Even if what you say is true . Suppose GAO was interested in the slightest of investing in Saints ( I think he was ) , the fact remains his own govt prevented him from doing so . And we never got relegated under him .
No but he started the decline without a doubt. In fairness the first relegation isn't really the fault of SR, they can maybe take 20% of the blame for that. The mess that has followed, and is worsening, is what they need to be held accountable for.
I’m sure GAO had good intentions. But fact is - for whatever reason - he couldn’t/wouldn’t invest. And when he took us over, relegation wasn’t even something being considered. He took us from regular top 8 team, playing in Europe and a major final, to being inevitable relegation fodder.
By not investing a penny for 2/3 years. For a club like Saints in the PL that is nailed on relegation eventually.
I know he got screwed by the Chinese govt. But there must have been noise of a potential policy change at that time. Even if not, it is always a big risk for the Chinese to move their money out of the country. Im not even blaming him exactly. Just stating the facts.
Didn't Gao say he wanted to raise Southampton like he would raise his children; not spend additional money but make them self sustainable and look after themselves (I'm paraphrasing obviously) - basically saying we had no money to spend on players. Other than China not wanting to lose money out of the country, I think a lot of it was to do with construction debt. The biggest one was Evergrande which made a lot of headlines but there were others. Oh and the shirts were the worst, with the made up logo and website. At least we have nice shirts now... SR in!
I know that, but whether it was his choice or not, it is still what led to the downfall of the club. Whether he was an evil bastard that wanted to destroy the club, or a stand up chat that got unlucky, it doesn't change the fact that him buying the club started us on our path to relegation and the mess we are in now.
