Johannes Spors

[Willo of Whiteley]

Ultimately nothing will change until fans stop going. And given that 99.9% of fans won’t do that it’s just business as usual.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

3 hours ago, Sir Ralph said:

I hope so - I wont be going for the forseeable

I've been going for nearly 50 years now and I can't be arsed to go any more. It's just not enjoyable any more. If I do go to any future games, it'll be to have a day out with my son and it's what he wants to do, not because I've got any great desire to throw money at this bunch of idiots.

[Gloucester Saint]

Although in a dangerous league position, Cheltenham are turning it around under Steve Cotterill and Mike Garlick. Reminds me a bit of Lawrie and Bally coming back in early 1994 as Steve is a legend here. 

That’s my main focus for football this season - much more a cricket (Hants/England), rugby (Gloucester and England) darts man these days - along Paul Wotton’s promotion chase at Torquay (which spluttering but I think they’ll be ok).

I’ll look out for Saints results and as my wife said to me I don’t think having been born and growing up in Southampton that I’ll ever totally unplug, but not been to a live game since Pellegrino’s horror football and his meltdown in the role and no intention of changing. We had considered Blackburn on Saturday where it was pay on the day but my heart just isn’t it. The SFC I knew and loved died when we were sold to a man who couldn’t pass FFP. The modern day club has as much to do with Southampton as MK Dons have to do with Wimbledon. I wish they’d change the name to a franchise and the 1976 win, 1980s, 90s and WGS, Adkins, Poch and Ronald eras can be secure from SR’s clutches. 

I’d get behind a Southampton phoenix club though if one of those starts up. Or hopefully before retirement we re-emerge eventually like Coventry after their dreadful mistreatment by SiSU.

Edited Wednesday at 12:25 by Gloucester Saint

[Baz Fl]

Who from Spors summer signings has made our starting 11 better? I hate the “player for the future” plan when we desperately need fixing now! 
plus if D.Downs is Spor,s idea of a quality striker we are absolutely F’ed

[Convict Colony]

haven't read the thread soi won't apologies 🤣🤣

but Alfie said he's been trying to arrange a interview with spors this season and he has wanted to but it's not his decision but no.

wonder who saying no ? rasmus ? vacuum man ?

[Nordic Saint]

14 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

haven't read the thread soi won't apologies 🤣🤣

but Alfie said he's been trying to arrange a interview with spors this season and he has wanted to but it's not his decision but no.

wonder who saying no ? rasmus ? vacuum man ?

There's an article in the Echo online now which states very clearly that Damion Downs was Johannes Spors' "first choice" in the summer transfer window. Perhaps he doesn't want to talk about that now.

 

In some areas Spors is an idiot e.g. football recruitment, but in others he is a genius e.g. his ability to get well-paid jobs as a sporting director.

Edited 23 hours ago by Nordic Saint

[Matthew Le God]

Juventus apparently want him...

 

 

[disconnect]

22 hours ago, Baz Fl said:

Who from Spors summer signings has made our starting 11 better? I hate the “player for the future” plan when we desperately need fixing now! 
plus if D.Downs is Spor,s idea of a quality striker we are absolutely F’ed

Scienza looks pure quality and I’d say Fellows would if we actually played him properly and/or with the right players around him. I’d argue strong cases for Jander and Jelert too, problem is they’re not in the positions we desperately needed (ie keeper and striker)

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, disconnect said:

Scienza looks pure quality and I’d say Fellows would if we actually played him properly and/or with the right players around him. I’d argue strong cases for Jander and Jelert too, problem is they’re not in the positions we desperately needed (ie keeper and striker)

It's not the players we signed, it's the players we didn't sign and the positions we prioritised. 

[CSA96]

13 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Juventus apparently want him...

 

 

Inclined to say this is more bad news for the club. You simply cannot keep chopping and changing the directors and managers at the rate we've done in recent years. No wonder the team is all over the place and the squad seems to always be a bit of a hotch-potch mess

[Turkish]

How do these guys keep failing up?

Ross Wilson, Joe Shields, Jason Wilcox now Spores

all been shite for us yet somehow land better jobs at bigger clubs 

[CSA96]

Just now, Turkish said:

How do these guys keep failing up?

Ross Wilson, Joe Shields, Jason Wilcox now Spores

all been shite for us yet somehow land better jobs at bigger clubs 

The only conclusion I can draw is that within the industry they must be regarded as good operators working for shit owners/people who don't know what they're doing with the club they own

[Wade Garrett]

Can't see him turning down Juve.  

Are there any suitable replacements with a Saints background who might actually stay and see the job  through?

Hopefully Solak keeps Ankersen well out of the way on this decision.

[Baird of the land]

Can we demand as a condition of his release that they also take Downs?

[Football Special]

28 minutes ago, Turkish said:

How do these guys keep failing up?

Ross Wilson, Joe Shields, Jason Wilcox now Spores

all been shite for us yet somehow land better jobs at bigger clubs 

It baffles me, wish my career was like that ! 

[Osvaldorama]

This is pretty bad, if true  

The downs signing was ridiculous but apart from that he seems to be doing ok. 

The main problem is not really losing him, it’s yet more upheaval. 

[sockeye]

League One here we come!

[Saint86]

36 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Can't see him turning down Juve.  

Are there any suitable replacements with a Saints background who might actually stay and see the job  through?

Hopefully Solak keeps Ankersen well out of the way on this decision.

Ralph?

[east-stand-nic]

40 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

The only conclusion I can draw is that within the industry they must be regarded as good operators working for shit owners/people who don't know what they're doing with the club they own

Or perhaps his hands are tied, as in SR demand he only make signings of a certain type with profit the priority and he realises he is never gonna enhance his reputation staying at a club who ignore the needs of the team in favour of sell on fees. 

[AlexLaw76]

As expected. I’m sure it was predicted way back in this thread 

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

Juventus apparently want him...

 

 

Odd that that link is in Swizz french about an italian club? Surely sky sports have credible journalists/contacts in Italy?

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

How do these guys keep failing up?

Ross Wilson, Joe Shields, Jason Wilcox now Spores

all been shite for us yet somehow land better jobs at bigger clubs 

We have players who are like turds that simply won’t flush. 

But the Sporting Directors are a different thing entirely.They simply defy gravity don’t they ? 

[Pamplemousse]

It's very concerning that under Sport Republic, we've had so many different people who for one reason or another seem desperate to jump ship at the first opportunity.

 

[Badger]

Spors hasn’t set the world alight in his time with us to date, we’re paying the price for his poor management appointment, and failure to address critical positions.

But he has put together a new scouting network, so that may take time to bear fruit. Would this be ripped up to start again if he leaves ? 

[Baz Fl]

1 hour ago, disconnect said:

Scienza looks pure quality and I’d say Fellows would if we actually played him properly and/or with the right players around him. I’d argue strong cases for Jander and Jelert too, problem is they’re not in the positions we desperately needed (ie keeper and striker)

Yeah you’ve got a point. Fellows looks poor because he’s a winger with no target to cross to. I’m just a little salty about Spors not fixing the #9 problem and wasting 7M on a player that will be another squad bloating boat anchor we can’t move on. So far Scienza looks the best of the bunch while Downs and Azaz disappointing 

[Willo of Whiteley]

Look at it another way.

Maybe the higher ups are interfering with the playing side too much so sporting directors and constantly thinking “fuck this”.

lets be honest I would put it past Rasmus to be interfering or micro-managing.

[Crouchie's Lawyer]

38 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

This is pretty bad, if true  

The downs signing was ridiculous but apart from that he seems to be doing ok. 

The main problem is not really losing him, it’s yet more upheaval. 

Hmmm.

 

You could also make a case for Manager choice. I'm firmly in the "it would be mad to sack Still this early on" camp but Spors was the one who appointed him when others were possibly available. I'm thinking Steve Cooper, a manager who has a decent pedigree at this level and knows the Championship and how to get out of it, like the back of his hand. It may not have been the sexy, cool, outside of the box thinking appointment but if we are likely to be a yo-yo club going forward, he is a decent manager. Therefore you could argue that is a mistake.

 

Downs you have covered which I agree, looks like a bad signing but it's still very early on for him too. Downs may end up being a good signing down the line by the time he has adjusted to life in England, has grown up a little and has gained a bit of confidence or we try to play to his strengths (which seems to be a bit like Archer/Arma with balls in behind rather than as a target man. His height is perhaps a bit of a red herring to how he likes to play as he doesn't appear overly physical.

 

The blame with regard to Downs where Spors is concerned is that he seemingly felt Downs was all we needed on top of what we have so either he has misidentified what Downs strengths are and thought he would also be another Ross Stewart type target player with the added benefit of a bit of pace too or he was gambling on Stewart staying fit for the whole season with Downs being a 'one for the future' back up who would make cameo appearances. I personally think he got the Downs appointment wrong which is a terrible mistake for a position so important in this league. You cannot also gamble on relying on a player who has been out injured for the majority of his stay with us just because he managed to stay fit from the last few games of last season and through preseason as a Championship season is a very long season and guess what, all our fears concerning RS have come to light with his most recent injury leaving us without that focal point up top Still's system really relies upon.

 

I'd also go as far as overlooking the physical side of the Championship. A team can carry a few players who you'd consider flair players who have no physicality but in the championship and Prem you also need Physical athletes who will shrug players off with their strength and out muscle them. Sunderland have shown that with some of their signings and they seem to be doing ok so far (already meeting our abysmal points tally from last year this early on in the season!). Scienza, Azaz, Jander, Fellows, Jelert and Mads are not the physical athletes a team need, neither are the returning Charles or Edwards. Arma and Archer are not that type either and neither is Manning and Wellington. You possibly could argue a case for Harwood Bellis but even still, I wouldn't call him physically dominating, he often gets shoved off the ball. Wood is probably the closest thing to it. We need a strong spine with the flair/lighter players complimenting this. A Wanyama or a Romeo in the middle, a Chris Wood type unit up top and a Virgil, Guehi, Konate or Ake type player at the back.

 

Not to be one for slating lack of height, arguably one of the best players to have played football over the past 20 years is vertically challenged for a footballer (Messi) but you cannot have a team full of players that size. In what most would consider our players in and around our best 11 currently, we have Arma, Archer, Edwards, Manning, Wellington and Frazer who are all small players. Fine if the rest of the team were filled with absolute units over 6 foot 3 in height but built like brick shithouses but (ignoring Quarshie and Downs who is 6 foot 4) our biggest players seem to be THB, Charles and Wood who are all 6 foot 2 inches.

 

I think it could also be considered a gamble or oversight to rely upon Bazunu and McCarthy for the season. Bringing in the Norwich reject keeper as a third choice, glorified training mannequin instead of setting our aims higher was a mistake. I suspect the excuse given will be that we let Ramsdale go out on loan and there was a chance if we go up next year that he would want to stay and be our number 1 then, which is fair enough. Trying to sell the dream of being Saints number 1 keeper this season only to potentially lose your place next season to a new signing would be a tough one to do but we didn't have to sign someone permanent, we could have loaned a keeper to challenge for the number 1 spot this year. If we sell Ramsdale next year then look at signing a better number 1 then, if Ramsdale stays then our keeper issue is resolved but the stop gap is filled in the meantime with a keeper which would likely be better than McCarthy and Bazunu.

 

To end this essay of a post, for me, the main issue with the club at the moment is we seem to be putting making a profit from player trading above buying players who we actually need for the here and now to progress the team and success of the club. I get we are not a top 4 team in England and effectively everyone else is therefore classed as a selling team and due to FFP and sustainability, we do need to turn a profit on players but our sole focus of recruitment should not be on this trying to profit from player sales basis. There needs to be a balance between getting what the team need and bringing in a few 'potential for profit' players.

[Saint Scott]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

How do these guys keep failing up?

Ross Wilson, Joe Shields, Jason Wilcox now Spores

all been shite for us yet somehow land better jobs at bigger clubs 

Wilcox did a good job for us, despite jumping ship as soon as United came calling

[Charlie Wayman]

30 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

It's very concerning that under Sport Republic, we've had so many different people who for one reason or another seem desperate to jump ship at the first opportunity.

 

In fact as soon as their S hits the fan!

[trousers]

18 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

haven't read the thread soi won't apologies 🤣🤣

but Alfie said he's been trying to arrange a interview with spors this season and he has wanted to but it's not his decision but no.

wonder who saying no ? rasmus ? vacuum man ?

 

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Juventus apparently want him...

 

 

Would explain why 'someone' at the club pulled the planned interview(s) with Spors during the recent international break. I could sense something was 'up' when Alfie House went into radio silence mode on the matter...

There is something fundamentally wrong with the ownership of the club for there to be such a regular turnover of 'sporting directors'.

We need the buffoons that are Sport Republic to sell up pronto. What can we do as fans to accelerate that eventually? (A pointless question given how apathetic and meek we are as a fan base... Aided and abetted by  equally placid / sychopantic local journos / reporters...)

Edited 20 hours ago by trousers

[AlexLaw76]

The screams like a perfect opportunity for Ankerson to take over and get this fixed.

great times to be a Saints fan 

[Charlie Wayman]

10 minutes ago, Crouchie's Lawyer said:

Hmmm.

 

You could also make a case for Manager choice. I'm firmly in the "it would be mad to sack Still this early on" camp but Spors was the one who appointed him when others were possibly available. I'm thinking Steve Cooper, a manager who has a decent pedigree at this level and knows the Championship and how to get out of it, like the back of his hand. It may not have been the sexy, cool, outside of the box thinking appointment but if we are likely to be a yo-yo club going forward, he is a decent manager. Therefore you could argue that is a mistake.

 

Downs you have covered which I agree, looks like a bad signing but it's still very early on for him too. Downs may end up being a good signing down the line by the time he has adjusted to life in England, has grown up a little and has gained a bit of confidence or we try to play to his strengths (which seems to be a bit like Archer/Arma with balls in behind rather than as a target man. His height is perhaps a bit of a red herring to how he likes to play as he doesn't appear overly physical.

 

The blame with regard to Downs where Spors is concerned is that he seemingly felt Downs was all we needed on top of what we have so either he has misidentified what Downs strengths are and thought he would also be another Ross Stewart type target player with the added benefit of a bit of pace too or he was gambling on Stewart staying fit for the whole season with Downs being a 'one for the future' back up who would make cameo appearances. I personally think he got the Downs appointment wrong which is a terrible mistake for a position so important in this league. You cannot also gamble on relying on a player who has been out injured for the majority of his stay with us just because he managed to stay fit from the last few games of last season and through preseason as a Championship season is a very long season and guess what, all our fears concerning RS have come to light with his most recent injury leaving us without that focal point up top Still's system really relies upon.

 

I'd also go as far as overlooking the physical side of the Championship. A team can carry a few players who you'd consider flair players who have no physicality but in the championship and Prem you also need Physical athletes who will shrug players off with their strength and out muscle them. Sunderland have shown that with some of their signings and they seem to be doing ok so far (already meeting our abysmal points tally from last year this early on in the season!). Scienza, Azaz, Jander, Fellows, Jelert and Mads are not the physical athletes a team need, neither are the returning Charles or Edwards. Arma and Archer are not that type either and neither is Manning and Wellington. You possibly could argue a case for Harwood Bellis but even still, I wouldn't call him physically dominating, he often gets shoved off the ball. Wood is probably the closest thing to it. We need a strong spine with the flair/lighter players complimenting this. A Wanyama or a Romeo in the middle, a Chris Wood type unit up top and a Virgil, Guehi, Konate or Ake type player at the back.

 

Not to be one for slating lack of height, arguably one of the best players to have played football over the past 20 years is vertically challenged for a footballer (Messi) but you cannot have a team full of players that size. In what most would consider our players in and around our best 11 currently, we have Arma, Archer, Edwards, Manning, Wellington and Frazer who are all small players. Fine if the rest of the team were filled with absolute units over 6 foot 3 in height but built like brick shithouses but (ignoring Quarshie and Downs who is 6 foot 4) our biggest players seem to be THB, Charles and Wood who are all 6 foot 2 inches.

 

I think it could also be considered a gamble or oversight to rely upon Bazunu and McCarthy for the season. Bringing in the Norwich reject keeper as a third choice, glorified training mannequin instead of setting our aims higher was a mistake. I suspect the excuse given will be that we let Ramsdale go out on loan and there was a chance if we go up next year that he would want to stay and be our number 1 then, which is fair enough. Trying to sell the dream of being Saints number 1 keeper this season only to potentially lose your place next season to a new signing would be a tough one to do but we didn't have to sign someone permanent, we could have loaned a keeper to challenge for the number 1 spot this year. If we sell Ramsdale next year then look at signing a better number 1 then, if Ramsdale stays then our keeper issue is resolved but the stop gap is filled in the meantime with a keeper which would likely be better than McCarthy and Bazunu.

 

To end this essay of a post, for me, the main issue with the club at the moment is we seem to be putting making a profit from player trading above buying players who we actually need for the here and now to progress the team and success of the club. I get we are not a top 4 team in England and effectively everyone else is therefore classed as a selling team and due to FFP and sustainability, we do need to turn a profit on players but our sole focus of recruitment should not be on this trying to profit from player sales basis. There needs to be a balance between getting what the team need and bringing in a few 'potential for profit' players.

Far too long for anybody to read. It'll be next season by the time they reach the end.

Pls summarise in two short sentences

[Lallana's Left Peg]

43 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

It's very concerning that under Sport Republic, we've had so many different people who for one reason or another seem desperate to jump ship at the first opportunity.

 

 

One of the fundamental principles of Sports Republic (based on Rasmus) is to buy a lottery ticket and if it doesn't work pivot quickly.  Keep doing that until you hit gold and then build.  But the consequence of that in football is that you have to be able to retain that individual to create the foundation for sustainable growth.

 

Saints are stuck in a rut of a high turnover of staff and the ones we do hit on leave very quickly, leaving us completely lost.

[tdmickey3]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Juventus apparently want him...

 

 

Great news for SR, some more money into the coffers..

DoF trading champions now surely

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, tdmickey3 said:

Great news for SR, some more money into the coffers..

DoF trading champions now surely

This is a good point. More success to champion. 

[Nordic Saint]

3 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Juventus apparently want him...

 

 

You obviously didn't read the comments. It's a joke.

[SaintsLoyal]

Im going to say after finding out he was going in and out of the country, no famiuly etc, he should never have been appointed !  A panic situatiuon based on him being out of work. 

Ditto the above with Wilcox down here on his own.

 

Edited 19 hours ago by SaintsLoyal

[trousers]

[trousers]

Ha... Now that's amusing... The last journo to block me was Factless Allen... What is it with the these local journos that can't handle critical questioning...? Note to self: be more sychopantic in future....

 

 

[Chris cooper]

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Can't see him turning down Juve.  

Are there any suitable replacements with a Saints background who might actually stay and see the job  through?

Hopefully Solak keeps Ankersen well out of the way on this decision.

Scienza to juve in Jan then 

[AlexLaw76]

8 minutes ago, trousers said:

Ha... Now that's amusing... The last journo to block me was Factless Allen... What is it with the these local journos that can't handle critical questioning...? Note to self: be more sychopantic in future....

 

 

What have you said to get blocked?

[trousers]

9 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

What have you said to get blocked?

I asked several times why the Spors interview didn't happen... Perhaps my tone was a tad sarcastic...?  Probably a bit too much for the snowflake generation... Hey ho, will have to follow him with my other Twitter account I guess... 🙂

Edited 19 hours ago by trousers

[S-Clarke]

I don't believe that Sports Directors keep leaving us simply because other clubs come knocking, there is seemingly a will for them to explore other opportunities and open the door for these approaches quite quickly. It's usually a good 6 months > year and the cycle continues.

They must see the chaos and they know they're better off running rather than committing long term, and let's not forget that if Rasmus still has his muddy hands all over everything, he could certainly be winding up any Sporting Directors once they've been in the room for a period of time. 

There is a consistent factor which pre-dates Sheilds, Wilcox and Sporrs - and he's called Rasmus.

Edited 18 hours ago by S-Clarke

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't believe that Sports Directors keep leaving us simply because other clubs come knocking, there is seemingly a will for them to explore other opportunities and open the door for these approaches quite quickly. It's usually a good 6 months > year and the cycle continues.

They must see the chaos and they know they're better off running rather than committing long term, and let's not forget that if Rasmus still has his muddy hands all over everything, he could certainly be winding up any Sporting Directors once they've been in the room for a period of time. 

I do. Just look at the level of club we have lost them too. It isn’t to the likes of Hull and Preston, it is to Chelsea and Man Utd. We cannot and will never be able to compete financially with those clubs.

Edited 18 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

I do. Just look at the level of club we have lost them too. It isn’t to the likes of Hull and Preston, it is to Chelsea and Man Utd. We cannot and will never be able to compete financially with those clubs.

You can believe that if you want, but in my eyes there's an underlying issue at this football club which is causing this turnover. 

The same underlying issue is causing us to lose every week, in whatever league we are in, and the same underlying issues keep making significant recruitment and scouting errors. The same mistakes are made across multiple Sport Directors and managers, there's something deeper at play which means nothing will change until that changes.

[bugenhagen]

5 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't believe that Sports Directors keep leaving us simply because other clubs come knocking, there is seemingly a will for them to explore other opportunities and open the door for these approaches quite quickly. It's usually a good 6 months > year and the cycle continues.

They must see the chaos and they know they're better off running rather than committing long term, and let's not forget that if Rasmus still has his muddy hands all over everything, he could certainly be winding up any Sporting Directors once they've been in the room for a period of time. 

There is a consistent factor which pre-dates Sheilds, Wilcox and Sporrs - and he's called Rasmus.

I was just thinking the same. 

[Matthew Le God]

18 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I do. Just look at the level of club we have lost them too. It isn’t to the likes of Hull and Preston, it is to Chelsea and Man Utd. We cannot and will never be able to compete financially with those clubs.

 

15 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

You can believe that if you want, but in my eyes there's an underlying issue at this football club which is causing this turnover. 

The same underlying issue is causing us to lose every week, in whatever league we are in, and the same underlying issues keep making significant recruitment and scouting errors. The same mistakes are made across multiple Sport Directors and managers, there's something deeper at play which means nothing will change until that changes.

What about it is not true and why?

[trousers]

21 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I do. Just look at the level of club we have lost them too. It isn’t to the likes of Hull and Preston, it is to Chelsea and Man Utd. We cannot and will never be able to compete financially with those clubs.

Out of interest, what other clubs struggle to keep hold of their DoFs after 6 - 12 months due to better clubs enticing them? (Genuine question)

If the answer is "not many" then perhaps we need to stop employing DoFs that are seemingly too good for the club as it's obviously counter-productive...?

Edited 18 hours ago by trousers

[Matthew Le God]

Just now, trousers said:

Out of interest, what other clubs struggle to keep hold of their DoFs after 6 - 12 months? (Genuine question)

If the answer is "not many" then perhaps we need to stop employing DoFs that are seemingly too good for the club as it's obviously counter-productive...?

Better to have someone good for a short time, than plod along with someone other clubs think aren't good enough.

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

Better to have someone good for a short time, than plod along with someone other clubs think aren't good enough.

Spors will have a legacy of signing Downs, giving the shoehorn a completely unnecessary new deal, and appointing Still