Sport Republic

[Willo of Whiteley]

I can also see the pros of having Sports Republic.

Five at the back!

The multi-club model!

Two relegations in four years!

Stable Premier League to mid table Championship!

So many benefits.

[ItchenRob]

I have seen some Sports Republic Out stickers about. That might be as radical as I can get well into my 60s (But I cannot find any to buy)😇

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, ItchenRob said:

I have seen some Sports Republic Out stickers about. That might be as radical as I can get well into my 60s (But I cannot find any to buy)😇

They need to be as common place as the Benali Panini ones were circa 10 years ago. Saw those in every place Saints were playing at away games and all over Southampton.

[Wade Garrett]

47 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Background says it all i'm afraid. This guy may think he's a genius who can reinvent football, but the reality is that all he's doing is using the SR group to destroy Southampton football club. And if Solak can't see that, he'll soon lose all his investment as well.

I hope he does lose his investment.  He’s a fucking idiot.

[S-Clarke]

Managers appointed by SR:

Nathan Jones - A failure, promoted beyond his means. a 'try to be clever' appointment when it wasn't needed. PPG - 1.07

Ruben Selles - A failure, promoted beyond his means. a 'try to be clever' appointment when it wasn't needed. PPG - 0.44

Russell Martin - I can't say he was a failure, as we got promoted under him. It was a 'try to be clever' appointment from the outset though. In the PL he was an absolute failure and we were not setup to compete in any way.

Ivan Juric - A failure. He was an experienced coach (one of the only experienced they've appointed) with a specific style, the polar opposite of what Russell Martin had implemented before - so the players didn't fit, a weird call timing wise. They probably use this as justification as to why 'experience' didn't work. PPG - 0.44

Simon Rusk - A complete waste of time this one. Promoted way beyond his means, I don't believe they ever saw him as the manager - just someone to see it till the end of the season. PPG 0.29

Will Still - A failure. promoted beyond his means, and another try to be clever appointment you have to say. PPG 1.13

Tonda Eckert - A failure. Promoted beyond his means, a try to be clever appointment when it wasn't needed. PPG - 1.13 (not including his caretaker stint).

Overall there is a consistent theme here - they promote and appoint people beyond their skill level, hoping to turn rough scraps into diamonds to provide THEM with an opportunity to pat their ego because they were so revolutionary. Similar themes follow throughout the coaching staff, with the likes of Ben Reeves, Ben Garner, Adam Lallana.

Obviously it doesn't work, so why do they keep doing it? Because it enables control. They are able to retain the control of the narrative across the entire group. Whether that's formations, style of play, tactical approaches, transfer targets etc - with people in these roles promoted beyond their means it allows SR to assume the decision making, and the rest just nod along. 

Juric was the only change from that, but he wouldn't have lasted long when he discovered they wouldn't have allowed him the autonomy.

 

[bpsaint]

That cunt Semmens wants a good kicking for his part in this shambles.

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, Wade Garrett said:

I hope he does lose his investment.  He’s a fucking idiot.

Need some red cards printed like West Ham had at Wolves yesterday with David Sullivan’s face on them. Worked a treat at the Port Vale game in dispatching Branfoot. I can see Rasmus’s face on them.

Get thousands printed and do the SR Out stickers as well. I’m sure most of us who are able to contribute to the cost would do so. 

[Gloucester Saint]

2 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

That cunt Semmens wants a good kicking for his part in this shambles.

Helped bring in Gao too. Another weak chinned cunt.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Gloucester Saint said:

Helped bring in Gao too. Another weak chinned cunt.

I don't think he did. Gao came in under Kruger when he was in charge.

The issue we had is that Kruger went back to Canada with the 5 pledges, so we'll never know what Gao's plans were for us....!

[Pamplemousse]

We have to force these charlatans out somehow

[Willo of Whiteley]

Russell Martin I don’t think was helped by the poor recruitment in the summer after promotion. 
I would’ve hoped his naivety and ego would’ve clocked some of these failings but Rangers showed he hasn’t learnt.

That said I’d have him over Tonda anyday.

Someone mentioned Martin Semmens, actually he and Ralph Hassenhutl worked extremely close together and kept the team ticking over for years on a shoe string - and that should be commendable. 

He was let go by Sport Republic six months into their tenure.

[Mboto Gorge]

56 minutes ago, Turkish said:

 

But, other than that, it’s going ok?

[Miltonaggro]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't think he did. Gao came in under Kruger when he was in charge.

The issue we had is that Kruger went back to Canada with the 5 pledges, so we'll never know what Gao's plans were for us....!

We have to assume that one of the pledges was to fuck the club over. 

[benjii]

8 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Russell Martin I don’t think was helped by the poor recruitment in the summer after promotion. 
I would’ve hoped his naivety and ego would’ve clocked some of these failings but Rangers showed he hasn’t learnt.

That said I’d have him over Tonda anyday.

Someone mentioned Martin Semmens, actually he and Ralph Hassenhutl worked extremely close together and kept the team ticking over for years on a shoe string - and that should be commendable. 

He was let go by Sport Republic six months into their tenure.

In hindsight, it's hard not to have some sympathy for Martin considering our summer signings to fire us to Premier League success included Flynn Downes, Ryan Fraser, Ben Brereton Diaz and Cameron Archer.

[S-Clarke]

8 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Russell Martin I don’t think was helped by the poor recruitment in the summer after promotion. 
I would’ve hoped his naivety and ego would’ve clocked some of these failings but Rangers showed he hasn’t learnt.

That said I’d have him over Tonda anyday.

Someone mentioned Martin Semmens, actually he and Ralph Hassenhutl worked extremely close together and kept the team ticking over for years on a shoe string - and that should be commendable. 

He was let go by Sport Republic six months into their tenure.

No, I don't give him that slack. He was all over that summer recruitment because we felt it was a good idea to not replace Wilcox. 

It was Martin, Bitcon and Parsons around the table with the scouts. His hands were all over the deals we made that summer.

[Willo of Whiteley]

The cheap appointments in staff and managers scream they want to keep all control from the managers and their coaching team.

Maybe that’s why we haven’t got stand out candidates. They’ve had one discussion about how the SR organisation/ the club wishes to operate and they’ve gone “Naa fuck that”. (Which is similar to what I’ve heard).

[coalman]

5 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

The cheap appointments in staff and managers scream they want to keep all control from the managers and their coaching team.

Maybe that’s why we haven’t got stand out candidates. They’ve had one discussion about how the SR organisation/ the club wishes to operate and they’ve gone “Naa fuck that”. (Which is similar to what I’ve heard).

Reminds me of an old boss of mine. Every single appointment he made was either fired 6 months in for not being able to get things done while being micromanaged or rage quit around the one year mark when he remembered he had employed them and started trying to micromanage them.

[pimpin4rizeal]

It’s probably about time fans started protesting or boycotting games to try and get rid of these fools( even though it probably won’t work) once the parachute payments run out we are in serious trouble with these idiots in charge 

[Saint Pete]

27 minutes ago, benjii said:

In hindsight, it's hard not to have some sympathy for Martin considering our summer signings to fire us to Premier League success included Flynn Downes, Ryan Fraser, Ben Brereton Diaz and Cameron Archer.

Yes, can see your argument there! I actually think this summers recruitment wasn't too bad with Scienza, Jander, Azaz and Fellows all being players you would expect to do very well at this level. It's just SR have fucked our chances by skimping on managerial appointments and seemingly imposing playing style/formation on the manager. And also ignoring obvious deficiencies in goalkeeper and striker positions. 

[benjii]

2 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

Yes, can see your argument there! I actually think this summers recruitment wasn't too bad with Scienza, Jander, Azaz and Fellows all being players you would expect to do very well at this level. It's just SR have fucked our chances by skimping on managerial appointments and seemingly imposing playing style/formation on the manager. And also ignoring obvious deficiencies in goalkeeper and striker positions. 

Yes, all we needed this year was to get a steady, reliable manager in, who knows success at this level. You don't need to be clever to get out of the Champ, you need to be resilient and organised and to focus on what is effective. 

The players then make the difference,  and when you have just been relegated you should be better stocked with players and richer than most of the other teams.

Edited Sunday at 18:58 by benjii

[Pilchards]

They are trying to be clever in finding another Thomas Frank which was a one off.

Getting all these inexperienced managers will continue to drag the club downwards.

Just wish we could find a manager that tells them what player the club should buy plus what system he will play.

NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

[saintant]

19 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Russell Martin I don’t think was helped by the poor recruitment in the summer after promotion. 
I would’ve hoped his naivety and ego would’ve clocked some of these failings but Rangers showed he hasn’t learnt.

That said I’d have him over Tonda anyday.

Someone mentioned Martin Semmens, actually he and Ralph Hassenhutl worked extremely close together and kept the team ticking over for years on a shoe string - and that should be commendable. 

He was let go by Sport Republic six months into their tenure.

Listen nothing the chump who presided over the introduction of SR does is commendable - he loses any credit he had in the bank for that one catastrophic decision. Shame he doesn't lose any money he had in the bank which I'm assuming increased quite substantially when he effectively sold our beloved football club down the river and left us up shit creek without a paddle. Semmens has much to answer for.

[saintant]

There cannot be another industry where an owner consortium can preside over a continual downward spiral that means not a single customer is satisfied or has a good word to say about them yet can carry on as though everything is fine. 

[RedWillie]

Can anyone find out how much these clowns are paying themselves for their complete mismanagement? I'm not sure where to find it.

Edited Monday at 14:44 by RedWillie
Spelling

[saintant]

2 hours ago, RedWillie said:

Can anyone find out how much these clowns are paying themselves for their complete mismanagement? I'm not sure where to find it.

Yeah, that would be interesting. It won't be peanuts that's for sure although peanuts are more than they deserve.

[saintant]

This lot are nothing more than a second rate stocks and shares trading company always looking to buy low and sell high. Trouble is they have about as much idea as Nick Leeson. They clearly have no desire to have us challenging for a tilt at promotion because that would mean buying players who increase in value and not cashing in at the first available transfer window. Their game is player trading for profit - nothing more, nothing less so we may as well get used to it.

[the colonel]

Does anyone have the figures for the balance sheet showing the the sale and purchase of players under SR?

Edited Monday at 18:40 by the colonel

[S-Clarke]

9 minutes ago, the colonel said:

Does anyone have the figures for the balance sheet showing the the sale and purchase of players under SR?

Season 1 
£5m sold
£154.21m spent

Season 2
£187.24m sold
£21.55m spent

Season 3
£41.49m sold
£123m spent

Season 4 
£127.67m sold
£55.95m spent

In total in SR's 4 full seasons with us:

We have spent - £355m
We have received - £361m

So we've pretty much broken even in that sense, and this is probably a huge positive metric in their data driven spreadsheets. We've not spent beyond our means, which does demonstrate that primarily we have invested (and totally wasted) what we've received through player trading rather than having pure owner investment. The issue we have going forward is that we are losing the assets to generate the funds, so the squad will further stagnate.

[coalman]

17 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Season 1 
£5m sold
£154.21m spent

Season 2
£187.24m sold
£21.55m spent

Season 3
£41.49m sold
£123m spent

Season 4 
£127.67m sold
£55.95m spent

In total in SR's 4 full seasons with us:

We have spent - £355m
We have received - £361m

So we've pretty much broken even in that sense, and this is probably a huge positive metric in their data driven spreadsheets. We've not spent beyond our means, which does demonstrate that primarily we have invested (and totally wasted) what we've received through player trading rather than having pure owner investment. The issue we have going forward is that we are losing the assets to generate the funds, so the squad will further stagnate.

An underrated feature of Ralph's tenure was how he managed to clear out a lot of the dross from the squad. SR have undone all his good work.

Edited Monday at 19:07 by coalman

[Turkish]

9 minutes ago, coalman said:

An underrated feature of Ralph's tenure was how he managed to clear out a lot of the dross from the squad. SR have undone all his good work.

I wouldn’t say that. We had to sell to buy for years. We had to pay Carrillo to leave, Hoedt, Lemina and a few others were forever loaned out and sold at a loss, Elyanoussi left on a free incredible that no one would pay a fee for an attacking player who was at his best when he didn’t have the ball. These are just a few of the dross we struggled to clear out and those 4 alone cost us £65m and we probably didn’t even make 15% of that back

[coalman]

20 minutes ago, Turkish said:

I wouldn’t say that. We had to sell to buy for years. We had to pay Carrillo to leave, Hoedt, Lemina and a few others were forever loaned out and sold at a loss, Elyanoussi left on a free incredible that no one would pay a fee for an attacking player who was at his best when he didn’t have the ball. These are just a few of the dross we struggled to clear out and those 4 alone cost us £65m and we probably didn’t even make 15% of that back

He inherited all of those players didn't he? And had to manage the team around getting some kind of tune out of them while offloading them. Despite that handicap we held our own in the Premier League.

[Gloucester Saint]

27 minutes ago, Turkish said:

I wouldn’t say that. We had to sell to buy for years. We had to pay Carrillo to leave, Hoedt, Lemina and a few others were forever loaned out and sold at a loss, Elyanoussi left on a free incredible that no one would pay a fee for an attacking player who was at his best when he didn’t have the ball. These are just a few of the dross we struggled to clear out and those 4 alone cost us £65m and we probably didn’t even make 15% of that back

They weren’t his signings, they were Reed’s, you could say Pellegrino in Carrillo’s case as no-one else was that mentally disturbed to want to pay any money for him let alone £20m. Vestergaard should have been added to that list but Leicester somehow refunded Saints - and we know from Mark Bowen that was 100% a Les signing.

[Turkish]

11 minutes ago, coalman said:

He inherited all of those players didn't he? And had to manage the team around getting some kind of tune out of them while offloading them. Despite that handicap we held our own in the Premier League.

 

5 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

They weren’t his signings, they were Reed’s, you could say Pellegrino in Carrillo’s case as no-one else was that mentally disturbed to want to pay any money for him let alone £20m. Vestergaard should have been added to that list but Leicester somehow refunded Saints - and we know from Mark Bowen that was 100% a Les signing.

Yes you’re right they were all signed before he was here. 
 

we had our fair share of duds under him though Djenepo, Diallo, Perrard, Lyanco plus the disastrous summer 2022 

Ralph actually did a remarkable job considering the hand he was dealt. I know he lost a lot of credit due to the 9-0s but when you consider what followed he did so well

[coalman]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

 

Yes you’re right they were all signed before he was here. 
 

we had our fair share of duds under him though Djenepo, Diallo, Perrard, Lyanco plus the disastrous summer 2022 

Ralph actually did a remarkable job considering the hand he was dealt. I know he lost a lot of credit due to the 9-0s but when you consider what followed he did so well

We really were lucky to have him.

When I look at our current squad I have to think that Ralph left to his own devices would be doing significantly better than the current succession of puppets.

[Gloucester Saint]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

 

Yes you’re right they were all signed before he was here. 
 

we had our fair share of duds under him though Djenepo, Diallo, Perrard, Lyanco plus the disastrous summer 2022 

Ralph actually did a remarkable job considering the hand he was dealt. I know he lost a lot of credit due to the 9-0s but when you consider what followed he did so well

Diallo was the second shittiest of those, although Ralph did actually want Sangare, but they wouldn’t grant a WP and by the time he qualified he was out of price range under Gao.

Djenepo was a weird one - thought we’d found another Mane-type gem from those two solo goals at Sheff Utd and Brighton but disappeared after that. No lack of effort but a flash in the pan and was a far inferior player back at Standard (although we saved the best treat with Baz’s loan spell). 

Perraud lacked a yard of pace but could strike a ball - Leeds wanted him but ended up buying Firpo who was even worse.

Lyanco - oh boy, he WAS terrible, attitudinally a step up from what we have now but at PL one of the worst CBs we had, and not sure he’d have been much better in the Champ. He also bought KWP on the positive side. Ings was Hughes/Reed but Ralph got the very best out of him. Adams was Ralph and did alright overall when a second striker. 

Ralph did really well to keep that lot up comfortably and if SR hadn’t pissed around with Ramos/Gapko, and bought 3-4 better spine players instead of City’s academy cast offs he might have done so again.

[FredVaFC59100]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

In total in SR's 4 full seasons with us:

We have spent - £355m
We have received - £361m

 

Looks like the £6m delta helped pay for the "Best CB in the world", Joachim Kayi Sanda (© Ben Chorley April 2024) from VAFC and funding VAFC to stay afloat in National to prevent relegation down to National 2 (hopefully). Thank you SR!

[Willo of Whiteley]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Diallo was the second shittiest of those, although Ralph did actually want Sangare, but they wouldn’t grant a WP and by the time he qualified he was out of price range under Gao.

Djenepo was a weird one - thought we’d found another Mane-type gem from those two solo goals at Sheff Utd and Brighton but disappeared after that. No lack of effort but a flash in the pan and was a far inferior player back at Standard (although we saved the best treat with Baz’s loan spell). 

Perraud lacked a yard of pace but could strike a ball - Leeds wanted him but ended up buying Firpo who was even worse.

Lyanco - oh boy, he WAS terrible, attitudinally a step up from what we have now but at PL one of the worst CBs we had, and not sure he’d have been much better in the Champ. He also bought KWP on the positive side. Ings was Hughes/Reed but Ralph got the very best out of him. Adams was Ralph and did alright overall when a second striker. 

Ralph did really well to keep that lot up comfortably and if SR hadn’t pissed around with Ramos/Gapko, and bought 3-4 better spine players instead of City’s academy cast offs he might have done so again.

That’s a fair and really accurate summary

[CSA96]

The Athletic: Southampton's Andy Goldie is 'the leading candidate' for the role of director of football at Leicester City

Goldie joined Saints in 2023 as Academy Director and was then promoted to Director of Group Talent for all of Sport Republic's clubs. He's reported to feel that he's ready for a senior role after three seasons with Saints at academy level

[disconnect]

7 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

The Athletic: Southampton's Andy Goldie is 'the leading candidate' for the role of director of football at Leicester City

Goldie joined Saints in 2023 as Academy Director and was then promoted to Director of Group Talent for all of Sport Republic's clubs. He's reported to feel that he's ready for a senior role after three seasons with Saints at academy level

We used to be a stepping stone for players, now we're only a stepping stone for youth team coaches and backroom staff (or 15 year olds). Sad times. 

[Matthew Le God]

14 minutes ago, disconnect said:

We used to be a stepping stone for players, now we're only a stepping stone for youth team coaches and backroom staff (or 15 year olds). Sad times. 

It would be a promotion in job role. We have no vacancy in that role.

[Gloucester Saint]

37 minutes ago, disconnect said:

We used to be a stepping stone for players, now we're only a stepping stone for youth team coaches and backroom staff (or 15 year olds). Sad times. 

Sounds like a good fit, they’re as much of a mess as Saints and SR.

[Morse]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/06/ruben-amorim-manchester-united-jason-wilcox

An interesting read that has so many echos of what's going on at SMS. An over-class of wealthy entitled elite dictating playing styles to managers who aren't allowed to manage. 

[ally_uk]

I’ve supported Saints since I was 8. I’m 40 now, and I’ve never felt so detached from the club or the players.

Like many, I didn’t expect huge things when Sport Republic took over. I just wanted the basics.

Stay in the Premier League.

Compete.

And maybe enjoy the odd decent cup run along the way.

How has it gone so terribly wrong?

A succession of poor decisions, weak appointments, and a complete lack of transparency with the fans.

We all have our theories about the strings being pulled by Rasmus.

Something clearly isn’t adding up, and this constant insistence on five at the back only deepens the suspicion

What’s it going to take for Dragan to wake up and realise this man is a charlatan who is slowly killing our club?

I thought Dragan was a successful businessman.

Because right now, it’s baffling how he hasn’t worked out that Rasmus is taking him to the cleaners..

The best thing he can do now is simple.

 

Tell Rasmus to take a complete back seat.

Appoint an experienced manager and coaching staff.

Rip up this five-at-the-back nonsense.

Let the manager or director of football set the philosophy and the style with no Rasmus, no extra interference, full stop.

What’s the alternative?

Dragan keeps hiring inexperienced yes-men, so they can be micromanaged by the great Rasmus…

And we end up in the Conference. 🤣

Definition of insanity: Sport Republic.

Same mistakes.

Same people.

Same excuses.

Time is running out Dragan, wake up and smell the roses, fans won't tolerate this shit show for much longer..........

[BARCELONASAINT]

It feels to me that this club is finished in regards to being a serious potential Premier League side within the next 2 seasons with Sports Republic as owners. They have had a long enough run at trying to be decent owners but they make the same mistakes over and over and over again. They learn absolutely nothing.

Really poor manager selections

Really poor people in positions where player recruitment is

Far too many shit signings and the renewing of player contracts where the players concerned should have been shown the door

Signing players for this multi club thing that has no benefit to Saints

Insisting the club plays one brand off football (it has to be a club directive, far too many recent managers have all played the same)

For me the future looks bleak.

[trousers]

Have these muppets not left yet? 

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

It feels to me that this club is finished in regards to being a serious potential Premier League side within the next 2 seasons with Sports Republic as owners. They have had a long enough run at trying to be decent owners but they make the same mistakes over and over and over again. They learn absolutely nothing.

Really poor manager selections

Really poor people in positions where player recruitment is

Far too many shit signings and the renewing of player contracts where the players concerned should have been shown the door

Signing players for this multi club thing that has no benefit to Saints

Insisting the club plays one brand off football (it has to be a club directive, far too many recent managers have all played the same)

For me the future looks bleak.

They have one last throw of the dice before we are doomed to spend years in the wilderness imo. Years where we will be waiting for another Marcus to swoop in and save us. The next manager and transfer window is the last chance saloon for them imo.

[sockeye]

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

They have one last throw of the dice before we are doomed to spend years in the wilderness imo. Years where we will be waiting for another Marcus to swoop in and save us. The next manager and transfer window is the last chance saloon for them imo.

I just worry it will be too little too late. There is a monumental amount of effort required not just to build a well-sized, effective squad and pick the correct manager, but to reform the culture of the club and build a resilient attitude within the squad. Given SR’s track record, I worry they will underestimate this task and think a new keeper and new striker is enough to arrest a fall that has been ongoing since year 1.

[bugenhagen]

1 hour ago, sockeye said:

I just worry it will be too little too late. There is a monumental amount of effort required not just to build a well-sized, effective squad and pick the correct manager, but to reform the culture of the club and build a resilient attitude within the squad. Given SR’s track record, I worry they will underestimate this task and think a new keeper and new striker is enough to arrest a fall that has been ongoing since year 1.

Yeah, even good (or decent) football people gets the manager wrong sometimes. We have now made so many mistakes, that we have to get it 100% right next time. Everything has to "click". I have no faith in SR to get it right, but the law of averages must surley be in our favor now? That is what my faith or hope is down to now...

[BarberSaint]

5 hours ago, trousers said:

Have these muppets not left yet? 

Haven't done enough damage yet.

 

I imagine R A thinks there's more to break.

[Willo of Whiteley]

5 hours ago, Saint86 said:

They have one last throw of the dice before we are doomed to spend years in the wilderness imo. Years where we will be waiting for another Marcus to swoop in and save us. The next manager and transfer window is the last chance saloon for them imo.

I’d argue that that was this summer.

The technical director in before the previous season had ended.
The new manager appointed before the season had ended.
Enough time to build a strong back room team.
An entire summer of sound bites about us getting back to the Premier League.
Little to no transfer activity until the end of the window.
Key signings for key positions either ignored or completely messed up.

And that is before the start of September!

They’ve royally screwed up.