Saint J 77

100% agree. One of the reasons the Scottish Premier League is so dull for me is because of the lack of teams in its league. I have always felt if they increased the amount of teams in their top flight it would make the Scottish Premiership much more interesting and the smaller teams would have more to play for. If the Premier League go a head with this it will damage the brand not enhance it. I hope all those who have a say in this vote against it and the right decision is made for football not the money men.

This is depressing. I’m praying DeGrosa does not get anywhere near our club. If it is true that he has bid to takeover, I can well imagine the the premier league will agree it to it. I had hoped when Adam Blackmore said this wasn’t true that would be the last we heard about this chancer.

"Hopefully not De Grosa" I was really hoping it was not him either as his credentials don't sound great for our long term future. https://www.spreaker.com/user/12250300/man-utd-ask-for-dembele The above link, if correct, confirms it is his bid that is being considered by the premier league so that is very depressing.

The question is would she care enough to block a move that was bad for the clubs long term future? She didn't seem to mind selling to Gao. What would be different this time?

From one bad owner to asset strippers. I really hope there is someone else interested otherwise this is rather depressing.

Is there even a little bit of hope that there might be some real interest from a genuine buyer? https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/52745/does-ld-sports-pulling-out-suggest-takeover-imminent-at-st-marys After reading the above I was hopeful the sponsor being pulled was the beginning of the end for all the Chinese involvement with the club. If we are still stuck with Gao beyond this season I fear it won't be long until the club has to start selling everything that isn't nailed down.

Glad we have finally got the sponsor sorted out but it is a shame it is a betting company. I guess they are just a stop gap for this season. So now we have managed to get rid of the dodgy Chinese sponsor,. How long do we reckon it will be before we get rid of the dodgy Chinese owner?

Obviously there is something going on with the LD sponsor. Just a guess but maybe the Player Awards still shows the LD sponsor as they paid up to the end of last season and the Awards come under last season. I wonder if the style of the monochrome graphic was done on purpose as it does somewhat mute the impact of the logo. If we are no longer working with LD Sports then maybe we will get more tweets as above. Perhaps all promotional images gearing up for this season might well end up being side on and back pictures of the shirts until we have sorted out a new sponsor or just removed the old one completely. With only 2 weeks left until the start of new season I would have hoped we might of heard something official on this by now. Perhaps the club don't want to say anything until they have a replacement sponsor in place?

It is understood the LD Sports decision has been influenced by the political situation between China and the UK, plus investment concerns due to ongoing uncertainties due to COVID-19. This must surely stoke the fire of the club being up for sell rumours too. I do hope this means Gao will sell up soon. Obviously hope we can get a decent sponsor but a new decent owner would be even better.

I can actually see that happening.

Despite some of the Bournemouth fans desperately wanting a rivalry I still don't dislike them. They were just another Premier League team to me. Obviously that 3-1 result against us back in September meant a lot to them. It is funny how things have worked out since that night. We looked doomed and they looked ok. But it is Bournemouth that end up going down on the last game of the season despite ending the season with another 3-1 away win. They were essentially condemned to relegation because they lost to us last week, instead of getting that last minute point. We finish 11th thanks to Bournemouth beating Everton allowing us to finish above the Toffees, gaining more Premier League prize money for a higher place finish. We also finish with a -9 goal difference, the exact same amount of goals as that result we all wish never happen but probably forced the changes that needed to happen which ended up making our season. Its a funny old game 😊

I seem to remember there was talk of American interest around the time of Gao taking over. I wonder if this is the same people/person? At the end of the day, provided the potential new owner is more like Markus Liebherr and less like Gao, I just hope they get it done fast. I know that would be very unlikely under normal circumstances, so with everything going on right now its even less likely to get it done quickly. As with the current world situation, despite things looking grim, I live in hope for a positive outcome.

If he takes too long accepting a bid we could well be a Championship team or worse still back in League One before finding a buyer. By then the club will be worth even less than what he thinks it is worth right now. Then it will be even harder to sell if he refuses to budge on his price. This could drag on for ages and end very badly unless there really are some seriously interested buyers already waiting in the wings right now.

I wish they would. I'd rather them then Gao!

Unfortunately the only way I can see Southampton FC moving forward again is under new ownership. I don’t see that happening in the near future because the Chinese Ownership, Chairman Gao, the Chinese government or whoever really owns Southampton football club, will not sell us on the cheap. We are locked into a deal with a very suspect Chinese sponsorship deal for 3 years so I guess we are stuck with Gao until then. The only way we will ever move forward is allowing this seemingly inevitable downward spiral run its course. Probably ending up with us falling down the leagues again. Our value will inevitably decrease and then maybe someone who actually cares might have enough money to buy us and try to get us back up the leagues again. My real concern is that Gao might not even sell no matter how far we fall and we end up out of business. When Saints were taken over by Markus Liebherr we really did hit the jackpot of decent owners. Our rise from the ashes was helped by stability behind the scenes. It spurred the players on to great performances because they could clearly see the club was going in the right direction. When we were taken over by Gao we really lucked out. It’s sad to see all the good work undone but it’s obvious the running of the club is now effecting the team, they probably see better than anyone that the club is heading in the wrong direction again and will take something drastic to stop the rot now.

Does anyone know why Alex McCarthy has fallen so far out of favour? He only signed a new contract last summer. Has he had a falling out with Ralf?

Ever since the Gao takeover I have been worried about the future of the club. Looking at the current Aston Villa situation has me thinking it won't be long before we are in a similar position. It's probably only the Premiership money keeping us as a business up and running right now. There seems to be big issues with getting money out of China for all these Chinese billionaires. With that in mind, I don't foresee any major signings for Southampton this summer transfer window or beyond it. I hope I am wrong but nothing about the Gao takeover sits right with me and unless he gets bored and sells up this season I can only see a very bumpy ride ahead. Now the sheer euphoria of retaining our Premier League status has faded, the focus is now firmly back on the reality of our dodgy owner and our badly run club.

That's very optimistic, I've got a feeling this will be dragged out over summer.

Palace are on a high and we seem to be incapable of scoring goals without Gabbiadini in the team. I can only see us losing right now but hope I am pleasantly surprised.

History repeating itself, I really hope he goes, just to wipe the smile off some of those cocky spurs fans

It is a competition we are running with the club. Sorry the link isn't working, I cut and paste it from the website. If you still want to enter try http://www.hildon.com/saints/ that should work.

My work are currently running a competition to win 2 tickets to the Saints vs Crystal Palace game, plus a £50 voucher to spend in the Southampton Megastore. There are also 2 runner up prizes that include family tour tickets of the stadium. If anyone is interested you can enter here http://www.hildon.com/offers-rewards/southampton-football-club/2016

I wonder why Sadio looked so hacked off at the end of the match? You would think he be happy enough to crack a smile.

I used to have this on VHS, I've always loved the music at the start with that cheering on repeat I am surprised the club haven't made an official updated History of Southampton to sell on DVD. A lot of history has been made since that video was released.

Ok we aren't going to ever catch them anytime in the near future. But last season for some time we were above them and I'd say wining at old Trafford might have annoyed then some what. They and others from the big 6 just want to ensure we can't compete when it comes to playing them.