Man Management
A recurring theme at St. Mary’s is that good performances attract attention from the big clubs. Without mega-salaries or top European football on offer, for some the grass appears greener on the other side. This was very much the case recently for Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama. Senegal international Mane has been the target of Manchester United while Kenya captain Wanyama was the subject of interest of former boss Pochettino at Tottenham, while Morgan Schneiderlin was also pursued by Argentinian last season.
For long periods of time, it looked as though Mane and Wanyama would leave and their on-field performances evidently suffered as they were distracted by their potential moves. It has been the opinion of some fans that they were trying to force a move and that they should be let go. Although France international Schneiderlin eventually departed before this season kicked off, he was also unsettled at the club after Tottenham launched an aggressive bid to snap up the midfield general.
However, in an age where contracts can mean little and players have all the power, Koeman wrestled some of his own control back by holding off Spurs and re-focusing the heart of his engine room back to the Southampton cause. Schneiderlin went on to have another outstanding season in 2014-15 and earned his move to Manchester United to play some well-deserved Champions League football. It would be hard for even the most ardent Saints fan to begrudge him such a move after so many years of loyal service to the club.
Koeman did the same with Mane and Wanyama this season by stating no-one would be sold – all while getting the pair to re-focus and prevent the pair throwing their toys out of the cot. He was keen to avoid toys being thrown everywhere like a pair of former Saints did when their move to Liverpool was initially blocked, before eventually making things untenable at Southampton. By stamping his authority and retaining the respect of players asking for a move to immediate rivals is not an easy thing in this day in age, and a huge factor why the Saints have managed to reverse the mid-season slump to move within striking range of the top five. He set a precedent. No doubt this time around, Koeman was keen to avoid sharing a picture of an empty training paddock with the world.
As they say, “good things have to fall apart, so that better things can fall into place” and this rings true at Southampton. There was devastation when club legend Nigel Adkins was coldly sacked by Nicola Cortese for Mauricio Pochettino, days after a come from behind 2-2 draw at Chelsea who at the time, were reigning European Champions. So too when, after the best Premier League season in the club’s history, Pochettino walked away to North London after saying he wasn’t going to Spurs.
More disappointment came when Lallana, Lambert, Lovren and Shaw left and some of them quickly realised the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. After all this, Southampton are defying the odds again and are on course for yet another another personal-best – a huge contrast from the dark days of being stuck on minus 10 points, rock bottom of league one in 2009. Better things most certainly have fallen into place, as a result of things falling apart along the way. The club is in good hands with Koeman and the club hierarchy need to do all they can to keep him.
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