Sport Republic

[Suhari]

How are Redbull doing these days - wonder if they fancy us?

[Saint J 77]

I think most people can see the current problems at the club stem from lack of finance. We obviously don’t want just anyone taking over the club. We definitely sound like we’ve dodged a bullet in Joseph DaGrosa. It is just a shame we didn’t manage to dodge the bullet of Gao.
 

What concerns me most is there is seemingly no obviously serious interest from anyone with their own cash. The latest speculation of 5 interested parties seemed to suggest none of the interested parties have their own money to fund any potential purchase of the club. Even if by some miracle we do somehow manage to find a good owner, it won’t happen quick enough to stop the current rot.
 

I know we can’t buy players right now but I feel if the current squad could see positive changes were happening behind the scenes, then that optimism might start to show in our results and performances on the pitch.
 

Right now I think the lack of vision from the top is one of the main reasons for our terrible slump. I think a lot of our current first team squad are starting to see their future away from the club and maybe just don’t care anymore.

[Wade Garrett]

2 minutes ago, Saint J 77 said:

I think most people can see the current problems at the club stem from lack of finance. We obviously don’t want just anyone taking over the club. We definitely sound like we’ve dodged a bullet in Joseph DaGrosa. It is just a shame we didn’t manage to dodge the bullet of Gao.
 

What concerns me most is there is seemingly no obviously serious interest from anyone with their own cash. The latest speculation of 5 interested parties seemed to suggest none of the interested parties have their own money to fund any potential purchase of the club. Even if by some miracle we do somehow manage to find a good owner, it won’t happen quick enough to stop the current rot.
 

I know we can’t buy players right now but I feel if the current squad could see positive changes were happening behind the scenes, then that optimism might start to show in our results and performances on the pitch.
 

Right now I think the lack of vision from the top is one of the main reasons for our terrible slump. I think a lot of our current first team squad are starting to see their future away from the club and maybe just don’t care anymore.

Bit of a jump to assume that none of the 5 interested parties have their own money.

What is this based on?

[DT]

3 hours ago, Suhari said:

How are Redbull doing these days - wonder if they fancy us?

God, if only

[saint77]

Anyone hear what Simon Jordan said on the radio today missed most of it but got the last bit about him being involved possibly 

[SuperSAINT]

6 minutes ago, saint77 said:

Anyone hear what Simon Jordan said on the radio today missed most of it but got the last bit about him being involved possibly 

What time was it on?

You can watch/listen again here, @saint77

 

[SuperSAINT]

It’s around the 2hr 17min mark on the link above.

Not sure I’d trust Jordan to be involved.  Sure he once said something like Gao had “more money than god” which is arguable on numerous fronts.

[JustinSFC]

Thanks for posting re-runs of Talksport of often wondered if they did recordings.

I fucking love Simon Jordan, he's probably the only reason I bother with Jim White.

Wouldn't have any issues with him, if that was true.

Thing is, he's got the business nous but not much capital, think he's worth something around £120M, which isn't a lot in PL terms...

 

 

[JustinSFC]

Who's the "Former PL Chief Executive" that other bloke was going on about who is "Very Keen" to take the reigns?

Do not tell me fucking Kenyon? ffs god no.

And Jordan just said £200M would buy the club outright, INCLUDING Liebherr's 20%.

He said to Jim White "Assume I've got knowledge".

He also said we lost £70M quid last year and we're "posting dreadful financial results for some time".

This sounds to me like Jordan's at the very least seen the books, there was enough detail in there...

Edited 15 March, 2021 by JustinSFC

[Suhari]

Quite an interesting listen.

Clearly a few parties interested; Jordan obviously knows a fair bit.

A theory to ponder - interested parties are circling, but are holding off making a formal offer for now until we're safe from relegation. - What'd reckon? Two more wins and we're sold?

 

[SuperSAINT]

I don’t know, if you’re serious, do you really approach Jordan? 

[LuckyNumber7]

1 hour ago, JustinSFC said:

Thanks for posting re-runs of Talksport of often wondered if they did recordings.

I fucking love Simon Jordan, he's probably the only reason I bother with Jim White.

Wouldn't have any issues with him, if that was true.

Thing is, he's got the business nous but not much capital, think he's worth something around £120M, which isn't a lot in PL terms...

 

 

Agree about Jordan, he's a good listen on Talksport and I generally like the cut of his jib. Have previously thought I wouldn't mind him being involved with Saints as he comes across as very intelligent and doesn't stand for any bull.

Interesting stuff.

[SKD]

1 hour ago, Suhari said:

Quite an interesting listen.

Clearly a few parties interested; Jordan obviously knows a fair bit.

A theory to ponder - interested parties are circling, but are holding off making a formal offer for now until we're safe from relegation. - What'd reckon? Two more wins and we're sold?

 

Probably a fair assumption / theory. Ultimately, if we drop, our value decreases even further. 

Sounds like Finances are probably worse than most of us feared, which isn’t great going into a summer window where we need some much needed investment into the squad. 
 

I like Jordan, I think he talks a lot of sense. He’s been around and failed (learn from mistakes etc.), but who knows how serious the buyers are. 
 

 

[SKD]

1 hour ago, SuperSAINT said:

I don’t know, if you’re serious, do you really approach Jordan? 

Who knows, it could be someone with a lot of money but no football knowledge. Jordan is a pretty big name in the game, enhanced by his stints on talk sport. 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, JustinSFC said:

Who's the "Former PL Chief Executive" that other bloke was going on about who is "Very Keen" to take the reigns?

Do not tell me fucking Kenyon? ffs god no.

And Jordan just said £200M would buy the club outright, INCLUDING Liebherr's 20%.

He said to Jim White "Assume I've got knowledge".

He also said we lost £70M quid last year and we're "posting dreadful financial results for some time".

This sounds to me like Jordan's at the very least seen the books, there was enough detail in there...

None of this is new though, we've posted shite results for a while, we posted a big loss last year too. 

Although having just listed to it Jordan finishes by saying "i do know as I've been approached to be involved something with some very significant people talking about the acquisition of the club and how it shapes up that's how i know how bad Southamptons finances are right now and how much money they're losing"

Edited 15 March, 2021 by Turkish

[saint1977]

Sounds like Gao will be gone soon, clearly there’s been discussion about the risks of the lack of available capital to the PL brand. If SFC can limp over the safety line on the pitch then the PL will want Gao moving on and bringing in more owners who can underwrite some of the pandemic losses and bring stability. Kat’s made her money already so whilst she’s sold to Gao when she shouldn’t have, I can’t see her wanting to compound it if someone proper wants to buy for her stake.

The PL should never have allowed Gao to buy and also there’s domestic pressure in China to move football clubs on as assets. Fosun might be able to weather it but it seems unlikely Gao has the clout to.

Lets hope unlike Derby’s takeover saga whoever it is acts fast to save the club and we don’t end up with what Burnley have. Wont be another Markus but they need some upfront investment on a significant scale to shore the club up and rebuild the playing side. 

[Matthew Le God]

2 hours ago, JustinSFC said:

He also said we lost £70M quid last year and we're "posting dreadful financial results for some time".

This sounds to me like Jordan's at the very least seen the books, there was enough detail in there.

That information is all publically available to anyone to see on the Companies House website.

[EBS1980]

Seems confident on asking price. £180M for the 80% share Gao paid £210M for. Or £200M for 100% ownership 

[Fan The Flames]

2 hours ago, Suhari said:

Quite an interesting listen.

Clearly a few parties interested; Jordan obviously knows a fair bit.

A theory to ponder - interested parties are circling, but are holding off making a formal offer for now until we're safe from relegation. - What'd reckon? Two more wins and we're sold?

 

Or they are waiting for us to go bust. 

[S-Clarke]

It's an interesting listen, but it also paints a grim picture of how much trouble we are in. Are we any different to other clubs though? That's all I'd add - we are all having to deal with football without fans and are all taking out high risk loans, so maybe it's a game-wide financial implosion in that sense.

It does make you fear about what could happen if we did get relegated under this current owner though. It doesn't bear thinking about does it. I think we'd be done, finished.

Unless we get taken over in the summer, I fear for us long term. It feels like a club on the brink at all levels, close to needing life support. Who is going to be our knight this time?

Edited 15 March, 2021 by S-Clarke

[Suhari]

Presumably other clubs are in a similar boat, though of course we had the remnants of the awful signings and contract extensions hanging around.

God, I hope we get a decent owner, with vision and the willingness (and funds) to support us.

[davefizzy14]

I wonder who some of the interested parties are that are circling? I think Dan Sheldon said there was interest from America and the Middle East.

[SuperSAINT]

26 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

I wonder who some of the interested parties are that are circling? I think Dan Sheldon said there was interest from America and the Middle East.

I believe that article indicated another US group was closest to getting exclusivity. 

[The Cat]

22 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

I believe that article indicated another US group was closest to getting exclusivity. 

Someone from the States popped up on here a while back and posted a couple of cryptic posts like "don't worry it's all going to turn out well."

Probably a wind up merchant but who knows?

[The Cat]

On 06/11/2020 at 12:06, NewYorkSaint said:

Patience, friends. Sometimes, good things take a while...  

Nothing's guaranteed. But I'm pretty sure there will be exciting news within a couple weeks.  Wish I could say more.

Here you go, this is the post. Although it was in November and says a couple of weeks so is probably nonsense.

[SuperSAINT]

2 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Here you go, this is the post. Although it was in November and says a couple of weeks so is probably nonsense.

It was about DaGrosa. 

[Saint Billy]

Simon Jordan wouldn't be the worst shout as long as he has some serious backers. As long as he doesn't keep saying "Narrative" all the time like he does on Talk Sport. 

[JustinSFC]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

That information is all publically available to anyone to see on the Companies House website.

This should have quoted properly.
 

Simon Jordan did not come off to me like he'd just read it off companies House before he came on air.
 

And he's hardly going to attach himself (alluding to his involvement) in the manner he did if it was all a load of bollocks live on air, he's also well connected enough with enough social clout to either go straight to an insider or would have access to someone who does know it.

I'd have no issue with Jordan being involved and I'm interested to know who's money is behind it...

 

[John D]

If Jordan was close to any deal I'm surprised he is happy to share all this on the radio. There are normally NDA in place if he's had access to info that isn't publicly available

[The Cat]

5 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

It was about DaGrosa. 

Oh well. I just remembered that post, but thought it was a bit more recently when it was obvious DeGrosa wasn't going to happen. 

[davefizzy14]

Just now, JustinSFC said:

This should have quoted properly.
 

Simon Jordan did not come off to me like he'd just read it off companies House before he came on air.
 

And he's hardly going to attach himself (alluding to his involvement) in the manner he did if it was all a load of bollocks live on air, he's also well connected enough with enough social clout to either go straight to an insider or would have access to someone who does know it.

I'd have no issue with Jordan being involved and I'm interested to know who's money is behind it...

 

Agree with this. Simon Jordan being involved would be very interesting. I wonder who his serious backers could be.

[stevy777_x]

Sounds like Jordan was part of a group that looked into what it would take to buy the club.

It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent and he wouldn’t be talking about it on radio if it was ongoing.

What is Cortese up to these days? 
Would love if he came back to head a consortium.

He would totally get on with Ralph with regards to style of play and hard work.

[Wade Garrett]

Unusual for Talksport to spend any time talking about Saints.  Sounds like Mr Jordan wanted to get it out there for his own reasons.

[Saint86]

14 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

Sounds like Jordan was part of a group that looked into what it would take to buy the club.

It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent and he wouldn’t be talking about it on radio if it was ongoing.

What is Cortese up to these days? 
Would love if he came back to head a consortium.

He would totally get on with Ralph with regards to style of play and hard work.

You think? We've ultimately been destined to go the way we have since he left, but the guy was ruthless and would have sacked Ralph after the poor start and the Leicester 9-0 for sure. I'd be very surprised if Ralph was still in charge of the club had he been managing under Cortese 😆

[JustinSFC]

35 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

You think? We've ultimately been destined to go the way we have since he left, but the guy was ruthless and would have sacked Ralph after the poor start and the Leicester 9-0 for sure. I'd be very surprised if Ralph was still in charge of the club had he been managing under Cortese 😆

He wouldn't have got to the Leicester 9-0. Our form up to that point was absolute fucking dogshit.

He definitely wouldn't have survived Leeds United away.

Cortese also needs a billionaire owner with a blank cheque book to function.

So there's that.
 

 

[supersonic]

I think there are some interested parties that are currently circling waiting to see how things go on the pitch.

If/When (and the 'if' is growing bigger and bigger) we secure PL football for next year, I get the impression things will start to move, and move quite quickly.

Nobody will buy a PL club that could very well get relegated and with little they can do to influence this.

[Saint86]

As a theoretical point, what happens re takeovers if we did somehow conspire to get relegated? I'm not at all clear of the financial impacts on teams dropping down from the premier league anymore.

Does the championship have a wage cap / spend structure in place and how does that impact saints? And what is the deal with parachute payments these days?

I assume it would make the valuation significantly cheaper and also relax (🤣) the premier league's fit and proper person test standards? I.e. if Newcastle go down, would the Saudi's be straight in there? But is it the case that for the first few seasons we could get taken over by a billionaire and be allowed to spend a load of wonga to go straight back up / offset losses etc?

[Convict Colony]

16 hours ago, davefizzy14 said:

Agree with this. Simon Jordan being involved would be very interesting. I wonder who his serious backers could be.

Gonna pull this one out of my arse and say the only former Premier League executive who Jordan follows on Twitter is..........AlanSugar

Also Mods can we change the title to Potential Takeover Thread.

Edited 16 March, 2021 by Convict Colony

[danjosaint]

This is the plan all along, get relegated then red bull who were interested in championship side buy us and transform us to champions league contenders in 3yrs

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

This is the plan all along, get relegated then red bull who were interested in championship side buy us and transform us to champions league contenders in 3yrs

If Gao is happy to accept £180m for us now, what do you think we’d be worth in the championship? £150m maybe..? Probably a more risky investment though, even with the price reduction as we’ll still be stuck with the same outgoing, just less incoming. 

[Fan The Flames]

3 hours ago, Saint86 said:

You think? We've ultimately been destined to go the way we have since he left, but the guy was ruthless and would have sacked Ralph after the poor start and the Leicester 9-0 for sure. I'd be very surprised if Ralph was still in charge of the club had he been managing under Cortese 😆

We've been destined to go the way we have since the money ran out.

[Suhari]

A pointless thing to ponder perhaps, but what might have happened in the past few years if Markus was still alive?

 

[JustinSFC]

2 hours ago, Saint86 said:

As a theoretical point, what happens re takeovers if we did somehow conspire to get relegated? I'm not at all clear of the financial impacts on teams dropping down from the premier league anymore.

We aren't getting relegated because that would mean getting literally zero points from our remaining games which would mean we get beaten by WBA and we're not losing or drawing that.
 

I reckon we'll beat Burnley aswell.
 

That's at minimum 3 points giving us 36 and Fulham's run in is absolutely fucking dreadful, but I think they'll stay up and Newcastle will drop.
 

 

[Turkish]

33 minutes ago, Suhari said:

A pointless thing to ponder perhaps, but what might have happened in the past few years if Markus was still alive?

 

Markus goal was to have a self sustaining premier league club so not a lot different. All the champions league bullshit started after he died and Cortese thought he had carte blanche to do what he wanted. 

[Verbal]

3 hours ago, SKD said:

If Gao is happy to accept £180m for us now, what do you think we’d be worth in the championship? £150m maybe..? Probably a more risky investment though, even with the price reduction as we’ll still be stuck with the same outgoing, just less incoming. 

Plus the liability of a high-interest loan that will be difficult to pay down. 

[Katalinic]

5 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Gonna pull this one out of my arse and say the only former Premier League executive who Jordan follows on Twitter is..........AlanSugar

Also Mods can we change the title to Potential Takeover Thread.

I assumed it was Richard Scudamore. I think it has been reported he joined the Moneyball lot last year.

[SuperSAINT]

1 hour ago, Katalinic said:

I assumed it was Richard Scudamore. I think it has been reported he joined the Moneyball lot last year.

That would be awesome... but why would he talk to Crook?

Somebody like Kenyon sounds about right.  Ironically, Les Reed is involved in football acquisitions now, isn’t he? 

[Wade Garrett]

7 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

That would be awesome... but why would he talk to Crook?

Somebody like Kenyon sounds about right.  Ironically, Les Reed is involved in football acquisitions now, isn’t he? 

Don’t think it’s Reed.  Simon Jordan said serious people.  I don’t think he was referring to Charlton’s worst ever manager.

[JustinSFC]

11 hours ago, SuperSAINT said:

That would be awesome... but why would he talk to Crook?

Somebody like Kenyon sounds about right.  Ironically, Les Reed is involved in football acquisitions now, isn’t he? 

Well I hope it isn't Kenyon.

He's the first one I thought of as soon as he said it.

Kenyon isn't the right man purely because he's absolutely desperate for a club, any club.

He's been involved in some sort of consortium for every football club above League one that's been for sale in recent history, the bloke was even in for Bolton ffs.

And he's never been a serious contender for any of them.

He just wants a 'club'. Not specifically Saints.

I want an owner with at least a bit more than a passing interest in us, just to able to say "hey everyone I'm back at a club", I like Jordan and would love him involved with us, but if he's coming in with Kenyon he can fuck off.

[SuperSAINT]

20 minutes ago, JustinSFC said:

Well I hope it isn't Kenyon.

He's the first one I thought of as soon as he said it.

Kenyon isn't the right man purely because he's absolutely desperate for a club, any club.

He's been involved in some sort of consortium for every football club above League one that's been for sale in recent history, the bloke was even in for Bolton ffs.

And he's never been a serious contender for any of them.

He just wants a 'club'. Not specifically Saints.

I want an owner with at least a bit more than a passing interest in us, just to able to say "hey everyone I'm back at a club", I like Jordan and would love him involved with us, but if he's coming in with Kenyon he can fuck off.

When I said “Kenyon sounds about right” - I was referring to exactly what you said about him being involved in a ton of failed moves.  I wasn’t saying he’d be any good.