Sport Republic's end of season interview

Ha, I’d forgotten about the LD Sports fiasco. Definitely not an example of being well run.

Your main point is right though, and it seems a lot of fans think everything was fine until Sport Republic took over. It wasn’t. Recruitment had been dreadful for years, there was not much investment, and we’ve been hurtling towards relegation for a while. You can’t keep downgrading players and get away with it.

SR have definitely made mistakes and contributed too, but our relegation is a product of years of below average performance in all departments at the club.

What did Solak say? Each survival leaves a scar (or something). Completely agree.

 

The truth probably is that there were things we did well, and things we were not so good at.

For me, the slow decline from the Cortese impetus has ended finally; I think the phrase circling the drain is a very apt one… we’ve done it for years and been fortunate that there have been teams worse than us.

However, our survival should’ve been the catalyst to not getting in that situation again, but under Gao, not only was there a rot problem, but stagnation set in.

I’m not saying anything either way as I have no experience of running a football club, but if we were that well run or as well run as some like to think, we’d either have been a) Increasingly successful or b) A majorly attractive proposition for investment or takeover-but in truth, we were never really either, known in the media as nothing more than plucky contenders punching briefly above their weight.

The takeover happened and the current incumbent have taken responsibility mostly and unlike anyone apart from Marcus, they are prepared to spend some real money on us, not just to rectify their mistakes.

Most takeovers happen and behind the scenes or in full view, there will be many, many things that people need to justify in their brains or wrestle with.

Man City and Newcastle fans have to justify in their own brains the fact they are owned by murderous regimes, Geordies have to wrestle with the fact they have had their kit changed to the colours of the flag of the country they are owned by, Man City fans have to get their heads round the fact they have almost as many financial irregularities than they have trophies since the new owners arrived.

The difference is that when you’re winning things and doing well, these things are harder for a lot of fans to focus on.

SR ballsed up with their approach, and are trying as much as any of us can tell to make amends. None of us know how it'll turn out, it may get worse, but they’re trying.

A reset for us is long overdue, I hope we get back to what we do best as a club and always have done as long as I’ve been alive. Play attacking football with young, hungry players mixed in with the all important experienced pros.

 

I don't think the interview is that bad. I suspect we will be right up there in the mix next season and it should be pretty fun! It gives us a chance to rebuild an identity and a team spirit without losing every week.

 

I just think this is excuses though.

We were nowhere near relegation last season. We were a comfortable premier league team. Going into this season there was a real buzz that we could finish toward the top half. Instead they sold the wrong players, didn’t buy the right players and appointed TWO of the worst managerial appointments in premier league history.

They can talk about winning the league next season all they like - it means nothing. I can say I’m going to sleep with Megan fox. Words are wind.

They still have a nauseating sense of smug arrogance which makes me think they haven’t learned anything.

The next few weeks/months are going to be absolutely huge for them & the club. They need to start making better footballing decisions right now.

 

Are they arrogant? Some naivety granted, especially from Solak. I could be completely wrong but I have a good feeling about Martin. Have to pin my hopes somewhere!

 

Personally, I'm going to keep giving SR the benefit of the doubt for the timebeing. They inherited an absolute mess from the Gao era. Full of 'friends' appointed with no experience or skills to run the show with the luck of having an exceptional manager keeping us in the league by the skin of his teeth through some good coaching and incredibly detailed planning. The depth Ralph had to go into and the amount he had to personally do to keep us treading water was never sustainable and sadly he was burnt out by the time he went and many relationships had suffered. The club has needed a massive overhaul - the revolution - for years and this is the opportunity to do that. There is no lack of investment from the owners and a year in the Championship is not going to do the majority of our young squad any harm. You can see Sekou Mara starting to realise potential much faster this way as an example.

I do hope we can keep hold of Kamaldeen and Alcaraz. With a developed Edozie, those three and a decent striker (maybe even Sekou Mara in time) could be genuinely scary.

I'm always a happy clapper, though

 

It’s pretty obvious that SR have they’re work cut out to win back the trust of a lot of supporters, but I’m not gonna look at the interview too cynically. They’ve made some fatal errors on the footballing side of things, but they’ve at least tried to share their reasoning (albeit with some interesting logic).

With Wilcox now seemingly making all the football decisions, I’m happy to give them the benefit of the doubt and I’m looking forward to the new season.

Rasmus seems to rub people the wrong way a bit with his tech-bro vibe, but I think he’s got the right idea for how to run a club like ours. It’s just a shame it’s taken us this way, however Dragan is right in saying that the mess they inherited hasn’t made things straight-forward for them.

People are acting like we were ‘stable’ in the Gao years, as if we weren’t lucky to have Ings and Ralph to give us prime years and carry us (alongside JWP set pieces).

Get Piroe in, get a few Romeu-type killers in midfield to protect our Charly (pls stay), play the ****ing brilliant youngsters we have, and this could be a fun season.

 

Let's be honest, we were on quite a steep downhill slide way before SR arrived. While they have to accept a large chunk of responsibility for the relegation, they can't be blamed entirely. Things started to go south when Cortese left and Gao bought a majority stake in the club. We were just about treading water for several seasons, finished a handful of points above the bottom 3 - always a danger sign. Now SR have the opportunity for a clear out and a reset and they need to get it right.

 

Second part of the interview today. It'll be interesting no doubt - they are planning to win the Championship, which I suppose is what we want to hear, hopefully, they will outline, in some small way at least, how they are going to achieve this.

 

Second part of the interview will be live from 6pm.
Apparently it'll be behind a pay wall, so maybe someone could put it up here If ya pay for it?

 

Part 2 now live - can read here: https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23558281.southampton-fc-owners-explain-key-incomings-amid-championship-target/

 

Rasmus Ankersen:

“Jason [Wilcox] will have day-to-day contact with the head coach and we will be here more often. We will have a presence here but that is mainly to support everyone and show that Sport Republic is behind the club and wants everyone to be successful.

“We want to support them but won’t be here executing day-to-day operations, that is their job. Jason will support the manager every day, be involved in key decisions and make sure we have that alignment.

“We want to build a larger system of clubs and fuel player development through that so we have enough on our plate building that and that is our focus but, clearly, this is our flagship club, so we will give whatever attention it needs to be successful.”

Dragan Solak:

“The new manager, the suggestion, the analysis and the reason why will come predominantly from Jason, not from us - because he is the director of football.

“We hope to be consulted and to be involved in decision-making but we truly believe in the people we will give power to run the club and will do everything we can to support them and enable them to do better.

“He [the new manager] is always capable of staking his desires [for transfer targets] but they have to be checked over and there has to be a discussion and a joint decision.

“Nobody is going to just buy players and tell the coach, here is the team! He needs to like the players and know their role in the team.

“We will not send him a bus load of players, it’s not one man’s decision but it is in the domain of Jason, the manager, their team and scouts and us on the transfer committee.”

Henrik Kraft:

“The goal is to win the Championship, the goal is very clear, the goal is to get promoted.

“We are trying to shape the organisation to make sure it is fit for purpose and absolutely achieves that goal. I think we will have a lot more resources in reality than most of our competitors this season so we are in a very good position.”

 

So, just colossal amounts of pressure immediately then. I believe we’ll be the best-resourced team in the division but we’re playing in a madness league where nothing ever makes sense. Even if we smash it this window and all the decisions are sensible, the division still outputs chaos. This will be, as is said by the people, “top bantz”. I’m giddy with anticipation.

Should be a top-tier summer for Football Manager-loving, squad building perverts like me. The greatest summer in the history of my sport, part 2.

This is all Che Adams’ fault.

 

Also worth noting that Kraft did say if we don't go up this season then obviously The aim remains the same.
I can see SR and Wilcox giving Russell time if he can see what he is doing is what we want.., if results aren't all wins at the start of the league season.

 

Well, feels like a fresh start to me, or maybe I’m naïve. Looking forward to seeing the Martin interview!

 

This isn't what Os believed at the time, heh. End of last season:

https://not606.com/threads/yes-that’s-right….400707/page-13#post-15858122

 

And for those who blame SR for 'costing us' relegation, the fact is that it is their financial loss. Your points are extremely valid, we've been almost rudderless for a long time, and let's see how they correct the direction of travel.

 

Ralph at his worst in those early seasons was hit by injury clusters and had no depth to call on. When Romeu was out for a while, Ings and then Broja we were hamstrung as a team so results inevitably slipped. I wish this season with the new blood we had managed to get a Broja or Ings into the side because I have no doubt we would have survived on early season form.

 

Part 3 - which focuses on transfer strategy - is now live: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/2...rs-reflect-january-recruitment-outline-plans/

The key quotes...

Dragan Solak:

“We also changed the game model [after the January window shut] unfortunately, we did the January window and then changed the manager.

“Suddenly the new manager came in with new ideas and those players were basically brought in like a week ago. Hopefully, we will not have this situation again.”


Rasmus Ankersen:

“January is always very tough, it is tough from a financial perspective. Nobody wants to lose their best players in January, players need to hit the ground running – it’s tough when there is no pre-season, so there is always a risk on recruitment.

“I think a couple of the players like (Charly) Alcaraz and to an extent Sulemana have done well, but there have clearly been some mis-hits where the players haven’t had an impact for one reason or another.

"There will be some turnover because the squad is too big but there are some very talented football players in that group which we will be intending to keep. I think it’s more an exciting job for the manager and director of football, if I was the manager that looked into the dressing room, I wouldn’t be too worried.”

“We are not going to go back in (the Premier League) and compete on money, we will invest, but that is why we are building the club network we are – to try and get the players into our system before they cost £30million. Time will tell whether that will be successful or not but I think there is some good evidence from other clubs that it is possible to do.

“There is also a lot of talent there in our squad that can improve, hopefully we can get a good pre-season, play some exciting football, entertain fans and win football matches.”


Henrik Kraft:

“First of all, what we have said is that we are fully committed to the club and it is a long-term project.

"There are other things that we are building with Sport Republic. This is to be able to create an infrastructure that actually gives us what we want long-term, bringing players through in a different way so we’re not fighting on the last day of the transfer window.

“We believe that over two or three years we will move towards a much more sustainable business model. Obviously, we believe in the investments we have made and continue to make.”