Dragan Šolak interviews with BBC and Daily Echo (June 5, 2026)

[CSA96]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0nqcflb

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/26170108.southampton-owner-solak-opens-spygate-transfers-finances/?ref=twtrec

Edited 2 hours ago by CSA96

[trousers]

[trousers]

Also an interview with Alfie @ The Echo...

"We looked deep into the mistakes we made and the reasons, and we didn't find anybody there with a kind of malicious intent," Solak told the Daily Echo.

"We found, unfortunately, a lot of misunderstanding and bad co-ordination, and a bit of arrogance or ignorance, but I don't consider these capital.

"I don't think heads need to roll for these offences. I still believe in the integrity of these people, and I believe that now they have learned their lesson.

"I have never fired guys for making a mistake. I decided to keep all the people in the wake of this incident, but not that I will keep all of them forever.

"They will not repeat their mistakes again, and I will do a lot of stuff on my side to make sure the mistakes are not repeated. Now, I can put that aside.

"Then I think about their capability, about their ability and skills, and whether they make sense for us to be here. It is about what's best for the company."

 

Edited 2 hours ago by trousers

[AlexLaw76]

Tried to trigger an extension to Stewart's contract, but his legal team rejected it. it is up to him now

 

[CSA96]

11 minutes ago, trousers said:

Available now

[Saint_clark]

5 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Tried to trigger an extension to Stewart's contract, but his legal team rejected it. it is up to him now

 

He won't sign, I reckon he's off to one of the Old Firm. 

[sockeye]

 

[beatlesaint]

5 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

He won't sign, I reckon he's off to one of the Old Firm. 

He’s a decent bloke, I think he realises with all the injuries we’ve nursed him through he owes us so I think he’ll stay.

[The Wyvern]

I’ve been plenty critical of Sports Republic in the past, but credit to Solak, always appears committed, right intent, financial backing and if anything just not had the luck go his way. Credit where credits due, he’s a good owner. 

[Saint Garrett]

3 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

He’s a decent bloke, I think he realises with all the injuries we’ve nursed him through he owes us so I think he’ll stay.

Hope so, would be great for all parties involved, football doesnt make sense sometimes though. Maybve he'll see what happens in teh WC first and see where he lands

[Toadhall Saint]

30 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Tried to trigger an extension to Stewart's contract, but his legal team rejected it. it is up to him now

 

Fookin annoying- anther outcome of being chucked out of the play offs due to the 5 day extension request period.

[AlexLaw76]

Blackmore interview.....

• Both Peretz and Larin were part of the brilliant un
• They proved to be missing links with the only defeat being against Man City
• Daniel is a brilliant young man, and it is great to announce Cyle, who really inspires the younger players
• We learned the hard way that only going after potential and profit does not work
• Since I became chair we agreed that we needed to compete at the highest level
• Now it is about the right player in our culture, whether they are 19 or 31
• I don't think this season was a set back as whole, but it was huge set back at the end
• The good work is not undone, we have shown how good we are and we must pick up from there
• I love Southampton, as long as a I am at the helm I will love them
• Like a member of the family, if they do something wrong, you teach them and help them
• We accept we did wrong, we will learn from this and it will never ever happen again
• I am going to do everything possible to repair as much as I can, we will emerge a more respectful club after this
• Emotions were high recently. I was very hurt and devastated, especially after the appeal, everything looked grim
• But, I am the leader of this club so I have to make sure we recover
• I did all the research, spoke to Tonda and here we are.
• If I believed for a second this was as sinister as made out people would not work here
• I believe this was a mistake, with arrogance and ignorance, it was not acceptable but it is forgivable
• We got an extreme punishment for what we did, the price has been paid so now it is time to go on
• Destroying a young man's career over 1 mistake is not right, he is very ambitious, smart and capable
• Those casting judgement should recall the worst thing they did in their lives
• We must give these people a chance to make good
• We did a hasty reply to the EFL and it is still haunting us, we needed more time to consider and reflect
• The pain and realisation that we were not going to Wembley just went through me
• I considered the legal situation and came to Southampton. I met the players and staff, then Tonda
• I spoke to Matt Le Tissier, he was very honest about it, I was aware we were hurting the entire legacy of the club
• I went back home to consider everything, but I wanted to wait to see what the EFL would realise as I would only get 1 statement 
• This meant I needed a few more days, so that is why it came out when it did. I needed to understand everything
• At the end of the say, this is my doing, my responsibility. Mistake were made and we have apologise
• Safeguards will be in place so this never ever happens again
• There was lots of negativity in the press, but those who know and work with us know we are not bad
• These people also know Tonda and know he is working very hard
• We got support from our partners, the sponsors and now the players, they all know what we are all about
• Of those club coming down, we know very well that it is a tricky business, we did well in the end
• We stayed within financial regulations and fair play whilst remaining competitive. Lets see if those who come down are able to do this
• We beat Arsenal fair and square in regular time. They only lose to Man City, not even PSG could do it
• We held Man City 1-0 and they had to go out to beat us
• I am not worried about the other sides, we know we will be good, we still have not lost in the league since Jan
• Let's see how long it can go on. We will create the best team we can and see where we go
• Hull went through extreme hardship and got promoted. I am so happy for them, so why not
• We do not have pressure to sell players. We must have the best possible team, but we must understand what is good for certain players and their contracts
• If a player from Southampton goes to Man United it is good for us where we are now, it is an advert
• we have our place in the food chain being where we are, it is a reality of the moment
• If we let some players go, it will have to be a good offer for the club and player
• We have a very capable scouting team, where a huge number of players are being looked at
• Our goal this summer is not about making money but to have at least the same level of quality for next season
• With Daniel and Cyle, we know we mean serious business
• Right now, we are in the top 25 clubs in England, but when we go up we will compete with team with 4x the budget
• We are improving our commercial revenues to try and close this gap
• But, tradition, legacy, fans, we are really a premier league club
• It is always open regarding investment. I am not in a position to chase investment as given what has happened, I will sound desperate
• if we are the same this season as we were, it will attract investors and I am willing to talk

[trousers]

6 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

We have a very capable scouting team, where a huge number of players are being looked at

Fingers crossed we're doing it legally...

[Saint_clark]

26 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

He’s a decent bloke, I think he realises with all the injuries we’ve nursed him through he owes us so I think he’ll stay.

I agree he is, but it's a short career and he's nearing the end of it. He won't turn down the opportunity to win trophies and play in europe.

[johnnyboy]

SAINTS owner Dragan Solak insisted he believes in the integrity of his staff and has backed them to return the club to the Premier League.

The Sport Republic lead investor, who became Saints chairman in January last year, has come out fighting following the recent Spygate scandal.

While demanding they learn from their mistakes, Solak endorsed all of the club's major decision-makers to stage a top-flight promotion push.

Saints were kicked out of the Championship play-off final at Wembley last month after admitting to spying on three opponents ahead of matches.

Head coach Tonda Eckert authorised the costly missions, while technical director Johannes Spors and CEO Phil Parsons have also been criticised.

But Solak, who believes the sanction meted out was grossly disproportionate, has explained his stance and more in a new, wide-reaching interview.

"We looked deep into the mistakes we made and the reasons, and we didn't find anybody there with a kind of malicious intent," Solak told the Daily Echo.

"We found, unfortunately, a lot of misunderstanding and bad co-ordination, and a bit of arrogance or ignorance, but I don't consider these capital.

"I don't think heads need to roll for these offences. I still believe in the integrity of these people, and I believe that now they have learned their lesson.

"I have never fired guys for making a mistake. I decided to keep all the people in the wake of this incident, but not that I will keep all of them forever.

"They will not repeat their mistakes again, and I will do a lot of stuff on my side to make sure the mistakes are not repeated. Now, I can put that aside.

"Then I think about their capability, about their ability and skills, and whether they make sense for us to be here. It is about what's best for the company."

A big error was the initial misleading response to the EFL's charges on Friday, May 8, which proved costly for Saints in their disciplinary hearings.

Saints falsely claimed no footage was filmed of the incident, and an arbitration panel pointed to it as a reason to offer no mitigation to the punishment.

Had Saints been honest and accurate from the outset, they might have been dealt some mercy by the independent commission, who also docked four points.

But Solak, speaking from his golf course in Bled, Slovenia, insists Parsons, who issued the response, did not intentionally mislead the EFL, and instead lacked knowledge due to the rushed timescale.

"Phil called certain people, and these people were not aware of the incidents. They thought it was just this one [at Boro]," explained Solak.

"Nobody had time to really go deep and talk to everyone who was involved. We would not be able to do that in just 12 hours as demanded.

"Our football leadership are from Germany, where if you observe training from public grounds, it's considered legal. It's up to the clubs to put fences up.

"I think Johannes heard that our guy was standing on a public spot and thought we are good.

"What we actually did was a friendly investigation between a few members of senior staff that were all in a very imperfect information environment.

"Then all of this went in as a wrong statement. Obviously, immediately after, we hired a law firm, we did a proper investigation, but that took a few days."

Solak maintains that their biggest mistake was writing to the EFL within 12 hours in an attempt to show good nature, rather than delaying a response.

"We had by law 14 days available to evaluate our mistakes, to evaluate the situation and to respond. Responding quickly didn't do good for us," he said.

"What the panel did was take it as an additional offence, which I don't think is fair. Then they didn't give us their predicted punishment any time in advance.

"In any court of law in England, you know what you are up against; what the prosecution want for you, and then your lawyers can fight that request.

"They denied us the knowledge and then delivered this expulsion request to the panel at the last second without our lawyers being able to respond.

"I'm not trying to put any sugar coating on this. What we did was bluntly wrong. But how we were executed for it was like a fifth-century type of thing."

Without the Premier League's riches flowing in, anxieties over long-term job security are raised among many ordinary working people at the club.

Solak insisted Spygate will not lead to job cuts, but stopped short of guaranteeing security as he hinted at trimming of the workforce for other reasons.

"Nothing will happen because of this," Solak said. "That will not influence it. But my ideal outlook is an extremely high-performance environment.

"Whether that is marketing, IT, medical science, or football. Everything we do. We have already started on the football side with a huge AI transformation.

"That's what will demand a change in how Southampton is structured. Not because we lost this opportunity. We need every Pound to end up in the team.

"If you go to the Premier League, we use the same superstructure, and we just add to it a little bit while we are in the Premier League. If we aren't, we lift it off.

"We have this Championship structure that makes us sustainable. I want to be 100 per cent sure every time we are Championship, we fight for promotion."

That aim is ultimately one of the biggest factors in all of the decisions that Solak has taken. He believes the current leadership can bring promotion.

"Johannes and Tonda can definitely do that," he added. "I think that Phil definitely can run our club. Can they do it better? I'm going to push for more.

(Image: Peter Tarry)

"But I think that all of them showed us actually, apart from this terrible incident, that we were almost there, despite the start of the season we had.

"Once we put the team together, especially after the January transfer window, where we fixed a few things for Tonda, we performed extremely well.

"Plus, I have to say that I saw a huge improvement in our health and science, if you want. We, with Mark Bitcon, kept a really high player availability.

"We lost only one player for a long time [Mads Roerslev], but he carried that injury even when he came to us but then it demanded a serious surgery."

What could throw a spanner in the works is the ongoing FA investigation into Eckert, which is likely to punish the German in one way or another.

Solak has said he will support Eckert even in the event of a coaching ban, but accepts a serious, lengthy sanction of many months would force change.

"We'll have to discuss that, but I honestly didn't talk about this with Tonda and with Johannes," he said. "I think we have a very capable legal team now.

"We have a very negative press pushing for the punishment, but I believe to prevent Tonda from managing would be a double jeopardy punishment

"If they ban him, we will appeal. If we lose the appeal, and it's such a long ban, we'll have to take a new manager. We can't leave the club unmanaged.

"So we'll see what the details of any sentence are, but I still have hopes that we can compete with Tonda next year. I think all the eyes will be on us.

"If anybody sees that we are breaking the rules again, they should come up and say it. If they don't, then they should accept Tonda's managerial skills."

There is also the possibility of the club losing the head of their football departments, Spors, with reports in Italy claiming AC Milan are interested.

Those reports have suggested that should Ralf Rangnick be appointed to oversee Milan this summer, he will turn to Spors as sporting director.

Solak admitted he is "worried" by the links, but the only indication he has had from Spors - currently on holiday, albeit working remotely - is that he is not departing.

He said: "I sent him and I asked, 'Are you leaving?' He said, 'No'. I'll talk to Johannes. I didn't talk to him yet because the club was in fighting mode.

"I've already sent him a couple of bits that I want to discuss with him about our future projects that look very interesting, and we will talk more.

"We need this continuity, but we'll see how to achieve it. At the end of the day, if Johannes gets an offer to work in Milan, it's going to be tough."

Saints are keen to move forward from a disastrous few weeks and build for a team capable of winning promotion to the Premier League next year.

They have made a stellar start to proceedings, with the signings of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and striker Cyle Larin before the window even opened.

Both players excelled on loan last campaign and have penned permanent deals, opting to return to St Mary's after the love they'd been shown.

"I think it's a great statement because, at the end of the season, everybody said Daniel Peretz is a Premier League-level goalkeeper," said Solak.

"The fact that he decided to stay is a huge statement. I think he did it out of the love and out of the belief that for his development, this is the place to be.

"Cyle Larin is at a different stage of his career, but he really transformed himself from the time he came to now, and I think he really enjoyed it.

"What happened with Daniel and Cyle, and hopefully a few other guys soon, will show that actually there is a huge faith in the club and our system.

"They could definitely go to various places, and they decided to stay."

Solak hopes that the good news will not stop there, with the club hoping to quickly agree a new deal with out-of-contract defender James Bree.

(Image: PA)

Bree, 28, enjoyed a shock resurgence in the second half of the season for Eckert, after he was initially sent out on loan to Charlton Athletic in August.

"I think that Bree should stay," teased Solak. "I'm pretty sure that we have made a pretty competitive offer for him to stay, so I hope he accepts it."

Things are trickier with striker Ross Stewart. Saints want him to stay, but play-off expulsion meant they missed the expiry date of a deal extension clause.

"We had to initiate the option up to five days after the last game of the season, and we were out of the five days when our final got cancelled," said Solak.

"When we knew there was no last game, we immediately sent the notice of the extension, but his lawyers say that they're disagreeing with us.

"Ultimately, it's on Ross and his team to basically decide whether they want to stay or not. In my opinion, nobody would be better for Ross than us.

"We worked hard to allow him physically to show how good he is. He went from a guy who didn't play for two years to be invited to the World Cup team.

"I'm really proud of that. If he wants to try his luck somewhere else, I can't stop him, but I would love to have him back. We have made an effort to keep him."

Saints will also address contracts for players on deals only until 2027 - including Ryan Manning, who has asked to extend his stay on the south coast.

Solak believes the current squad have shown they are capable of winning promotion, especially given their ongoing 21-game league unbeaten run.

He only wants to add one player in the transfer market; a number 10 to support ever-present talisman Finn Azaz, who has had no back-up.

"Our team is really good," he insisted. "We have contracts for players and are sorting some for others. If nobody's leaving, I have a full team.

"But we need somebody able to play at the level of Finn at his position, although the problem is that Finn insists on playing every minute of every game.

"He has said he'll do whatever to manage that. He'll keep his legs on ice for 10 days if it means playing every game. But you could see he's hurting.

"He was tired. He played two games a week for months. So, I said to Tonda, can we please get somebody else, otherwise he's going to die on the pitch."

The reality is that Saints will sign more players than that, because some will leave this summer. Ultimately, the club do need to raise some funds.

The likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Shea Charles are expected to draw Premier League interest, and Saints will negotiate if the prices are right.

But Saints also have not ruled out stars staying, such as Caspar Jander or Leo Scienza. The market and what offers that come in will determine that.

Spors will pursue direct replacements for any regular players that leave, with Solak authorising a budget to replace them and remain on the front foot.

"We'll see how the summer goes," he said. "I do have to raise a significant amount of money, but that's only part of my plan of revitalisation of future finances.

"I have told the players that if you are a Premier League player and were denied that because we were thrown out of the final, I agree it's devastating.

"But at the end of the day, if you really, truly have this quality, I'm pretty sure I'll have some calls from Premier League clubs, and we'll discuss.

"We are willing to be very realistic given the contract that we have, or the time they spent with us, and the place where they are in their career.

"But it also has to be the right business for the club, and then we look for a replacement. And don't get me wrong. We have prepared for this.

"For every guy we thought might have an offer, we have five to six guys already lined up that we are monitoring, because it's also very important.

"When we replace our players, we need to get guys with the right mentality. The fact we were so united as a team and loved playing together was huge."

[Saint_clark]

10 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I agree he is, but it's a short career and he's nearing the end of it. He won't turn down the opportunity to win trophies and play in europe.

As well as this having read the above, it sounds like we left it so late to trigger his extension because we were only going to do that if we stayed down...so not sure he'll feel like he owes us too much if we were planning on letting him go upon promotion.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Excellent interview, amazing what a difference a week makes

[Ken Tone]

So we've really cocked up the Stewart extension. Not impressive.

[Gary R76]

3 minutes ago, Ken Tone said:

So we've really cocked up the Stewart extension. Not impressive.

Shock horror a player is not signing a extension , give it time its a game of negotiation 

[bugenhagen]

30 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

As well as this having read the above, it sounds like we left it so late to trigger his extension because we were only going to do that if we stayed down...so not sure he'll feel like he owes us too much if we were planning on letting him go upon promotion.

You really are looking at every little bit of info concerning this through a glass half empty, aren't you?

I guess you really want him to stay, and maybe that is the reason you think like this?

I think it's 50/50 if he signs or not. We don't know how he really feels, and in the end it is now his descision. 

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, bugenhagen said:

You really are looking at every little bit of info concerning this through a glass half empty, aren't you?

I guess you really want him to stay, and maybe that is the reason you think like this?

I think it's 50/50 if he signs or not. We don't know how he really feels, and in the end it is now his descision. 

given his injury record, and without knowing what terms Saints offered, it is a risky move by him.

[bugenhagen]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

given his injury record, and without knowing what terms Saints offered, it is a risky move by him.

Yeah, I would guess his agents (because they are all greedy, evil bastards 😉) are telling him to wait untill after the World Cup, as a good WC would give them more options and better grounds for negotiating. Or, he could end up injured, and without a contract.

Massive gamble