We are in massive trouble then. They’ll be looking at the 70% stats and thinking the league table is lying
Are people finally starting to realise that SR are the problem? I wonder what that overt board meeting with the cameras was all about?
Probably a conference about how amazing they are, how they've reinvented football, how to break things that aren't broken etc
I don't think they're a huge problem TBH. They've invested plenty of money into the club, I just think they've been too ambitious too early. The first aim for them after promotion should have been staying up, no matter how it's done rather than focus on the playing style. I think if someone had told Ankersen he's an arrogant berk and stop being so ****ing stupid when he wanted to appoint Jones we may be in a better situation than we currently find ourselves in.
We would, but it worries me that they’ve promoted Mark Bitcon to what was Wilcox’s role. We need a football person, desperately, and they’re making a total pig’s ear of this season. I don’t think Solak is the issue at all, but some of the board are frankly incompetent.
Ultimately if Solak is happy to keep ploughing money in then they’ll get it right eventually. Monkey, typewriters and Shakespeare comes to mind. Longer he keeps haemorrhaging money less likely he is going to be cool with pouring money in. I’m not sure on how the ownership structure works, whether he can fire Rasmus and Kraft or if they are all part owners.
Also if they were showing ambition, why were the majority of our summer signings players for the Championship? Ambition is planning to be relegated? Sports Republic are absolute dog ****e. Imagine buying 3 football clubs when you don't even know how to run 1. What if the reason we can't afford (allegedly) to sack Russ is because Goztepe haven't sold enough season tickets. They've turned the club in to a total embarrassment in every aspect and yet people think they're OK because they've spunked a **** tonne on totally useless players. Mental.
Think Bitcon taking that role is them trusting in Martin to do his own recruitment in the summer in honesty… who knows where that will take us, but I get the feeling they’re backing him fully and want him to take the reigns over the next few years as they probably had a 5 year plan drawn up through a Wilcox/Martin partnership & don’t want a repeat of 3 managers in one season. Stability is needed, but I agree we need a competent DOF, but mid way through a season not the time to make that sort of appointment
A while ago, I replied to a comment regarding SR plan, with tongue in cheek, that "they want to get relegated so they make money on the parachute payment". Obviously at the time I was joking, but is this really the plan? Makes you think, considering they don't seem to care with what's going on.
Found my post, looks like I previously mentioned it! Lol A few months ago I jokingly said perhaps it was SRs plan to get relegated and "collect" the parachute payment as such. Looking back on how Saints have been, on/off the pitch, bizarre coaching set ups, the lack of a will to win, I honestly wonder if that is indeed the plan? Again I really hope that not the case. Tinhat time! Lol Apr 30, 2023
Ah the multi-club model. Like the poor Frenchies haven't suffered enough under SR, they're now bussing them to ours. Although thinking about it, it's probably SR's way of showing them they ****ed us up more so could be worse, shut up and be grateful
Long post time. Something i have thought about over night, and needed to share my findings. Let's begin. I don't trust them. They first bought Saints, then Gozepe & Valenciennes. How many players have we bought for Gozepe, who are pushing for the Champions league? SL are all about vanity, therefore I can see them switching their majority of focus on Gozepe. (More funds than Saints) Simular size clubs to Saints now (like it or not) 1. Bournmouth (I am extremely envious of them and their owner) Owned by American Billionaire, Bill Foley. Also owns NHL Vegas Golden Knights (New franchise). BF vowed to win the Stanley cup in the first 5 years of being in existence, won it in 3! New franchise Auckland FC Minority stakes in French club Lorient and Scottish club Hibs. 2. Brentford FC Owned by Matthew Benham, started in gambling business, was actually recruited by Tony Bloom. (See the similarity there? ) Owns no other clubs. ( sold his shares in FC Midjylland in 2023) 3. Brighton HA Owned by Tony Bloom- gambling business Minority owner of Belguim team Royal Union St Gilloise. The difference between Saints and them is sole ownership, not a poundland City Group. If only Dragan decided to bin off SR and take full ownership. Build Saints back where we can compete with the above and other clubs. Not be the provider of funds to Goztepe. Just for reference clubs owned by City Group. Man C New York City Montevideo Girona Palermo FC Club Bolivar. Yeah maybe it's me being paranoid about my club, and have nothing to worry about, or perhaps I am right. Please discuss and disagree with me if you wish. Cheers for reading. Steve
I don't understand what you're suggesting here. How do they make money on parachute payments given those payments are time-limited and lower than the payments a club gets for being in the Premier League? More questions to consider: Do you have any real evidence that Saints are being used to provide funds for Goztepe? We've bought 2 players and loaned them on to Goztepe and have one player at Valenciennes, but the fees will all have been low and I have no idea what the financial arrangements of the loans are. Are the other clubs paying Saints loan fees? Are they paying some or all of the player wages? I don't know. Do you? The Premier League is the richest league in the world. Why would SR gamble the Saints Premier League money on the possibility of getting a Turkish club that was in the second tier last season into the Champions League? Following on from 2, even if Goztepe DO get into the Champions League would they actually have more money than Saints? I mean, if Saints were competing with Galatasaray to sign a player we'd probably be able to outspend them and offer higher wages. From what I can see, the biggest Turkish clubs (who've been qualifying for the Champions League regularly for decades) have similar wage bills to smaller Premier League clubs and spend less on transfers. How far does a club have to go in the Champions League before they make more money than a Premier League club does for finishing 17th? I could be wrong but I don't think you match Premier League money just by getting into the group stage. Turkish clubs don't have great records in Europe so how likely is it that Goztepe will consistently be successful enough in Europe to make more money than Saints would if they just stayed in the Premier League? So yeah, I think you're almost certainly being paranoid. I'm not saying SR are doing a great job, but Premier League revenue is enormous and it would be very difficult for Goztepe or Valenciennes to ever match that income. So I don't see how it makes any sense for SR to do anything that makes it harder for Saints to stay in the Premier League. The cost of our relegation is unlikely to be matched by the gains from the other clubs being more successful.
This. And the idea that they don’t care if we’re in the PL or not is a nonsense. They’re making a total pig’s ear of things, but they want us in the PL.
I think it’s quite simple really. All the major investments this season can be sold for more than we paid: THB, Fernandez, Ramsdale. Dibling will be a huge profit. They will lose KWP on a free but some will be released and off the wage bill. We still have a reasonable shell of a championship team, collect 20th place money and wait for the parachute payments. They only need to spend a fraction of what they spent this season for us to be in with a chance of promotion next year. The other option would be binning off dickhead for a decent manager early on. Presumably this was too much risk.
