Welcome to our world!! It kind of works in our favour that we have been trying to cut the crap for a few years now as most have gone. It also looks like we will get some cash in for Lemina which is good.
The Palace lot out of contract this summer is interesting - Mamadou Sakho, Gary Cahill, Scott Dann, Patrick van Aanholt, Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke.
And Tella, and Nlundulu, and Obafemi, and Watts, and...since the end of catchment areas, Academy-aged players move around muvh more.
I'm not as against this as other people are. I probably would have preferred a one year deal but I do reckon Theo's the sort of player who will do better with fans in the stands.
I’m not against it. It’s just…okay. And I worry that with Gao still here next season, it’s as good as we’re going to get. Okay. That’s it.
Let's hope this is better than the last 2 year deal we handed out to an ageing forward. The Shane Long contract suggests this current board haven't learned from their predecessors mistakes.
It's not just the board though in Theo's case. Ralph wants him to stay as well. I trust Ralph, so I'm OK with us keeping Theo.
The Shane Long thing I get. I think the board in fairness probably got a bit sentimental with SL. The Anfield moment and the fastest goal in PL history gave him a lot of credit in the bank IMO. Not the way maybe to do business, but I am glad that we treat them as humans as well as assets.
Just like our previous players treated us with sentiment as soon as a bigger club came calling. I can vividly remember Van Dijk asking to stay a couple more years before leaving - the sentimental sod!
This is basically how I feel about it. Given our current circumstances it probably makes sense to sign him and tbf, despite his recent poor performances, he was an important part of our team before he picked up his injury.
I think you have hit the nail on the head - all the players that were playing well got injured and now don't seem the same. Maybe there is something in the recovery taking time in the current climate?
It annoys me because I don't understand why they have not been allowed to use the normal recovery facilities? I thought the entire point of football continuing 'as normal', was because they have been operating within the football bubble and on top of that have the double weekly testing. So why have they not been allowed to use their own facilities that have been more important than ever due to no pre-season and a condensed fixture schedule? I don't understand it. As you say, it's been noticeable that nearlly every single player that has been out injured this season has come back and struggled to hit their previous form.
And I think that's not even half the list. Clyne, McCarthy, McArthur, Schlupp, Ward, Hennessey, Kelly and - at long, long last - Wickham I believe are in the same situation. Would have been Meyer too, had they not already allowed him to leave on a free in January. It's incredible.
There's a lot of deadwood in that group, but that deadwood also played nearly 15000 PL minutes for them this season. For the sake of a benchmark, if you combine the minutes played this year by Bertrand, Armstrong, KWP, Vestergaard, Ings, Romeu and Redmond, it's a roughly equivalent sum. That's an awful lot of football that someone else will need to play!
His value off as well as on the field seems to resonate with Ralph, good enough reason as far as I'm concerned to keep a real Saint!
Lovren had tears in his eyes. Rumour has it he sleeps with his old Saints shirt, sobbing silently as he strokes the badge.