Article: Keep Lallana at ANY cost - Yes ANY cost | Football, Southampton

Hello guys. used to post on 606 here and there. Found this forum when I was looking to see what Ipswich and Neutrals were saying about the Saints. Good to be back.

On Lallana. We should keep him at any cost. and I mean if a ridiculously high bid comes in it should be refused.

No 'good business' decisions on this one.

Why?

I think he could be the next Le Tissier if he wants to be. By that I mean staying loyal, having a team built around him, being adored by all for his whole playing career etc.

he is not just important for his ability within the team. He is important for being Saints through and through. More important than any 10 million+ signing would be.

What do you guys think cos I am sure the prem clubs will be sniffing very soon. If not now then definitely January.

I am soooo enjoying Saints revival after watching the slow slide since 1984, with a few ups but more downs. I think after Chris Nicholl went the slide began and the Prem league and its money was the absolute nail in the coffin which we fended off for a long time (with the help of Le God.)

Also Are we enjoying the life outside the prem a bit more? A little more honest than the top league and players who want to play, not players who want to earn.

As for the Rodriguez/Maynard/Ebanks etc. I think we should take whoever from that list BUT only on our wage structure and only after investigating personalities, how they would fit in, egos etc.

We must not destroy our current spirit and if that means no signings then that means no signings. After all the team as it is seems to be doing OK at the mo.

Any new signing MUST be prem quality or future prospect. No point buying a player that will be championship quality with no future progress in ability.

A very happy Andy in (not from) Lincoln (Born Winchester)

 

he has his price, Probably the same as Chamberlain's. If anyones stupid enough to pay it, we'll take it. Plus at the moment, I don't think we're as dependant on him as last season, Jack Cork has taken a lot of that pressure away.

 

i dont think getting rid of lallana at any cost is something that cortese will do. he knows just how good he is, and how much the fans love him, so offering him such a long contract was excellent. ads will be here long after 2015

 

Unless the offer is very very high, by that I mean higher than Chamberlains, then we shouldn't sell him. He is what makes us tick! Can't see anyone offering a stupid amount for him though.

 

I don't mean us being dependent on him. I mean keeping a player that is not only a good player but has Saints running through his blood. So Saints blood being the heartbeat of the team.

If 15m money came in and his head wasn't turned we should refuse.

 

I agree, after last nights match I started to get a bit of a panic on about Prem clubs sniffing about Lallana, but i'd like to think he had a lot more loyalty than the likes of Chamberlain. I know he's from St Albans but he's Southampton through and through and much like the Le Tissier mould you're talking about. He will play in the Premiership one day, that's a given, just hope it's with Saints!

 

Hi ImpsSaint Welcome to the Saints site....... Glad to have you aboard. Don't forget to tell your mates about the site it don't matter who they support all are catered for on here.....Enjoy........

 

No bids because he's made it clear he's happy here. So its irrelevant, but I must add, he's worth more than Alex, easily £18M, seriously.

 

I'd be very surprised if Lallana was to leave withing the next 5-8 years. Honestly, he'd be stupid if he did go. We've said it before bt it's true, we are probably the most exciting team to watch/play for outside the Premiership, and Saints, as a club, have a big, big future. It's not as though Adam has played at a higher level than where we are now so he dosen't feel he's playing under his ability (even though he probably is). He's seen the club grow fom the dark days of the Lowe era so he will feel very much part of the club and he could become as big of a hero as Tiss was.

 

For some reason i don't worry about him leaving,probs because he loves southampton and has had offers to go to the premier league before but he wasn't interested,even when in league one.Also even though i think he's an amazing player i don't think that any of the big clubs would want him because of his lack of pace,therefore the only teams that would come in for him are teams that we could match in a couple of years anyway i.e middle of the road premier league teams.

 

Le Tiss had no pace and made up for it with skill yet many clubs wanted him. Can't see all Prem clubs looking for PACE only. Someone like Dalglish may well see the potential and of course Mike Ashley's Casino buddy Pardew will already know what he wants albeit without the finances to afford him.

Do all Prem scouts just look for pace? Seems that way but do they in reality?

 

For me its a simple one, we should not even consider selling Lallana not at any price. We only sold Chamberlain because the lad wanted to go, and of course NC got the maximum price. Like you said ImpsSaint (Welcome by the way) we should look to build a team around him as he has saints in his blood.
The only way he will leave is if HE wants to, which i prey will not happen until he needs a zimmer to get off the pitch.

 

I am starting to think of Lallana as being like Taarabt (but better). There's no chance of any sides throwing £10m+ at us for him, and he's worth more than that to us.

 

I agree with pretty much every point you make ImpsSaint. We had a good side under Chris Nicholl, with Cockerill, Jimmy Case, Danny Wallace etc. This last couple of seasons have been easily the best since those days. Between times, Matt LeTiss kept us afloat and entertained for years, but most of the time he was carrying an at best average team.

As for Lallana, it can only be a matter of time before some of the big premiership outfits realise that arsenal only got our 2nd best youngster, and begin bandying big sums about. Alex Chamberlain was determined to go and we couldn't do much about that, but Adam seems to genuinely want to stay and develop his career with us. If he doesn't want to go and we don't need to sell then there's good chance he'll be starting his premiership career at St Marys.

 

I love this lack of pace comment that pops out about Lallana every so often. Where's the evidence for it..? Granted he's not your 10 sec/100 metre guy, but he's certainly no slouch. Did you see him accelerate past two Ipswich defenders [OK, one was a slouch himself] in the 93rd minute..? When a player is that pooped, as he undoubtedly was by then, it takes genuine pace to be that speedy. Don't think he wasn't tired, either. Watch him fall into the arms of Lambert at the end of his celebration. He was tired all right.

Adam is plenty fast enough. He simply doesn't want to leave Saints and that's why Prem clubs don't come sniffing. All his agent has to say is NO THANKS. And he won't get rich representing Lallana.

 

The difference between Oxo and Chamberlain is that Alex and his dad were actively campaigning for a move. We haven't heard any rumours about Lallana for a few years because he signed a 4 year deal and hasn't expressed anything but love for the club. His agent hasn't been whoring him off like Chambo's.

 

Sky Sports definitely described him as pacy in their goals round up. lol. as have some written match reports saying 'The pacy Adm Lallana' when describing the last goal.

Personally there is always room for players of pace and non pace within the team. You have players in the side for what they can add to the overall mix. Each has different merits and many are not about to run past every defender. Like Le Tiss some don't need to.

I remember Le Tiss being called slow, fat and lazy yet also remember watching the 6-3 against Man U (in a pub full of Man U supporters) where he 'dribbled' past 3 or 4 Man U players in the space fo about 10 yards. Wasn't so much dribbling but squeezing between them while keeping the ball.

And remember players like Molby where they stood in the centre circle, didn't hardly move and controlled the play without hardly running at all. Not all about box to box even these days. Its about what you can give the team.

Beckham isn't/wasn't pacy but when you can hit a ball with that accuracy you don't need to be fast. They always used to say Sheringhams footballing brain made up for another yard of pace.

Many threads from other clubs popping up in recent weeks like the one below from sunderlands. (one from West Ham which was laughable)
http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=617945

On a side note I have 'Le Coley' on the back of my shirts. Shuold I be changing it to LaColey or Cole-ana

Andy

 

He'll be on his way in Jan (hopefully)

 

Not a chance, signed a 4 year deal last year.

 

I'm a little scared he'll become the next Taarabt, I think if we don't go up this season people might start throwing serious money at him