Turkish Posted June 3 Posted June 3 32 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said: This makes us all better, or something Do Goztepe have any players we can sign for massively inflated fees too?
Challenger Posted June 3 Posted June 3 1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said: This makes us all better, or something No need to deviate from a proven, successful footballing project.
Pamplemousse Posted June 3 Posted June 3 1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said: This makes us all better, or something I don't think he would qualify for a work permit so it would make a lot of sense to send him out on loan to Goztepe.
CB Fry Posted June 3 Posted June 3 1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said: This makes us all better, or something I'm just hoping some of these signings ultimately find their way to Valenciennes and make them even stronger 🤞🤞🤞🙏🙏🙏 2
Wade Garrett Posted June 3 Posted June 3 We are being taken for absolute mugs with this multi-club arrangement. Goztepe are probably happy as you like. We buy the players and give them straight over. 4
Nolan Posted June 3 Posted June 3 3 hours ago, sockeye said: Still struggling to see any real successes for Southampton FC of this multi-club model that is entering its fourth year now. 1
sockeye Posted June 3 Posted June 3 5 minutes ago, Nolan said: I understand your point, but we have yet to see whether he can really perform at a higher level consistently. Who's to say, we are not just signing the Mara and Djenepos of the world with extra steps.
Badger Posted June 3 Posted June 3 4 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said: This makes us all better, or something Nothing amazing or exceptional from the standard YouTube watch. But I’m sure he’ll tear it up at Goztepe. Still doesn’t make the signing a bad option, as he could be sold at a profit even if not arriving at St Mary’s as his next destination.
Lighthouse Posted June 3 Posted June 3 Some people are still struggling to accept that player trading is part of our business model. 2
Wade Garrett Posted June 3 Posted June 3 2 hours ago, Lighthouse said: Some people are still struggling to accept that player trading is part of our business model. It seems that comes above everything. Like what happens on the pitch is secondary. 7
CB Fry Posted June 3 Posted June 3 2 hours ago, Lighthouse said: Some people are still struggling to accept that player trading is part of our business model. Is Saints being fucking shit part of the business model? 1
Galway saint Posted June 3 Posted June 3 44 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said: It seems that comes above everything. Like what happens on the pitch is secondary. Spot on. The failure to sign players capable of performing now, rather than for their potential is largely responsible for this mess. All of this stuff about giving the new team a chance is fine and we get that sentiment at this time of year. There were people spouting the same crap when we were signing BBD, Archer etc last season.. We we have no choice but to cross our fingers and hope. The first test for me is the GK. If they announce Baz as No.1 then its the same old shit in different clothes and they have learnt nothing. 2
Osvaldorama Posted June 3 Posted June 3 6 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said: We did play a friendly against Goztepe. Does that count as a success? Didn’t we lose that too?
CB Fry Posted June 3 Posted June 3 1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said: It seems that comes above everything. Like what happens on the pitch is secondary. Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Absolutely fucking buzzing to see the mid-year financial results, as all true supporters should be 1 11
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 Again the differences between this year and last year are HUGE. it is not prima facie. the directorships of the Club and the added shares in Sports Republic. Dirk Gerkens (a trusted employee of Solak over the years) being a shareholder and holding the reigns at Valenciennes. This all shows that furniture has been rearranged. Spors is implementing a clear, centralised football strategy. Šolak is now engaged at the top. He was a more passive owner, now he’s directly installed as Chairman The mistakes are being acknowledged—not repeated. Patience is still needed, but let’s not pretend nothing has changed. It absolutely has. 8
St. Ciervo Posted June 4 Posted June 4 10 minutes ago, Nolan said: Again the differences between this year and last year are HUGE. it is not prima facie. the directorships of the Club and the added shares in Sports Republic. Dirk Gerkens (a trusted employee of Solak over the years) being a shareholder and holding the reigns at Valenciennes. This all shows that furniture has been rearranged. Spors is implementing a clear, centralised football strategy. Šolak is now engaged at the top. He was a more passive owner, now he’s directly installed as Chairman The mistakes are being acknowledged—not repeated. Patience is still needed, but let’s not pretend nothing has changed. It absolutely has. A new coat of paint. Nice... 1
Lighthouse Posted June 4 Posted June 4 9 hours ago, Wade Garrett said: It seems that comes above everything. Like what happens on the pitch is secondary. Being finanically stable comes above everything for pretty much every business in the world everywhere. 7 hours ago, CB Fry said: Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Absolutely fucking buzzing to see the mid-year financial results, as all true supporters should be I don't think anyone asked you to be excited by our business model or financial results but you'd have to be monumentally dense not to understand the impact that has on our first team squad. We're on our fourth manager in six months, unless you know a half decent assassin, that's not going to come cheap either.
Saint_clark Posted June 4 Posted June 4 23 hours ago, Nolan said: For F*cks sake, how many times do we have to point out the same thing. yes recruitment lost its way thats why there been all the changes in the last 6 months. For some reason some people continue to ignore what is happening behind the scenes. 15th February 2025: Johannes Spors starts work at Southampton. May 2025: Eliott Stapley and Nikola Laden joined as asst to Spors and head of international Scouting. Tim Lederer coming in to scouting team too. Recruitment lost its way because we we didnt have the right set-up in place. how about we give the new set-up at least a window and see how its going? I'm prepared to give them a chance but how many different recruitment set ups are allowed to fail before the people setting them up need to change? 2
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 7 minutes ago, Saint_clark said: I'm prepared to give them a chance but how many different recruitment set ups are allowed to fail before the people setting them up need to change? Class this as the second as its more a higher change than before. 1/ Before Feb 25: Sports Republic: Ankersson / Kraft method didnt work with Wilcox / Whoever was leading last year. 2/After Feb 25: Spors Republic: Johannes Spors leading group recruitment and transfer.
Weston Super Saint Posted June 4 Posted June 4 2 hours ago, Nolan said: The mistakes are being acknowledged—not repeated. Patience is still needed, but let’s not pretend nothing has changed. It absolutely has. Have you got a link to the mistakes being publicly acknowledged? 2
tdmickey3 Posted June 4 Posted June 4 Why is it ok to be positive about the new structure/changes but not acceptable to be negative based on the previous shit shows set up by SR? If it all works out we will all be delighted but the new changes could result in the same crap. Far to early to get the bunting out just yet 6 1
Challenger Posted June 4 Posted June 4 48 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said: Have you got a link to the mistakes being publicly acknowledged? Read somewhere that the mistakes were acknowledged after promotion with regards to the previous PL campaign.
Doctoroncall Posted June 4 Posted June 4 48 minutes ago, Nolan said: Class this as the second as its more a higher change than before. 1/ Before Feb 25: Sports Republic: Ankersson / Kraft method didnt work with Wilcox / Whoever was leading last year. 2/After Feb 25: Spors Republic: Johannes Spors leading group recruitment and transfer. I know SR have been trying to implement a change in structure since they had bought the clubs but there have been many iterations on the ‘before Feb 25’, and that has sapped goodwill and confidence in what they are doing now. after 25 Feb does seem different but you cannot blame folks to wait and see before actually seeing improvement. 1
CB Fry Posted June 4 Posted June 4 1 hour ago, Lighthouse said: Being finanically stable comes above everything for pretty much every business in the world everywhere. I don't think anyone asked you to be excited by our business model or financial results but you'd have to be monumentally dense not to understand the impact that has on our first team squad. We're on our fourth manager in six months, unless you know a half decent assassin, that's not going to come cheap either. Try really hard and you could make that post even more patronising. The point is there has been no visible tangible benefit to the multi-club model for us as a club several years in. Knock yourself out about how wonderful the theory is but allow the rest of us the opportunity to question the point of it. 4
benjii Posted June 4 Posted June 4 On 03/06/2025 at 12:55, Nolan said: Yes I think it was gross incompetence. That is why I'm happy that Kraft resigned from Sport Republic UK Ltd and that Dragan Solak put himself in as Chair of the Club, limiting Ankerson's role. (he's obviously not going to be able to usurp the money man, and there are more directors directly informing Solak) People with money, like Solak, don't accumulate their wealth down to luck. I'm willing to give the restructure that only started AFTER the Winter transfer window a go. Nearly everyone who accumulates tonnes of wealth has loads of luck. That goes for most people who achieve success in anything.
Lighthouse Posted June 4 Posted June 4 1 hour ago, CB Fry said: Try really hard and you could make that post even more patronising. The point is there has been no visible tangible benefit to the multi-club model for us as a club several years in. Knock yourself out about how wonderful the theory is but allow the rest of us the opportunity to question the point of it. 🤣 Fantastic! You posted this.... 11 hours ago, CB Fry said: Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Stand up if you love the business model Absolutely fucking buzzing to see the mid-year financial results, as all true supporters should be And then unironically try to call me patronising. If you don't want to be patronised, stop posting sarcastic coments, pretending not to understand basic concepts. We need a business model to financially viable in order to compete and comply with PSR. Nobody has asked you to be 'absolutely fucking buzzing' so I don't know why you're being a princess about it. Signing a player from Chile and loaning him straight out to Goztepe, if that does indeed come to fruition, has absolute no affect on Saints at all, so for the life of me I can't see why it upsets anyone. 2 1
Wade Garrett Posted June 4 Posted June 4 3 hours ago, Lighthouse said: Being finanically stable comes above everything for pretty much every business in the world everywhere. I don't think anyone asked you to be excited by our business model or financial results but you'd have to be monumentally dense not to understand the impact that has on our first team squad. We're on our fourth manager in six months, unless you know a half decent assassin, that's not going to come cheap either. Would help us be more stable if we stopped buying shit players we don’t use and can’t sell. 6
Weston Super Saint Posted June 4 Posted June 4 2 minutes ago, Lighthouse said: 🤣 Fantastic! You posted this.... And then unironically try to call me patronising. If you don't want to be patronised, stop posting sarcastic coments, pretending not to understand basic concepts. We need a business model to financially viable in order to compete and comply with PSR. Nobody has asked you to be 'absolutely fucking buzzing' so I don't know why you're being a princess about it. Signing a player from Chile and loaning him straight out to Goztepe, if that does indeed come to fruition, has absolute no affect on Saints at all, so for the life of me I can't see why it upsets anyone. Does it not affect PSR which you mentioned in the same post? Surely Saints spending money on a transfer fee will affect PSR in one way shape or form for a player that will provide zero benefit - unless the loan amount covers all costs (wages, transfer fee etc)? 1
Lighthouse Posted June 4 Posted June 4 2 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said: Would help us be more stable if we stopped buying shit players we don’t use and can’t sell. What makes you think he's sh*t and that we wont sell him? The players we've loaned out and/or sold on have never been a problem, its the ones we sign to play for Saints first team which are the issue. We are where we are because we signed Wood, Lallana and Sugawara to play PL football, not because of buying, loaning and selling the likes of Meghoma, Tella and SAA.
Lighthouse Posted June 4 Posted June 4 14 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said: Does it not affect PSR which you mentioned in the same post? Surely Saints spending money on a transfer fee will affect PSR in one way shape or form for a player that will provide zero benefit - unless the loan amount covers all costs (wages, transfer fee etc)? Chelsea have spent the last couple of years signing what seems like every embryo in Europe, literally dozens of players who will never step foot in Stamford Bridge. I'm no accountant, I wouldn't pretend to understand how all these deals are structured within the bounds of PSR, but clearly there's merit to it or clubs wouldn't do it.
AlexLaw76 Posted June 4 Author Posted June 4 3 minutes ago, Lighthouse said: Chelsea have spent the last couple of years signing what seems like every embryo in Europe, literally dozens of players who will never step foot in Stamford Bridge. I'm no accountant, I wouldn't pretend to understand how all these deals are structured within the bounds of PSR, but clearly there's merit to it or clubs wouldn't do it. Chelsea also sell their own buildings to themselves, and exploit nearly every loophole in the PSR framework 2
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 3 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said: Have you got a link to the mistakes being publicly acknowledged? 1
Danbert Posted June 4 Posted June 4 6 hours ago, Nolan said: The mistakes are being acknowledged—not repeated. I don't see how you can say that - there seems to be as much performative management speak doing the rounds as last summer. Šolak is an elderly media mogul with no previous experience running a football club - he might make an excellent Chairman he might not. 1
Weston Super Saint Posted June 4 Posted June 4 21 minutes ago, Nolan said: Apologies, maybe I'm being thick, but I don’t see how that is acknowledgement of the mistakes being made. That is just confirmation of a Director termination from one of the clubs in the SFC umbrella. Do you have a link to anything from the club where they are admitting / acknowledging the previous mistakes? 1
Weston Super Saint Posted June 4 Posted June 4 32 minutes ago, Lighthouse said: Chelsea have spent the last couple of years signing what seems like every embryo in Europe, literally dozens of players who will never step foot in Stamford Bridge. I'm no accountant, I wouldn't pretend to understand how all these deals are structured within the bounds of PSR, but clearly there's merit to it or clubs wouldn't do it. We aren't Chelsea, so will have vastly different PSR parameters.
CB Fry Posted June 4 Posted June 4 1 hour ago, Lighthouse said: 🤣 Fantastic! You posted this.... And then unironically try to call me patronising. If you don't want to be patronised, stop posting sarcastic coments, pretending not to understand basic concepts. We need a business model to financially viable in order to compete and comply with PSR. Nobody has asked you to be 'absolutely fucking buzzing' so I don't know why you're being a princess about it. Signing a player from Chile and loaning him straight out to Goztepe, if that does indeed come to fruition, has absolute no affect on Saints at all, so for the life of me I can't see why it upsets anyone. I think it’s great that the owners of SFC who said we are the lead club and the priority are buying, loaning and selling players that “has absolutely no effect on Saints at all”. You understand that this is precisely the argument for “the multi club model is not helping us”, right? Me taking the piss out of it doesn’t mean I don’t understand it. But thanks for the lessons x
sockeye Posted June 4 Posted June 4 (edited) The multi club model is one that I can see working but it requires a high-flying (financial and league status) club to serve as the root like Chelsea, Man City. Trouble is we are not Chelsea, Chelsea have far more depth of funds in regards to FFP that we do, if we are spending money on players for Goztepe and Valenciennes, does that not show up as being an expenditure for SFC? Especially if we are in the Championship, not sure if it's wise to be outsourcing development of players to other clubs whilst we foot the bill of recruiting them right now. I don't trust SR recruiting at the moment, I would rather we focus on SFC's squad for the time being, because if these Goztepe and Valenciennes players flop (as many SFC players have in the last 3 years), we now have even more dross on the books. Yes Spors is here, they have shuffled around the hierarchy, etc, but we haven't seen if this will bear fruit or not yet. Ambition is great but it feels above our station right now. Edited June 4 by sockeye
Saint86 Posted June 4 Posted June 4 (edited) 14 minutes ago, sockeye said: The multi club model is one that I can see working but it requires a high-flying (financial and league status) club to serve as the root like Chelsea, Man City. Trouble is we are not Chelsea, Chelsea have far more depth of funds in regards to FFP that we do, if we are spending money on players for Goztepe and Valenciennes, does that not show up as being an expenditure for SFC? Especially if we are in the Championship, not sure if it's wise to be outsourcing development of players to other clubs whilst we foot the bill of recruiting them right now. I don't trust SR recruiting at the moment, I would rather we focus on SFC's squad for the time being, because if these Goztepe and Valenciennes players flop (as many SFC players have in the last 3 years), we now have even more dross on the books. Yes Spors is here, they have shuffled around the hierarchy, etc, but we haven't seen if this will bear fruit or not yet. Ambition is great but it feels above our station right now. The issue for me is that saints have been too volatile lately. What level players are we trying to sign for? One minute we're championship looking young potential players, the next minute we're after players with experience who can battle to help us avoid the drop - and who is identifying and signing these players (huge change at recruitment and management level). The business model would have made more sense had we been an established premier league side looking to recruit players that can become top half prem players and push us into european contention, similarly we would be able to send out our own promising kids to the other leagues for experience. As it is, our kids are being poached by the established clubs and/or we seemingly don't trust them to risk them in promotion / relegation battles, and on top of that, Ankerson and Kraft dismantled our existing recruitment structure - the same one that got in players like KWP, Tino, and Lavia. Sports Republic have shat in their own bed so far, multiple times. People are enthusiastic about Spors because he's so far made all the right moves re repairing the damage that SR have previously done to us - i.e., restoring our scouting and recruitment teams to something resembling the norm for a club of our size. If only it had been done sooner rather than us spending hundreds of millions thinking we had some novel football geniuses at the helm who could reinvent football recruitment with a teds talk Edited June 4 by Saint86 1
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 Worth remembering, that the pathways for player movements only were in place after Göztepe got promoted back to lig 1. In Sports Republics first year of Göztepe ownership they got to the play off final in lig 2, but didn't win that. The club model only became useful with their promotion 12 months ago.
suewhistle Posted June 4 Posted June 4 8 minutes ago, Nolan said: The club model only became useful with their promotion 12 months ago. Is that due to players now being able to accumulate points for the immigration requirements?
sockeye Posted June 4 Posted June 4 31 minutes ago, Saint86 said: The issue for me is that saints have been too volatile lately. What level players are we trying to sign for? One minute we're championship looking young potential players, the next minute we're after players with experience who can battle to help us avoid the drop - and who is identifying and signing these players (huge change at recruitment and management level). The business model would have made more sense had we been an established premier league side looking to recruit players that can become top half prem players and push us into european contention, similarly we would be able to send out our own promising kids to the other leagues for experience. As it is, our kids are being poached by the established clubs and/or we seemingly don't trust them to risk them in promotion / relegation battles, and on top of that, Ankerson and Kraft dismantled our existing recruitment structure - the same one that got in players like KWP, Tino, and Lavia. Sports Republic have shat in their own bed so far, multiple times. People are enthusiastic about Spors because he's so far made all the right moves re repairing the damage that SR have previously done to us - i.e., restoring our scouting and recruitment teams to something resembling the norm for a club of our size. If only it had been done sooner rather than us spending hundreds of millions thinking we had some novel football geniuses at the helm who could reinvent football recruitment with a teds talk Yeah that's exactly my problem. SR are ambitious, but they are trying to build their end goal in the wrong order. They are trying to implement their smart stat based scouting and multi-club development model before the main club has even established itself as consistently Premier League quality. It's time for some pragmatism with regards to this. 1
Fabrice29 Posted June 4 Posted June 4 (edited) 50 minutes ago, sockeye said: The multi club model is one that I can see working but it requires a high-flying (financial and league status) club to serve as the root like Chelsea, Man City. Trouble is we are not Chelsea, Chelsea have far more depth of funds in regards to FFP that we do, if we are spending money on players for Goztepe and Valenciennes, does that not show up as being an expenditure for SFC? Especially if we are in the Championship, not sure if it's wise to be outsourcing development of players to other clubs whilst we foot the bill of recruiting them right now. I don't trust SR recruiting at the moment, I would rather we focus on SFC's squad for the time being, because if these Goztepe and Valenciennes players flop (as many SFC players have in the last 3 years), we now have even more dross on the books. Yes Spors is here, they have shuffled around the hierarchy, etc, but we haven't seen if this will bear fruit or not yet. Ambition is great but it feels above our station right now. Brighton have been doing it since 2009 and I wouldn’t have classed them as a high flying status club. No idea when they really started seeing the fruits of it in the first team of Brighton. Edited June 4 by Fabrice29
Weston Super Saint Posted June 4 Posted June 4 27 minutes ago, Nolan said: Worth remembering, that the pathways for player movements only were in place after Göztepe got promoted back to lig 1. In Sports Republics first year of Göztepe ownership they got to the play off final in lig 2, but didn't win that. The club model only became useful with their promotion 12 months ago. Useful for who? What 'use' have SFC had from this to date?
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 32 minutes ago, suewhistle said: Is that due to players now being able to accumulate points for the immigration requirements? Yep. Turkish 2nd division not a high enough quality division to add points for work permits 2
AlexLaw76 Posted June 4 Author Posted June 4 Incredible that we have just been relegated, about to sell off the few good players we have, and we will buy players and loan them to Goztepe nice one 👌 2
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 Sport Republic owns Southampton, Göztepe, and Valenciennes. That’s one Premier League hopeful, one Turkish top-flight club, and one French side trying to climb the ladder. The idea? Joined-up football thinking across borders. Now, after Brexit, bringing in foreign players to the UK has more hoops to jump through. You need a work permit, and that’s based on a points system — players need minutes in top leagues, international caps, etc etc. Enter Göztepe. Last season they were in Turkey’s second tier — no help at all for UK permits. But this season they’ve been promoted to the Süper Lig, and suddenly they’re playing in a league that does count. That means Southampton can now loan out young talent, get them playing regularly in a competitive league, and stack up the permit points they need to eventually move to England. So why’s it only starting to help now? Simple: Göztepe had to get promoted first. Without that, the games don't count for much in the FA’s book. Göztepe missed out in the play off final in Sports Republics first year of ownership. But they got straight promotion last year, and Southampton have a proper, strategic route to develop players for future use. Kuryu Matsuki Will hopefully be the first to come through for us. But here’s the other side of it: Göztepe benefit too. They now get access to high-quality young players from Southampton’s system — lads with Premier League potential who can boost their squad, help them stay up, and push for more. It’s not just a loan system — it’s a talent upgrade, with shared incentives. And don’t sleep on Valenciennes. If they can climb up the French Leagues, the same doors open. The aim is surely to get back to Ligue 1 which carries real weight in the permit points system. Once they’re up there, Sport Republic will have another strategic hub to develop and rotate talent. So it’s not just about parking players. It’s about creating a football network that works smarter, gives each club value, and helps move players up the ladder, all within the same system. 4
Nolan Posted June 4 Posted June 4 4 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said: “A footballing network” ok then! Whatever you want to call it, It’s not dissimilat to Southampton working in Bristol for feeder academies. Just further afield.
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