Blackmore mentioned that Ankersen and Semmens reached out to him ahead of last night's game to offer to do an interview this morning - full 27 minute clip below. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dvzrsc
Summary for those who can't listen/don't want to give up 27 minutes - here are the answers. Pretty swift at transcribing this sort of thing (thanks, work) but this is by no means a 100% accurate type up. Very close though, hopefully! -- Q: Did you picture your first year being like this? RA: I think it was always going to be a big challenge. If you can't live with ups and downs, you should not try to work in football. 2022 has been a rough ride but now I feel that we understand the club and have clear ideas of what it needs us to do in order to improve the way it operates. Q: What's the message to people who have expressed their concerns on the first year of Sport Republic? MS: First of all, I acknowledge it and I have seen the criticism. I'm not blind to it, people are entitled to opinions, we fully accept the criticism that has been aimed at us. But when we think back a year ago it's easy to forget just how much we desperately needed this sort of investment. Has it all gone well on the pitch? No, but moments last night help to give us belief that we are now going to go in the right direction. I think it's evident that we have a clear plan but maybe we need to explain it a bit more today. The fans last night were incredible and gave us the best atmosphere in a long time and I think when they do it that it can really make a difference in helping the squad to make things happen Q: How is Dragan feeling about everything, is he worried about his investment? RA: Like Martin, Henrik and myself - Dragan hates to lose. He really hates to lose. What I can say is that Sport Republic are committed to this journey. We knew we had a big job on our hands but we are committed to the club. We prefer to let our actions speak rather than doing interviews often but I hope the fans do see that we are putting a lot of investment into the club and nothing has changed for us: we want to make Southampton successful. Q: Matt Crocker, Joe Shields, David Thomas going... you've had quite a lot of change. Is that natural evolution? RA: When you try to improve an organisation, it involves change. And change in organisations means that you lose people. Sometimes because they say 'Hmm, this isn't for me' or in some instances, they are asked to leave. What I do understand is that perhaps from a communication point of view, due to the league position, this has looked like a bit of a sinking ship narrative. But I can reassure you that there is clear analysis and thought process to every step that we look to take. We have worked non-stop to try and improve the organisation. People are going to see that we have some really exciting announcements in the next few weeks - on the football side and the commercial side - in terms of people we are going to bring in who can really help to move the club forward. Q: Are you leading recruitment now? RA: For this particular window, I am leading the recruitment process because Joe Shields left. This is not long-term. I will be involved but once we get a Director of Football, I will let him hire a new Head of Recruitment and they will be running this process. However, this window I am doing it because I have prior experience and I think that it's super important that the needs of the manager are reflected really quickly and clearly in what we get from the market. Sometimes there can be too many people but right now it's really important that there is clear communication between Nathan and me to lead the recruitment. That's still surrounded by a solid governance process and our transfer committee: myself, Martin, Toby and Henrik - and then we make a decision based on our strategy and budget. Q: When you look at the summer, do you feel you went too fast and went for too many young players? RA: I'm not sure I really agree that it was as extreme as is said. We didn't only bring in young players, we signed players like Joe Aribo and Caleta-Car. We only really said goodbye to one senior starting player and that because we chose to respect Oriol's personal wishes. We would like to have him around in this time but it's an opportunity right now for some young players to step up and grow. We don't only buy young players because we are all about making some profits. It's because we believe that in the long-term, if Southampton is going to be a top 10 club in England, we need to take a long-term view and not just recruit for survival and immediate impact. It's a strategy that is aligned with the club Southampton has been for decades: turning potential into excellence. That's what we tried to reflect. Did we always get it right? No. But I think we genuinely have talents on our books who can be among the very best. We knew the first year would be a risk but we felt if we could get through we'd be in a really strong place to push on. Q: Is this window about trying to soften the risk? RA: It's a fair comment. What we are doing in January is a bit of a function of our league position but we still won't lose sight of our long-term objectives. But let's be clear, short-term impact is important right now. It's definitely an extra consideration right now to protect the club and protect the investment and stay in the league. Q: How has it been for you to transition from a very linear structure with a silent owner to the current ownership? MS: I was involved in running the club for a number of years with limited investment, not no investment because that would be a disrespectful comment. We had a certain way of operating. Rasmus and I spoke for a long time about certain decisions we made in the past due to limited budget and we still stand by those positions, but since the takeover we've had more investment than we have had in the years I've been in charge to-date. It would be ridiculous to question that and when you look at January, we are now receiving additional investment to balance the squad. With Dragan's commitment, we are actually getting extra commitment to improve our situation this January and that's been 10/10. I think if we were going in one direction before and an entirely different one now, that would be very difficult for this club, but as a collective we fully accept that right now the results aren't making it look as if we are making progress as an organisation. I'm sorry to use the example but when you sit there and you beat Man City and you see good performances from Gavin Bazunu, Sekou Mara and Romeo Lavia - it gives you belief in your heart. We must stick to that, but I've always said that the way we are as a football club before now to where we are now is a five or ten per cent shift, rather than a massive change. Q: You've had criticism of bringing Sport Republic in - the criticism has gone wild hasn't it? MS: I don't find the human side of it difficult. It can be difficult sometimes when my children are in the crowd and you've got a hundred or two hundred people near you shouting at you, but actually that doesn't bother me because I think it's fair criticism, especially if it's delivered at the end of a bad game. Rasmus and myself sat down together in the days after the Brighton and Forest games and knew what we were going to try to do. Did we see what we wanted in the Forest game? No. Did we see it last night against City? Way, way more than any of our expectations. Our view of life was that what was built under Ralph was special: his strengths being the power and the pressing. And to then improve the things we felt that had become weak areas: such as the team environment and the way we defend our box. I think we've seen some of Nathan's qualities in the togetherness of the group since the change. You can only go 'we want to fix X, Y and Z' and then it either happens or it doesn't. I spoke to the fan board on Tuesday night and said to them that I do understand the criticism but that I ask for judgement in May. Let's try to do it together until then and find some solutions and then in May, you are welcome to rant at me as much as you can. Q: Mislav Orsic and Carlos Alcaraz have signed. What does Alcaraz show you and bring to the squad? RA: He's not a player that has never played senior football. He's played 40+ games in a very difficult and physical league which we think transfers well to the Premier League. If you want a player comparison I'd say a young Tim Cahill or Frank Lampard. He is a midfielder who arrives in the box and scores goals. Technically strong but also aggressive and good in the press. But his signature ability is really the way he arrives into the box to contribute to goals. Q: For the rest of January, you've still got two more weeks work ahead? RA: Yes. We're working 24/7 on this at the moment. Hopefully we can add a few more to the team to give Nathan the firepower that he needs to achieve the objective that we've set for him, to stay in the league. January is always a tough window but I'm pleased we've got two that we really like so early in the window. Q: Is there going to be a Sport Republic template or do managers have autonomy to do what they want? RA: I think it's important we lead through principles rather than micro-managing how he wants to run his team. You look to find a manager who sort of believes in what you believe in. Then we agree on 80% and he teaches us 10% and we teach him 10% and it's all good. With Nathan, we did a lot of analysis of the issues that needed fixing: the togetherness, set plays, more clean sheets, defending the box better. Then we looked for someone who aligns with this and has a track record in these areas. In the model we have, with an ambition to have more clubs, I really feel that the structure will benefit Southampton. It will take a few years to build the structure but I don't think you should micro-manage and tell your manager what to do. It should be more about a fundamental agreement on the key principles that you want to guide your work. Q: Your response to the criticism of the Nathan Jones appointment? RA: I understand it, I get the criticism. I would say Graham Potter managed in the Championship, so did Thomas Frank. I don't think the Premier League's coaching sophistication is necessarily on another planet. It has the money and the players but if you look at leagues like Serie A, you find a very high level of coaching sophistication and tactics. I think Nathan ticked the boxes for us. I understood this would never be an appointment for great PR, especially with a tough start. But it's an appointment for substance. Sometimes people forget the Championship is the sixth biggest league in Europe and Nathan was the Manager of the Season in that year. It's not a bad league, the guy has a good track record and now we hope it translates into success with Southampton. Yesterday was one step in the right direction but there's a big mountain to climb. We just need to get everyone behind the project and then we'll re-evaluate in May. MS: We're on a path of strategy, but yes we are making a slight adjustment right now, where every single priority right now has to be to get our team winning the games to get the points to keep us in the Premier League. Every decision has to be focused on that, that's the lifeblood and then the actions that come from that are what Rasmus has just talked about. We need to give Nathan the players he needs. Evidence has shown that bringing some new people into the room has lifted things behind the scenes - and now we need to fight like crazy. A fan asked me last night about the situation and I said to him that every single person in the club will fight like crazy. We've got to have a plan, give Nathan the resources and make sure and trust that we are doing the right thing internally. Q: Just finally, how much do Sport Republic worry about relegation? Or would the club be OK and then recover? MS: A club in our position, every year, the focus is 100% on winning games to stay in the league but there is a plan in the background for if things don't go our way. That's nothing unusual. We're in a very good financial position for the league we are in now and any league we might be in any time soon. From a structural point of view and an investment point of view, we are in the best position we've been in for years. RA: If you're in the bottom 12 clubs you always have a risk of relegation and you must take it into your planning. We fully bought into the risk of our investment, we knew this was a risk that could arise. What I can assure you is that we are fully committed to Southampton Football Club for the long-term. We are working and fighting as hard as we can and I hope that we can get everybody behind us for the second half of the season and then I am sure we'll get there.
Nothing hugely new there but good to have it reaffirmed that we're not in financial trouble if we go down. The mention of 'squad togetherness' was interesting I thought. Would have liked Adam to ask what, if anything, had been done with the high interest covid loan we've got. Unless I've missed it there's been no specific mention of it since they first came in.
One of the upshots of buying younger players is that it makes it very difficult for us to genuinely get into financial trouble. Not that we'd want to, but we could easily sell Lavia, ABK and Livramento and recoup most/all of the money we've spent this year.
Good to hear from them. It was interesting how they spoke about building on what Ralph had created, but improving on some of the weaknesses we had, particularly togetherness. Presumably those reports in the summer about some unhappy players were true.
Thanks DTLW! A good listen/read. They do seem to have a plan. Still think NJ is a gamble, but with the right tools and people around him, who knows.
Thanks DTLW glad to hear that they are self aware and I do believe they will be good for Saints in the long run, but as they have admitted, this first season in particular is a risk with the summer window we had and the manager brought in. At least they know this and aren't burying their heads in the sand and are working to have a strong window to help get us out of the ****ter. Glad to hear that Ankersons role will reduce once the new football people are brought in but seems reasonable that with his experience he is more involved at the moment until the new structure and personnel are in place. I will remain sceptical that Jones was the right man to bring in until he can produce performances and get results in the league and if he doesn't get results soon it will be interesting to see how long SR give him. Sounds like they are committed to him right now, but there must be a trigger point whereby changing manager again is the last throw of the dice at survival.
Haven’t heard Rasmus Ankersen speak before but I couldn’t help thinking his voice sounded very familiar. Then it dawned on me who he sounded like. Christopher Walken. It was good to hear they are prepared for every eventuality and are positive about our long term future. Time will tell how the appointment of Nathan will go but he deserves his chance after beating Man City the way he did. Of course from now on whenever Rasmus makes a press statement my inner audio playback voice will automatically switch to reading it as Christopher Walken.
