Chambers of Horrors: Calum joins the Southampton exodus

Article by e-Southampton's Samuel Wilkes

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Another week and yet another player from Saints best ever Premier League season has decided to leave.

While a lot of fans will question the intent of the board, £16 million for your back-up right back is too much to turn down by any team of our size.

Yes, that’s right, we are not a Champions League club. We’re not even a Europa League club but we’re aiming high. Teams like Everton, Spurs and Liverpool have spent years and millions of pounds trying to break into the top four.

Cashing in on talent or in some cases greed is unfortunately one of the facts of life for the teams outside the super-rich.

There is simply no way that we match the £100,000 that Manchester United are paying Luke Shaw. Not only would it have crippled the club financially but it would have set a precedent for other players.

We have to follow the example that Arsenal have previously set by not allowing one player to break the wage structure for the club. Unfortunately that means that players will leave.

The club’s rise from the ashes has been meteoric. Sadly and not at all glamorously, what needs to happen is a period of consolidation and then a further push to reach European competitions with a cup run thrown in.

We have an outstanding academy, a fantastic training set-up and our own 32 thousand-seater stadium. With the sales from the summer, we are now also debt free. All the building blocks are in place and we now need to be patient with the manager and board and keep supporting the team.

Fans also need to remember that loyalty is non-existent in modern football.

Realistically, football is now just another profession and players are making money, however inflated, to last them for the rest of their lives. It only takes one injury and the massive wages stop.

If someone walked into your work tomorrow and said they would triple or quadruple your wages, would you bear any loyalty to your current employer? No matter how nice my colleagues are, no matter how much I like my walk to work and no matter how matter how much my boss tells me I’m great, I am off.

As a club, we have been blessed by one of the most loyal and magical players in Matthew Le Tissier. I think he may have spoiled us.

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