Victims of our own success
It's unfortunate that the big teams regard Saints as a fruitful place to poach good players from but it was ever thus, as Messrs Shearer, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and many more will attest. We really need to get to the point where staying at St Mary's is seen as a better career move than going to places like Old Trafford, the Emirates, Etihad and so forth, but we're not there yet - and may never be. We probably need an even newer, bigger stadium and I'm afraid it's all about money nowadays. The Liebherr Family have given Saints stability and purpose, and I really hope that their commitment continues, and is suitably recognised. One of our biggest assets is our supporters who have stuck with the club through thick and thin, but we need another 20,000 people turning up each week (and the space to seat them, as above) to propel us into the stratosphere, in my opinion.
Of course, one way of making money is to sell reasonable but not brilliant players for too much money (take a bow, Callum Chambers
) but you can't expect that to happen every day. Not sure why Clyne would want to go to Loserpool; he can stay at St Mary's and still play in the Europa League
, but if United are seriously going after him, I fear we are lost.
Good luck this season; ironically it's often a bit of adversity that brings out the best in a club. Better will come....
