Southampton FC targets sustainable growth

[SuperSAINT]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/11142479/Southampton-FC-targets-sustainable-growth.html

[WIGANSAINT]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

[NickG]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

 

You may have voices in your head screaming "no ambition" , fortunately that piece said "We aim to get to Europe "

 

Hope that helps quietening your voices

[Turkish]

Great to see a measurable and sensible approach from those at the top. This is a far more realistic strategy than that of another director we had who would tell everyone that would listen that we were on an unstoppable march to the champions league, which was lapped up by those that worshiped him, yet when you dug a little deeper all they were were words. These ambitions relied on being funded by handouts from the owners and offshore loans.

 

Rodgers rightly targets commercial income as a priority, something we've not seen for a long time as last figures showed us having levels of income in these areas comparable with small championship clubs. Our wonderful former leader was great at spending money, not so great at making it it seems. It seems finally we have sensible people in charge who will do things the right way, the ambitions are the same, the goalposts haven't been moved, but rather than telling everyone what we are going to do, it'll be done quietly, the right was with the club growing without relying on someone else's credit card.

 

It could have been different.

[CB Fry]

Great to see a measurable and sensible approach from those at the top. This is a far more realistic strategy than that of another director we had who would tell everyone that would listen that we were on an unstoppable march to the champions league, which was lapped up by those that worshiped him, yet when you dug a little deeper all they were were words. These ambitions relied on being funded by handouts from the owners and offshore loans.

 

Rodgers rightly targets commercial income as a priority, something we've not seen for a long time as last figures showed us having levels of income in these areas comparable with small championship clubs. Our wonderful former leader was great at spending money, not so great at making it it seems. It seems finally we have sensible people in charge who will do things the right way, the ambitions are the same, the goalposts haven't been moved, but rather than telling everyone what we are going to do, it'll be done quietly, the right was with the club growing without relying on someone else's credit card.

 

It could have been different.

Delighted to hear we have a plan to generate commercial income to overtake the likes of Watford. Our previous brilliant businessman leader I know had dreams and ambition to achieve this but it turned out to be beyond his abilities.

 

Well done Gareth and the management team.

[angelman]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

 

Maybe you have a problem with the English language, but even the headline goes against what you say. Sustainable GROWTH. Nowhere else in the article is there a suggestion of cutting back to just sustaining our position in the league. Personally I want sustainability - if I was a supporter of one of these teams that really have bought success 100%, I would always have a fear that the rich owner might tire of his plaything, want his/her money back and leave to sail their private liner around the Med. Also, the way clubs are being run along such unsustainable lines (some clubs worse than others) is all part of the mad world of football finance that I really really hate. I'd like to do things properly even if it comes at the cost of a few places in the league.

 

On the face of it, I would hate to support Man U where the owners have just bought in £150m worth of players. OK, their commercial streams allow them to do this, but it is ridiculous. I would far prefer seeing more home grown talent. I guess it is easy to say that while supporting Saints, as spending £200m+ in a year is never likely to happen.

[MarkSFC]

Great to see a measurable and sensible approach from those at the top. This is a far more realistic strategy than that of another director we had who would tell everyone that would listen that we were on an unstoppable march to the champions league, which was lapped up by those that worshiped him, yet when you dug a little deeper all they were were words. These ambitions relied on being funded by handouts from the owners and offshore loans.

 

Rodgers rightly targets commercial income as a priority, something we've not seen for a long time as last figures showed us having levels of income in these areas comparable with small championship clubs. Our wonderful former leader was great at spending money, not so great at making it it seems. It seems finally we have sensible people in charge who will do things the right way, the ambitions are the same, the goalposts haven't been moved, but rather than telling everyone what we are going to do, it'll be done quietly, the right was with the club growing without relying on someone else's credit card.

 

It could have been different.

 

Good post and summary. I would much rather we have a sustainable and financially secure club that remains a club just outside the top 6 but every now and then gets a great group together that challenges the stays quo for a season. Realistically we will never be a consistent top 4 club but a financial and football model balanced in the ethos of sustainability and consistency sounds like a club to be proud of.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[angelman]

Delighted to hear we have a plan to generate commercial income to overtake the likes of Watford. Our previous brilliant businessman leader I know had dreams and ambition to achieve this but it turned out to be beyond his abilities.

 

Well done Gareth and the management team.

 

Intersting what we did compared to Chelsea (for example) using the latest accounts

 

 

Chelsea 2012/13

Matchday = £70.7m

Broadcasting = £105.4m

Commercial = £83.9m

 

Saints 2012/13

Matchday = £16.9m

Broadcasting = £46.9m

Commercial = £6.7m

 

To compare to Watford, seeing as CB mentioned them...

 

Watford 2012/13

Matchday = £5.592m

Media = £4.790m

Commercial = £7.751m

[eelpie]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

 

You might be confusing SFC with Portsmouth. They went down, down, down because, although ambitious, sustainable growth was everything they weren't. Nothing can be guaranteed in football, but sensible planning for growth cannot be confused with lack of ambition

Edited 6 October, 2014 by eelpie

[70's Mike]

strange business football sustainable growth depends on success of first team on the pitch, you can flower it up with fancy words and aims, but boils down to that success

[buctootim]

Intersting what we did compared to Chelsea (for example) using the latest accounts

 

 

Chelsea 2012/13

Matchday = £70.7m

Broadcasting = £105.4m

Commercial = £83.9m

 

Saints 2012/13

Matchday = £16.9m

Broadcasting = £46.9m

Commercial = £6.7m

 

 

Genuine question, how come Chelsea have match day income over 4 times higher than Saints?

 

Edit. I just looked at the figures again. Cheslea have an average spend of £78 per head per game assuming 22 home games a season and a 41,000 crowd, which seems reasonable given ticket, programme food/ drink etc. Saints figures indicate an average spend of £29 per head per game based on 20 home games averaging 28,500. I know the figures contain some broad assumptions but why is the Chelsea spend per head 2.5 times ours?

Edited 6 October, 2014 by buctootim

[SuperSAINT]

Genuine question, how come Chelsea have match day income over 4 times higher than Saints? The broadcasting and commercial income I can understand but Stamford Bridge isnt that much bigger than SMS. I can see maybe 50% more (c£9m) coming from more tickets at higher prices but surely the rest, £44m (nearly £1m per match ) doesnt come from hospitality? I cant see 7,000 people paying £140 every home match on top of their ticket price.

 

Fair point - What stood out for me is how the hell Watford are getting more commercial revenue than us!

[Sour Mash]

Genuine question, how come Chelsea have match day income over 4 times higher than Saints?

 

Edit. I just looked at the figures again. Cheslea have an average spend of £78 per head per game assuming 22 home games a season and a 41,000 crowd, which seems reasonable given ticket, programme food/ drink etc. Saints figures indicate an average spend of £29 per head per game based on 20 home games averaging 28,500. I know the figures contain some broad assumptions but why is the Chelsea spend per head 2.5 times ours?

They must have a lod of highly priced corporate deals. We do struggle to fill boxes etc. Being in West London must help them a bit in that regard.

[buctootim]

They must have a lod of highly priced corporate deals. We do struggle to fill boxes etc. Being in West London must help them a bit in that regard.

 

Yep, I mentally factored that in to the £78 ph spend for them and we wont ever match that corporate hospitality level , but ours doesnt even seem to cover the average ticket price let alone other spend.

Edited 6 October, 2014 by buctootim

[View From The Top]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

 

LOL. What a muppet.

[Turkish]

Fair point - What stood out for me is how the hell Watford are getting more commercial revenue than us!

 

You have to say it's quite an achievement to have lower commerical revenues than a club a divsion lower with an aveage attendance less than half ours, but somehow our glorious ex CEO managed to pull it off.

[angelman]

It is interesting about the difference in incomes. Re: Watford, here is a bit more.....

 

 

Commercial revenues have increased by £6,089,000. This includes a reduction in catering income due to the outsourcing

of this operation to The Lindley Group, meaning that rather than generating turnover offset with cost of sales and

administrative costs, the Club received an amount of income per annum relative to turnover. The reduction in revenue is

£357,000 (with further reductions outlined in match day revenues). However these amounts are offset by reduced costs.

Retail income has improved by £185,000 in the year, with advertising and events related income seeing a small increase

of £4,000. The remaining increase of £6,257,000 is from improved general commercial income in the year and Play-Off

participation.

 

 

Revenue streams comprise:

 

Matchday – season and matchday tickets, corporate hospitality and matchday catering income.

Media – television and broadcasting income, including distributions from the FA Premier League broadcasting

agreements, Football League funding, cup competitions and local radio.

Commercial – sponsorship income, merchandising, conference and banqueting and other sundry income.

[WIGANSAINT]

LOL. What a muppet.

If you insult then to me you are losing the argument. You need to invest to have success in football. If we continue to sell then there is only one place we will end up. Anyways time will tell who is right

[NickG]

QUOTE=WIGANSAINT;2005981]Arr I see some of the forum bully's are out in force haha. Ok so let me be serious for a moment. Let's look at the facts. Did les reed not give indications that only one or 2 would be sold?did ron also say we are not a selling club?did Harrison reed not also say he is impressed with the clubs ambitions?let me explain to some of the thickos on here. Your being fed a bellyful of spin and your so grateful to kitty and her family you will put up with anything.Well I for one do not like liars and in the past week Lesley and Ron have both been proven to have been lying.If your going to sell say it. Don't try to con the fans so you can get the extra season tickets etc. And your insults don't bother me in fact I quite embrace it . Good luck to mopo and nicola cortese they both did a great job and had no choice but to go in these horrid times. My shirt is in the bin till fatty goes. You guys continue but I tell you ,unless we act there is only one place we are going and that's down. Maybe not this season but you can't always rely on bringing youth in.

 

QUOTE=WIGANSAINT;2001320]Absolutey disgusting.I never thought I would say this but rupert lowe was not even this bad. Feel free to shout me down ,but if your still backing those running the club then your a mug much like matt le tiss whose tongue seems half way up kitty's backside.

 

 

Think I know whether you are right. Guessing about 12/13? Read the article, ask for help with bits you don't understand

[View From The Top]

If you insult then to me you are losing the argument. You need to invest to have success in football. If we continue to sell then there is only one place we will end up. Anyways time will tell who is right

 

You have no argument to put. The article does not state that we will not be investing, rather we will generate our own money to invest. If you believe that we won't sell again then you are an even bigger muppet. FFP regulations make it an inevitable that we will have to.

[View From The Top]

QUOTE=WIGANSAINT;2005981]Arr I see some of the forum bully's are out in force haha. Ok so let me be serious for a moment. Let's look at the facts. Did les reed not give indications that only one or 2 would be sold?did ron also say we are not a selling club?did Harrison reed not also say he is impressed with the clubs ambitions?let me explain to some of the thickos on here. Your being fed a bellyful of spin and your so grateful to kitty and her family you will put up with anything.Well I for one do not like liars and in the past week Lesley and Ron have both been proven to have been lying.If your going to sell say it. Don't try to con the fans so you can get the extra season tickets etc. And your insults don't bother me in fact I quite embrace it . Good luck to mopo and nicola cortese they both did a great job and had no choice but to go in these horrid times. My shirt is in the bin till fatty goes. You guys continue but I tell you ,unless we act there is only one place we are going and that's down. Maybe not this season but you can't always rely on bringing youth in.

 

QUOTE=WIGANSAINT;2001320]Absolutey disgusting.I never thought I would say this but rupert lowe was not even this bad. Feel free to shout me down ,but if your still backing those running the club then your a mug much like matt le tiss whose tongue seems half way up kitty's backside.

 

 

Think I know whether you are right. Guessing about 12/13? Read the article, ask for help with bits you don't understand

 

Thanks for posting those Nick, they show Wigan to be an even bigger muppet than I thought.

[KingdomCome]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

 

Apart from the fact that the piece is about growth and sound planning to achieve that, if it's a choice between being man city / pompey (depending on resource) or going down to the championship, then sign me up for the second tier.

Any club that rests their long term financial plans on handouts from the owner is part of the problem.

[ericb]

Apart from the fact that the piece is about growth and sound planning to achieve that, if it's a choice between being man city / pompey (depending on resource) or going down to the championship, then sign me up for the second tier.

Any club that rests their long term financial plans on handouts from the owner is part of the problem.

 

Well said that man! I can't believe the double standards of some people, screaming at pompey about cheating and the rest and then calling on Saints to sustain something that's not financially viable.

 

I seriously think there's a lot of people on here that need to stop playing so many fu/cking computer games, get their heads out their ar.ses about the size of a club we are and congratulate the board for running the club well based on it's size.

 

We're ain't going to be Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, hell even Spurs, Villa or Everton, EVER.

 

In the next ten years we might put a few noses out of joint, build slowly, aim for the cups and doing things the right way.

 

Or we might find that we've just missed an opportunity with the best generation of young players we've had since Le Tiss, Wallace, Shearer, Kenna etc. and fade into mid table, end up in a relegation fight, or even get relegated.

 

But if we do it within our means, invest in things that help the club - like the training ground, youth academy and stadium - then we'll always have a club to follow and always have a chance.

 

Of course to you sky generation kids that will sound like a "Dell sized mentality", but you only need to look 27 miles down the road to see what happens if you don't follow a more sensible course.

[Goatboy]

That piece to me screams no ambition. Enjoy this 3rd place while we can because with that attitude the only way is down

 

Did we read the same article?

[farawaysaint]

Did we read the same article?

 

Meh, financial sustainability is hardly a buzzword to set the pulse racing. Arsenal, Everton and Swansea manage being well run while balancing football success but the vast majority of Dalek's yo-yos are in that situation because they put the health of the business before that of the team.

 

It is also much much easier to cut down on discretionary expenses than to grow revenue if you want to improve margins which is hardly encouraging.

 

That said, I hardly want to go the QPR or Pompey route either, at least if we cut back we will still have a team to support at the end of the day.

[WIGANSAINT]

So you expected us to be 3rd in the table?well done you. I remember souness and lawrie leaving over the same issue of always selling the Crown Jewels. Ask yourself why poch left. They more or less told him the plan ahead ,hence why he left. There is not a club in the history of football in England did what we have done this summer ,,fine it worked this time and I am really glad it did. But you can't continue to do this every summer. And I still hold the same view of matt. Great player but his hatred of cortese clouds his judgement. And I still hold the view les reed is a lying muppet. Feel free to continue with this but frankly I need to get back to real life. Have a great day.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Ask yourself why poch left. They more or less told him the plan ahead ,hence why he left.

 

You just made that up didn't you?

[itchen]

So you expected us to be 3rd in the table?well done you. I remember souness and lawrie leaving over the same issue of always selling the Crown Jewels. Ask yourself why poch left. They more or less told him the plan ahead ,hence why he left. There is not a club in the history of football in England did what we have done this summer ,,fine it worked this time and I am really glad it did. But you can't continue to do this every summer. And I still hold the same view of matt. Great player but his hatred of cortese clouds his judgement. And I still hold the view les reed is a lying muppet. Feel free to continue with this but frankly I need to get back to real life. Have a great day.

 

I've just asked myself why Poch left and this was the answer given by myself. He left because Spurs are a bigger club. They have an average attendance of 37000. They have a more successful history. They could offer him more money and a chance to manage one the recognised top 6 sides in England. They have spent a fortune (badly) on players but successive managers ave failed to produce the results their fans and board expect. Poch is confident (or arrogant) enough to believe he can deliver where others have failed. That's why he left.

 

He may have been told of the plan ahead. And what was that plan? As we've all now found it goes further than who gets sold and who we bring in. It's a philosophy that we grow talent. That all of our teams (from the youngest to the first team) play the same way so that, if one component - be that manager or player - does leave, we arrange replacements to slot in with that philosophy rather than the scatter-gun approach of some other clubs (I'm looking at you QPR). Les Reed, although you think him a muppet, has been a big part of building that structure.

 

And, yes, it's a plan to live within our means. How can we sneer at Man City and Chelsea and their rich owners when we are doing the same thing? If we forget the local rivalry for a moment, how can we denigrate Pompey in their current aim of building a sustainable club from the bottom up? They tried the other way of ambition over resource and look where it got them.

 

I would rather have a club living within the money it generates, with the occasional high league finish and cup win, than one constantly requiring loans until the owner tires and says "No".

[Wes Tender]

So you expected us to be 3rd in the table?well done you. I remember souness and lawrie leaving over the same issue of always selling the Crown Jewels. Ask yourself why poch left. They more or less told him the plan ahead ,hence why he left. There is not a club in the history of football in England did what we have done this summer ,,fine it worked this time and I am really glad it did. But you can't continue to do this every summer. And I still hold the same view of matt. Great player but his hatred of cortese clouds his judgement. And I still hold the view les reed is a lying muppet. Feel free to continue with this but frankly I need to get back to real life. Have a great day.

 

You really do come across as being bitterly disappointed that things have turned out so well and that you don't have the opportunity to tell us all that you knew best, despite your insistance that you're glad that it all turned out OK in the end.

 

Mentioning Souness and Lawrie is harking back to another era, the Dark Ages in relative terms, as we were owned by paupers and playing in a stadium with half the capacity of St Mary's. In short, it is largely irrelevant.

 

We have set a precedent to the predatory top clubs, that they will have to pay massively over the odds for players we wish to keep, and we have proven that potentially better players are available elsewhere for much less money, so why don't they make the effort that we do to find them, instead of being taken for patsies. The penny might also have dropped that some of our players play well because of the way that we play and because of the players around them, that work as a team. Those that left have found it difficult to adapt elsewhere, whereas having kept the core of our team intact, their replacements here have slotted in relatively easily.

 

Although we will not wish to deliberately go down the same route next season, if we are forced to sell players again because they want to leave and ludicrously inflated fees are offered, why is it a certainty that we couldn't achieve the same outcome again? Will our scouting network not be as good? Will the board not wish to sanction the outlay? Will Koeman's wish list of players have dried up?

 

As to why Pochettino left, I have asked myself that question. I conclude that he was enticed to join what he considers to be a bigger club, who play in Europe, albeit in the minor European league and because he is ambitious, he thought that it would be a good career move.You believe that the board "more or less" told him the plan ahead, hence why he left. What do you think they told him? Events have proven that they reinvested the bulk of the money they received in player sales, so it could not have been that they told him that money or ambition were lacking. Did he intend to leave because Cortese had left and he was only waiting for a decent offer to come his way? How many players left because Pochettino and Cortese left? Or did they just leave in reality because obscene increases in salary allied to the lure of the glory clubs seduced them?

 

As for the Les Reed is a lying muppet comment, I supect that with the benefit of hindsight, most are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and accept that events changed around him which undermined the statements he made in good faith at the time. No doubt you will be able to furnish us with details of exactly where he actually did tell any lies, won't you?

[Gemmel]

Feel free to continue with this but frankly I need to get back to real life day

 

Having read your posts (and unfortunately) having seen one of your videos, I am highly sceptical that "real Life" exists in any part of your being.

[Wes Tender]

Originally Posted by View From The Top (aimed at Wigansaint)]

LOL. What a muppet.

 

Originally posted by Wigansaint; If you insult then to me you are losing the argument.

 

Originally posted by Wigansaint: And I still hold the view les reed is a lying muppet

 

Does the insult aimed at Les Reed mean that you are losing the argument?

[100%Red&White]

Going back to when Markus Liebherr first came to the club I'm sure the talk was about getting back to the Premier League as part of a five year plan but to make club self-sustaining in the process.

 

After Markus passed away things moved along far speedier than anticipated as did, it appeared, Cortese's ambition with somebody elses money. Maybe we're now just getting back to Markus' original objective.

 

I believe this club can grow over time but it will never (like all the others) make a sustained assault on the top 5 or 6 clubs. That's just how it is and the way SFC is now being run is fine with me.

[Pedro]

Good article and proud of the way we are going. I think Pochettino has the agenda and used us as a stepping stone and will use Spurs for his next step up to a European club, providing he does well at WHL.

[WIGANSAINT]

Fantastic post itchen. I just think the policy is wrong but it's all about opinions. Look at bolton and wigan as 2 examples of always selling your best players. Gets you no where. Think Everton have done really well with what they did over the summer and I would like to see us be a bit more like them. Football is all about opinions and always will be. We are all saints fans so I don't think there is any need for insults.

[Window Cleaner]

Fantastic post itchen. I just think the policy is wrong but it's all about opinions. Look at bolton and wigan as 2 examples of always selling your best players. Gets you no where. Think Everton have done really well with what they did over the summer and I would like to see us be a bit more like them. Football is all about opinions and always will be. We are all saints fans so I don't think there is any need for insults.

 

 

I wouldn't want us to be like the Everton I saw against Utd on Sunday.

[angelman]

Fantastic post itchen. I just think the policy is wrong but it's all about opinions. Look at bolton and wigan as 2 examples of always selling your best players. Gets you no where. Think Everton have done really well with what they did over the summer and I would like to see us be a bit more like them. Football is all about opinions and always will be. We are all saints fans so I don't think there is any need for insults.

 

For some reason you still fail to see the word GROWTH. What do you think growth is, and how do you achieve that? Given our current position, what do you think growth would mean for us? GROWTH - look it up in a dictionary if you don't understand what it means.

[Gemmel]

. Think Everton have done really well with what they did over the summer and I would like to see us be a bit more like them. .

 

What do you mean like a self sustaining club :lol::lol:

[View From The Top]

Having read your posts (and unfortunately) having seen one of your videos, I am highly sceptical that "real Life" exists in any part of your being.

 

[WIGANSAINT]

What do you mean like a self sustaining club :lol::lol:

Well they can hang onto to our players better than we can.

Anyway i am bored of going over the same thing. Carry on as you where getting excited about this Growth

[View From The Top]

Well they can hang onto to our players better than we can.

Anyway i am bored of going over the same thing. Carry on as you where getting excited about this Growth

 

[farawaysaint]

Well they can hang onto to our players better than we can.

Anyway i am bored of going over the same thing. Carry on as you where getting excited about this Growth

 

Actually it is a fair point, Everton are one of only four or five profitable clubs in the premier league. They have targeted sustainability, hence their loan policy and youth prospects not all that dissimilar to us. The reason they can hold onto their players is that they've been doing it longer, better and are hence more successful.

[View From The Top]

Actually it is a fair point, Everton are one of only four or five profitable clubs in the premier league. They have targeted sustainability, hence their loan policy and youth prospects not all that dissimilar to us. The reason they can hold onto their players is that they've been doing it longer, better and are hence more successful.

 

Perhaps you should go and find out about their debt and what they've flogged off asset wise.

[farawaysaint]

Perhaps you should go and find out about their debt and what they've flogged off asset wise.

 

Fair point.

[Ludwig]

frankly I need to get back to real life

 

Indeed.

[DuncanRG]

Interesting piece, especially about the 'giant brain-storming session' between all the staff which is news to me.