29 Jul 2014 11:36:50
Lifted from 'North Stand Chat' which is Brighton's fan forum.

Absolutely excellent read:

Thought I'd give you my perspective.

Katrina Liebherr is worth something like 3 billion euros. I fail to see why on earth she would be interested in 'asset stripping'. Her father bought SFC for the princely sum of £15 million plus £15 million of debt. He then put in another £20 million, and it appears a further £15 million since his untimely death. So a total investment by the Liebherrs of £65 million all told. Over the last three years - while KL has been the owner - the club has spent about £25 million turning Staplewood (the training ground) into one of the very, very best training centres in Europe. And that is not an exaggeration. It lacks nothing. Twelve pitches all with different types of turf to mimic the other Prem grounds etc.

Behind the scenes, she clearly did not get on with her father's choice of CEO. Cortese did a lot of good for SFC - taking us from league one to the Prem and being hard-nosed in the extreme. He was, however, not popular. Banning MLT from SMS was about the most stupid thing you could do. So, he was sent packing. Since then the amount of spending on non-football recruitment - such as PR, Marketing, Hospitality etc - has almost tripled. The club is investing heavily in 'promoting the brand'. The club recently recruited the former head of marketing for Apple UK. I would imagine that does not come cheap. All these things do not, in my mind at least, suggest an owner who is bailing on the club. But if she had decided to bail, why not just put the club up for sale. Selling SFC after finishing 8th in the Prem, with the academy we have and the squad would have been ridiculously easy. The club turned over £120 million plus last season and has no debt. The value of SFC would be north of £250m of any Arab's money. £65 million in, £250 million out. Good business.

KL has also been very upfront with the fans. She has stated in no uncertain terms that she wants to remain part of SFC and keep on building. She might be lying, but if she is then she is going about it in a very peculiar way.

So then what about the 'exodus' that the media are so quick to mention?

Lambert to Livepool, his boy-hood club for £4m. Lambo's best years are most definitely behind him. A club legend, and one day someone will make a film about him because his story and his success are extraordinary. He struggled to get 60 mins a game last season, but was still effective. He had two years left on his deal, and by letting him go to his boyhood club we earn his love and respect for ever. We purchased him from Rovers for £1m and look where he has got us. Well repaid the investment. We have replaced him with Pelle who was the Dutch first division's second top scorer last season, and over the last two seasons scores an average of 0. 85 goals per game. He is big, tall, and in every way an ideal replacement for Lambo. £12 million. Four year deal.

Lallana to Liverpool. Adam became a bit of a cock since playing for England. A shame really. Clatenburg may have been on to something. He made it totally clear to the board he was not going to play for SFC again. He rubbed up a lot of people the wrong way, even rudely refusing to at least have the courtesy to sit down with the new manager and talk about his future. He went for £25 million, and after Bournemouth's cut we get about £20 million. We bring in Dusan Tadic for £8.5 million, probably on lower wages too. He is a snap-in replacement for Lallana. Looks very, very neat.

Shaw to Untied for £30m + addons. There isn't a chairman alive who would have turned that down. That is not asset stripping. That is text-book good business. A quality Prem experienced left back would cost us no more than £10 million. £15 million max. And good as Shaw is, there is no way he is a thirty million pound player. But no worries, because there is this kid called Matt Targett, 18 years old. Plays left back and is every bit as good as Shaw was two years ago.

Lovren to Liverpool for £20m. We bought him for £8.5 million 13 months ago. Good player, no doubt but had an average second half of the season. He came back from the world cup and just plain refused to play for the Saints again. Massive ego. Head completely turned. What are we to do? Of course we sell! Twenty million is all about SFC mugging Liverpool, not KL asset stripping.

Chambers to Arsenal for £16m. The kid is good. No question. His is perhaps the most 'annoying' loss. I would have liked to have got another year out of him, but again sixteen million quid for a lad who has only played 20 odd games in the Prem is a lot of money. He is Arsenal's third most expensive player of all time. And his head was clearly turned too. I can't imagine what wages he is on.

If Schneiderlin and JRod go too, then there will be another £40 million at least. JRod is not irreplaceable. Schniederlin would be a loss, but if the figure of £25 million is correct then easily replaceable with clever scouting.

So confirmed we have sold £92 million and spent £20 million. We have £72 million burning a hole in the bank account, and that is before spending any of the £83 million in prize money we won last season. In each of the previous two seasons (when KL was the owner) we spent £30 million. SFC does not have a cash problem. We can now attract players by paying them more wages as well as higher fees. If we so wish. However, I actually don't want to see all that money spent a-la Spurs or QPR. This year we have six exceptional youngster coming into the first team setup. People have said that this years crop of youngsters is perhaps the best ever. I have followed them closely at games over the years and I can attest to that. Isgrove, Targett, Sinclair, Rowe, Reed, Turnbull, McQueen. These will be household names within two years. Probably because they will have been sold to the big clubs for stupid money. That is life.

Albion and SFC are two very similar clubs. Both in size, size of ground and catchment area of fans and talent. If Tony Bloom was offered the sort of money mentioned above for any Albion players he would do business. No question about it. Fans who sit around in La-La land dreaming of loyal players who will stick with the 'provincial' club over the Big Mega Club and commensurate Big Wage are delusional. Neither SFC, nor Albion will ever become a Big Club. We are what we are. There is no reason Albion can't join us in the Prem, and once your academy starts producing young talent their heads will be turned too and they will be off for the bright lights. But we will never be more than the 'best of the rest'. There is no reason to get upset about it. There are plenty of plastics in Southampton and Brighton who are from those respective towns but wear Big Club replica shirts and are probably really, really dull people.

What matters is can SFC put out a solid team who will play 100% and entertain the crowd? Yes, already we can. Can we put out a team which can maintain 8th position? Not yet, but £30-40 million of spending and no problem. Can we deepen the squad. Yes. Can we satisfy the dreamers and finish top four? No. Not even if we spent every penny of what has been a bonanza windfall.

I believe the club will bring in several more good quality players to strengthen an already good side. Talk of relegation is just nuts. Reality is that clubs our size will always be selling clubs. The trick is to get absolute top-dollar and SFC have done just that.

See y'all at the Amex on Thursday. Our next wave of youngsters will be on display ;)

{Ed001's Note - sorry but this is an utter crock of nonsense from someone with no idea how business works. For one, not only do you not receive any of the monies he is referring to as a lump sum, whether transfers or TV monies, but secondly you have large portions of it going out. Especially in transfers, where no club ever receives anything like the full transfer fee, no matter what the papers try and say. Secondly, you bring in the best off field staff you can when looking for a sale, as that makes the club more attractive to buyers, knowing you have the best people in place. Not that either are necessarily an indicator of a sale, I am not saying that, what I am saying is that anyone who thinks they indicate the club is not being sold is completely out of their depth. Also suggesting the club is debt free is not entirely true, there are payments to be made on the training ground, there are previous transfers which still require payments to be made etc.
I hope he is right though, because if the money is being brought in to invest off the pitch then that is great for the club's long term future. Personally, as a football fan, I would like to see more clubs use a higher proportion of their income to develop training facilities and youth academies, rather than spending it on big name players on high wages. The future of the game needs Southampton to bring the youngsters through.
But please forget this utter nonsense about 72m sat in the bank, it is simply fantasy.}

1.) 29 Jul 2014
Well it offers a different perspective rather than all the doom and gloom currently filling our rumour pages, fan forum's etc. Just thought I'd share it as I admire the guy's optimism. What I don't understand is why Ronald Koeman would want to get mixed up in a club about to be stripped of it's assets then flogged to some consortium. I can't see it myself.

{Ed001's Note - have you not seen the state of the club he left? That is hardly a reason to be optimistic mate. He has nothing to lose by joining, the players get sold from underneath and he fails, everyone will say it was down to the players being sold. If he keeps the club in the Prem, his star will rise further. A top half finish and he will be on the fast track to the top. Whatever the outcome, he is either going to be proclaimed for doing so well or excused for the circumstances being beyond his control.}

2.) 29 Jul 2014
Ed you really beat me to the points I was going to make there. Completely agree with Ed here.

So far as I can see Southampton are investing much more in off the field developments with the Academy looking stronger than ever and with the fantastic new training ground, could be a very bright future ahead after this rocky patch, long season or two maybe to come but with the right long term plans in place we could become a solid Premier league feature for a long while to come.

3.) 29 Jul 2014
"Isgrove, Targett, Sinclair, Rowe, Reed, Turnbull, McQueen. These will be household names within two years. "

Only as the answer to the trivia question: "name seven young players Southampton wrongly thought could keep them in the Premier League. "

Targett and Reed might make it - in a couple of seasons. The others will disappear without a trace.

The best of Saints' academy have already established themselves in the first team: Shaw, Chambers, Ward-Prowse, Gallagher. There's nothing better waiting in the wings.

{Ed001's Note - Shaw was never rated as highly as Targett, it was pure luck that gave him a breakthrough ahead of him. I would think he is capable of the step up very easily. The issue is more about if the team around him is good enough.}

4.) 29 Jul 2014
A good debate - I don't understnad the complexities of transfer and the money but RK coming in ios a genius move on his part as said by Ed he simply cannot fail. Even by finishing 17th his stock will rise.