Our new contributor Ethan Evans asks whether Is a change in transfer strategy needed for Saints to progress ?
It is widely known that Southampton are considered as being ‘a selling club’ with the Saints continuously selling key stars summer after summer. After a while, this strategy seems to thoroughly anger the saints faithful with many on numerous social media outlets deliberating their sheer discontent at not just the transfer strategy, but also towards members in the Southampton hierarchy such as Les Reed.
There is no doubt that this strategy has been successful with the Saints as of recent years, showing signs of progression and improvement season after season. But one could argue that this only works because of the stellar recruitment policy (i.e ‘The Black Box’) that helps Southampton replace key stars, usually on the cheap.
Although, as fans we want to see our club continue this ‘rise up the ranks’ and progress even further, but the transfer strategy adopted by the club at this moment is a barrier to further progression.
Is a change needed?
Yes
One could argue that a change is needed and this links with the potential takeover of Southampton by Chinese business Lander Sports.It has been rumoured that Saints are close to being taken over by a Chinese investor which could only mean one thing. Money.
This will bring change to the way the club operates, with Southampton known for adopting the method of buying prospects instead of the finished article. This foreseen takeover will increase the financial standing of the club giving us a better chance to progress by buying players that are at the pinnacle of their careers. Football, these days, is all about the big bucks and in order to compete with the ‘big boys’, which is what all saints fans adhere to, we need to simply spend more.
Moreover, change is needed because it could result in what all fans want at Southampton, and that is for them to keep star players !
A change in strategy could accomplish this as stars that have left in the past are known to have stated that the club do not show enough ambition. One common critique and problem with Saints and their star players is that the bigger clubs can offer more money.
There are different ways that we can show ambition to keep our star players by changing strategy, one simple way is to, as stated previously, purchase finished articles that can progress the club. We can also show ambition by paying our best players the best wages to ensure they stay. So to sum up, a change in ambition through altering our strategy could keep our greatest players and help with taking our club forward.
To conclude, we all know that Southampton are one of, if even the best run club in England. We continuously progress as a club through the heartaches and difficulties of losing our best managers and players. Although, that way of doing things has a ceiling, and we have reached that. Our progression has halted, and in order to re-start the engine, a change in how the club operates is required to ensure that this club achieves its fullest potential. Not at all is this hypothetical, there are even examples today where we are seeing slight alterations with Saints standing up to Liverpool regarding VVD.
Change is desired, and it is coming.