Sport Republic

[AlexSerbia]

Just now, SambaMaverick said:

This does read like Dragan has just signed up for an account, but it does echo a lot of what I've read online across multiple platforms and heard from friends in the Balkans. Nice to have a conscionable character at the helm - unlike a certain PL club I can name.

Nah, I'm just many of the Serbs who are being oppressed for having an actual opinion on our social and political situation and this takeover took us all by surprise, mostly because our government gave 600 million euros for 6 seasons to take Premier League matches from Dragan's SportKlub to state-owned provider (MTS/Telekom) (https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/milosavljevic-600-miliona-za-premijer-ligu-vucicev-regionalni-politicki-plan/) and now, that money will partly go to Southampton because of TV rights and you can imagine the amount of jokes we created because our government is financing their no1 public enemy. Anyways, his media is our last source of uncensored information and I've just had to share that with all of you guys. 

[moonraker]

There seems to be a a number of posters who are only capable of viewing the world from their own overtly suspicious perspective.  Whether it’s Kat and her 20%, new owners in general or some of our players, or geopolitical events.  It is perfectly reasonable to question things but when presented with evidence or qualified views they don’t seem capable of taking these into consideration, famously a certain leader of Germany suffered from this form of myopia.  I have a absolutely no insider knowledge so rely on my experience of people, media, club and fans comments to form my opinion.  For what it’s worth I believe this will be a good move for the club and that Kats 20% is all about her fathers legacy, no dodgy deals no profiteering.  

[STEVEADAMS]

9 minutes ago, angelman said:

Her father's legacy...Why do people bang on about that? Her father's legacy was to her not SFC or the supporters. I'm sure he enjoyed the 13 months of ownership that he had, and we were lucky enough to find someone who had the best intentions for the club, but the investment (for that is what it was) was for his and his daughter's benefit. She cashed in most of that legacy & it proved to be a very good investment by ML. 

Can’t disagree with that, but she kept 20% and a veto for a reason. We were told she cares and the evidence is there. That was really my point. We’ll see what happens next 

[Toadhall Saint]

8 minutes ago, AlexSerbia said:

Nah, I'm just many of the Serbs who are being oppressed for having an actual opinion on our social and political situation and this takeover took us all by surprise, mostly because our government gave 600 million euros for 6 seasons to take Premier League matches from Dragan's SportKlub to state-owned provider (MTS/Telekom) (https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/milosavljevic-600-miliona-za-premijer-ligu-vucicev-regionalni-politicki-plan/) and now, that money will partly go to Southampton because of TV rights and you can imagine the amount of jokes we created because our government is financing their no1 public enemy. Anyways, his media is our last source of uncensored information and I've just had to share that with all of you guys. 

Cheers for the info Alex it’s much appreciated 

[manji]

9 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

Maybe we will be a feeder club?

We are at the top of the chain. I’m sure Semmens mentioned it.

[OldNick]

5 minutes ago, manji said:

We are at the top of the chain. I’m sure Semmens mentioned it.

Yes, why have a product in a premium position and then not utilise that. The most prestigious league in the world, so seems foolish not to have that as your top club

[charliemiller]

13 minutes ago, STEVEADAMS said:

Can’t disagree with that, but she kept 20% and a veto for a reason. We were told she cares and the evidence is there. That was really my point. We’ll see what happens next 

20% doesnt give a veto , 25% is required to even block forced resolutions

[igsey]

17 minutes ago, moonraker said:

There seems to be a a number of posters who are only capable of viewing the world from their own overtly suspicious perspective.  Whether it’s Kat and her 20%, new owners in general or some of our players, or geopolitical events.  It is perfectly reasonable to question things but when presented with evidence or qualified views they don’t seem capable of taking these into consideration, famously a certain leader of Germany suffered from this form of myopia.  I have a absolutely no insider knowledge so rely on my experience of people, media, club and fans comments to form my opinion.  For what it’s worth I believe this will be a good move for the club and that Kats 20% is all about her fathers legacy, no dodgy deals no profiteering.  

We're all Saints fans and most of us are British. We're not used to good things happening, or being happy.

[Saint86]

I have tried to calmly reflect on the takeover, take in as much of the information and snippets that are out there, and to reach a level headed perspective on it all.

I am buzzing.

Rasmus got brentford to run a circa £140m profit at brentford between 2014-2018, identifying such talent as jota, maupay, watkins etc on the cheap, and selling them year after year to improve. This isn't like the cancer (Reed) spunking circa £110m from VVD and Mane on the likes of Hoedt, Lemina, Boufal, Carillo etc. These guys did it year after year, and rather than spending their way out of the championship they turned a huge profit on player sales, stuck at the top end every season despite player turn over, and funded a new stadium. Plus ofc his other club dumped us out of the Europa league under Koeman https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34056532.

This is an exciting new period for the club. 

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Saint86

[John D]

18 minutes ago, charliemiller said:

20% doesnt give a veto , 25% is required to even block forced resolutions

She had a specific clause in the original sale to Gao giving right to veto any future sale of his shares. 

This hasn't been extended to the deal with Sports Republic so now the usual rules quoted above apply. 

 

All the above from article in The Athletic

[Uncle Albert]

The more I read about our new overlords the harder I’m getting.

[Saint Mikey]

On the face of it, this takeover seems very promising. With the info we have, I feel confident that even if we were relegated - we could weather it, rebuild and maybe return within the parachute payments period. 

Under Gao, it felt like relegation could be catastrophic. Due to the lack of investment and flexibility we were working under - I could only see a gradual demise in a tough league. Hopefully, we won't need to find out, but I feel the club is in a better place to weather such an event, which is likely for a club our size at some point.

[manji]

14 minutes ago, Uncle Albert said:

The more I read about our new overlords the harder I’m getting.

I’ve watched videos of Dragan and Rasmus on YouTube every available source known to man and I am fucking stoked !

[Lighthouse]

16 minutes ago, Uncle Albert said:

The more I read about our new overlords the harder I’m getting.

After watching that TED video, I’m practically ceramic.

[Plastic]

22 minutes ago, manji said:

I’ve watched videos of Dragan and Rasmus on YouTube every available source known to man and I am fucking stoked !

 

21 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

After watching that TED video, I’m practically ceramic.

links pls too lazy to search

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, once_bitterne said:

Maybe we will be a feeder club?

No change there then 

[Saint-Reece]

3 minutes ago, Plastic said:

 

links pls too lazy to search

It's in the Rasmus thread I think! https://youtu.be/Sy2vc9lW5r0

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Saint-Reece
link

[Christophenburg]

I know it's unlikely to pan out this way as most multi-club owners don't, and I know both organisations use different multi-club models, but I'm curious how Sports Republic might brand itself if it followed the City Group/Red Bull branding approach. Both have continuity of branding across the clubs they own - Red Bull obviously use their own brand heavily, whilst City Football Group's was built around Manchester City as the flagship club - and both are rebadging and rebranding all their clubs to apply that continuity.

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Christophenburg
I used the word model too much and it was annoying

[Colinjb]

5 minutes ago, Christophenburg said:

I know it's unlikely to pan out this way as most multi-club owners don't, and I know both organisations use different multi-club models, but I'm curious how Sports Republic might brand itself if it followed the City Group/Red Bull branding approach. Both have continuity of branding across the clubs they own - Red Bull obviously use their own brand heavily, whilst City Football Group's was built around Manchester City as the flagship club - and both are rebadging and rebranding all their clubs to apply that continuity.

The clue for me lays in the name: Republic.

Individual teams with their own identities and culture who effectively run themsleves but all part of a bigger picture. I don't see a wide ranging rebrand as being either needed or desired. It's also why they were so careful about which club they picked as their starting point, one that didn't need entirely remodelling to fit their vision.

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Colinjb

[Christophenburg]

10 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

The clue for me lays in the name: Republic.

Individual teams with their own identities and culture who effectively run themsleves but all part of a bigger picture. I don't see a wide ranging rebrand as being either needed or desired. It's also why they were so careful about which club they picked as their starting point, one that didn't need entirely remodelling to fit their vision.

Like I said, unlikely to happen (not least because it's not desired) but I was just curious as to what approach they could take if they wanted to (a bit of playful imagination if you will).

I like your Republic suggestion, the word comes from the Latin 'res publica' which means a public thing or a public matter, but can mean something held in common for many people - such as a park, or a football club!

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Christophenburg
Typo!

[Chewy]

1 hour ago, Uncle Albert said:

The more I read about our new overlords the harder I’m getting.

Don’t worry, we’ll be back to playing and being shit by the weekend so normal service can resume.

[Toussaint]

28 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

The clue for me lays in the name: Republic.

Individual teams with their own identities and culture who effectively run themsleves but all part of a bigger picture. I don't see a wide ranging rebrand as being either needed or desired. It's also why they were so careful about which club they picked as their starting point, one that didn't need entirely remodelling to fit their vision.

That's worrying, having fought of Gao's attempt to colonise Southampton and turn it into a Chinese state owned super port, we now have to deal with an owner who wishes to depose our Monarchy. 

[manji]

52 minutes ago, Plastic said:

 

links pls too lazy to search

https://youtu.be/zALV554pSNs

https://youtu.be/Sy2vc9lW5r0

 

 

 

[The Left Back]

I'm very excited by the takeover.  It feels like a very professional, modern, forward-looking deal. The people involved seem to be authentic, passionate and knowledgeable.  Of course they are hard nosed business folk but I have no problem with that.  They have ambition, but it seems founded on a concept that is innovate, solid and real.  Their plans seem to make sense, and align closely with the recent tweaks in our strategic direction.  I couldn't ask for more at this stage.  I expect lots more developments over the next months and years - a proper thought-through strategic plan executed by people who seem to know what they are doing.  

It's strange to feel this excited.  The voice in my head says it's football ownership so it could easily go horribly wrong.  But as of now it seems like as good a change of owner as we could hope for.

[S-Clarke]

22 minutes ago, manji said:

https://youtu.be/zALV554pSNs

https://youtu.be/Sy2vc9lW5r0

 

 

 

Both really good listens, two very intelligent and bright human beings. They do things the right way. There is so much more to football than just the black and white outcomes you see.

I was never convinced Puel's season was any good, 8th was a freak. In any other season we'd have finished bottom half, the downturn in where we were was too large to ignore, that's what I had problems with and what a lot of other fans had problems with, we'd gone backwards at an alarming rate. Ultimately Les and co saw that and they made the decision, but they got the calls wrong after that and tried to be clever. I'd argue that appointing Puel in the first place was the wrong call as well, there were a few years between 16-19 where they just made wrong decision after wrong decision in both managerial and player moves.

These guys (Especially Rasmus) seem to have a really good understanding of football in this country and what is required. If he has the right level of financial backing behind him then I'm very optimistic about what these guys can build.

[OldNick]

there seems to be some stuff online that paints a very negative picture of this lot. Im not prepared to post it as I feel its probably wide of the mark. I would have thought the info that is on this, that shows they are in massive debt etc etc would have been flagged in due diligence and fairly open in the general business world for our people to have found. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble writing it though as it is quite a long read.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, OldNick said:

there seems to be some stuff online that paints a very negative picture of this lot. Im not prepared to post it as I feel its probably wide of the mark. I would have thought the info that is on this, that shows they are in massive debt etc etc would have been flagged in due diligence and fairly open in the general business world for our people to have found. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble writing it though as it is quite a long read.

'This lot' - bit vague. They've only just setup Sports Republic, December 9th to be exact - so I'm not sure what debt they've got themselves into already?

If you're referring to Dragan and his telecoms/media company then this takeover is not interlinked with that company in any way, Sports Republic was funded and setup independently of any of his previous ventures and is funded from his own capital.

[OldNick]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

'This lot' - bit vague. They've only just setup Sports Republic, December 9th to be exact - so I'm not sure what debt they've got themselves into already?

If you're referring to Dragan and his telecoms/media company then this takeover is not interlinked with that company in any way, Sports Republic was funded and setup independently of any of his previous ventures and is funded from his own capital.

Fair enough. That is why I have not posted it. Some of the things stated seem totally impossible to hide. Malicious people posting it I assume. They have tken some time to do it though.

[manji]

15 minutes ago, OldNick said:

there seems to be some stuff online that paints a very negative picture of this lot. Im not prepared to post it as I feel its probably wide of the mark. I would have thought the info that is on this, that shows they are in massive debt etc etc would have been flagged in due diligence and fairly open in the general business world for our people to have found. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble writing it though as it is quite a long read.

Not doubting you . If you could PM the links I will not publicise them. If you are ok I will pm any comments direct to you. The only ones I have seen are his opposition to the current Serbian government and suggestions of tax evasion. " Rich bloke avoids tax shock.

[Badger]

52 minutes ago, OldNick said:

there seems to be some stuff online that paints a very negative picture of this lot. Im not prepared to post it as I feel its probably wide of the mark. I would have thought the info that is on this, that shows they are in massive debt etc etc would have been flagged in due diligence and fairly open in the general business world for our people to have found. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble writing it though as it is quite a long read.

Expect the skates will be announcing Solak as a war criminal, in the same way that their genius supporters are said to have accused Markus Liebherr of being a German tank operator in WW2. Despite the fact he was born in 1948.

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Badger

[S-Clarke]

20 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Fair enough. That is why I have not posted it. Some of the things stated seem totally impossible to hide. Malicious people posting it I assume. They have tken some time to do it though.

There's a lot of weird stuff out there, as Manji said there's a lot of political gamesmanship being played as well - he's seen as a bad guy as he's trying to uncover the political bollocks of the countries government, so there's a lot flying around in that context.

[OldNick]

Just now, Badger said:

Expect the skates will be announcing Solak as a war criminal, in the same way that their genius supporters are said to have accused Markus Liebherr of being a German tank the operator in WW2. Despite the fact he was born in 1948.

there is shenanigans going on i expect

[miserableoldgit]

Just now, OldNick said:

Fair enough. That is why I have not posted it. Some of the things stated seem totally impossible to hide. Malicious people posting it I assume. They have tken some time to do it though.

A bit like accusations that Markus was an SS Tank Driver during WWll.....that sort of thing? Oops....just seen a previous reply...🙈

Edited 5 January, 2022 by miserableoldgit

[manji]

Milan of Skate fame was a mate of Arkan the Serbian warlord.

[Toussaint]

30 minutes ago, OldNick said:

there seems to be some stuff online that paints a very negative picture of this lot. Im not prepared to post it as I feel its probably wide of the mark. I would have thought the info that is on this, that shows they are in massive debt etc etc would have been flagged in due diligence and fairly open in the general business world for our people to have found. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble writing it though as it is quite a long read.

I heard he peeked down a ladies blouse once, I think he needs to apologies to all of womankind, just like I had to. 

[OldNick]

13 minutes ago, manji said:

Not doubting you . If you could PM the links I will not publicise them. If you are ok I will pm any comments direct to you. The only ones I have seen are his opposition to the current Serbian government and suggestions of tax evasion. " Rich bloke avoids tax shock.

hi i ve sent the message ,but i thinits nonsense but 

[Mr X]

I'm sure this has probably been discussed on here but can't be bothered to trawl through it, how come gao sold for I believe half what he paid? 

[Plastic]

6 minutes ago, Mr X said:

I'm sure this has probably been discussed on here but can't be bothered to trawl through it, how come gao sold for I believe half what he paid? 

I'd imagine the fallout of Evergrande has hit his businesses / investments hard.

 

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Plastic

[saint1977]

1 hour ago, Plastic said:

I'd imagine the fallout of Evergrande has hit his businesses / investments hard.

 

I don’t know if anyone has posted this but a further thread from the UI poster who broke the initial story about this takeover being approved by the PL on why Gao bought the club in the first place https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/280692/given-gao-is-now-gone.../#15

Interesting comments on how the club has been run. We know the football side was rotten 2016-19 and only just emerging from that dreadful catalogue of mistakes with the scouting improving post Reed and Wilson. Semmens is impressive but it might be that this takeover gives him the clout to shake up some operational non football areas around the stadium/capital and ticketing functions for example to the standards he and the new owners would like, whereas the headroom might not have been there to do that before. 

[once_bitterne]

5 hours ago, manji said:

We are at the top of the chain. I’m sure Semmens mentioned it.

We're the only link in the chain at present.  

[NorthLondonSFC]

All very positive stuff which is hard to take as a natural pessimist.  I've not seen anyone mention a name change yet. There has been a lot of comparison with the Red Bull group but if we are to become the figure head for this corporate sporting group how would we feel about changing our name to Sporting Republic Saints or FK Partizan Southampton? The Man City group obviously keep their clubs names and identity but I wouldn't rule us out on doing the same. I for one don't really care if it meant we became a European elite and won silverware.

 

 

[revolution saint]

3 hours ago, Toussaint said:

That's worrying, having fought of Gao's attempt to colonise Southampton and turn it into a Chinese state owned super port, we now have to deal with an owner who wishes to depose our Monarchy. 

You say that like it's a bad thing!

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, NorthLondonSFC said:

All very positive stuff which is hard to take as a natural pessimist.  I've not seen anyone mention a name change yet. There has been a lot of comparison with the Red Bull group but if we are to become the figure head for this corporate sporting group how would we feel about changing our name to Sporting Republic Saints or FK Partizan Southampton? The Man City group obviously keep their clubs names and identity but I wouldn't rule us out on doing the same. I for one don't really care if it meant we became a European elite and won silverware.

You can rule it out, the FA's rules won't allow such a name change in England. 

Plus it is entirely different to Red Bull changing club's names. They change the name of a club to help advertise their Red Bull brand. Sport Republic is an investment vehicle, not a brand in the same way with Sport Rebulic branded goods to sell.

[badgerx16]

Surely Dragan's personal wealth is irrelevant, it is what FFP permits as external investment that matters.

[East Kent Saint]

2 hours ago, Mr X said:

I'm sure this has probably been discussed on here but can't be bothered to trawl through it, how come gao sold for I believe half what he paid? 

Might be the debt being paid off equates to the other £100M ? Accountants can show anything . We went to Southampton Uni to look at courses with our son years ago , at the accountancy course the opening statement was “it is not about the numbers , it’s all about presentation” !

[FarehamSaintJames]

This is obviously going to be another multi-club project like Man City (City Group).

But City’s owners invested heavily in them first for years and years before even beginning to branch out into other countries and continents.

More hoping there is sufficient on-field progress for us before their attention is diverted elsewhere.

[Sarisbury Saint]

6 hours ago, AlexSerbia said:

Hi guys, a Serb here. So, the lead investor, Dragan Šolak, is a person who is an owner of TV channels and news outlets who are actually fighting for free speech in Serbia and against corrupted government that has ties with organised crime and mafia. So, basically, he's one of the good guys. He is portrayed by state controlled media as a number 1 public enemy, because he's media outlets are exposing a lot of corruption and crime. Don't use sources as Kurir, Blic, Informer, Alo, Serbian Telegraph, Pink, Prva, B92, RTS. These are all big outlets controlled by our government. Dragan's media outlets are N1, Nova and SportKlub. I wish you luck, you are in good hands.

Hope he hasn’t got a price on his head !

[Tamesaint]

3 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Might be the debt being paid off equates to the other £100M ? Accountants can show anything . We went to Southampton Uni to look at courses with our son years ago , at the accountancy course the opening statement was “it is not about the numbers , it’s all about presentation” !

Definitely. You want a number and as long as it is not toooo unrealistic a good accountant can provide it.

[Christophenburg]

27 minutes ago, NorthLondonSFC said:

The Man City group obviously keep their clubs names and identity

They don't.

Melbourne Hearts were renamed Melbourne City and their badge changed in 2014. Their kit was finally changed in 2017 (it's city blue not sky blue due to a technicality).

Club Atlético Torque changed their name and badge in 2020 - they're Montevideo City Torque now.

Mumbai City were already called Mumbai City before City Football Group purchased the majority stake, but in 2020 changed their home strip colour changed to sky/city blue to match the rest of the group.

New York City was obviously designed from scratch to match Man City.

Lommel SK and Troyes AC are the only exceptions, but they're both comparatively new acquisitions so that might change. Girona even introduced a sky/city blue third strip and they're only 47% owned I think. CFG have certainly put less emphasis on 'brand synergy' and realised it's less important then a good talent pipeline, so they may not bother moving forward, but it certainly was a core part of their initial strategy.

(The rest of City Football Group's clubs are majority owned by others.)

Edited 5 January, 2022 by Christophenburg

[revolution saint]

Genuine question, and this is about any owners of football clubs so not specifically our new lot, but what's in it for them?  I can understand the vanity project where some mega rich person just wants a bit of fun and I can understand the old school doing it for the community reasons, but when it's a commercial operation then is there really that much money to be made out of football?  There's the old adage that if you want to make a small fortune out of football, start with a large one.  That seems to still hold true - has anyone made serious wedge out of owning a club? 

I reckon we could probably get to the stage where we could get Europa League football every other season and we'd need to invest a bit to get there but maybe not huge amounts.  Thing is that to stay at that level we'd need to reinvest anything we made (and Europa league isn't that lucrative anyway).  Same goes with transfers - obviously there's money to be made by picking up good young players, developing them and selling at a big price but you have to factor in that not all of those good young players will make it so at least some of that profit will go on relatively over priced youngsters that didn't fulfil their potential.  So, yeah, some money to be made but probably not that much.  I guess if you're a success then you can recoup or make some money when you sell the club but none of this is screaming get rich quick. 

Maybe some of you can enlighten me because I genuinely don't understand why people want to own football clubs to make money.  If I had that much money then I think I would set myself up as a bank and lend clubs the money rather than owning them - that seems far more lucrative.  Anyway, I'm not knocking the new guys - they seem decent enough.