^ but, if we're really thinking we're going to challenge for europe and the league aren't the three you've mentioned the players that we should be looking at?

27 Jan 2014 09:03:22
Luke Shaw overrated
Is it just me or is anyone else with me on this one. I think Luke Shaw is not as good as everyone is making out, when he is bad he is woeful, he just does not seem committed at times, he dangles his leg ( like he did last week when when Adam Johnson scored)
If we are offered £25/30m then we have to take it.
Tommo

It just you, he will be Englands LB for years to come and has already played 50 games for Saints at just over 18 years old.
He is also better than Bale at the same age, I think one day you will see it.
I also think Clyne will go to Brazil.

Better than Bale was. really, Bale was skinning people from day one of his career at Saints and scoring frequently. Bale was frighteningly good at that age. I am not saying Shaw is a bad player but people get brainwashed into believing certain things
Tommo

Shaw is so much better then bale was at that age as a all rounded player but bale going forward set pieces etc was on another level I remember a certain away day at hull bale putting the ball down we all new it was in before he struck it

Shaw is very good but Bale at 17/18 was special. Really agree with the above that going forward Gareth going forward had an edge on Luke and of course his set piece ability sets him apart as a player.

Will never forget or forgive billy davis and his derby side in the play offs. They targeted Gareth from the kick off as they knew he was our match winner. Took it turns to kick him until after half an hour he left the field injured.

Thank god he never became our manager.

Bale was injuried in the play offs mate lol I'll never forget them games surmans goal Howard's headers starting rasaik on bench in second game Leon best own goal and why he was aloud to take the first pen I'll never no but bale defo didn't play so you can let the grudge go against billy Davies lol jones was also injuried

I'll never forget those games as well. I was working in a casino in Uganda! Watched the game in a bar in Kampala with no sound on the T. V. When Rasiak scored I was going mental. Didn't realise away goals didn't count! Viafara pribably had his only good game for us that night.

Tommo - is Shaw over-rated? In a word no. This is someone that is playing his second season of first team football, on the verge of the full England squad at the age of just 18 - an age where most kids are either playing for the U21's.

Shaw's theoretical price isn't based on what you are getting now, but also his future potential. You'd be getting a player that is extremely competent, but comes from the same stable as Bale, Wallcott, Chaimberlin etc. He has the potential to go on to become one of the worlds very best players.

Luke is a very good prospect, and if you compare him with Bale for example, he is a far superior defender, but seems to have less going forward.

This is a kid who can continue to improve for the next eight to ten years. If he was 28 and playing at the same standard I think most Premier clubs would be quite happy to have him, but he is someone that is still learning his game.

Luke shaw is an outstanding lb but I believe callum chamber could be just as good as shaw

It's really beginning to annoy me when people are saying how much better Bale was at 18 than Luke Shaw. "he scored more goals", "he beat people for fun".
IS EVERYONE FORGETTING WE WERE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP THEN! IMAGINE HOW GOOD LUKE WOULD LOOK IN THAT DIVISION!

Shaw is better by miles.

Bale didn't hit his best at Southampton. Shaw is a far better left back than Bale was or ever would be. Bale may have more in attacking capability but Shaw can actually get stuck in with a tackle.

At this age, Shaw has far more promise than Bale did. Shaw is managing to compete with the best around in the Premier League week in and week out where as Bale was only competing against the old Championship with a considerably lower standard to beat as well. The leagues have only gotten tougher over the years and if you recall back to last season when we played Spurs, Shaw had Bale out of the game for a very large proportion of it so much so that Bale switched wings to try to get an easier challenge.

Some people seem to forget that Shaw is playing in the Prem - Bale was playing in the Championship.

Also regarding Chambers, I rate him extremely highly and believe he'll go on to be far better than Clyne. I also love the way he can drift past players, rather than the pure pace of Clyne.

As for JWP, he could also go on to be a top class player. One advantage that both Shaw and Chambers have is their build. JWP still has a lot of growing to do, but technically is far superior to our other kids. While he hasn't set the world alight, I think sometimes fans forget him.

The whole discussion is somewhat irrelevant though. Our kids are showing great potential, but so much of their development is down to them keeping on the straight an narrow, and their desire to become a great footballer.

Shaw is a top lb. but at times the area he could improve is attacking and his final delivery. When he gets that sorted he will be the best lb in the premier league.
As for bale, he was better going forward. Should have played midfield more for saints. Hard to compare them really. But I do think £30 mil is slot for any left back, but times are changing and £30 mil isn't as much as it used to be.

It is of course only my opinion. now if all you lot saying Shaw is going to be better than Bale. I really hope Saints get a bloody good sell clause because Shaw will be the best player in the world soon based on Bales career

The poster who wrote "its really beginning to annoy me now" Just look where Bale is now. if Shaw has more potential than Bale the the Ballon d'Or is coming his way Fella

Tommo TWS

I believe if JWP stays for a good while, he'll be captain eventually, technically brilliant and has his head screwed on impossibly tight!

Shaw won't win the Ballon d'Or as he is English and at an English club. FIFA are heavily anti-England at the moment hence the supposed 'world team of the year' having no Premier League or English influence in it. Bale was only in it as he had moved to Real Madrid. If he remained at Spurs they would've added in literally anyone else from Spain. It's all down to the fact we tried to force Blatter out a few years back.

MoPo said: "Southampton has no interest in selling Shaw - not at this moment or in the summer. We have no intention. "

Pochettino also refused to rule out making any signings before the window closes on Friday night.

He added: "We are assessing the balance of the squad. Maybe we will be able to do something in the next few days. "

Tommo TWS.

Bale is not even close to winning the Ballon D'or. Not in the top 5 players in the world and only on the shortlist after his move to Spain. Shaw can be better than Bale, definately, but neither will ever come close to winning the Ballon D'or

What's all this Golden Ball stuff anyway?
We won the JPT!

Shaw is excelling regularly in the prem whilst Bale was in the championship

Except it won't be £25 or £30 million in one lump sum.

"Up front" means paid over a period of months.

Oxlade-Chamberlain's fee was paid over 5 years. Rules have changed now to limit the duration.

But nearly every single transfer fee is paid in installments

Really good point made above by two people that bale was in fact playing in the championship where as shaw is playing in the premiership.

I am sure as well that bale was kicked off the park in the first leg against Derby in the playoffs

Imo the only thing (apart from the odd bit of inexperience) that's holding Shaw back at the moment is his lack of a right foot, he switches everything on to his left foot when he could probably play a better (and earlier) ball by hitting it with his right. That's the only negative I can fairly say about him

Wouldnt want to see him go but 30m is more than he is worth. He is not Bale (who was also overpriced ) but his value has been effected by that. If we where seriously offered 21m + Bertrum we should have been snapping off their hand of as the 21m would get a good keeper, a striker and another left back. So we would have two decent left backs, (not one with great talent and Danny Fox) and two decent keepers.

Having said that in reality we would probably have been offered about 18m + add-ons that might (MIGHT) make 25m

Ashely cole has already stated that he feels that his World Cup place is more in jeopardy from shaw than baines!

27 Jan 2014 02:09:50
Apparently we have bid 6million plus Arthur Boruc for Celtic GK Fraser Forster. Fraser is looking to break into the England squad for Brazil and Celtic refused to sell unless Boruc was part of the Deal. £6 Million is great fee for a International quality GK

Really don't want to lose boruc. If we were to get another keeper, we would still keep boruc.

Forster is a good keeper but I'm not sure how he would cope in the prem

Here I was thinking Boruc was an "International quality" keeper.

Forster ain't all that boruc is better focus on the areas we need to strengthen lik a new manager come summer!

Why did Boruc leave Celtic a few years back?

Boruc on his day there's not many better IMO and still relatively young for a keeper to be fair what his he now 34/35 could have 4 /5 season easy at top level maybe more left in him he may make the odd mistake and might be abit of a nutter but he's massive to us best keeper for me at saints since neimi

6million and Boruc for a keeper who is not as good? I have seen Forster play and as a fully qualified GK coach I can tell you a few things he does wrong which Boruc doesn't.

1) Positioning, Forster has tendency to set about a foot to the right of where he should be making a large proportion of the saves he makes look more spectacular when they should be simple. Basically, he gets his bearings wrong.

2) His stance when he does set is too passive. It reduces the chance of him getting to the ball as he doesn't in practice narrow the angle enough. This one really showed in his England Debut in the friendly where we lost 2-0 to Chille. The top keepers have very positive stances like Boruc which enable them to make the 'outstanding' saves from very close range in what seems to be 'impossible' circumstances. I have not seen any Premiership keeper with a stance as passive as Forster's for a while.

3) He also appeared to lack the confidence to command his area, I have seen limited improvement in this for Celtic but he still seems poor. He doesn't get his voice heard enough when communicating with his defenders.

These are the sorts of things he can get away with in a Celtic shirt because his opposition is not that tough and he has a very solid back four in front of him (compared the the attacks they face anyway). Sure he has had a few games where things have just worked for him but I haven't seen enough to convince me he is Premiership standard yet.

For the record, I am not saying this to annoy Celtic fans, I do rate him as a keeper. I just think the hype is too much for him at present. He could go on to be a top keeper but it still will take several years yet and he has a lot to work on to get there.

{Ed001's Note - what about his flapping at crosses? That for me is his major weakness.}

I count that as part of the third reason Ed. Lacking confidence in command of his area. If he was a confident player he would be able to come out to take crosses properly rather than just 'flap' at them.

{Ed001's Note - no worries, I was just wondering.}

That's a great post. I used to play in goal and I could have done with the last poster helping me! Not that I was any good to be fair.

With me, and I suspect a lot of goalies, it's all about confidence. If I made a mistake in the first minute, especially if it resulted in a goal, I generally be not much cop for the rest of the game, if I did a great save - I was set up. Mind you I was 'very' amateur.

I'd be interested in what the 'goalkeeper trainer' poster thinks about Gazza for Saints. I'm not sure he'll ever make a Premiership goalie so I think Saints need to look for another back-up goalie.

Anyway always interested in others opinions - especially as mine as so often wrong!

You don't need the above poster to tell you gazza is shocking do you? Lol

As I said I am interested in others opinions.

Who would you prefer Ed? Boruc or Forster, I'd probably choose Forster, but if we sell Boruc we need to rely on Gazza being back up as Kelv will probably be retiring soon

{Ed001's Note - I wasn't a big fan of Boruc, but, apart from a few little slip ups, he has been excellent for Southampton. Forster I really don't rate at all, I wouldn't even consider him if I was in charge of a League 2 side. So Boruc for me.}