Jeez what's going on there. 7 first team players out the door, although they are sitting on a nice bank balance of over £100m must be a worrying time to be a fan.

Decent price for Koeman to be first Prem manager sacked too.

It's a sad case, and it just sums up football at the moment, a club builds up a good side with a few signings and a great youth system, and the big clubs pick them off, the fat cats, the corporate bastards swoop in like an eagle and take whichever player they want.

So the moral of the story is, don't try and be successful, don't do anything, as the big clubs will just have your players.

Fuck off football.

122/1 for Southamton relegation and Koeman first sacking. I can't see it happening but thinking a few quid on it.

They'll soon have a smaller squad than Blackpool. Presumably Koeman is just going to go out out and hoover up players from across Europe - hard to see that working out well and it wasn't really the plan for the club. Concurring with Yubep on this - so much money on offer that neither the club nor the players could resist it.

no chance of a Clough type manager assembling a team of players like at Derby or Forest in the 70's these days

Football is definitely more shite today, cos these days you KNOW which teams will be in the race for the titles etc. Back then anybody could be a surprise package and take the title race right to the last game

Absolutely zip chance of that now

That is exactly what I said to my brother y'day Parmo, forget your cloughies n your motivators, cloughies team would have been ripped to bits 2 years before it won the European cup these days, it's very sad and very boring.

Agreed that greed is at the root of the problem, along with the private ownership of English football clubs by wealthy individuals, but in the case of both Southampton and Blackpool it looks as if the owners (Katharina Liebherr at the Saints and the Oystons at the Tangerines) are asset-stripping to further enrich themselves at the clubs' expense.

In this case less blame than usual attaches to the players - who'd want to be the last man standing in a fire sale? Or the to the clubs whose wealthy owners are (for now at least) prepared to invest in purchasing said players.

Meantime, Van Gaal at in-hock-to-the-elbows Manure is talking down The Biggest Club In World Football's chances of making major signings. Ooh me ribs!

asset stripping of players goes on at all levels of the game, right down to Junior football in Hartlepool, with the perceived big boys making wild promises to gain players. Its the same in the Sunday league. Always has been.

The whole game is riddled with big money flash merchants running things at every level.

Feel sorry for Koeman, what chance has he got !!!
As of now, if they stay in the premier league, that will be a success.

Just what I was going to say but you said it for me. It has happened before but maybe not on this scale. Think Southampton are savvy enough to bring in decent if not as good as replacements like.

On the up side, if there is an up side, Southampton will have got a decent wedge for finishing in a good position last season, and another good wedge from the transfers. Plus this seasons Sky money.

We were playing them a few seasons ago, when the shit was creeping up their necks. They've done well.

If Koeman, has a plan, and his plan works, they could be farting in the general direction of the Manchesters and Liverpools next season. He could be the new Wenger. Spends little by Prem standards, does enough.

It's a fire sale from the new chairwomen to claw someone money back.

Looks like schneiderlins busting for a move now based on his latest tweet.

Some of the money reading hands for their one season wonders is unreal. It's no wonder they've accepted most of the offers.

I reckon they'll struggle this year. Lost manager and key players. Relegation contenders. Along with Swansea and Burnley for me

Villa are certainties to go down.

Outrageous! The season hasn't even started yet!

Sorry, wrong thread...

Even though they've sold so many players I don't think they will go down. Burnley, Swansea and probably Leicester for me. Plus West Ham are doing their best to send themselves into turmoil by undermining Allardyce again.

Although the PL are going to use this vanishing spray next season it wont be in use at Southampton.

They tried it in a pre-season friendly and half their squad disappeared.