The Lowe Down on - Departing players

Last updated : 03 July 2002 By Christian Kelly

Here, once and for all, is his view on the club's position regarding players such as Wayne Bridge leaving. Will it make a difference ? Even as I type this I see that the hacks have already lined up Bridge's replacement. Pathetic.

Rupert says: "I have made it clear that it's not the club that makes the decision in these cases but the player.

"If a club such as Manchester United were to come in for them and they saw a move there to be a career progression then there is not much I can do.

"Then my role as a chairman is trying to persuade them to stay and, if not, trying to extract the highest fee possible for Southampton Football Club.

"However, having finished 10th and 11th over the past two seasons and with our state of the art St Mary's stadium which is superbly full, it makes it more difficult for clubs who aren't playing UEFA Cup or Champions League football to take players off us.

"With respect, sides like Blackburn and Everton who were once seen as bigger clubs than us no longer are. This means there are fewer clubs who can now attract our players."

"I think it shows the club is making good progress and we approach this coming season with a wish to build on the successes we have achieved over the last few seasons.

"As always our attitude will be to fear nobody but respect everyone and hopefully we can get off to a better start this season than last time and continue our good progress."