Meltdown – Mark II, apparently!
So now that Sky Sports and the tabloid media have decided that Southampton are well and truly out of the race for the top 4, as well as having next to no chance of finishing above Liverpool or Spurs, they have turned their attention to “Summer Sale” at St. Mary’s.
There are the obvious and well known candidates such as Morgan Schneiderlin, who will be in some part of north London and the now seemingly done deal of Nathaniel Clyne going to join Shaw at Man United. There is also a report coming from Italy that Lazio are interested in Graziano Pelle. Add to this Toby Alderweireld most probably heading back to Spain or a much higher bidder and we have a real problem on our hands, apparently.
Seem familiar?
The only difference this time round is we are much better prepared. And considering how we came out of our last ‘Meltdown’, the summer shouldn’t hold too much a nightmare for us.
Last summer the club and/or fans didn’t know how the players would react to the great hype and interest around them and if they would stand by the words blurted out at their grand 5-year-deal ceremonies. We now know.
We also knew that Scheiderlin was going to go unless we got Champions League football, and although I will hate to see him go, after coming up through the leagues and becoming a World Cup International with us, he has earned that right.
Clyne is a slightly different story as he was given the vote of confidence when we sold off Calum Chambers and said, “You’re our man at right back”. But after breaking into the England team, he now wants to test himself against the best and be playing Champions League football. He has not been with us as long as some of the others but has been picked up as a young player and developed immensely in our care.
The problem I had with a few of our leavers last summer was that they wanted to play CL football, without trying to get there first with the promising team they were a part of. But in this ‘I want it now’ world we live in, they couldn’t wait or earn it. The two above players gave it that extra shot with us, whether by choice or by order. If they now choose to take the next step UP to play in the top European competition, we cannot really begrudge them that.
If they choose to make a step SIDEWAYS, this is where I have a problem.
A move to Arsenal or – as much as I hate saying it – United is a step up as they will play in the CL against the likes of Ronaldo, Messi and the great man, Gareth Bale. But if they were to move to Liverpool or Spurs, then that is for nothing other than a bigger pay cheque. Same league, same Europa League, fuller pockets.
And where would this leave Southampton. Well, with the dry run of the original meltdown behind us, we will already know who is likely to stay and leave and will have identified 4 or 5 options to replace each player. There is already talk that
Vilhena has or will sign in the summer from Feyenoord, along with the rest of their midfield. Javier Hernandez is being mooted as part of a deal to take Clyne to United, and we even have chatter of Saints being charged with the development of Real Madrid wiz kid Martin Odegaard.
I would love for Saints to be able to keep most of our players and build on top of it, rather than rebuilding/replacing all the time. But if we can keep most of this squad together and add a genuine goal scorer and a temporary replacement for Forster in goal, Saints can certainly continue the push to break through that glass ceiling at the top. We already have created a few cracks.
As Saints fans, we know players will come and go. All we ask is that they give their all for the club and try to get US into those Champions League positions. If not, then they will leave for big money and sit on a bench somewhere while we push on again.
It’s going to be a melting hot summer.
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