Spargo wrote:Lambert ; is a scouser, has been the Saints backbone from league 1 to the top flight. Lifelong dream to play for Liverpool. Were not going to stand in his way to go home - and at his age, not a bad move to move him on for good coin.
Shaw ; England rep, Saints academy since 8 years old, chased by numerous big clubs. Transfer fee inflated because he's English I reckon. Fair enough.
Lallana ; this one hurt the most. Club captain, super star, best still ahead of him - big club attraction factor and $$$?
Lovren ; one year into a four year deal where Saints breached the contract. Was apparently promised to be pushing for Europe, playing with certain players under the manager at the time. Enough said .
Chamberlain ; another Saints prodigy who at 18 had been at the club for 10 years and wanted out. Snow ball effect? Bigger club calling?
Pochettino ; the manager, head hunted by a few clubs. Can't get in their way if they want to go bigger.
$$$$$$ - this talks, we all know that.
Saints' demise may ironically be having to much talent (for the picking ) at the same time.
Good summary Spargo. With the exception of Lambert, all of the players have left to go to bigger clubs....with this comes more money and more prospects of playing in Europe. I would be more worried if there was an exodus to clubs of a similar size to us, but that hasn't happened. From a business perspective, Saints have done very well with every trade by securing top dollar. For example, they bought Lovren for 8.5M and twelve months later sell him for 20M. The challenge is how they re-invest some of that money on new players and assemble a competitive squad. Even if we get new players it is going to take time for the squad to gel. No doubt it will be tough.
