Southampton Rumours Archive July 04 2014

04 Jul 2014 18:28:11
As I already posted a week ago, something quite drastic has happened within the club over the last 2 weeks. I am hearing that Koeman will not tolerate any player thinking they are more important than another and he will let them leave rather than destabilise the squad. Lovren wants to go so he probably will, apparently the price of some players we have enquired about has doubled due to our strong financial position. We may start the season with a reduced sized squad and have to wait until transfer deadline day to bolster the squad when selling clubs start to get more realistic on their players valuations.

04 Jul 2014 19:41:30
So till August 31st I'll take my boots with me.

I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you Sherborne, you'll only be 3rd choice, it is rumoured the Kingsland End has a lad with some serious pace. Also I don't mean to boast or anything but the bloke who sits 3 rows in front of me has the vocabulary of a professional footballer so would probably be ahead in the pecking order too.

04 Jul 2014 13:59:54
Apparently we have bid for Ron Vlaar of Aston Villa. I don't know how true this is but if true, what do you guys make of this?

Good strong player probably kept Villa up last year. Too many rumours though. I wish SFC would put out an official comment to the fans that they are in the process of negotiating contracts for new players. I think us as fans need to feel more confident than we do now. We should be kept informed, it is our support for the manager and team that should be paramount if they want to keep those turnstiles clicking come August.

Can't see it happening. Maybe it's the Dutch connection? Surely not, we need to be looking at better quality players.

04 Jul 2014 11:40:18
Dont know whether this is true, but heard that West Ham have put in a £7m bid for Ward-Prowse?

If it is true I am doubting that is a deal which would happen. We are unlikely to want to sell such an important youngster and he's unlikely to force through a move to a club which isn't really bigger than ours. West Ham would probably have to more than double that bid before Southampton even bothered to start negotiating on it.

04 Jul 2014 11:47:35
I hope not.

It's ridiculous isn't it? I also hear that MoPo only stayed in January as he didn't have another job offer, was pretty absent at the training ground towards the end of the season and was helping set the deals up for our three departees, as early as March.
Koeman has a lot of fires to put out! There's only so much a striped shirt & LED floodlights can do to raise spirits.

Of course he might want to force a transfer, if the wages and signing on fee are attractive.

Money matters.

I don't think he will move but let's not be naive. Lallana, Shaw, lambert, Schneiderlin, Lovren all gone or linked with moves.

That might affect a players intentions. Equally, the new manager might not want him. Unlikely but possible

He can't talk to them about wages and signing fee until an offer is accepted Dave. If he did that would be tapping up and quite a serious offence by West Ham.

04 Jul 2014 15:52:42
if the rumour is right selling ward prowse to west ham
saints are in more trouble than first thought
forestsaint

Thanks jof, pretty worried as I have understood for a while we would be looking more at youth but if we are selling the future star names before we have reaped some good performances over a sustained period of time it does not sit well.

Really don't think he'll go, but I heard they did make a bid.

Saint Phil is that a joke that you can't talk wages etc until a fee has been agreed? It's common practice for such talks to talk place before a bid goes in to know if the "buying club" are wasting there time or not. Quite often length of contract wages and so on agreed before bid put in let alone accepted. Now your right this can be classed as "tapping" up but well we live in the real world now. Sorting out the actual transfer figure is pretty much the last stage.

Where do you here all this joff33?

Picky: absolutely right. And we must not forget the role of the agent, who can clearly negotiate wages etc with any club

04 Jul 2014 09:37:10
Osvaldo expected to have a medical at Inter Milan and complete a move in the next few days - be nice to draw a line under this situation and use the money to invest elsewere - would like to see the club start to expand the ground - show a staement of intent, increase revenue and attract better players to the club

We need to invest in the team before we start considering expansion. Our average attendance rose by nearly 10,000 when we were promoted to the Prem, which shows how fickle some of our fans are. If we have a 50,000 seater stadium (which is what it would be with the expansion of the Chapel, Northam and Kingsland) but only a half-decent team, it'll be half-full every game. I'd obviously be there, but I know plenty who wouldn't! We need players and a period of stability before we start considering anything else.

Nice to see Jay Rod pictured in the new kit photos does that mean we have at least one player left that's worth anything?

04 Jul 2014 11:18:48
The gasometers next to the ground could be demolished shortly giving room to expand. We need to progress but responsibly and within our budget. Someone posted to the Echo about just how horrendously in debt the big clubs are. If the Sky revenue dwindles or dries up they could be in serous trouble. I remember how close some league clubs came to folding when the ITV deal went tits up.