whelk Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/16230126.KRUEGER_PART_TWO__What_exactly_does_Gao_have_planned_/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 On setting up a minor league team: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/16230056.Gao_plans_overseas_investment/?ref=mr&lp=4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/16230126.KRUEGER_PART_TWO__What_exactly_does_Gao_have_planned_/ Well, that's a whole lot of nothing. Still know nothing of the Gao's real intentions, and investment in the club. That is very worrying. Shurlock, are Chinese investors generally quite private people (ie. Don't see the need to justify actions as its their money etc)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Saints Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Krueger bores the **** out of me and I only hear from him every six months. Feel for the staff that work with him everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSAINT Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Ralph has forgotten about the 5 pledges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
for_heaven's_Saint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Load of sh*t. Talks more about China than the team and keeps reiterating this ‘small club’ thing. Plus we will only be spending money from player sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 "Katharina never had to answer those questions" What an oily c**t.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 (edited) Well, that's a whole lot of nothing. Still know nothing of the Gao's real intentions, and investment in the club. That is very worrying. Shurlock, are Chinese investors generally quite private people (ie. Don't see the need to justify actions as its their money etc)? Don't know. They are pretty pragmatic in their business dealings, especially when it comes to how they behave and are viewed overseas. At least early doors. They won't be indifferent to the fact that owning a football club isn't business as usual. Suspect the real issue with Gao is his age and the fact he's not particularly well-travelled. Looking at his blog, I didn't get the impression of someone who's intensely private. Suspect we'd see a very different side to him if went out to China for preseason. Edited 17 May, 2018 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 (edited) This 2nd part is a disaster. He reiterates we are a small club. Infers we should be grateful Gao takes no money out and therefor is "investing". So where has the post-Carillo VVD-sale money gone (50m) ? He uses the "privacy" issue to avoid the questions about the plans and why Gao bought the club. I dont read anywhere tha Gao is interested in the success of our team Edited 17 May, 2018 by alpine_saint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 We are ****ed! These spanners simply don't have a clue. The first team performance is almost irrelevant to these Muppets. It's just business n profits Net spend winners for the 7th time...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevy777_x Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Don't know. They are pretty pragmatic in their business dealings, especially when it comes to how they behave and are viewed overseas. At least early doors. They won't be indifferent to the fact that owning a football club isn't business as usual. Suspect the real issue with Gao is his age and the fact he's not particularly well-travelled. Looking at his blog, I didn't get the impression of someone who's intensely private. Suspect we'll see a very different side to him if go out to China for preseason. There are some concrete ideas in there about developping our players, chinese sponsorship and developping our training as well as using our knowledge to develop football in china. What is wrong with that? It s all part of the long term aim of getting extra revenue being sustainable and developping our infrastructures and on top of that all player sales will be reinvested. You lot are difficult to please and you have to look at the big long term picture... I for one am surprised they have been looking at all of this and encourage at the ways they are looking at developping our club. Its not all about a suger daddy putting in money to buy players without sustainability, we are going about it the right way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Les Reed planning on attending this fan forum, whenever it takes place... That could be interesting, he has a lot of questions to answer. I’d like Ross Wilson there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Is the only budget for signing players, from what we sell? Surely not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 This 2nd part is a disaster. He reiterates we are a small club. Infers we should be grateful Gao takes no money out and therefor is "investing" He uses the "privacy" issue to avoid the questions about the plans and why Gao bought the club. I dont read anywhere tha Gao is interested in the success of our team I think if you want to support a team which is successful you need to support a top six team but it does not mean they will be successful all the time so you have to take the rough with the smooth. Yes I agree with you Gao does not appear to be fixated at the moment on League position but just that SFC is a PL team but this may change if football grows in China but I doubt it. I have supported Saints for almost sixty years when we were in the Old Div 3 and realise that we are never going to be really successful but I except that because we have no outstanding players like I have seen in the past as top players want top money want Euro action Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alehouseboys Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 So we've gone from being in the 'top 20 of football's Global Brands', 'conquering the US' and 'Champions League ready' to a 'small club'. They're dumbing us down. Blackmore really should press him on the lauded yet elusive '5 Pledges' and also get Ralph to clarify what he means by a 'small club'. In comparison to Man Utd, City, Chelsea? Or like Hartlepool, Walsall or plucky little p*mpey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Les Reed planning on attending this fan forum, whenever it takes place... That could be interesting, he has a lot of questions to answer. I’d like Ross Wilson there too. Do you really think it is easy recruiting players because I don't and I don't think it is a good idea to keep players who want to leave in order to earn more money and footballing medals. We have a well organised scouting system throughout Europe so we should know and probably do the ability of most players. But that does not mean that those identified want to come to SFC or that we can meet their wage demands especially as other clubs want their services too. Most of our signings seem to be pretty good footballers as they are usually internationals but it does not mean they will settle in the UK and adapt to the PL and produce consistent performances. The recent window I agree was not that good but I believe Walcott was going to sign his contract was agreed but he went to Everton for more money and Promes could not leave his club. So what do you think the club should do in order to make you happier in getting new players in without paying silly prices and silly wages which would upset current players probably Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Chalet Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Of all the things the club have done, appointing this wannabe management consultant Ice Hockey Bellend has to be the the stupidest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Is the only budget for signing players, from what we sell? Surely not. Bit of a worry seeing as I doubt we could give a lot of the current squad away let alone get decent money for them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 (edited) I think if you want to support a team which is successful you need to support a top six team but it does not mean they will be successful all the time so you have to take the rough with the smooth. Yes I agree with you Gao does not appear to be fixated at the moment on League position but just that SFC is a PL team but this may change if football grows in China but I doubt it. I have supported Saints for almost sixty years when we were in the Old Div 3 and realise that we are never going to be really successful but I except that because we have no outstanding players like I have seen in the past as top players want top money want Euro action Southampton as a club isn’t going to grow in China. We’ve got more chance of qualifying for the CL than growing a real fanbase out there. Man City have had real trouble growing their fanbase in China despite winning the league and attracting Chinese investment. The popular get more popular - local culture and history have no place in the expansion of soccerball. Edited 17 May, 2018 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Kerplunk Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Confirmed to me that zero money will be coming in from the new ownership for football matters here at Southampton FC. Every bit of football and stadium/training ground investment will need to come from player trading and increased revenue. Essentially, the Gao family have bought into football credibility and history for use in Chinese projects that will use football as part of investment projects (the government is still favourable to football and wants the country to have sport cities across the country) and the owners also have staff here at Southampton - the more commercial directors - who can use the political power of being a regional football club to lobby on their behalf for construction projects (housing) in England, especially Southampton. This last. It is probably pretty minor compared to the potential income in China. Nothing terribly scary but certainly not with a primary objective of taking the football club to the next level, whatever that actually is anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Do you really think it is easy recruiting players because I don't and I don't think it is a good idea to keep players who want to leave in order to earn more money and footballing medals. We have a well organised scouting system throughout Europe so we should know and probably do the ability of most players. But that does not mean that those identified want to come to SFC or that we can meet their wage demands especially as other clubs want their services too. Most of our signings seem to be pretty good footballers as they are usually internationals but it does not mean they will settle in the UK and adapt to the PL and produce consistent performances. The recent window I agree was not that good but I believe Walcott was going to sign his contract was agreed but he went to Everton for more money and Promes could not leave his club. So what do you think the club should do in order to make you happier in getting new players in without paying silly prices and silly wages which would upset current players probably Nobody, and certainly not me, has ever said that recruiting players was, or ever has been, easy. One failed transfer window, fine, mistakes happen. But the fact of the matter is that it isn't just one transfer window, it's over the last couple of years, and clearly something in the process has gone wrong. Therefore, the people responsable should be held accountable. Get it wrong this summer and we won't be so lucky in avoiding relegation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 There are some concrete ideas in there about developping our players, chinese sponsorship and developping our training as well as using our knowledge to develop football in china. What is wrong with that? It s all part of the long term aim of getting extra revenue being sustainable and developping our infrastructures and on top of that all player sales will be reinvested. You lot are difficult to please and you have to look at the big long term picture... I for one am surprised they have been looking at all of this and encourage at the ways they are looking at developping our club. Its not all about a suger daddy putting in money to buy players without sustainability, we are going about it the right way... Are we a PL club in our own right with our own demography and fan-base to entertain and fullfil the ambitions thereof ? Or are we now some "pump-priming" insitution to help build football in China ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farawaysaint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Interesting that he specifically mentioned real estate. I suspect that this is much closer to Gao's true intentions and good old Ralph is being a bit evasive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusic Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Gao still has a hell of a lot to prove but at least he hasn't shown any signs of overly interfering at this stage, which is usually the worst element of this profile of Owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Confirmed to me that zero money will be coming in from the new ownership for football matters here at Southampton FC. Every bit of football and stadium/training ground investment will need to come from player trading and increased revenue. It'll be interesting, then, to see how the negotiations with Hughes go. He walked away from Fulham when Fayed cut the transfer budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Before Markus took over, did anyone really believe we were a big club in waiting? We were blessed for a while under the Liebherr stewardship, we stormed through the divisions, sampled cup final victory in the JPT, went into Europe (which we completely ballsed up), but after ML's death, it was always going to change. We have new owners with new ideas, we are back to being what we always were, a small fish in a big pond, a David competing very well at times against the Goliaths. I don't mind the club being run in a sustainable fashion, we all saw what happened with the mob down the road. All I really want as a small club, is our identity back, decent players who are proud to wear the shirt, and a brand of entertaining football that gets the fans hearts racing again. We aren't a big club so I am not sure why fans are taking umbrage about RK calling us what we are. As long as the club is run well as a business behind the scenes, and we have a manager with resources to build a solid side capable of beating the best of the rest and challenging the big 6, I am on board. Football is about character, not spending £36m on a player! Concentrate on what we used to be good at, finding a true bargain a la Mane, and give the fans something to shout about! For what it's worth, I am proud of who we are, it makes the victories against the big boys much sweeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpin4rizeal Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Really can't stand this guy, don't see any ambition in him since he's been here, seems his only reason for being here is to try deflect questions and feed us utter BS. Compare him with cortese is like night and day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Really can't stand this guy, don't see any ambition in him since he's been here, seems his only reason for being here is to try deflect questions and feed us utter BS. Compare him with cortese is like night and day Easy to have ambition when you spending someone else's money though. KL put a lid on NC frittering her money away and that was the beginning of the end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Marco Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 So basically the same **** we have heard from him over the past 2 years and still not answering any questions. Especially about Gao. Maybe it is just me but I found it really infuriating when asked about Gao's plans he went off on one about him having a right to a private life. Everyone has a right to a private life, we don't want to know what cereals he eat for breakfast or what time he normally takes a ****. We want to know his business plans for the club. He mentions he is a successful business man countless times but yet can't answer any actual business questions. All I took from these interviews was once again RK dodging questions by giving out planned PR answers that hold zero substance. We are no closer to knowing what our owners true plans are. All we learnt is that RK and LR are accountable only to themselves and are free to continue to make whatever mistakes they wish without any consequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tajjuk Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Doesn't really say a lot, though he is right, Gao owes us nothing really if he wants to keep his reasons for buying private that is his business. Good to see there is some more investment going on round the stadium, hopefully there are some plans to develop the land around it and make the area more than just a indenti-kit stadium plonked into an area of a city like it is now. The feeder/link club is interesting, also the choice of country is interesting in Austria/Switzerland, quite a few talents have come through those leagues recently like Naby Keita, Mane, Shaqiri etc. Obviously they feel stepping up from the youth teams through to first team in the PL is harder than it's even been, which we have seen with a lot of our recent academy graduates. Question is whether this model works, Chelsea have it with Vitesse, they have sent a lot of players there but not sure any have broken through to their first team yet, though Chelsea might have made some cash from selling these players on. We also could have this odd thing where our feeder club gets into Europe whilst we don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Pete Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Is the only budget for signing players, from what we sell? Surely not.This was the most concerning bit for me and something he should have been challenged more about in the interview. With all of the income that we get from TV, it seems extraordinary if Ralph is saying none of that is available for strengthening the team and all the budget for "investment" needs to come from player sales! Even more extraordinary that Ralph thinks we should be happy about that! If this really is the case, it backs up the worries that Gao is banking the TV cash to pay back what he has paid to Kat for the club surely? Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harriesss Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Before Markus took over, did anyone really believe we were a big club in waiting? We were blessed for a while under the Liebherr stewardship, we stormed through the divisions, sampled cup final victory in the JPT, went into Europe (which we completely ballsed up), but after ML's death, it was always going to change. We have new owners with new ideas, we are back to being what we always were, a small fish in a big pond, a David competing very well at times against the Goliaths. I don't mind the club being run in a sustainable fashion, we all saw what happened with the mob down the road. All I really want as a small club, is our identity back, decent players who are proud to wear the shirt, and a brand of entertaining football that gets the fans hearts racing again. We aren't a big club so I am not sure why fans are taking umbrage about RK calling us what we are. As long as the club is run well as a business behind the scenes, and we have a manager with resources to build a solid side capable of beating the best of the rest and challenging the big 6, I am on board. Football is about character, not spending £36m on a player! Concentrate on what we used to be good at, finding a true bargain a la Mane, and give the fans something to shout about! For what it's worth, I am proud of who we are, it makes the victories against the big boys much sweeter. It’s been over two years since we beat one of the so called ‘big boys’ so yeah really sweet. Plus £36 million is about the going rate for a Salzburg Mane these days or will be in a couple of years. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 It’s been over two years since we beat one of the so called ‘big boys’ so yeah really sweet. Plus £36 million is about the going rate for a Salzburg Mane these days or will be in a couple of years. There are still deals to be had and the last two years were more to do with conservative managers which was Les's fault! Under Hughes, I can see the odd big team result going our way next year Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk There are still deals to be had and the last two years were more to do with conservative managers which was Les's fault! Under Hughes, I can see the odd big team result going our way next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 Well, that's a whole lot of nothing. Still know nothing of the Gao's real intentions, and investment in the club. That is very worrying. Shurlock, are Chinese investors generally quite private people (ie. Don't see the need to justify actions as its their money etc)? I think it is quite telling actually. Basically, he wants us to keep ticking over so he can grow his profile in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurosaint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 As a long term Saints fan I am extremely disappointed that our current club custodians cannot even be bothered to make an appearance nor outline their intentions! Instead this responsibility is delegated to someone who specialises in ‘fancy words & flowery phrases’ but never actually says anything of any value ! It is acknowledged that we (the fans) helped drag the club out of deep trouble in the last few weeks so I would have expected more in terms of inclusion but instead am left with a feeling that we are being treated with contempt !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 (edited) Confirmed to me that zero money will be coming in from the new ownership for football matters here at Southampton FC. Every bit of football and stadium/training ground investment will need to come from player trading and increased revenue. .............. That's almost right but not quite. Anyone who hasn't understood what Kruger is saying should check up on FIFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which are not that complicated. Clubs can't run at a loss and owners can't inject their own money into buying players and paying their wages. Over a rolling 3-year period, and subject to allowing a tiny loss, expenditure on the team has to be met out of revenue. That isn't just player sales but all revenue, which obviously includes gate money, TV rights, advertising, etc., but and most importantly, commercial income. If income and expenditure doesn't balance, FIFA has sanctions it can use. Money spent on stadiums, training facilities, youth development or community projects is exempt, so owners can develop the club in that way. Saints' fans know better than most that spending beyond the club's means leads to bankruptcy. We've been there, so have Portsmouth and a good few others. Because Financial Fair play doesn't allow an owner to bail a club out anymore, the only way now to increase what can be spent on the team is to increase the income. It's no accident that the top six clubs are the ones who's shirts, scarves, books etc., are widely on sale because those clubs have national and even international, followers. What Kruger was saying indicates that Katherina and the board identified China as a huge, largely untapped, market, where commercial income could be earned to grow the club. As fans, its a project that we should get behind, instead of criticising, because it's in our interests if we want to see our club able to compete at the highest level. Until we have the income that allows us to spend more on the team, when we do find a player who is of the highest quality, he'll be lured away by one of the wealthy clubs that has the revenue to double his wages. That's where the club is now, trying to get the best players it can afford but as fans we know that the best of the best won't stay long. The investment project through the Goa family gives the club a chance of breaking that pattern. Edited 17 May, 2018 by Professor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Depressed of Shirley Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 I wouldn't get too hung up on the "small club" thing. It is am American term for clubs in small markets, i.e Oakland v New York. It doesnt mean we cant compete on the pitch, but we cant compete financially. For me the concern is there is nothing in this interview that makes me confident for anything other than 10th at best. I have no idea what Gao wants or expects, and I think Ralph is being evasive because he doesn't know either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Billy Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 (edited) Why the hell would China be interested in little old Southampton. Depressing reading overall, Gao not investing in players, club will have to be self sustainable, oh dear, considering we have spent millions on garbage recently thats not going very well is it. Minor improvements to stadium, the small club comment repeated again, Reed allowed to continue and oh oh oh Goa has an affinity with the club because he once had a holiday in the New Forest. No wonder its taking longer than expected to get Hughes over the line. Edited 17 May, 2018 by Saint Billy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 More waffle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingeletiss Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 As a long term Saints fan I am extremely disappointed that our current club custodians cannot even be bothered to make an appearance nor outline their intentions! Instead this responsibility is delegated to someone who specialises in ‘fancy words & flowery phrases’ but never actually says anything of any value ! It is acknowledged that we (the fans) helped drag the club out of deep trouble in the last few weeks so I would have expected more in terms of inclusion but instead am left with a feeling that we are being treated with contempt !! Even though he went to the Man City game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevy777_x Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 As a long term Saints fan I am extremely disappointed that our current club custodians cannot even be bothered to make an appearance nor outline their intentions! Instead this responsibility is delegated to someone who specialises in ‘fancy words & flowery phrases’ but never actually says anything of any value ! It is acknowledged that we (the fans) helped drag the club out of deep trouble in the last few weeks so I would have expected more in terms of inclusion but instead am left with a feeling that we are being treated with contempt !! Marcus never did any interviews and delegated that responsibility to Cortese. Gao and Kat do the same with Ralph. Don't see how different this is. Plus when Ralph says we are a small club in the PL, it just means we can't compete financially with big boys so to generate revenue we have to do things differently and expand to other markets, nothing wrong with that. Gao ownership and links in China gives us an opportunity to build something in China and increase our image and profile. Its a win win situation. Fans often are shortsighed and never think long term. Typical example are the reactions on here, plus don't forget that there are fair play rules, you can 't have someone just plunge money into player trading, our revenue needs to increase in order be able to do that so investing in other areas of the club so generate this extra revenue makes perfect sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bit of a plonker Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 That's almost right but not quite. Anyone who hasn't understood what Kruger is saying should check up on FIFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which are not that complicated. Clubs can't run at a loss and owners can't inject their own money into buying players and paying their wages. Over a rolling 3-year period, and subject to allowing a tiny loss, expenditure on the team has to be met out of revenue. That isn't just player sales but all revenue, which obviously includes gate money, TV rights, advertising, etc., but and most importantly, commercial income. If income and expenditure doesn't balance, FIFA has sanctions it can use. Money spent on stadiums, training facilities, youth development or community projects is exempt, so owners can develop the club in that way. Saints' fans know better than most that spending beyond the club's means leads to bankruptcy. We've been there, so have Portsmouth and a good few others. Because Financial Fair play doesn't allow an owner to bail a club out anymore, the only way now to increase what can be spent on the team is to increase the income. It's no accident that the top six clubs are the ones who's shirts, scarves, books etc., are widely on sale because those clubs have national and even international, followers. What Kruger was saying indicates that Katherina and the board identified China as a huge, largely untapped, market, where commercial income could be earned to grow the club. As fans, its a project that we should get behind, instead of criticising, because it's in our interests if we want to see our club able to compete at the highest level. Until we have the income that allows us to spend more on the team, when we do find a player who is of the highest quality, he'll be lured away by one of the wealthy clubs that has the revenue to double his wages. That's where the club is now, trying to get the best players it can afford but as fans we know that the best of the best won't stay long. The investment project through the Goa family gives the club a chance of breaking that pattern. I would assume that is the same plan that the owners of West Brom and Aston Villa have as well. Not sure it is working out particularly wonderfully well for them. Not sure why we, or they, should expect it to work for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 We have a well organised scouting system throughout Europe so we should know and probably do the ability of most players. But that does not mean that those identified want to come to SFC or that we can meet their wage demands especially as other clubs want their services too. I notice we have quite a number of under-18s signing: Klarer, Kornelius Hansen, Enzo Robise, Simon Kozak (sorry about the absence of diacritics!), so let's hope we can replicate the success of Schneiderlin. In the meantime I just remain thankful that so far the owner doesn't seem to intervene too much: could be worse with someone like the Venky's. Dildo Brothers, Moshiri and the like. High profile owners at below the top level don't have a good reputation - actually, I wouldn't want a dodgy Russian magnate either.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayrivers Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 That's almost right but not quite. Anyone who hasn't understood what Kruger is saying should check up on FIFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which are not that complicated. Clubs can't run at a loss and owners can't inject their own money into buying players and paying their wages. Over a rolling 3-year period, and subject to allowing a tiny loss, expenditure on the team has to be met out of revenue. That isn't just player sales but all revenue, which obviously includes gate money, TV rights, advertising, etc., but and most importantly, commercial income. If income and expenditure doesn't balance, FIFA has sanctions it can use. Money spent on stadiums, training facilities, youth development or community projects is exempt, so owners can develop the club in that way. Saints' fans know better than most that spending beyond the club's means leads to bankruptcy. We've been there, so have Portsmouth and a good few others. Because Financial Fair play doesn't allow an owner to bail a club out anymore, the only way now to increase what can be spent on the team is to increase the income. It's no accident that the top six clubs are the ones who's shirts, scarves, books etc., are widely on sale because those clubs have national and even international, followers. What Kruger was saying indicates that Katherina and the board identified China as a huge, largely untapped, market, where commercial income could be earned to grow the club. As fans, its a project that we should get behind, instead of criticising, because it's in our interests if we want to see our club able to compete at the highest level. Until we have the income that allows us to spend more on the team, when we do find a player who is of the highest quality, he'll be lured away by one of the wealthy clubs that has the revenue to double his wages. That's where the club is now, trying to get the best players it can afford but as fans we know that the best of the best won't stay long. The investment project through the Goa family gives the club a chance of breaking that pattern. Well written, and this sums it up for me. Doesn't matter who owns us, money can't be pumped into Clubs these days like a few years ago. I'm happy with the club being ran in a sustainable fashion. That's not to say mistakes haven't been made, and the board have a huge summer ahead of them to right those wrongs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsland Codger Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 The timeline RK uses when discussing the sacking of MoPe and the hiring of Hughes is puzzling. RK saw the abyss deep into January. After the Newcastle game (10 March) a list was one through and Hughes was the clear candidate. Hughes was appointed on 15 March. Why the wait from the end of January? Hughes was released by Stoke on 6 January. No doubt he took a holiday but this is a 6 week gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Saint Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 I made my decision mid season not to renew and nothing has convinced me to change my mind. It is just not the crap football over the last two seasons, although they gave a great fight and showed superb commitment late on, but the whole football experience. Listening to our Chairman interviews the last few days does not convince me anything will change soon. The club rightly panicked in February when they thought they were going down and dropped a lot of investment/profile projects. That takes time to get going again. We were told the sell to the Chinese owners was because Kat could not give us the investment we needed. Nor will the new owner in the short term. He has bought our brand to expand in China. If he is unsuccessful we will bounce along on the bottom of the investment chart. If successful that will take time, effort and money. He has already borrowed to buy the club. That needs servicing along with the cost of setting up China connections/infrastructure. So, nothing has changed. We march on the spot with the occasional backward step should be the new mantra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimatt Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 I don't see how we're going to compete with the big 6 and even Wolves in China. IMO the club are doing an opposite pareto. Putting 80% of their focus in Merchandise/Sponsors/Partnerships which only gives about 20% of our revenue. The real money is made in finishing high up the table (more prizemoney & more TV matches), qualifying for Europe (more matches), getting deep in cups (more matches), and selling those quality players that helped you win so much. 80% of the focus should be on our First Team. Success on the field flows through to more merchandise sales, higher gate receipts, bigger sponsorship deals and higher value of our players. In short, our board are fools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 I made my decision mid season not to renew and nothing has convinced me to change my mind. It is just not the crap football over the last two seasons, although they gave a great fight and showed superb commitment late on, but the whole football experience. Listening to our Chairman interviews the last few days does not convince me anything will change soon. The club rightly panicked in February when they thought they were going down and dropped a lot of investment/profile projects. That takes time to get going again. We were told the sell to the Chinese owners was because Kat could not give us the investment we needed. Nor will the new owner in the short term. He has bought our brand to expand in China. If he is unsuccessful we will bounce along on the bottom of the investment chart. If successful that will take time, effort and money. He has already borrowed to buy the club. That needs servicing along with the cost of setting up China connections/infrastructure. So, nothing has changed. We march on the spot with the occasional backward step should be the new mantra Agree with that Ron, but looking back through the years, we never had much investment, we were a small family club! If Hughes is kept on and keeps the spirit levels high, maybe two in two out, would you settle for entertaining football next year? We seem to have been spoilt by ML era and want something out of our reach now! When Chelsea and Arsenal cant get CL football, what hope do we have? Still think this team with a couple of additions can finish top half and have a decent cup run! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGalpin Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 As much as Krueger is rightly getting criticised for a lot of management talk, I do feel a bit of sympathy towards him. Yes he should answer questions, it is his job and yes it is most likely a well paid one at that, but it's time to hear from Reed and it's certainly time to hear from Gao. If you're the only one who answers the questions and getting slaughtered for it, whilst others remainly deafly silent, then it must be pretty frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 17 May, 2018 Share Posted 17 May, 2018 As much as Krueger is rightly getting criticised for a lot of management talk, I do feel a bit of sympathy towards him. Yes he should answer questions, it is his job and yes it is most likely a well paid one at that, but it's time to hear from Reed and it's certainly time to hear from Gao. If you're the only one who answers the questions and getting slaughtered for it, whilst others remainly deafly silent, then it must be pretty frustrating. I don't feel sympathy towards anyone's job when they are paid a 3 figure salary for the hardship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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