Ralph Kreuger Interview

[Guan 2.0]

I think it's clear he will be here unless we really do go on an epic loss of runs to leave us stuck in the relegation zone with a gap to get out. Will be interesting to see how the club reacts if we do lose the next few though because I think it's close to mass protests.

 

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, that is a bad situation.

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, only to spout a load of meaningless waffle and blame everything on VVD, that is a terrible situation.

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, only to spout a load of meaningless waffle and blame everything on VVD, says it's all good and we are a tiny club pluckily punching above our weight (but below the giants of Burnley, Leicester, Everton, Watford, Huddersfield, Brighton, Newcastle, Bournemouth), xcliams Puel did a great job and last season was great, but doesn't say why we sacked puel, ignoring the fact that we are much worse now, and finally, that the manager isn't responsible for mismanaging the team, that is a untenable situation.

 

I've seen lesser men recruited to replace successful individuals at every level of the club over the past 2 years, while those who have lingered have grown complacent. Use the VVD funds to pay for a round of layoffs, unless the fans are happy with club figures flying in every 3 months to tell us all the sh*t sandwiches they're trying to force feed us taste like strawberry. Win or lose tonight, they need to go.

 

***** Maurico, ***** Ralph, and ***** anyone at the club who enables them and their 'Found our level' mentality.

[Turkish]

I want a chairman I can believe in. One who shows that all important quality of AMBITION. one who tells me how great he is all the time. one who PROMISES Champions league football and a spending BONANZA. one who asks "think not if we can win the premier league, but how" One who tells me what I want to hear and then quits at the first sign of trouble. That is what I want.

[St Marco]

I don't think even poor old Ralph understands what he is saying. So much waffle and hypocrisy its crazy. So the reason we are doing bad is because a player wanted out and that created a negative atmosphere? So when previous players wanted out (and there are a lot of them) they were not disruptive?

Secondly he mentions the small club thing a lot and in some regards he is right. In comparison to Man Utd, Arsenal and co we are a small club. Even though Reed said the plan was to get into the CL etc.

However in comparison to the rest of the league we are not a small club. We have one of the most expensive squads out there. In terms of TV money other than Europe's elite teams we can blow other clubs out of the water in terms of transfers. But regardless of being a big or small club that doesn't actually justify the results and the decisions that have been made. You cant say we are a small club therefore the manager and board have done alright.

Burnley are a small club and they are doing fantastic because they are being run well. From the board all the way down to the players.

We are where we are because from the board all the way down to the players they have been gash this season. Nothing to do with being a small club....

[simo]

After reading that I now hope we lose tonight and the fans go ****8ng mental at the end , boos, season tickets thrown on the pitch directors box getting grief the works . He's such a patronising cut!

[Snopper]

Stanley Unwin lives!!

[SKD]

After reading that I now hope we lose tonight and the fans go ****8ng mental at the end , boos, season tickets thrown on the pitch directors box getting grief the works . He's such a patronising cut!

 

 

I want someone to run on a slap their ST round the managers chops.

[Heisenberg]

 

I want someone to run on a slap their ST round the managers chops.

 

Then give that guy Reed a wedgie

[Chez]

I am not sure I agree with all of your post.

 

Secondly this interview clearly shows us that the VVD situation was a failed experiment that we tried to keep a player who was unhappy at the club to appease the fans. This was a huge failure, and time and time again it never works as much as you want it to...

The `experiment' worked with Wanyama and Morgan, although I agree that keeping unhappy players is folly.

 

then the board can look at either expanding St Mary's or building a new stadium which will improve our long-term revenue. I believe there's a huge amount of money that is being saved for this at some point.

Not sure the club accounts shows a huge pot of cash sat in the bank to pay for a new stadium. In fact there was a sizeable debt until the change of owner (and who knows whether a new debt will be created). Almost everything we bring in is spent on players and rising wages.

 

More worryingly what hasn't been mentioned in his interview is what of the Academy and the U23 teams, the fact that the current crop of our first XI are underperforming should pave the way for youngsters being given a chance here and there, if they perform well we can sell them for inflated fees - but this hasn't happened.

JWP, Stevens, Target and McQueen are all being given first team games. You have to remember talent such as Shaw and Chambers was removed from that equation too, so youth is being given a chance.

 

This season we should have had Gallagher back from his loan

Have you seen him much at Brum? He still has a lot to learn and despite my serious misgivings about Cotterill's handling of him, especially playing him out wide, another season in the championship wont harm him in the long term.

 

Valery should have been tried at right back, Josh Sims should be given a run out when he's fit and Hesketh can do better than JWP/Davis with a run of games, what about Alfie Jones and some of the other so-called prospects - the reason Bale/Shaw did so well is because we tried them and didn't let them rot in our U23 system.

Selecting youth for the sake of it won't improve results. Players must be picked on merit. Bale and Shaw were the best players at the club in their positions at 17 so were picked. The others you mention are not.

 

What is disappointing is that the long-term future of the so-called Southampton Way doesn't seem to be there anymore, and our journeymen players who are very average (if not poor) Premiership players aren't being replaced by homegrown talent.

The homegrown talent hasn't been good enough. That is something that needs attention, but finding top class players every year is never going to happen.

[Wes Tender]

I believe that we do actually have a squad of players that ought to be capable of getting us to just outside of the top six clubs in the PL. If we are not anywhere near that, whose fault is it? Is it down to some bad vibes brought about by the V-VD situation, or is it the fault of the manager?

 

If the football we are playing is turgid at the moment, is that the fault of the players or the manager? When we are scoring less than a goal a match, whose fault is that? Should we have bought in better strikers in the summer, should we have started Austin earlier, why has Gabbiadini become so ineffective, why can't we for once play two strikers together? Whose fault is that lot?

 

And if our chairman calls us a small club, how are we going to convince players that this is a good club to come to? Oh, silly question, they can come here, play well for a couple of years and then go to Liverpool.

 

It is really appropriate that we are playing Crystal Palace tonight. They were a team seemingly cut loose at the bottom of the table, almost certainly doomed to relegation. Now with a manager who knows his stuff, they will overtake us if they beat us tonight and we will be swapping places with them soon as the club falling though the floor. And in the process, they are playing entertaining, attacking football, something that we used to do.

[Pamplemousse]

Krueger is completely wrong. We’ve finished top 8 four seasons in a row, that’s not the accomplishments of a small team merely punching above their weight.

 

When we sacked Puel after finishing 8th and reaching a cup final, it was my understanding that we were therefore aiming higher for this season.

 

Krueger’s interview is very worrying IMO. I’m not reassured at all.

[Pamplemousse]

After reading that I now hope we lose tonight and the fans go ****8ng mental at the end , boos, season tickets thrown on the pitch directors box getting grief the works . He's such a patronising cut!

 

Don’t forget your white hankies

[James]

Krueger is completely wrong. We’ve finished top 8 four seasons in a row, that’s not the accomplishments of a small team merely punching above their weight.

 

When we sacked Puel after finishing 8th and reaching a cup final, it was my understanding that we were therefore aiming higher for this season.

 

Krueger’s interview is very worrying IMO. I’m not reassured at all.

 

I don't understand why he thinks that no blame can be attached to a manager who took over a side that had finished 8th last year (although MP mentions the gap between 8th and 17th being small in almost every interview, to basically equate our current position with last year) which is, on paper, better in certain areas than it was last year (Gabbiadini, Hoedt and Lemina although minus VVD). If Puel was sacked for what he achieved last year then it is completely unfathomable that Pellegrino is under no pressure despite leading us into a relegation battle.

 

I guess we just have to hope that we somehow survive by the skin of our teeth this season and then undergo drastic change in the summer.

[hypochondriac]

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, that is a bad situation.

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, only to spout a load of meaningless waffle and blame everything on VVD, that is a terrible situation.

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, only to spout a load of meaningless waffle and blame everything on VVD, says it's all good and we are a tiny club pluckily punching above our weight (but below the giants of Burnley, Leicester, Everton, Watford, Huddersfield, Brighton, Newcastle, Bournemouth), xcliams Puel did a great job and last season was great, but doesn't say why we sacked puel, ignoring the fact that we are much worse now, and finally, that the manager isn't responsible for mismanaging the team, that is a untenable situation.

 

I've seen lesser men recruited to replace successful individuals at every level of the club over the past 2 years, while those who have lingered have grown complacent. Use the VVD funds to pay for a round of layoffs, unless the fans are happy with club figures flying in every 3 months to tell us all the sh*t sandwiches they're trying to force feed us taste like strawberry. Win or lose tonight, they need to go.

 

***** Maurico, ***** Ralph, and ***** anyone at the club who enables them and their 'Found our level' mentality.

Thabks for this Guan. Incredibly worrying post but I appreciate the info and I learnt more from it than anything that Ralph just spouted. Not sure what we can do? Any suggestions?

[Lord Duckhunter]

After reading that I now hope we lose tonight and the fans go ****8ng mental at the end , boos, season tickets thrown on the pitch directors box getting grief the works . He's such a patronising cut!

 

**** me, you hope we lose . Are you for real?

 

Everything that's wrong with our support summed up there. " I hope we lose". ****ing hell

 

 

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[hypochondriac]

**** me, you hope we lose . Are you for real?

 

Everything that's wrong with our support summed up there. " I hope we lose". ****ing hell

 

 

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I'm guessing his point was that he would rather we lost one game which would hopefully spark some response in the club eventually that would mean we are ultimately more successful. I want us to win but I understand why it is tempting at times to hope for short term failure which inspires a change of direction and ultimately success. Or is that too nuanced?

[Pamplemousse]

I don't understand why he thinks that no blame can be attached to a manager who took over a side that had finished 8th last year (although MP mentions the gap between 8th and 17th being small in almost every interview, to basically equate our current position with last year) which is, on paper, better in certain areas than it was last year (Gabbiadini, Hoedt and Lemina although minus VVD). If Puel was sacked for what he achieved last year then it is completely unfathomable that Pellegrino is under no pressure despite leading us into a relegation battle.

 

I guess we just have to hope that we somehow survive by the skin of our teeth this season and then undergo drastic change in the summer.

 

They’re clearly aware that the fans aren’t happy at all. So I really can’t see how they go forward with Pellegrino unless results significantly improve, starting tonight. A couple of plucky draws here and there isn’t enough.

[Lord Duckhunter]

I hope we win tonight and win next week and the week after, in fact I hope we win every fi king game we play. Sorry if that's un nuanced. Actually I hope we score 2 worldies in the last 5 mins and the fickle twts who **** off at 85 mins miss them

 

 

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[Nordic Saint]

I feel a bit sorry for Ralph and have some respect for him. He is the one who comes out and takes the flak when things go wrong while Old Les emerges to grab any limelight, photo ops and video interviews he can get when things go right but goes into hiding when anything goes wrong.

[Dalek2003]

As I have said many times. If we can keep our premier status, keep the cash coming n=in, make a profit...job done!

 

Same as it ever was...

[Give it to Ron]

I hope we win tonight and win next week and the week after, in fact I hope we win every fi king game we play. Sorry if that's un nuanced. Actually I hope we score 2 worldies in the last 5 mins and the fickle twts who **** off at 85 mins miss them

 

 

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+1

 

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[Nordic Saint]

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, that is a bad situation.

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, only to spout a load of meaningless waffle and blame everything on VVD, that is a terrible situation.

 

If we have to wait weeks until Ralph Kreuger deems it time to return to the country, while we freefall into bottom of the form table and 2 points/places off the relegation places, only to spout a load of meaningless waffle and blame everything on VVD, says it's all good and we are a tiny club pluckily punching above our weight (but below the giants of Burnley, Leicester, Everton, Watford, Huddersfield, Brighton, Newcastle, Bournemouth), xcliams Puel did a great job and last season was great, but doesn't say why we sacked puel, ignoring the fact that we are much worse now, and finally, that the manager isn't responsible for mismanaging the team, that is a untenable situation.

 

I've seen lesser men recruited to replace successful individuals at every level of the club over the past 2 years, while those who have lingered have grown complacent. Use the VVD funds to pay for a round of layoffs, unless the fans are happy with club figures flying in every 3 months to tell us all the sh*t sandwiches they're trying to force feed us taste like strawberry. Win or lose tonight, they need to go.

 

***** Maurico, ***** Ralph, and ***** anyone at the club who enables them and their 'Found our level' mentality.

 

I think the poor reruitment is more the responsibility of Old Les and Ross Wilson.

[Micky]

Listening to it makes it even worse. Uninspiring load of rubbish when it comes to the most important thing at a football business: the football.

I fell asleep after about 4 minutes. Having scanned this thread I won't bother to revisit it any time soon.

 

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[Dusic]

Not really sure how Ralph Krueger has found himself as the Chairman of a PL football team.

 

Not sure how he is qualified for the role, or has the relevant experience.

 

He isn't a shrewd businessman, has no experience of managing (or even being heavily involved in) a multi million pound business, has no football experience, no wealth to personally put in...what does he add as an employee?

 

The Chairman should calm, motivate, st a vision and lead - he doesn't outwardly appear to do any of that.

[Winnersaint]

Nice to see we’re all as happy and optimistic in 2018 as we were in 2017.

[Heisenberg]

Just listened to the audio.

 

Sounds like a man fighting for him job. The audio was more scripted towards the owners rather than fans.

 

Was a message to say don't judge me over the last 18 months judge me over the last few years.

 

Another guy desperately trying to take credit for Cortese's reign.

 

Time is running out for this hockey chump and his amateur pals.

[saints-til-i-die]

Why do we have the 6th highest season ticket prices in the league? Would have thought they’d be cheaper for small clubs.

[Donatello]

Solid interview from Blackmore.

 

Solid contradictions by Krueger. I particularly 'liked' the Mauricio isn't an excuse kinda guy (commendable) so hasn't rolled out the VVD excuse, but excuse me whilst I do

 

Slightly concerning that we evidently place a chunk of emphasis on 'we like the manager's personality' as a metric for determining his performance/long term suitability :S

Edited 2 January, 2018 by Donatello

[Plumstead_Saint]

Why do we have the 6th highest season ticket prices in the league? Would have thought they’d be cheaper for small clubs.

Because it's what the market will bear, and Southampton is an affluent part of the country?

Look at our history. then look at our trophy cabinet.

We are a small club.

[Chez]

Why do we have the 6th highest season ticket prices in the league? Would have thought they’d be cheaper for small clubs.

 

what a very good point.

[simo]

**** me, you hope we lose . Are you for real?

 

Everything that's wrong with our support summed up there. " I hope we lose". ****ing hell

 

 

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I'll tell you whats wrong with our support , It's the same as this forum and society as a whole ! People would rather moan about other people voicing their opinions and stick their head in the sand than actually do something to deal with problems head on and get things done weather that means upsetting snowflakes or not

[LGTL]

State of that interview stupid tit should learn to keep his mouth shut.

 

Not sure he could be more patronising.

[scotty]

Because it's what the market will bear, and Southampton is an affluent part of the country?

Look at our history. then look at our trophy cabinet.

We are a small club.

 

Exactly.

 

But at least we're in the south. We get charged more for a reason

[hypochondriac]

I hope we win tonight and win next week and the week after, in fact I hope we win every fi king game we play. Sorry if that's un nuanced. Actually I hope we score 2 worldies in the last 5 mins and the fickle twts who **** off at 85 mins miss them

 

 

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But if the chances of winning next week abd the week after are improved by a change of direction inspired by a loss this week then I can see why there would be a temptation to view a loss as a potentially positive thing.

[Dark Munster]

Why do we have the 6th highest season ticket prices in the league? Would have thought they’d be cheaper for small clubs.

Good question!

[Dark Munster]

I hope we win tonight and win next week and the week after, in fact I hope we win every fi king game we play. Sorry if that's un nuanced. Actually I hope we score 2 worldies in the last 5 mins and the fickle twts who **** off at 85 mins miss them

Agreed, me too. But if we are to lose tonight I hope it's bad enough to get the clown sacked and replaced with a manager who knows what he's doing. A hit on GD would be worth it if it results in someone competent taking over.

[richardc]

Blaming everything on VVD and saying the experiment didnt work is just setting us up to sell our crown jewels in the future - luckily we dont have too many of those at the moment

[Toon Saint]

Fair play to Blackmore for giving Wreck-it a decent grilling - he pushed about as far as he could without getting blacklisted by the club. Ralph was clearly uncomfortable and tetchy towards the end.

 

So we should be happy for a fantastic season last year despite the club's decision to

sack Puel and 2017 admittedly not being a very good year for us? And we shouldn't blame any one person despite the blame conveniently being foisted onto the recently departed VvD?

 

I get that the situation hasn't helped Pellegrino but Koeman continued to be able to effectively manage the team with Schneiderlin, Mané and Wanyama all wanting out. So did Puel with Fonte.

 

Krueger talks of the excellent training sessions put on by Pellegrino, but the fans have seen no tangible evidence of that (only regression) and i'm not convinced he'd have any clue or first-hand knowledge anyway.

 

All the empty soundbites about a no excuses culture but it sounds like the board are doing exactly the opposite - making excuses for their own mistakes and poorly constructed excuses at that.

 

 

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[lordswoodsaints]

So VVD is responsible for rotating the team, playing crap formations and giving the players instructions not to press?

I guess when you are a small club any moody foreigner who spits the dummy rules the roost ?

[Donatello]

To pick up on what others have said, he described last season as "fabulous", so how does that marry with sacking Puel? Bit of an oxymoron, no? :S He did such a good job (*in Krueger's mind*) that we sacked him for it

[stknowle]

Regarding comments about Pellegrino, there's very little meat on the bones of why exactly the club are so confident that he will turn things around. What is it about how he is coaching and selecting the team that makes Ralph so happy to back him?

 

It reads like "everything is down to the Van Dijk situation, and hopefully it will all pan out alright from now on".

 

I think making Van Dijk stay and his reaction to that have obviously been a challenge for MP to deal with that he could have done without, but I think WAY too much emphasis is being given to that as an excuse for how the team have performed to date this season.

 

Haven't listened/read but if that really is the main thrust of what he said then it is more than just a little bit worrying. In fact it's ****ing depressing.

[Manuel]

Lay all your sins on VVD and cast him to the wilderness (The North).

[aintforever]

Well if VVD was the problem then we should win tonight.

[saint1977]

Fair play to Blackmore for giving Wreck-it a decent grilling - he pushed about as far as he could without getting blacklisted by the club. Ralph was clearly uncomfortable and tetchy towards the end.

 

So we should be happy for a fantastic season last year despite the club's decision to

sack Puel and 2017 admittedly not being a very good year for us? And we shouldn't blame any one person despite the blame conveniently being foisted onto the recently departed VvD?

 

I get that the situation hasn't helped Pellegrino but Koeman continued to be able to effectively manage the team with Schneiderlin, Mané and Wanyama all wanting out. So did Puel with Fonte.

 

Krueger talks of the excellent training sessions put on by Pellegrino, but the fans have seen no tangible evidence of that (only regression) and i'm not convinced he'd have any clue or first-hand knowledge anyway.

 

All the empty soundbites about a no excuses culture but it sounds like the board are doing exactly the opposite - making excuses for their own mistakes and poorly constructed excuses at that.

 

 

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Good post and agree with Guan’s as well. Pathetic interview to give before such a huge game and if he thinks that will take the pressure off MP Ralph and Les have another coming. Can’t stand VVD but he can’t be blamed for a 2 year slump. In any decent business top people should always be under scrutiny when a decline is so sharp.

 

Board are sounding as arrogant and out of touch with reality as the Branfoot era. Slumping gates did even for Guy Askham’s fingers in the ears resistance, even when the club struggled to find a short sponsor in the mid 90s, which is why Dimplex stepped in at the last minute to help the club. Shocking for a top flight club but can see some alarming parallels. Needs some drive on that board.

[Saint Benali]

Oh dear oh dear.... Is this the same guy who said

 

'“Mauricio Pellegrino has done an amazing job of dealing with this situation. It has not disrupted our team, It is not in any way caused a lack of focus in training, in the locker room, and of course everybody will open their arms when Virgil comes back"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-chairman-ralph-krueger-insists-10998617

[Matthew Le God]

Oh dear oh dear.... Is this the same guy who said

 

'“Mauricio Pellegrino has done an amazing job of dealing with this situation. It has not disrupted our team, It is not in any way caused a lack of focus in training, in the locker room, and of course everybody will open their arms when Virgil comes back"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-chairman-ralph-krueger-insists-10998617

 

That article is from mid August, are you aware things can change between August and January?

[Saint Benali]

That article is from mid August, are you aware things can change between August and January?

 

Of course. But our slide has been going on longer than August right? He is saying that the vvd created a negative atmosphere at the club. But yet it was fine only a few months ago? Sounds like playing the easy excuse card to me.

[aintforever]

Of course. But our slide has been going on longer than August right? He is saying that the vvd created a negative atmosphere at the club. But yet it was fine only a few months ago? Sounds like playing the easy excuse card to me.

 

Or he was just trying to be positive back in August?

[St Marco]

Or he was just trying to be positive back in August?

 

Or just talking ******** as normal?

[Saint in Paradise]

Sounds to me that he was saying:-

 

The manager won't be sacked soon

We are continuing to pull the wool over the new owners eyes about the teams poor performances by blaming everything on VVD.

We would rather grasp at straws using VVD than admit that the Board, manager and his present coaching staff haven't a clue.

We are a small club so that fans can't expect any real money being spent on obviously needed replacement players.

When we get relegated it will not be because of anything we have failed to do.

I love this job so much I don't want to be sacked so will say anything to help me stay longer even though I am not as good as I say I am.

[Yorkshire Saint]

I have always valued your contribution to this website. You, K.Billy and AR-10 are probably the only reason I come on here to read snippets of ITK information. Your recent posts with regards twitter and this message today disappoint me as they seem bitter ... can I ask why the tone of your messages seem to have changed so much as I say, I have always valued the contribution you have made.