Sport Republic

[Ted Bates Statue]

27 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

 

In the summer we sold a lot of dross and bought pretty well 

I mostly agree with you except here. We're still left with a heavily bloated squad and having to completely sideline players like Aribo and Edozie is ridiculous for a team in the EFL.

For me it's a warning sign that we're not being run properly, and that's before we consider that our biggest goal threat in Ross Stewart is out injured again.

[Mixedkebab]

30 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

In fairness I quite liked the players we had on the pitch today with the exception of Archer, maybe Edwards, and McCarthy should probably be the reserve behind a better keeper - but Spors didn't buy them. 

In the summer we sold a lot of dross and bought pretty well 

BUT and its a big BUT

Buying Downs and only Downs as a striker was a massive massive balls up which pretty much negates everything else, and it wasn't like this wasn't spotted before the window closed.

I thought the 3 CB’s were all very good today- it was only against Swansea mind.

But absolutely spot on about the striker- Spors is an absolute cretin for not getting this and a keeper sorted out. 
 

The subs and extra time dross was down to Still but overall he picked a decent team-

Sport Republic cost us the 2 points today as they have cost us so many before.

 

[Matthew Le God]

25 minutes ago, saintant said:

So in your eyes SR have done nothing wrong? 

At no point have I said anything remotely close to that

[Gloucester Saint]

48 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Nonsense.

Forcing a manager like Branfoot out is irrelevant to forcing an owner to make a huge financial loss.

The Lowe situation and what happened is nothing like what is being suggested with Sport Republic. 

Incorrect I’m afraid. It is plenty relevant if our fans actually make an effort to give SR some clog because commentators remark on it, newspapers and websites report on it, and it would ripple across their multi-club network. Let’s face it, House and Blackmore are in the club’s pocket and might as well be on the payroll they are so partisan. So it’s up to the fans. It’s then up to Solak to decide how much humiliation and directed abuse across his professional and business networks is enough.

Or he could appoint a stronger, more experienced manager who controls all recruitment at first team level who isn’t tugging their forelock in gratitude for their job. Saints do far better with name managers and always have. A fact even you can’t argue with.

[Turkish]

2 home wins since we beat WBA in the play off semi final

4 league wins in 48 games since we beat Leeds at Wembley 

 

just let that sink in

Edited 14 hours ago by Turkish

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Turkish said:

2 home wins since we beat WBA in the play off semi final

4 league wins in 56 games since we beat Leeds at Wembley 

 

just let that sink in

As @manji once TOLD us all.

Sports Republic will bring the GrEatEsT eRa iN ouR HiStoRy

[Patches O Houlihan]

6 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Saints do far better with name managers and always have. A fact even you can’t argue with.

Ralph wasn't a name, but otherwise you have a point here.

[trousers]

The bottom line is that whilst Sport Republic are at the helm, we're never going to progress, let alone maintain existing levels. There may well be "nothing" we can do as fans to accelerate that eventually but I don't see any harm in the fan base giving them 'feedback' on how woeful they are...

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Patches O Houlihan said:

Ralph wasn't a name, but otherwise you have a point here.

He kind of was....

[Patches O Houlihan]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

2 home wins since we beat WBA in the play off semi final

4 league wins in 56 games since we beat Leeds at Wembley 

 

just let that sink in

I think we have. That's why we're all so pissed off!

[Patches O Houlihan]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

He kind of was....

Will Still was/is kind of a name - in Europe

and we have a European DOF

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Patches O Houlihan said:

Will Still was/is kind of a name - in Europe

and we have a European DOF

Will Still is a name due to media attention, rather than achievements. 

He has a similar, if not inferior managerial, record to that of the QPR manager.  Not heard of him either

[Patches O Houlihan]

I wish we were QPR

[LGTL]

6 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

As @manji once TOLD us all.

Sports Republic will bring the GrEatEsT eRa iN ouR HiStoRy

Whatever happened to that prick? 

[FredVaFC59100]

2 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Will Still is a name due to media attention, rather than achievements. 

He has a similar, if not inferior managerial, record to that of the QPR manager.  Not heard of him either

Exactly, his track record at Reims and Lens speaks for itself. Overrated.

[Gloucester Saint]

7 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Ralph wasn't a name, but otherwise you have a point here.

Pretty highly rated though, ‘Klopp of the Alps’ and ECL with RBL.

[Patches O Houlihan]

4 minutes ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

Exactly, his track record at Reims and Lens speaks for itself. Overrated.

We'd be interested to hear your take Fred as a follower of French football. 

My understanding based only on having read a few articles is that he did very well to maintain league positions whilst having his star players sold out from under him - kind of like Ralph Hassenhutl, and to a lesser extent Claude Puel managed here.

Edited 15 hours ago by Patches O Houlihan

[Matthew Le God]

13 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Ralph wasn't a name, but otherwise you have a point here.

He'd recently finished 2nd in Germany 

[Osvaldorama]

Hasenhuttl was a huge coup for us. No doubt he was a name. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

Ok I accept that Hassenhuttl was a name!

Was Poch?

[ecuk268]

23 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Ralph wasn't a name, but otherwise you have a point here.

Nor was Poch.

[Sheaf Saint]

7 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Ok I accept that Hassenhuttl was a name!

Was Poch?

Not as a manager. He was only really known in this country for conceding that penalty at the world cup in 2002.

[tdmickey3]

So here we are. 

Utterly shittier than shit in the PL.

Now our level is mediocre at best in the Championship. 

Great job SR

Not sure it will ever improve under this clueless lot 

[ant]

Agree that there ought to be more pressure on SR, but from what I've seen at St. Mary's it'll be tough to rally.

Many have long since given up hope. And fair play, really. That stat Turkish posted is enough to drain the life out of anybody.

Others seem more at a point of 'acceptance' -  we are where we are, and they'll clap the team off no matter what.

Tricky to rouse a slumbering fanbase.

[Sheaf Saint]

2 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

So here we are. 

Utterly shittier than shit in the PL.

Now our level is mediocre at best in the Championship. 

Great job SR

Not sure it will ever improve under this clueless lot 

It won't.

5 years ago we were sitting at the top of the PL (albeit briefly). Under SR we'll be lucky if we ever get promoted again, let alone reach that height.

The worst part is that for all those years under Gao we were crying out for an owner who could actually invest in the squad. And when we finally get one they turn out to be a bunch of utterly incompetent clowns who have made us soooo much worse.

[ally_uk]

Buy a striker you useless C#nts 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by ally_uk

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, ant said:

Agree that there ought to be more pressure on SR, but from what I've seen at St. Mary's it'll be tough to rally.

Many have long since given up hope. And fair play, really. That stat Turkish posted is enough to drain the life out of anybody.

Others seem more at a point of 'acceptance' -  we are where we are, and they'll clap the team off no matter what.

Tricky to rouse a slumbering fanbase.

Understandable but they’ll get the League 1/2 club they deserve. Not pushing the club and owners whatsoever hasn’t worked out. But as you say, if they aren’t ambitious people I suppose they will be quite happy with playing Exeter, Bromley, Barrow and Crawley at home in front of 14k in League 2. I’ll watch Cheltenham Town from the away end at SMS, never been in with the away fans before. 

[benjii]

Sunderland nearly safe already.

Should've signed Ben Brereton Diaz and Paul Onuachu.

[Disco Stu]

5 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

to wash their hands with it. 

I could not (and have never) care less about their ridiculous multi-club model

I'd go one further. I fundamentally disagree with multi-club ownership. It should not be allowed.

[Matthew Le God]

6 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I'd go one further. I fundamentally disagree with multi-club ownership. It should not be allowed.

Why not?

[Patches O Houlihan]

36 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why not?

Because of Man City and their ilk ripping the piss out of the rest of the football league for the last decade, and because of what happened to Palace with European football

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Because of Man City and their ilk ripping the piss out of the rest of the football league for the last decade, and because of what happened to Palace with European football

to be fair with the Palace situation, their issue was completely avoidable. 

[Matthew Le God]

47 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Because of Man City and their ilk ripping the piss out of the rest of the football league for the last decade

What aspect of being in a multi club group did that?

Edited 10 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[Disco Stu]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why not?

Besides the clear conflicts of interest that sees owners like Marinakis finding unscrupulous ways to bypass UEFAs rules, I look at clubs like Strasbourg and Troyes whose fans have seen their clubs become mere training centres for their "parent" clubs.

Or as the Strasbourg fans put it "We are little more than a financial asset for an investment fund that already owns another club. Multi-club ownerships kill football. We have been robbed of all our most experienced players... It is now clear that BlueCo are imposing a U21 recruitment strategy, we aren't stupid".

I look at several clubs in the red bull group that in many cases have had their identities stripped from them (different badge, different colours, different names) to become marketing vessels.

I look at models like the City Group that start up a load of cookie cutter "city-lite" clubs that bankroll themselves to domestic success in a clear strategy of sports washing.

Then I look at groups like the 777 group that despite consistant mismanagement of their assets, were allowed to continue building a huge portfolio of clubs that led to the likes of Girona, Standard Liege and KV Oostende falling into financial ruin.

Now I'm seeing Sport Republic looking to expand their portfolio of clubs when two thirds of the group are in the worst state they've been in many years.

For me, the multi-club model flies in the face of why I love football. Communities being represented and identifying with their local club and dreaming that they'll have their day in the sun.

Too many multi-club models become a food chain, where those not at the top effectively become capped. That goes against one of my fundamentals. Nearly half of the Jupiler Pro league are part of this model and none of them are at the top of their respective groups. This was once a respectable league.

No club should exist to service another club or a corporate entity. I see too many, the little guys especially, succumbing to that fate.

Sorry if you don't like my opinion. I simply don't think it's good for football or for the communities that it originally served.

[Mboto Gorge]

6 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

At no point have I said anything remotely close to that

Care to give your opinion on them then? Or are you going to just endlessly question anything anyone else posts whilst seemingly sitting on the fence when asked for your own views? Fucking tedious 

Edited 10 hours ago by Mboto Gorge

[Matthew Le God]

13 minutes ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Care to give your opinion on them then? Or are you going to just endlessly question anything anyone else posts whilst seemingly sitting on the fence when asked for your own views? Fucking tedious 

I've done that numerous times on this forum. I've stated they have made some huge fuck ups in terms of recruitment, which has left us in a mess. Despite that, their heart appears in the right place and their money is going into the club, not out of it. So it isn't as bad as it could be with numerous other owners in world football.

[manji]

6 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

As @manji once TOLD us all.

Sports Republic will bring the GrEatEsT eRa iN ouR HiStoRy

You sad twat. Nothing better to do than think about a post I made. Never mind it got you some life affirming lols. 

[Mboto Gorge]

20 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I've done that numerous times on this forum. I've stated they have made some huge fuck ups in terms of recruitment, which has left us in a mess. Despite that, their heart appears in the right place and their money is going into the club, not out of it. So it isn't as bad as it could be with numerous other owners in world football.

Not many other clubs have won just 4 of their last 48 league games, so purely on the football results side of things, both during these last 48 games and over their entire tenure, it couldn’t have gone much worse really though could it? They’ve taken a relatively secure premier league side of 10 years and turned them into a currently lower mid table championship team via a combination of dreadful player and managerial appointments , but it could be worse because their heart is in the right place? Christ the bar is low among some fans isn’t it

[LoyalSaintSO50]

8 hours ago, Mixedkebab said:

I thought the 3 CB’s were all very good today- it was only against Swansea mind.

But absolutely spot on about the striker- Spors is an absolute cretin for not getting this and a keeper sorted out. 
 

The subs and extra time dross was down to Still but overall he picked a decent team-

Sport Republic cost us the 2 points today as they have cost us so many before.

 

They weren’t, Ronnie Edwards had a shocker and we continue to persist with 3 centre backs cos he doesn’t trust 2 out of the 5 we have. Shambles 

[Smirking_Saint]

8 hours ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

I mostly agree with you except here. We're still left with a heavily bloated squad and having to completely sideline players like Aribo and Edozie is ridiculous for a team in the EFL.

For me it's a warning sign that we're not being run properly, and that's before we consider that our biggest goal threat in Ross Stewart is out injured again.

What exactly do you want them to do with Aribo and Edozie ?

Cancel their contracts ?

Looks like Aribo rejected an offer from Turkey and Edozies transfer offers were too low

Not sure thats SRs fault

I have a lot of criticism of them over, certainly the last 18 months, but outside of not buying a starting No.9 (genuinely criminal btw) they pretty much did everything right for me this window

[Smirking_Saint]

1 hour ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Not many other clubs have won just 4 of their last 48 league games, so purely on the football results side of things, both during these last 48 games and over their entire tenure, it couldn’t have gone much worse really though could it? They’ve taken a relatively secure premier league side of 10 years and turned them into a currently lower mid table championship team via a combination of dreadful player and managerial appointments , but it could be worse because their heart is in the right place? Christ the bar is low among some fans isn’t it

Not really sure how that changes what MLG said tbh

Their heart is clearly in the right place, their spending is there

The execution is just woeful

[Saint86]

9 hours ago, ecuk268 said:

Nor was Poch.

Poch was recognised as a very promising up and coming manager who had been name dropped and praised by pep at barcelona. 

[Football Special]

Media outlets still rubbing it in, laughing stock , by the time we play Preston it will be a year since Everton at home, one home win since then in 12 months, no wonder fans have had enough 

[benjii]

9 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Besides the clear conflicts of interest that sees owners like Marinakis finding unscrupulous ways to bypass UEFAs rules, I look at clubs like Strasbourg and Troyes whose fans have seen their clubs become mere training centres for their "parent" clubs.

Or as the Strasbourg fans put it "We are little more than a financial asset for an investment fund that already owns another club. Multi-club ownerships kill football. We have been robbed of all our most experienced players... It is now clear that BlueCo are imposing a U21 recruitment strategy, we aren't stupid".

I look at several clubs in the red bull group that in many cases have had their identities stripped from them (different badge, different colours, different names) to become marketing vessels.

I look at models like the City Group that start up a load of cookie cutter "city-lite" clubs that bankroll themselves to domestic success in a clear strategy of sports washing.

Then I look at groups like the 777 group that despite consistant mismanagement of their assets, were allowed to continue building a huge portfolio of clubs that led to the likes of Girona, Standard Liege and KV Oostende falling into financial ruin.

Now I'm seeing Sport Republic looking to expand their portfolio of clubs when two thirds of the group are in the worst state they've been in many years.

For me, the multi-club model flies in the face of why I love football. Communities being represented and identifying with their local club and dreaming that they'll have their day in the sun.

Too many multi-club models become a food chain, where those not at the top effectively become capped. That goes against one of my fundamentals. Nearly half of the Jupiler Pro league are part of this model and none of them are at the top of their respective groups. This was once a respectable league.

No club should exist to service another club or a corporate entity. I see too many, the little guys especially, succumbing to that fate.

Sorry if you don't like my opinion. I simply don't think it's good for football or for the communities that it originally served.

No one with any artistic spirit or passion for football as a sport disagrees with this.

[Mboto Gorge]

6 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Not really sure how that changes what MLG said tbh

Their heart is clearly in the right place, their spending is there

The execution is just woeful

I didn’t say it changes what MLG said, it was his apparent stance, based on the fact he regularly sticks up for them and defends them against criticism, coupled with his “it could be a lot worse” comment, that he is fairly comfortable with them being our owners. The meek acceptance by our fans despite how terrible results have been on the pitch, is sad to see to be honest. 

[Wade Garrett]

Spors signed some really good players in the Summer.  Fellows, for the minutes he had, and Scienza were superb.

Unfortunately, SR are really shit at picking managers, and they’ve done it again with the ginger Doogie Howser.  He has no clue how to get the best out of a pretty talented squad.

Less than 28000 at the game yesterday.  SR will have to act before that gets to less than 25000.  It is criminal that Still can’t get a tune from the players at his disposal.  The bloke is clearly out of his depth and the club, regrettably, have to act before the season becomes another washout.

[Turkish]

6 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

What exactly do you want them to do with Aribo and Edozie ?

Cancel their contracts ?

Looks like Aribo rejected an offer from Turkey and Edozies transfer offers were too low

Not sure thats SRs fault

I have a lot of criticism of them over, certainly the last 18 months, but outside of not buying a starting No.9 (genuinely criminal btw) they pretty much did everything right for me this window

Sell them off cheap

 Cancel their contracts

fine the a weeks wages for every time they don’t make the squad

loan them out NOW

let them rot in the reserves 

have i missed any mongboard words of advice for what to do with out of favour players?

 

[Sheaf Saint]

6 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Not really sure how that changes what MLG said tbh

Their heart is clearly in the right place, their spending is there

The execution is just woeful

Sorry but I entirely disagree with this.

Yes they've invested, but their sole motivation for investing in players is the potential profit the be made when we inevitably sell them on. They're not interested in building and keeping hold of a successful team.

That doesn't qualify as having their heart in the right place as far as I'm concerned.

[Matthew Le God]

5 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Sorry but I entirely disagree with this.

Yes they've invested, but their sole motivation for investing in players is the potential profit the be made when we inevitably sell them on. They're not interested in building and keeping hold of a successful team.

That doesn't qualify as having their heart in the right place as far as I'm concerned.

Which players are you suggesting they should have kept? 

[Matthew Le God]

23 minutes ago, Mboto Gorge said:

I didn’t say it changes what MLG said, it was his apparent stance, based on the fact he regularly sticks up for them and defends them against criticism, coupled with his “it could be a lot worse” comment, that he is fairly comfortable with them being our owners. The meek acceptance by our fans despite how terrible results have been on the pitch, is sad to see to be honest. 

As I said yesterday, I have criticised them on their shit show of recruitment on numerous occasions.