Two weeks ago some Saints supporters were convinced that Ralph Krueger and his board were about to cave in and sell off all the players before the World Cup, we can now have the faith in them that they perhaps do know what they are doing.

For some Saints supporters the sale of Rickie Lambert to Liverpool showed that the Saints board were incompetent and would sell players to whichever club waved a big wad of cash at them, it is easy to see why some would think that way, but they failed to see the bigger picture regarding the Lambert deal, to survive a football club must continually keep moving forward, unfortunately age catches up with all players and it was about to do with Rickie, the best clubs are pro active, they anticipate things going forward and make their plans before the event happens, Manchester United did not do so 18 months/2 years ago and therefore David Moyes inherited a squad that had grown old and had not been overhauled by Sir Alex Ferguson in a way he would have done a few years ago.

With the Lambert deal the club realised that this was too good to turn down, they have to keep moving forward and like Southampton Football Club has done and indeed 99% of clubs in the World, the issue is not selling players and getting over inflated prices, but getting in replacements.

The main worry of those who panicked was that the board would now cave in to Liverpool and Manchester United, that they were not strong enough to turn them away, well now we have that answer, perhaps there are still a few questions to be asked about the experience of the board, but they have passed their first big test and with the England squad now having arrived in Brazil there will be no sales of those in Brazil till after the tournament is finished.

Perhaps now those sceptics can give Ralph Krueger and his board some breathing space, let them prove that they can do the job or otherwise, rather than screaming at them the moment there is a blip.

The blip was not the fault of the board, history will not hold Mauricio Pochettino in high regard in some respects, the board did its best to keep them, he was determined to hedge his bets in the hope that the Spurs job would come up, the fact he did suggests that he knew more than he was letting on.

The Saints board have held steady now its the turn of the fans, we have to trust them to get things right between now and the new season, countless rants at their incompetence only add to the troubles, the situation with Liverpool chasing Lallana was fueled by certain elements of the media, it seemed much worse than it actually was due to the knee jerk reactions of some of the fan base.

There can be no doubt that the next couple of months will be rocky, after all we have some good players other teams are going to want them, however we have shown that when a player leaves it will be because its the right time for Saints, I still expect Adam Lallana to go to Liverpool and Wayne Shaw to Manchester United before the new season starts, what Im confident of though is that we will get the best price for them and that if we use the money wisely then as a squad we will be stronger and in a beter position than most in the Premier League

Photo: Action Images

Zambucco added 08:35 - Jun 9 If Wayne Shaw goes to Manchester United does that mean Luke Shaw is staying? Great article Nick, mostly always the calming voice of reason. I too have faith in this board, very business like and so far seemingly strong. Although it is good to read the opions of others who may not agree with us, it's a balanced view. But the hysterical knee jerk reactions of some, are hard to palette! It makes my blood boil!

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WilloW added 08:49 - Jun 9 BBC South TV reporting that Luke Shaw has told the club that he wants to leave for Man Utd.
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MooCowTheThird added 10:12 - Jun 9 He can tell who ever he likes that he wants to leave. He has four years left on his contract so he doesn't really have any leverage. Unless Man U meet or exceed our valuation of him then he ain't going anywhere.
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halftimeorange added 13:17 - Jun 9 There is simply no point in keeping players who want to leave. They have fallen out of love with the club, the fans will soon turn against them and their form suffers. There are no winners. Although not noted for his profundity, James Beattie got it right shortly before he was sold when he observed that "the only loyalty in football is in the minds of the supporters". A bigger threat to Saints is if, on seeing a team built by her father's money being systematically dismantled, is KL saying to herself "I don't need the money and I certainly don't need the hassle". Whoever is brought in to manage and replace our fallen stars will not immediately produce the style we saw last season. Adding one or two players is okay but when it's several they take time to gell even if the format remains unaltered. Our best hope is that the engine room of Davis, Cork, Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Ward-Prowse remains untouched. That would be a young building block on which to start again but, until the rules on player poaching change, what is happening now will come round again. Sad, but inevitable.

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trampslykeus added 14:32 - Jun 9 The story about Luke Shaw supposedly asking to leave dates back to the last day of the season. Nothing new. Whilst I think that Luke and Adam will probably leave, we should still hold firm as long as possible. We should try and persuade them to stay and if they are still set on leaving, make them ask for a transfer to lose 'loyalty' payments. And of course, ask for our idea of the fee not the Daily Mail's or Liverpool's / Man Utd's reduced version. How much would Barkley / Baines at Everton or Wilshire / Oxlade-Chamberlain at Arsenal cost?

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A1079 added 15:20 - Jun 9 I will freely admit that I was one of those who was questionning the strength of the board in terms of managing the demands of the players allegedly looking to leave before the world cup and the pressure from so called "bigger" clubs and whether collectively we would stand up to both those pressures. To some extent this was aided by the comments by Krueger only to then sell Lambert 48hours later. Now the exact words may be brought into question and I will admit as a supporter I sometimes hear what I want to hear rather than analyse the detail of any statement and the meaning of each word. I am not though green when it comes to spin from organisations and those that run them. I will say though, that despite my questionning at no stage did I think or do I think the board are incompetent and I was certainly not panicking. Afterall, at the end of the day, no matter what I think, I have no influence. Whether or not the boards current harder line is a measure of their intention and has always been or whether they have hardened because of the potential backlash had they not done so having seen the reaction to the timing of Lambert's transfer deal is a moot point......we will never know.....but obviously the board will want us to believe that they all had a handle on the situation. I am possibly more sceptical about what senior board members have to say but at the end of the day we have to entrust them to have the concerns of the club at heart, otherwise, who else are we going to trust. The sooner the appointment of the new manager the better, which if I understood previous statements would be before the start of the world cup, which I assume means that the appointment should be made within the next 3 days - or did I mishear that?

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cheltenhamsaint added 15:40 - Jun 9 I agree that the board have played their hand the best they can under the extreme pressure that has been put on them by the media and I am sorry to say an element of our own fan base. We are getting a reputation amongst fans from other clubs as not being easy to deal with, which I take as a compliment. I don't see departures as a forgone conclusion. Shaw will be spending the next 3 weeks working closely with Baines who rejected a big money move to Utd last season to stay with Everton. I's sure that will give LS a different perspective. Also, just a few days ago Hodgson publically stated that he was concerned about English talent being stock piled at the elite clubs, specifically mentioning four of our players.and Southampton FC in general He was basically saying that if you want an England career make sure that you are playing regular first team football, wherever that may be. I think behind the scenes he is championing our set up and sagely warning about the grass being greener elsewhere.

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montecristo added 16:46 - Jun 9 Everton did not sell Barkley or Baines last season, they dont have a billionaire backer do they, in spite of speculation, so why should we fall for the same trick, just ignore so called stuffed bids, think of the bigger picture , and recruit wisely then head for top four.
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 20:29 - Jun 9 The board do deserve some credit. Back in May, Shaw told the club he wanted to leave, the club received a massive £27m offer for him, but they turned it down. They could've easily cashed in on him. The same with Lallana. The board could've used the cash to pay off the new training ground and the previous transfer debt and still have plenty left over, but they've stood strong. So you can't really question the club's ambition or Katharina's intentions. They're trying their best to keep this team together and give the new manager the platform to succeed. While I do think that eventually Shaw and Lallana will go this summer, the new manager will have the opportunity to speak to these two and try to convince them to stay. If the players remain adamant at that point then the club will have little choice but to cash in. Then the major test for the club will be to keep the rest of our best players on board!

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montecristo added 20:46 - Jun 9 I have a suspicion that Saints will not want either Shaw or Lallana to go simply because they need their presence at St Marys to persuade top class players to join the club. Players want t win things , and the best chance Saints have of that is by retaining their best and adding to them its not rocket science. Let them go and you will have trouble recruiting such players. Which I suspect is why so many bids have come in for our best the opposition dont want us to get stronger so they will try to weaken us by poaching our top players. But Saints must hold firm and do no business, certainly not unless they have already secured replacements. I just cant believe they will be daft enough to let these two go it does not make sense for the club lost revenue diminished prospects need I go on.Its not just about transfer fees, these players bring money into the club attract more fans world wide. In any case the bids that have come in are not worth the paper they are written on as both reportedly have ridiculous add ons some of which being virtually unattainable. The true worth of those bids probably does not reach half of the total reported of 50 million. So why sell? Ridiculous.Unless of course the Board do not share the fans ambition in which case we will be back fighting relegation battles before we know it. But surely not, after all the effort money spent when El Dorado could just be around the corner!

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