Brendan Rodgers is our manager

[Mr T]

“I am always looking to improve,” Lallana says. “It’s been different for me this season even going to Liverpool. It’s a bigger team, bigger expectations, and it kind of makes you realise what it must be like playing for (Manchester) United, Chelsea, week-in, week-out.”

 

I know imagine the pressure at clubs where they actually have ambition

 

Clueless tit. Aside from the point that there is probably more pressure for players to do well here, that's just fucking bad PR.

 

Lallana now makes my all-time gimp XI.

[Jairzinho]

“I am always looking to improve,” Lallana says. “It’s been different for me this season even going to Liverpool. It’s a bigger team, bigger expectations, and it kind of makes you realise what it must be like playing for (Manchester) United, Chelsea, week-in, week-out.”

 

I know imagine the pressure at clubs where they actually have ambition

 

We finished 20 points above United 13 months ago.

 

[TalkSilly]

My concern is that we won't bring in a top class striker, simply because they will look at it as having Origi, Ings and Sturridge plus probably one of the turds that is Balotelli, Lambert and Borini will prove unflushable so that is 4 and I just can't see us going into season with 5...

 

Trouble is the few striking prospects out there: Lacazette, Vietto etc are either going to be ludicrously expensive or won't come to us anyway so I reckon Ings and Origi are our lot for this summer. Lambert won't be difficult to shift for roughly what we paid and Borini has to go somewhere he's going to get a game if he wants any chance of re-building his career. What we'll do with Balotelli God knows. I've always wondered where the decision to take him was made and whether it was anything to do with the football people at the club at all.

 

From the outside the club is starting to look like a serious mess. Apart from drip feeding 3 free transfers that were almost certainly done deals months ago out to the press there has been complete radio silence since the season ended. I can't find any mention of the departures of Marsh and Pascoe on the club website and the latest rumours about the promotion of Pepijn Linders from the U-16s to first team coach suggest that, unless someone much more experienced comes in as well, they're just going to assemble what, to outsiders, will look like a temporary, makeshift team around Rodgers for the pre-season, which starts in 3 weeks time. His stock looked at rock bottom with the players at the end of last season, that won't do anything to improve it at all.

 

I wonder if FSG haven't reached an impasse with this particular investment and have no idea where to go from here. They've played all their "smartest guy in the room" cards but the club is still going backwards. They've been trying to apply their rational analysis to a sport that utterly defies rational analysis. You can throw insane sums of money at it, like City, and still find your club getting no further than the first knockout round of the CL every season or you can employ a team of people that have what might seem like a plausible, intellectually sound approach to getting value from the transfer market but put together an unbalanced squad full of ineffective players that end up worth less than you paid for them.

 

If it doesn't make any sense to those of us who have been following the game closely for 40 years, it must be baffling to them. Maybe that's why the club seems completely directionless at the moment.

[an tha]

Trouble is the few striking prospects out there: Lacazette, Vietto etc are either going to be ludicrously expensive or won't come to us anyway so I reckon Ings and Origi are our lot for this summer. Lambert won't be difficult to shift for roughly what we paid and Borini has to go somewhere he's going to get a game if he wants any chance of re-building his career. What we'll do with Balotelli God knows. I've always wondered where the decision to take him was made and whether it was anything to do with the football people at the club at all.

 

From the outside the club is starting to look like a serious mess. Apart from drip feeding 3 free transfers that were almost certainly done deals months ago out to the press there has been complete radio silence since the season ended. I can't find any mention of the departures of Marsh and Pascoe on the club website and the latest rumours about the promotion of Pepijn Linders from the U-16s to first team coach suggest that, unless someone much more experienced comes in as well, they're just going to assemble what, to outsiders, will look like a temporary, makeshift team around Rodgers for the pre-season, which starts in 3 weeks time. His stock looked at rock bottom with the players at the end of last season, that won't do anything to improve it at all.

 

I wonder if FSG haven't reached an impasse with this particular investment and have no idea where to go from here. They've played all their "smartest guy in the room" cards but the club is still going backwards. They've been trying to apply their rational analysis to a sport that utterly defies rational analysis. You can throw insane sums of money at it, like City, and still find your club getting no further than the first knockout round of the CL every season or you can employ a team of people that have what might seem like a plausible, intellectually sound approach to getting value from the transfer market but put together an unbalanced squad full of ineffective players that end up worth less than you paid for them.

 

If it doesn't make any sense to those of us who have been following the game closely for 40 years, it must be baffling to them. Maybe that's why the club seems completely directionless at the moment.

Hard to argue with that.

[ritchie]

Big fish small pond syndrome with Lallana . Adjusting to not being the main focus of the team has been his issue imo . Pity as had hoped he would be the one to take on the captaincy

The midfield was built around him at Southampton where he had two quality players sat behind him doing the donkey work. The Charlie Adam syndrome. We buy these players who look good at mid table or struggling sides because the team are set up around them and then they can't make the step up as a cog in the machine. "Premier League proven though innit".

 

And for this supposed excellent player at Southampton, if he was that good why was he subbed off after an hour every week?

[an tha]

Lallana even talks mediocre

[ritchie]

If it doesn't make any sense to those of us who have been following the game closely for 40 years, it must be baffling to them. Maybe that's why the club seems completely directionless at the moment.

It didn't need to make sense to them they just needed to employ people to run the club who do know what they're doing and can make sense of football. Unfortunately that man was Ian Ayre who you wouldn't trust to run a bath. They hired Rodgers and Comolli because they've got the gift of the gab and bullshitted their way through interviews pretending they know what they're talking about, all tooled up with databases and dossiers, and FSG fell for it and trusted them to run the football side. Rather than look at their CV they wanted a shortcut and thought they were hiring geniuses rather than fucking salesmen.

 

When the Glazers took over United the only things they really did was make sure Ferguson stayed and kept David Gill to run the club. They barely even needed to check in until those two left nearly a decade later.

[moof]

The midfield was built around him at Southampton where he had two quality players sat behind him doing the donkey work. The Charlie Adam syndrome. We buy these players who look good at mid table or struggling sides because the team are set up around them and then they can't make the step up as a cog in the machine. "Premier League proven though innit".

 

And for this supposed excellent player at Southampton, if he was that good why was he subbed off after an hour every week?

You're not actually trying to pretend he wasn't excellent for Southampton are you?

[ritchie]

You're not actually trying to pretend he wasn't excellent for Southampton are you?

Put it this way he was never their best midfielder. If he was playing that well he'd have had any of the top 4 teams in for him but they never were.

 

And if he was really excellent he wouldn't have been regularly subbed off early in games. Was Schneiderlin always subbed off?

 

A good player for Southampton, yes. And that was his level. Worth £25m? Never in a million years.

[moof]

So, yes you are trying to pretend.

[Jairzinho]

Isn't his heart problem the reason he has to go off after an hour?

[ritchie]

So, yes you are trying to pretend.

If he was so excellent he'd have had other top clubs in for him rather than just us mugs who thought Lovren was going to be our leader and Lambert a good plan b. Southampton have been better without them.

[moof]

If you think that's how football works then fine. Most people don't judge a player by how many top teams are in for him.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Lallana was excellent for Southampton in 13/14. No point pretending otherwise. We're shit, rudderless and massive dunces in the transfer market, but Lallana was still very good that year. Not £25m good, but still very good nonetheless.

[Hades]

“I am always looking to improve,” Lallana says. “It’s been different for me this season even going to Liverpool. It’s a bigger team, bigger expectations, and it kind of makes you realise what it must be like playing for (Manchester) United, Chelsea, week-in, week-out.”

 

I know imagine the pressure at clubs where they actually have ambition

 

Worra cunt.

[magicrat]

The midfield was built around him at Southampton where he had two quality players sat behind him doing the donkey work. The Charlie Adam syndrome. We buy these players who look good at mid table or struggling sides because the team are set up around them and then they can't make the step up as a cog in the machine. "Premier League proven though innit".And for this supposed excellent player at Southampton, if he was that good why was he subbed off after an hour every week?

He is a class above Charlie Adam.

I haven't yet given up on Lallana

[Gnasher]

Put it this way he was never their best midfielder. If he was playing that well he'd have had any of the top 4 teams in for him but they never were.

 

And if he was really excellent he wouldn't have been regularly subbed off early in games. Was Schneiderlin always subbed off?

 

A good player for Southampton, yes. And that was his level. Worth £25m? Never in a million years.

He wasn't just their best midfielder he was their best player. As voted for by fans and players,

 

http://mobile.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/06052014-player-awards-201314-the-winners-1539729.aspx

[Tyler Durden]

Trouble is the few striking prospects out there: Lacazette, Vietto etc are either going to be ludicrously expensive or won't come to us anyway so I reckon Ings and Origi are our lot for this summer. Lambert won't be difficult to shift for roughly what we paid and Borini has to go somewhere he's going to get a game if he wants any chance of re-building his career. What we'll do with Balotelli God knows. I've always wondered where the decision to take him was made and whether it was anything to do with the football people at the club at all.

 

From the outside the club is starting to look like a serious mess. Apart from drip feeding 3 free transfers that were almost certainly done deals months ago out to the press there has been complete radio silence since the season ended. I can't find any mention of the departures of Marsh and Pascoe on the club website and the latest rumours about the promotion of Pepijn Linders from the U-16s to first team coach suggest that, unless someone much more experienced comes in as well, they're just going to assemble what, to outsiders, will look like a temporary, makeshift team around Rodgers for the pre-season, which starts in 3 weeks time. His stock looked at rock bottom with the players at the end of last season, that won't do anything to improve it at all.

 

I wonder if FSG haven't reached an impasse with this particular investment and have no idea where to go from here. They've played all their "smartest guy in the room" cards but the club is still going backwards. They've been trying to apply their rational analysis to a sport that utterly defies rational analysis. You can throw insane sums of money at it, like City, and still find your club getting no further than the first knockout round of the CL every season or you can employ a team of people that have what might seem like a plausible, intellectually sound approach to getting value from the transfer market but put together an unbalanced squad full of ineffective players that end up worth less than you paid for them.

 

If it doesn't make any sense to those of us who have been following the game closely for 40 years, it must be baffling to them. Maybe that's why the club seems completely directionless at the moment.

I said a few weeks ago I think we are seriously in shit street, not a single person at the club has any kind of plan or idea where it's going, it's all just grim.

 

The only way we will ever compete at the top is with owners who will spend not smartarses who think they are smartest in the room but are in fact the dumbest, the clubs a shambles at the minute and if they think a few fucking free signings will propel us up the table then it's worse then I thought. Clowns to a man the hierarchy at this club and it will kill us.

[Original202]

Where has this myth come from that Lallana was subbed off in loads of games for Southampton? In 1314 he played in all 38 league games and totalled 3086 minutes - that's 81 minutes per game.

 

That doesn't suggest he was always being hauled off to me.

[Tony Moanero]

It will be Ings, Origi, Benteke (providing Chelsea's interest is just paper bullshit) and an injured Sturridge.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Where has this myth come from that Lallana was subbed off in loads of games for Southampton? In 1314 he played in all 38 league games and totalled 3086 minutes - that's 81 minutes per game.

 

That doesn't suggest he was always being hauled off to me.

What's his minutes per game here mate?

[moof]

Where has this myth come from that Lallana was subbed off in loads of games for Southampton? In 1314 he played in all 38 league games and totalled 3086 minutes - that's 81 minutes per game.

 

That doesn't suggest he was always being hauled off to me.

It comes from Richie's particular brand of truth. Conjecture mixed with 20/20 hindsight

[lamai]

It will be Ings, Origi, Benteke (providing Chelsea's interest is just paper bullshit) and an injured Sturridge.

 

Rodgers will be gone by December if that is our strike force

[JermainePennant]

Rodgers will be gone by December if that is our strike force

That strike force would get us top 4 imo but we could do better, with Ings, Origi and Sturridge we have strikers with pace and movement so I could understand if we were looking at bringing in a target man alongside them.

 

Benteke wouldn't be my choice however and I'd like us to go for someone who's got the power but their main strength is the technical side, someone like an Adebayor or Ibrahimovic in their prime.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

That dog looks sick of those mother fucking snakes on that mother fucking plain.

 

#EnglishFTW