CSA96

This year is 100 years since Hummel’s foundation I believe (?) so I think they’re giving a load of old favourites a reboot for their clients as part of that.

Was wondering the same. But perhaps if the speculation about Sportsbet no longer being the sponsor after relegation are true, there’s a chance JD Sports move to front of shirt? We’re not allowed sleeve sponsors in the Championship (due to EFL and SkyBet sleeve patches) so I wonder if JD would go with a red circle logo with their letters in white to shift to the front of the shirt?

Well, if he's going to Ligue 1 at least it's a club like Nice. They're owned by Jim Ratcliffe, so could/should be able to spend on a reasonable fee.

Sport Republic now completing the purchase of Valenciennes: Sport Republic, owner of Southampton, now finalize the acquisition of Valenciennes after months and months of negotiation. One of the conditions was maintaining in Ligue 2.

I'm pretty sure David Sullivan said on talksport that they will be going for more than one player to replace Rice in midfield, given the size of the fee. Telegraph reporting that they're targeting JWP and Edson Alvarez as the replacements, with JWP as #1 summer target. Also mentioned Harvey Barnes as a target.

Rule changes announced.

Confirmation that the league AGM was today.

Sorry, I have to put it

Playing against Benfica on July 12 at St George’s Park, while they’re training up there. On their official website already.

They know what a habit is though, so they're halfway there.

He’ll fit well with the new Spurs boss.

Leicester's released and retained list is out: https://www.lcfc.com/news/3529945 Youri Tielemans, Çağlar Söyüncü, Daniel Amartey, Nampalys Mendy, Ryan Bertrand, Ayoze Pérez and Tetê will all bring their spells at King Power Stadium to an end. The Club remains in discussions with captain Jonny Evans with regard to his future beyond the expiration of his current deal this month, while an option has been exercised to extend the contract of midfielder Hamza Choudhury to June 2024.

I'm more encouraged by that than not, tbh. Especially after Ankersen's comment that we've brought in some talented players who we intend to keep. I'm assuming that Alcaraz is one of those, given he singled him out as having been a success.

Potter to Celtic make some sense? Keeps his stock relatively up and in a good position for a middle to upper PL job (Rodgers to Leicester, Ange to Spurs) in time?

Latest: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/russell-martins-move-southampton-taking-27055920

Good luck to him now his info is out there publicly...

That’s got Nathan Jones rescue job before Christmas written all over it. https://twitter.com/cardiffcityfc/status/1664987895260672002

Nice to hear him stressing the importance of dressing room standards and making sure people respect the culture that the group wants to build. Also his bit on being transparent and honest with staff and making sure people are bought in to what's going on so that they're happier and more invested at work. Sounds like we could do with a bit of that after the past year.

The EFL Highlights show. Presented by Hugh Woozencroft (not the best, but not irritating) with a standard range of EFL pundits. Dean Ashton, Jobi McAnuff, Jamie Mackie, Matt Jarvis, Clinton Morrison etc. Airs earlier than MOTD at 9pm on ITV4, then shows again just after 11pm on ITV1. Then it's on again on ITV1 about 9am on a Sunday. They also upload it to ITV on demand once the Sat 9pm showing has completed. (Slightly ashamed that I know this because I started watching it with five or six weeks of our season to go, to prepare myself)

Part 3 - which focuses on transfer strategy - is now live: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23560359.southampton-owners-reflect-january-recruitment-outline-plans/ Key quotes... Dragan Solak: “We also changed the game model [after the January window shut] unfortunately, we did the January window and then changed the manager. “Suddenly the new manager came in with new ideas and those players were basically brought in like a week ago. Hopefully, we will not have this situation again.” Rasmus Ankersen: “January is always very tough, it is tough from a financial perspective. Nobody wants to lose their best players in January, players need to hit the ground running – it’s tough when there is no pre-season, so there is always a risk on recruitment. “I think a couple of the players like (Charly) Alcaraz and to an extent Sulemana have done well, but there have clearly been some mis-hits where the players haven’t had an impact for one reason or another. "There will be some turnover because the squad is too big but there are some very talented football players in that group which we will be intending to keep. I think it’s more an exciting job for the manager and director of football, if I was the manager that looked into the dressing room, I wouldn’t be too worried.” “We are not going to go back in (the Premier League) and compete on money, we will invest, but that is why we are building the club network we are – to try and get the players into our system before they cost £30million. Time will tell whether that will be successful or not but I think there is some good evidence from other clubs that it is possible to do. “There is also a lot of talent there in our squad that can improve, hopefully we can get a good pre-season, play some exciting football, entertain fans and win football matches.” Henrik Kraft: “First of all, what we have said is that we are fully committed to the club and it is a long-term project. "There are other things that we are building with Sport Republic. This is to be able to create an infrastructure that actually gives us what we want long-term, bringing players through in a different way so we’re not fighting on the last day of the transfer window. “We believe that over two or three years we will move towards a much more sustainable business model. Obviously, we believe in the investments we have made and continue to make.”

Part 3 of the Sport Republic sit down with the Echo - focusing on transfers - is now up: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23560359.southampton-owners-reflect-january-recruitment-outline-plans/ Key quotes from Ankersen: “January is always very tough, it is tough from a financial perspective. Nobody wants to lose their best players in January, players need to hit the ground running – it’s tough when there is no pre-season, so there is always a risk on recruitment. “I think a couple of the players like Alcaraz and to an extent Sulemana have done well, but there have clearly been some mis-hits where the players haven’t had an impact for one reason or another. "There will be some turnover because the squad is too big but there are some very talented players in that group which we will be intending to keep. I think it’s more an exciting job for the manager and director of football, if I was the manager that looked into the dressing room, I wouldn’t be too worried.” “We are not going to go back in (the Premier League) and compete on money, we will invest, but that is why we are building the club network we are – to try and get the players into our system before they cost £30million. Time will tell whether that will be successful or not but I think there is some good evidence from other clubs that it is possible to do. “There is also a lot of talent there in our squad that can improve, hopefully we can get a good pre-season, play some exciting football, entertain fans and win football matches.”

Yeah - but: https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23558281.southampton-fc-owners-explain-key-incomings-amid-championship-target/

Part two of the interview is now out there: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23558281.southampton-fc-owners-explain-key-incomings-amid-championship-target/ Some of the key quotes... Rasmus Ankersen: “Jason [Wilcox] will have day-to-day contact with the head coach and we will be here more often. We will have a presence here but that is mainly to support everyone and show that Sport Republic is behind the club and wants everyone to be successful. “We want to support them but won’t be here executing day-to-day operations, that is their job. Jason will support the manager every day, be involved in key decisions and make sure we have that alignment. “We want to build a larger system of clubs and fuel player development through that so we have enough on our plate building that and that is our focus but, clearly, this is our flagship club, so we will give whatever attention it needs to be successful.” “You don’t want to sign a player the head coach doesn’t want. There is a lot of waste there, so that is one part,” Ankersen said. “But on the other hand, people from the outside sometimes forget that being the head coach is a hard job and they don’t have much time to watch players and that is why you have a big scouting team that doesn’t do anything else but find the right players. “The head coach is very important in identifying the type of player we want and the final process when we have three candidates, he can help choose which one he prefers. Jason will overlook this and it’s a collaborative effort. “You want to have multiple views on a player to make sure every stone is turned. It’s a big operation, modern football. There is a whole system that operates that.” Dragan Solak: “The new manager, the suggestion, the analysis and the reason why will come predominantly from Jason, not from us - because he is the director of football. “We hope to be consulted and to be involved in decision-making but we truly believe in the people we will give power to run the club and will do everything we can to support them and enable them to do better. “He [the new manager] is always capable of staking his desires [for transfer targets] but they have to be checked over and there has to be a discussion and a joint decision. “Nobody is going to just buy players and tell the coach, here is the team! He needs to like the players and know their role in the team. “We will not send him a bus load of players, it’s not one man’s decision but it is in the domain of Jason, the manager, their team and scouts and us on the transfer committee.” Henrik Kraft: “The goal is to win the Championship, the goal is very clear, the goal is to get promoted. “We are trying to shape the organisation to make sure it is fit for purpose and absolutely achieves that goal. I think we will have a lot more resources in reality than most of our competitors this season so we are in a very good position.”