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Saints The Victims Of Lallana Scaremongers Friday, 9th May 2014 09:15
Last night Sky Sports went big on their story that Liverpool want to land Adam Lallana before the start of the World Cup, but does this story have any substance or is it once again Saints being targeted by someone with an agenda. [ Edit ]
When Saints took the unprecedented step to release a statement a week ago regarding the media speculation about their players allegedly signing for other clubs, it revealed along with some cryptic comments in the Daily Echo that the club itself feel that someone somewhere, possibly an ex player is leaking stuff to the media in a vendetta designed to de stabilise the Club.
Certainly media coverage has not been in line with the actual importance of the stories in the grand scheme of things, whoever has the agenda against the club has certainly been using contacts in the media who for one reason or another are happy to put their reputations on the line in order to create an illusion that the club is on the brink of meltdown and that most of the squad is desperate to leave.
Skip advertisement Rumours in the press about transfers are commonplace, the big problem for the media though is that apart from two small windows, no actual business can be done, so they have to spend the rest of the time speculating.
Most of this speculation is just that, but occasionally an editor will choose to run a story with high prominence because the author of it will vouch that his sources are true, that author will of course be putting his reputation on the line and if they prove to be false will not make his editor a happy bunny with him.
So recent rumours about the club are being published with the editor being convinced that they are coming from a good source, not that they are true, that is a different matter, just that it is from a good source.
So if we look at Last nights Sky Sports headlines that Adam Lallana is going to go to Liverpool before the World Cup, ky would have had to be convinced that the "source" is very good, that means either someone inside Liverpool or Saints or someone very close, this would not just be some local journo or the mate of a mate so to speak.
If we try and look at what was claimed last night very carefully you have to say that firstly Liverpool are in the biggest week of not just their Premier League season but aguably the last two decades, is their priority new signings or is it preparing a team that could still win the league on Sunday, I would argue that ruimours like this are the last thing Liverpool need, they want to remain focused, they do not want their own players feeling threatened by rumoured new arrivals, that being the case almost certainly the source is not from inside Anfield, whilst clubs like to use the media to push transfers through, this week at least it is just not on Liverpool's agenda.
So whose agenda is it ? well certainly not Saints, so it is coming from someone close or formerly close to either club !
Someone close to Liverpool ? I would say that if so certainly not someone with the clubs best interest at heart, all Brendan Rodgers wants this week is to stay focused , I cannot see it coming from there. Indeed as Liverpool proved themselves last summer, trying to stir up a transfer in the press only hardens the resolve of the club whose player is being targeted, whilst Liverpool are certainly not sqeaky clean, they are quite ethical and know that a player on a long contract can be held to it, after all that is what they did with Luis Suarez.
Indeed both Liverpool and the players mentioned in the rumours themselves will want distractions.
So that leaves someone close or formerly close to Saints, with the last game of the season coming up, someone wanted to create an atmosphere around the club before Sunday's game.
So my conclusion is this is nothing more than the vendetta being waged against Saints as hinted at by recent statements from the club as well as in the Daily Echo and if that is the case it is having its desired effect judging by the meltdown on some Saints related social media sites last night when Sky ran the story.
Perhaps Saints will lose a player or two in the summer, but that is the "Southampton Way" since the days of Ted Bates our success has been on bringing players through the ranks and when the time is right selling them for a high price whilst improving the team as a whole in the meantime, look at our history that is what we have done, if Lallana or Shaw go, its nothing we have seen before and nothing that we can't come through stronger than we were before, it is a team game, its about the whole team not individuals.
So we Saints fans need to sit tight and ask ourselves who would be spreading these rumours and why ?
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I have a different theory which in my view is far more likely. Saints this year have shocked the premiership. Wherever they have gone they have dominated possession on the field and had they had more options up front could have done some serious damage. Put this right in the summer , get a couple of lethal forwards in, and Sainta could really go places next season. In short they have put the wind up the hacks of the press who these days are often unpaid would be journos or bit part football writers trying to earn a crust to supplement their income while at university. Needless to say they all have an agenda as they are for the most part supporters of the big five clubs and are seriously worried about the impact that Saints will have on the premiership if they hold on to their best players instead of selling them. Well woudnt you be? And its clear that Saints have others coming through fast like Hesketh and Sims Targett and Reed to name but four. There are others, So dont go looking for some conspiracy theory, this is no more than the wishful thinking of the die hard supporters of other clubs who are seeking to destabilize Southampton by urging their best players to leave.They know, as I am sure you do, that keeping Shaw and Lallana is essential if they are to attract the league s best talent to the club. it really is that simple.
Montecristo's bang on the Saints stock is sky high look at the Enger-land call ups this season and if spider gets a call it becomes a very happy ship, no need to break the bank just players that fit, Kasper schmicheal on a free for example, or even if you took all Saints probs last season and said write, we buy Marshall and caulker from our welsh friends Ever banega from Valencia to compete with 'gas' Javier Hernandez from 'man spew'and promote a couple of babies from the u21s then as Montecristo says, exciting times coyr.
Southampton way doesn't work, if i've done my maths right our average premier league position is 14th, one FA Cup final a fast exit from Europe, relegation and administration, not great is it?
Of course there will be a campaign to destabilise us, we are a threat in a game worth hundreds of million of pounds, usually taken care of by removing our best player for stupid money, but now we have several very very good players so new tactics need to be employed in a game completely bereft of morality.
Unfortunately football is riddled by corruption at all levels whether it be FIFA and the World Cup, UEFA and the 'big clubs' bastardisation of fair play rules (City and the others should not be allowed to compete if they have broken the rules and debt should be included in the reckonings) and certain sections of the medias vendetta against teams that try to break the mould and develop British talent. Surely it must be actionable to attempt to unsettle players under contract by printing unsubstantiated garbage.
I salute the general! The so-called "Southampton Way" is not a formula for success.
But to be realistic, it's the same "Way" for all the other teams outside the "Big Six". Until there is a salary cap, they will just use their money to grab up players and in doing so, keep the smaller teams from growing and competing with them.
The press have the same attitude, anytime they see a good player on a team not in the Big Six, they think "He'll never stay there, they're too small a club. Where would we like to see him wind up?"
And remember, a rumour doesn't have to be true for the press to report it. It's just "a rumour"
If all rumours did come true, I'd like to start one right now about me and Elizabeth Hurley.......
I'm with montecristo as I don't think there is a rogue out there trying to get us. I'm also with Nick in that I don't believe other clubs are operating in an underhand manner. It is what the "press" do to get attention. We just happen to have most of the prize assets that they want to see playing elsewhere and not at an unfashionable provincial club. Talk to any Everton fan and they feel the same as us. The press are gunning for their manager and best players to go to a "bigger" club. Let's take it as a compliment of the talent we have, not get worked up about it, and just enjoy the football. As supporters we cannot influence these events but we can show our support for the whole club on and off the field of play.
I happen to be in the legal profession although not in the United Kingdom, but nevertheless it intrigues me that Southampton dont seem to be overly concerned with the sheer volume of disinformation that is being put out on the internet and Fleet street suggesting that either the club has no option but to sell its best players because of the FFP rules, or that we a selling club and therefore have to sell our best players its just a case of who to.The fact that they are all under contract seems to make no difference. While fans should not get too distressed over this, I also think that because much of the of the media attention seems focused on Southampton football club because of the sensational way they have been feeding through young players to their first team, it has also come to the point where perhaps the club should be thinking about consulting their lawyers and making an example of one or other of these sites or newspapers. What is being published is disinformation, with complete disrespect for the subject, so as to cause distress and nuisance. I cannot remember another time when a club had to suffer such adverse comment to the extent Saints are now experiencing. It just isnt in the club s interest to allow it to continue for the simple reason that young players, their parents and even senior players and employees of the club reading these reports will think the wheels are about to come off and the entire playing staff is about to be sold, poached, that deals are being done behind the club s back and that the fans can forget all about any ambition none of it is going to happen. Not only is it bad press but it is also potentially quite damaging. I am all for a free press, but not one without responsability and in my view the limits set by common decency have been exceeded to a point where the club should think about bringing legal action. It would in any event do the game a favor because quite frankly some of the stuff you read borders on hysteria,and you just cant believe anything a newspaper prints about football matters any more unless it also includes quotes from the administration of the clubs themselves.
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