He also took the club to the brink of extinction too, funny how we remember things differently....Swing Lowe....
Yes he wasn’t great. Some really bad times, but we stayed in the PL for a long time. And while we came close to the brink, we never crossed that line. With Gao we came close to relegation, but never crossed that line. With SR we crossed that line. Immediately. Which is why I feel they are worse owners.
Let's see where we are in a few years. I believe the ceiling of success with SR is higher than it was with Gao.
Indeed. I’m hoping SR will turn it around, so far they don’t look to be rectifying their mistakes. Also RE Lowe, he resigned in 2006. I’m not sure if this makes it worse as he jumped ship, or whether those who took over ****ed it up.
Lowe got us relegated twice, as well as putting us into administration. SR have a way to go yet to outdo the Duckhunter. I personally don’t have a problem with Sport Republic yet. The damage which the Gao years did to the club can’t be overlooked. The disastrous recruitment had to be reversed, and while they have made massive errors in who they have employed, both on and off the pitch, at least the financial input has been forthcoming, which was not the case under Gao. Where Solak went wrong was to give Ankersen too much control. He recruited both Jones and Selles, and it wasn’t until Wilcox came in that things started to stabilise. The replacement of Wilcox is the next big step, and will be vital to our future.
It's a minor point and doesn't really make any difference but I think Jones was Ankersens man and because that went so well, Semmens came in like a wrecking ball with Selles as his pick. Wilcox then took charge and went for Martin. Now whenever Martins time is up (not suggesting that that is necessarily soon) it'll be someones else pick for his replacement. Not a lot of stability or consistency at any level!
All these fabulous players that are going to be unbeatable in goal, rocks in defence, dominate in midfield and prolific upfront - that we should be signing if only Sports Republic had any idea what they are doing - well they do 1 - have to be available; 2 - want to come and play football here. Two things that a lot of people seem to entirely ignore. I've seen a lot of posts saying we should sign Rotherham United's impressive goalie, because if we contact his agent he'll be driving down in his own personal car to sign on instantly....
There you go, Shepherd, bringing reality to a football thread. I, on the other hand, am sure that Neymar, De Bruyne and any/every other world-class player are desperate to play for Saints. Why wouldn't they?
Yep. There wasn't enough money in the Kitty to keep Jim Smith but there was for Woodward Ducking madness.
Lowe got us St. Marys? No he didnt, his plans for a Stadium at Stoneham got booted out by Nimbys, It was Southampton City Council that created St.Marys
In fairness, I’m pretty sure we could get Rotherham’s goalkeeper if we wanted him (and nobody better had come in for him).
Yet in recent history we signed players like aldeveirald, van djik, mane, Clyne, Tadic, Pelle. I think this shows we can sign decent players if we try hard enough.
Hahahha I forgot about that! We are an absolute joke of a club most of the time. Thank god for Markus and Cortese for those few sweet years of bliss as we were run properly
Was it the Kat Liebherr lot that gave us a Canadian ice hockey specialist, Ralph Krueger, as chairman? We do like to think out of the box. Shame our players don’t shoot from out of the box, although when someone does it is invariably scuffed or skied.
Good point but most of them could not wait to leave as soon as they got here (seemingly) but it has to be said we were in the Premier League which of course for most footballers is the Holy Grail and a Saints convenient stepping stone, who at the time, had a reputation of letting players leave. Not so much in the Championship I would wager.
I'm not sure where that confidence is coming from, seemingly because he is a very good goalkeeper indeed, but that means every club in the top two divisions is aware of this. So depending on their goalie situations, they'll be looking out for him.
