From Dan Sheldon in the Athletic: “One elephant in the room regarding Sport Republic’s takeover is the club’s £78.8 million loan, borrowed from MSD Holdings in 2020. It’s understood that Southampton haven’t got the option to pay it back until June and that conversations will take place with the new owners about when it gets settled. No decision has been made at this stage, but The Athletic can reveal that there is an intention to pay down part of this loan as soon as possible. Now Southampton will be in a better financial position than before, and the effect on the balance sheet will be positive, this should only lead to more flexibility in the transfer market and other investments within the club.” I seem to remember the interest on the MSD loan is around 9%, so the annual payout just to service the loan equates to 2 or 3 players’ wages. It makes no sense to spaff that sort of money if the means are there to pay it off.
Now this is where a simpleton like me completely loses the plot . Are we or are we not in a much more comfortable position both short term and long term ? I’m not talking about champions league etc , but a secure well run club that knows it’s limits in this mad world ?
We are. There was apparently a cash injection on takeover And it sounds like there is potentially the means to pay off some or all of the loan early. Which we categorically would not have been able to do under Gao Points to a better position overall There is clearly funding in the group if the intention is to try and buy more clubs. I will be interested to see if that happens within the next six months or whether it is a much longer term plan
I don't know if anyone has seen this, but this is Rasmus Ankerson... I feel really really good about this new regime.
So Southampton has now joined some multi-club conglomerate where they're just another club to add to some investor's bunch of play things/clubs. Onward Red Bull Southampton.
I think it's more a case of we are going to be the first club and that they hope to add other clubs to an already premium product
I can't see its a problem unless there's conflicts of interest that could affect whether a game is fair, ie 2 clubs owned by the same organisation who play against each other. A feeder club is often used by some big clubs...of course we'd have to set our sights higher than your rabble so I can't see Pompey ever being our feeder club
Unlike you to put the worst possible spin on something concerning Saints, with scant regard to the facts Laps! Sport Republic are a brand new company and SFC are the first club to be taken over.
Plus imagine being the fan of one of the non-lead clubs of a conglomerate and knowing that your club is essential just PR for another club. It's why I could never support New York City if I were a new Yorker... I guess New York Red Bulls are probably part of the Red Bull group of clubs, so in that case I wouldn't support them either. Think New Jersey has a team though...
It could happen I suppose that fans of the little clubs in that scenario don't feel as valued, but the financial support and power of a big organisation could be extremely useful in allowing a smaller club to have financial security
Yeah, just look at RB Salzburg. They keep churning out huge talents and a lot of it is down to the money they receive from Red Bull. They certainly got the resources to be able to build such a good youth system from them.
Well now that that dude who always used to post threads about Southampton getting relegated each season (forget his name) has gone or been banned, gotta get the rivalry bantz from somewhere!