Wednesday 13 June 2012

Will Southampton's Amazing Statement of Intent Backfire?

Well full marks for bravery! Southampton haven't hung around have they, shelling out a mind boggling £7m for Burnley hotshot Jay Rodriguez. To think, not so long ago the club was on his uppers, now they are punching in the middle division of the Prem it seems.

It's brave but is it wise? Are the Saints planning to play two up top, or are Lambert's days numbered? The trouble is, as promising as Rodriguez may be, he has yet to prove himself at the highest level so he is carrying one hell of a price tag! His goal per games ratio is 1 to 3, which in the Championship isn't earth shattering. West Ham fans were critical of Cole last season and he managed 14 goals from 40 appearances, 12 of which were from the bench. That's a better goals per game ratio than Rodriguez has managed over his career to date! Of course Southampton's new recruit has been maturing and improving, whereas Cole has hit a plateau so the comparison is not one hundred percent fair. But Lambert outscored Rodriguez last season didn't he?

So, it is an amazing statement of intent but I'm not convinced it was the right move. Yakubu for £1m or Rodriguez for £7m? I would take the guy with a proven track record in the Prem personally.

33 comments:

Stani said...

Big risk at that price! He will flop. Saw nothing special in him.

Nothing on Harry leaving HF?

Anonymous said...

No post on Arry leaving spurs yet? Little surprised

Us HF

Anonymous said...

Your a doughnut! Although i will take yakubu the journey man for a million too!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, the author of the article just doesnt seem to get it. Yakubu is a journeyman, well past his best, and with inflated wage demands. JayRod is young and hungry to prove himself at a higher level. Southampton are building a squad that is the future, not a squad of has beens. If Nigel Adkins reckons he id worth 6 million, the rest of the Premiership need to take note of "the one that got away"!

Anonymous said...

You jelly? It's just you sound kinda jelly.

Anonymous said...

i think the reason we signed him was for the depth of the squad! over the last 2-3 seasons we have very reliant on lambert and when he has been unavailable our form has dipped. now with 3 (plus lee, a promising japanese player we have)strickers to choose from it gives us more options to choose from. also the fact that he is young and hungry to prove himself means he should hold his value and his wages will not be astonomical like yakubu.

USA Dave said...

I've been saying the same thing, HF. I dont have the numbers in front of me, but I believe about 1/3 of his goals were from the spot as well. I think it will backfire.

Anonymous said...

touch of the green eyed monster?

Anonymous said...

It was only £6M not £7M btw. And you know he wont depreciate. If he has a good season his value could easily double/triple. A poor season and he could still be sold for £5M odd. Not exactly a desasterous loss

peterjwesley@hotmail.co.uk said...

Thats why West Ham will go bust...! The Yak, coming to the end of his days, depresiating asset, cost today £1 million value in 2 years Zero.

Jay Rod, cost today £7 million, value in two years....? But it won't be nothing, it may fall by £2 million, it may go up by £5 million, at least we have an Asset not a Liability.

West Ham is flinging up with has beens on big wages, they are not bad players of course but they have crested and devaluing ...the end result in losses.

Anonymous said...

Theo Walcott to Araenal (£10m) - he did okay, Gareth Bale to Spurs (£12m) - he did alright too....oh and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (£12m) - nah, he didn't do very well did he...??? Your posting makes no sense

ClaretinOz said...

Couldn't agree more, but as a Claret, we are very pleased with the £7m, thank you Saints

Hammersfan said...

Guys, this is not an attack on Southampton, nor is it jealousy. Read what I say - I credit the club for bravery. Every signing is a gamble. I think Adkin has got this one wrong!

Anonymous said...

Let's be generous and assume you'd only have to pay an extra £30k a week in wages for Yakubu. That's and extra £1.5m per year for someone who'll be worthless in two years.

West Ham need to look way beyond just the next year if they want to don't want to be a yo-yo club. Signing the likes of Yakubu is just papering over the cracks.

Anonymous said...

He scored 20 odd goals last season in an average team. He also made the champ team of the year despite missing a third of the season. Shrewd business.
P.s. whats coles career ratio of goals to games, its an odd comparison comparing cole season last year to jrods career stats.

Stani said...

I think he's got it wrong too. They've basically paid that amount for his age, that's all, with the hope he'll come good...similar to what Liverpool did with Henderson. Big risk.

To think we paid £2m for Maynard who has a better goal scoring record, I do wonder whether in his haste to get there first, when no club of similar or higher stature was really after him, Adkins has rushed and overestimated his talent and overpaid.

josh said...

Carlton Cole scores 1 in 5 and jay is at 1 in 3. Jay needs to score 3 goals a season in the next 7 years and he will be 1 better than Carlton Coles mighty 57 career league at the same point in his career. The yak is fat and will score you less than 10 league goals next year. We will see next year but Southampton will finish higher than the hammers and Jay will score more than any West ham player.

Anonymous said...

Carlton Cole is shite. No idea how good this player is but I doubt he is anywhere near as good as Bale or the Ox. Big Fat Sam is a cock and I hope he resigns before he ruins my club.

Ps. Southampton will be relegated.

Anonymous said...

£6m or £7m is a big risk on an unproven talent, but talent none the less (hopefully he can learn from Lambert / Sharp etc.)... especially where it could be used in strenghting other areas (i.e. defence) hopefully it's not the end of the spending....
Do agree that the Yak is a good buy for £1m, but wages will be astronomical... I think West Ham brought in there furture player in jan (maynard / Vaz Te) and again the Yak will help bring them though.... Here's to the mighty saints plus hammers staying up next year and doing a norwich & swansea

Hammersfan said...

The Cole comparison seems to have gone over people's heads. The majority of his career has been spent in the Prem. His strike rate in the Championship is better than one in three. Jay R, however, has been playing in the Championship and has a strike rate of 1 in 3. I'm not hailing Cole a genius, I'm putting a question mark against JR by making the comparison.

However, I am not writing him off. He may be the real deal. I hope he is as an England fan. I just think it is a huge gamble. Credit to Adkin and Southampton if it comes off!

John said...

Have West Ham signed Yakubu without me knowing?

Dublin Claret said...

Dont worry Saints,uve got a good
lad in Jayrod.He plays a more withdrawn role, so he will never be a great goal scorer. But he has all the right assets and above all, a great attitude. Believe me,one day he will pull on an England shirt. Dublin Claret.

Anonymous said...

Ipswich offered 3-4 million for him last sumer, Fulham offered 5 million apparently, Newcastle, Everton and Celtic were all interested but weren't prepared to pay the asking price, Southampton took a risk by offering 6-7 million.

It is a risk but the lad has talent, a great temperament and in 12 months time people might be talking about Southampton getting a bargain.

Fingers crossed he flops though and Burnley switch places with Southampton next season and we can buy him back for less ;-)

Anonymous said...

A shallow, lazy piece focussing on goals to games ratio and not a lot else (by the way JayRod averaged 1 in 2 last season with just a couple of penalties). Of course JayRod is unproven at Prem level but shows all the attributes that you look for: good feet, excellent in the air, can hold it up and bring others in, has a bit of pace and knows where the back of the net is, as well as possessing many of those less quantifiable but equally important assets: teamplayer, hardworking, clean living, hungry and still improving. Every signing a club makes is a risk and this is clearly no exception. The price has been dictated by the market as Burnley have had a couple of £5million plus bids for him over the last year or so and according to the media had a lot of interest from 7 or 8 clubs including fulham, Newcastle and Everton. I think he has every chance of doing well. As for the Yak this last season has been his best for years, you look at the previous two or three years and you will see signing him is far from being risk free.

Simon said...

Adkins signs on the strength of attitude and potential as much as proven ability.

He wants people to knuckle down and work hard and not come in and upset the apple cart by shattering the wage structure.

He therefore can't sign the like of Yakubu because he knows that Yakubu would have to come in on much higher wages than the likes of Lambert and Lallana and this is something that he doesn't want.

Fox and Cork have both played with Jayrod at Bunley and I have little doubt that Adkins would have consulted them.

You also have to take into account the type of player Jayrod is. Adkins likes to play two up front but also needs someone who can cover for and take the strain off Lambert.

Jayrod can do both. He can play up front and ahead of Lambert, but he can also be the big battering ram that Lambert is when he's not there. There aren't too many forwards that can do both.

So it's a risk, but given it is basically the unspent money from the Oxlade-Chamberlain transfer, it isn't completely crazy.

Anonymous said...

Saints have been watching Rodriguez for a long time. They have very astute scouts and people working in the background. Saints would never spend that much money without being sure that J-Rod will cut it in the Premiership.
Since Cortese has been running the club, 90% of thier signings have been a success. They are very careful in who they sign.
£7m isn't that much to spend when you've got £40m-£50m in the bank; remember Saints are one of the richest clubs in the country.
Rodriguez is a talented player and will play alongside Lambert up front and he will compliment Lambert's style of play. This is likely to be a success.
Southampton's problem is thier defence, which needs strengthening.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, I think it's your post that doesn't make much sense. What were those points in response to?

Anonymous said...

We all know young English players showing potential come at a premium so i can't see what the fuss is about? Saints have been very frugal in the transfer market so why not take a small gamble? Westham have been throwing money around like water for years so what's you're point? I'm not going to start comparing the two clubs because as a Saints fan I'm obviously going to be biased but in recent years since dropping down to league 1 and learning our lessons we're now thankfully being run in the right way. See ya in the Prem! Sam - From Hampshire

Anonymous said...

I would agree that paying that much money for a young, unproven player (@ Prem standard) is a risk, and If we were looking pruely in short term i.e staying up next season at all costs, then this signing is a BIG risk.

However, taken into context with the wider changes that are occuring at the club, and the switch of focus in recent years to developing young talent, this is a signing that fits in well with "the Southampton way".

Worth also noting that Adkins has mentioned that Southampton have completed extensive research in to Rodriguez and are convinced he is going to fit inot the ethos in the playing staff at the moment.

We now have a core of young talent that will be peaking in around 3-4 years (Lanalla, Sniderlin, Rodriguez), so long term we are looking good.

I would now like us to get hold of some older players with Prem experience who would be able to help keep us up this year and develop our young players in the time they are here.

So in summary, if this is the first part of a two prong attack - to look at squad developement for the long term and to add experience for this season, then i will be more than happy with the sigining.

Anonymous said...

As it was last season you worry more about us than your own rabble. English Talent always comes at a premium so its nothing new.Yes its a bit of a gamble but its one we can afford to take financially. He is highly rated and was sought after by other teams even though he was struggling with injury last year also.

We scout our talent. we dont just buy everyones targets like you did last season!!

Anonymous said...

Let West ham do it their way signing journeymen like the Yak on the cheap and Saints do it their way developing young talent and building a lasting team spirit and improving unit.

But please Hammers take down that Academy of Football sign and send it to St Marys whe you get the chance will you.

Anonymous said...

Why dont you concentrate on your own yo-yo club living on 60`s and 70`s memories rather than the upward Saints.

Nick said...

Hmmm...

West Ham have spent in excess of £90m on transfers over the last 5 years. £9m on Nsereko? £6m on Diamanti? £4m on Barrera? £6m on Demba Ba actually looked like a good investment, until he walked away for free the next season.

One thing I will admit - you are well placed to warn on the dangers of over-spending. But as others have pointed out, in our manager we trust.

Meanwhile, Fat Sam's slowly recruiting the entire Bolton Team for you. Good luck with that.