Southampton kit reveal cartoon sends Ronald Koeman to a fiery death

If you thought today’s Everton coverage at Royal Blue Mersey would be all about transfers, well, think again.

Southampton revealed their 2017 kits today, which at this time of year is fairly customary. The manner in which they did so, however, was not.

In short: what?

As you can see, the primary villain in this story appears to be none other than Ronald Koeman. Towards the end of the clip, Southampton players, including Manolo Gabbiadini and Fraser Forster, send allegedly-evil cartoon Koeman into...a pit? A cavern? Hell? Whatever it was, Koeman disappeared over a ledge into some fire. Okay.

From the Echo -

... their flaxen coiffured ringleader holds up an electronic device (possibly representing Southampton's fabled 'black box', a method the club use for recruitment) and declares: “Finally it is ours. This isn't just about shirt designs my friends, this holds the secrets behind Southampton's famous academy – tactics, transfers, all their future plans.

“This is great work gentlemen. With this the Southampton way can now be our way too.”

Among Southampton supporters, there was no doubt about who the blonde-haired, Dutch accented villain was supposed to be depicting.

Koeman, as you’ll recall, took Southampton to their highest ever finish and points total in the Premier League in 2015/16, and presided over signings like Ryan Bertrand, Dusan Tadic, Cedric Soares, Sadio Mane, and Virgil van Dijk. All of whom are either a part of Southampton’s core or will be sold to Liverpool shortly.

via @SouthamptonFC

The fact that Koeman took the logical next step in his career trajectory and now leads a bigger, better, and richer club doesn’t seem to be lost on Saints fans, though. Between cartoons and bickering with Liverpool about transfer dealings, they may well finish 7th next year instead of 8th.