This article will ring true to a lot of people on here.

[Hawkswood]

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

[sockeye]

Feels like what happens on the pitch is almost secondary now compared to what happens off it

[Turkish]

Very good article that, love the way they describe Jason Wilcox 😂

[Rebel]

I have to admit I am not a Jason Wilcox fan.  I don't think he's anywhere near as clever or as good as he thinks he is.

Just copying Manchester City's masterplan at another club in a different league and with different environmental factors doesn't make you clever - it makes you a bit stupid really.  

[Miltonaggro]

Thing is, Sport Republic were complete novices when they bought SFC, so they sensible thing would have been to take some time to stabilise and learn the ropes. Instead they’ve tried to impose their ‘philosophy’ (Ankerson’s philosophy) on a club in a downward spiral from their first full season. Over their time the philosophy clearly loved by Ankerson now looks outdated and flat, and would probably never have worked at a provincial club with limited players like Saints anyway, certainly not in a condensed timescale whilst selling any talent to balance the annual books. Wilcox likely knew this when he briefly came on board, so SFC merely a shop window. Only question left is whether Solak will finally wake up to what has been an avoidable disaster (better late than never) and cut out the disease, or be forever remembered in the industry as a negligent and careless idiot. 

Edited January 7 by Miltonaggro

[beatlesaint]

Pretty savage in condemnation of Wilcox, very amusing.

[Doctoroncall]

And This article on the right selection and selection process. 

[danjosaint]

Both really good articles and a lot rings true

[ant]

It's OK to attempt being a 'disruptor', but when all evidence - over a prolonged period - points to you being wrong...

Well, only a fool would persist on that path. Self-belief only takes you so far.

[scumbag]

'The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding.'

This is it really...every part of your senses as a human being tells you that what you are seeing is a steaming pile of horseshit, but we're wrong, and its because we dont really 'understand'.

[coalman]

Disruption and moonshots are phrases used by people with a high opinion of themselves who think the rules don't apply to them and want to take shortcuts. I remember reading a piece by the guy who built all of Google's infrastructure where he explained that all the stuff that looked like magic from the outside was the net result of relentless incremental improvement and hard work.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230922113630/https:/rework.withgoogle.com/blog/the-roofshot-manifesto/

[Turkish]

3 hours ago, scumbag said:

'The real thinkers of this sport – men like Ramus Ankersen – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding.'

This is it really...every part of your senses as a human being tells you that what you are seeing is a steaming pile of horseshit, but we're wrong, and its because we dont really 'understand'.

Agreed 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

9 minutes ago, coalman said:

he explained that all the stuff that looked like magic from the outside was the net result of relentless incremental improvement and hard work

Exactly what we did under Cortese.  I remember us being successful, too.  Remarkable, isn’t it?  How unlike us now!  😩
 

 

[adrian lord]

Very good article. Can be applied to many corporate settings, not just football. The technical experts with the knowledge and expertise and skills degraded and scapegoated while the Midwit executive and managerial class prosper.

Edited January 7 by adrian lord

[bugenhagen]

I liked this bit:

 If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

[benali-shorts]

The downside of American ownership of football; overestimating the competence of football business management people 

[Hawkswood]

Theres so much of the articles that chime with Saints but for me the thing that stands out ( one of the many) is the teams tactics being dictated to by sporting directors or chairman. There has been many a murmuring on here, some would label it a conspiracy theory about the boardroom getting involved in how we play rather than leave it to the manager, but here we have  articles essentially reinforcing the point that, yes, there is meddling in how a team sets up and plays by members of the board. It just becomes a plaything for them. 

[BarberSaint]

3 hours ago, adrian lord said:

Very good article. Can be applied to many corporate settings, not just football. The technical experts with the knowledge and expertise and skills degraded and scapegoated while the Midwit executive and managerial class prosper.

Indeed.

[suewhistle]

10 hours ago, scumbag said:

'The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding.'

This is it really...every part of your senses as a human being tells you that what you are seeing is a steaming pile of horseshit, but we're wrong, and its because we dont really 'understand'.

Obviously the writer is on our side because he's taking the piss out of the idea..