Saints Need To Scotch Transfer Rumours Now ! Saturday, 14th Nov 2015 10:43 With the media winding itself up towards a frenzy in January when the transfer window opens, it is only natural that they should want to link players from Saints to the so called big clubs, Saints need to nip this in the bud. Anyone who has seen an Australian bush fire will tell you how quickly it can spread and how much damage it can do if it is not dealt with right at the outset, it very speedily grows and engulfs all before it. The UK media are like a bush fire when a transfer window starts to near and the one upcoming in January looks to be no different. Already Sadio Mane & Pelle are being linked with Manchester United, with little real substance other than United had looked to use an alleged bid for Mane back in August as a smokescreen to cover their own failure in the transfer market, particularly the way they had failed to land Pedro from Barcelona and lost him to Chelsea. I have said this before but Saints now have to lay down the way they do business not only to the players, but also to the Saints fans and of course other clubs. All should be in no doubt that we will not be brow beaten into selling a player, we should set the parameters of when we will do business, that we will not sell players in a January window unless it is in our interests, not those of another club or the player, but the interests of Southampton Football Club. In the summer again we should make it quite clear that we will only deal up to a certain point, perhaps a week before the start of the season and that after that we will refuse to sell a player. If we did that then it would avoid situations as arose when Spurs unsettled Wanyama, if the players know the parameters they would know that there would be no point in getting uppity when a bid was turned down. But it would also stop a lot of the messing around that takes place, clubs who dealt with us would know there was no point in playing out a charade, a low bid in July, followed by a media campaign to unsettle the player then finally getting semi serious in August, followed by desperation at the end of the window. Our rules would be clear, make an acceptable bid in July, or accept that the deal will not happen. Selling players is always going to be part of our strategy, of course we don't want it in the numbers we have had in the last 18 months, but the strategy will always be about selling at least one player at a big price then bringing in a replacement at a lower price and using the residue of the fee to strengthen the squad in other areas. That has been the case both last season and this, it is a strategy, so we should not fear selling an asset. But the more stories that appear in the media, the more it panics supporters, Saints need to realise this and address it, we all march on is the slogan, so the keep have to realise that their own positive spin is sometimes needed to counteract the mud slinging elsewhere. Sometimes the club statements have been ill advised, brash statements about offering players new contracts or stating they are going nowhere often do nothing other than create a rod for our own back as the months roll on and that new contract is not signed. Supporters do not want idle boasts, what they want is to know the thinking behind the clubs strategy, when they see a Mane to United" headline they want to be able to ignore it knowing that the club is still treading its own path and they need to know when a player is sold that it is because the club have had an offer they can't refuse. Of course there will be blips along the way, but if the strategy is in place then we should have no fear. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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