Saints’ Summer Special: Deal or No Deal

Article by e-Southampton's Samuel Wilkes

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I have been off sick for the four days now. The coughing, headaches and generally gross state of my body I can handle. Watching 24-hour sports news and twitter as a Southampton fan, I can’t.

“Shaw agrees £27m deal”, “Liverpool seal £20m Lallana switch”, “Spurs chase injured Rodriguez” and “Napoli and Arsenal battle for Schneiderlin” are just some of the headlines which have hit the wires only to have been backed up by precisely nothing. Throw in the constant Pochettino to Tottenham (if they can’t get Frank De Boer) rumours and it is enough for me to reach for the cyanide pills instead of the Beechams.

Whether or not Staplewood resembles a ghost town at the end of the summer, this is a big year for everyone at the club.

Katharina Liebherr

The reclusive owner hasn’t exactly been keen to let the world know what she has in store for the club. If she truly wants to be transparent, just tell us what you want to do. No-one will begrudge you leaving if you have no real interest in the club. It would be better to have someone that cares and has less money. If you think Cortese was spending money badly, come out and say so. For god’s sake just say something, we want to know what’s going on and not have to rely on the rumour-mill bingo in the tabloids.

Mauricio Pochettino

MoPo’s stock has risen dramatically since moving to Southampton. Is it time for him to make a move to a “big club” while he is held in such high regard? Or did he really believe in the journey that we hear so much about? Obviously I am biased but Southampton is the perfect club for him at the current moment. The academy is world-class and the facilities are second-to-none. He has more influence at the club than he would be afforded with another team (looking at you Daniel Levy) and he also (KL dependent) has money to spend. If he stays, Pochettino could build a dynasty to rival Arsene Wenger.

The Players

The lower leagues of the world are littered with wrecked dreams of Premier League players who believed their agents’ hype, moved too early or followed the cash. Names like David Bentley, Michael Johnson and John Bostock are favourites in the “where are they now” game. Wilfried Zaha looks dangerously like going down the same path since his move to Old Trafford. When I was 18 and someone offered to treble my wages, I’d love to think I would turn them down to think about the long-term consequences, the people who had helped to give me the chances in my current role and how I could repay them. In reality, even now I would be off quicker than you could say “thanks for everything” and jump into the chromed-out super car bought with my signing-on bonus. If I was feeling particularly sympathetic, I might throw in a Robbie Keane “I’ve always dreamed of playing for <insert club name here> to soften the blow.

So for the players, just take a second and know that grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

The Fans

What do you want from a football club? Success? Good football? Fiscal responsibility? Keeping with tradition? All of the above?

Portsmouth are paying the price for pushing for success but have an FA Cup to show for it. Was it worth it? And what is success? 8th place and the highest ever Premier League points total is an impressive haul but how far can Saints go? Is it time to consolidate and “do a Charlton” – staying mid-table and comfortable? Or do we gamble for bigger things and challenge the big boys? Seems obvious to aim higher but is Champions League football a realistic goal? If a team with the wealth and European experience of Man Utd can’t even make 6th place, how can Southampton compete?

Hull City AFC’s owner tried to change their name to Hull Tigers to make them more marketable and Bond-villain Vincent Tan changed Cardiff’s colours to make them luckier. Both look to have failed but as a fan, would you trade something of the club’s history to make it into Europe?

Whatever happened to the good old days of fighting off relegation each year? Becoming successful is stressing me out.

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