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Saints pre-season 2019


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https://southamptonfc.com/news/2019-05-03/southampton-football-club-pre-season-2019-austria-ireland-macau

 

Southampton Football Club will visit Austria and Ireland for pre-season training camps this summer, while a Saints XI will also play a game in Macau, in preparation for the 2019/20 Premier League campaign.

 

The pair of intensive, week-long trips will take place in July and will form key pillars in the work conducted by Ralph Hasenhüttl and his staff ahead of the new season.

 

After beginning their pre-season programme at Staplewood Campus, Saints will head to Austria for a week, basing themselves in the Montafon region, on the western edge of the country.

 

The club, which visited the same destination in 2017, will finish off the camp with a friendly match against Austrian Bundesliga side SCR Altach, at the Cashpoint Arena, in Altach, on July 14th, with kick-off at 3pm local time (2pm UK time).

 

The squad will then return to Staplewood Campus for another week, before making a short visit to Macau, from Sunday 21st July until Wednesday 24th July, where a Southampton XI will take on Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F on Tuesday 23rd July at the Estádio Campo Desportivo with an 8pm kick off local time (1pm UK time).

 

The remainder of the first-team squad will simultaneously head to Dublin for a training camp between Monday 22nd July and Friday 26th July, before finishing their preparations ahead of the Premier League campaign beginning on the weekend of Saturday 10th August.

 

Details of further pre-season games will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.

 

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So, new sponsor for next season based in Macau then...?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Macau

Edited by trousers
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Imagine the 'Southampton XI' in Macau will be the U23s seeing as the Dublin trip directly overlaps it.

 

Odd timing otherwise.

 

Imagine that trip aside RH has been given free reign to plan pre season which is great.

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Imagine the 'Southampton XI' in Macau will be the U23s seeing as the Dublin trip directly overlaps it.

 

Odd timing otherwise.

 

My guess would be some kind of commercial obligation with new sponsors? The OS article states that the players going to Ireland wil be "the remainder of the first-team squad", thus implying that the team going to Macau is also a first team line up. That said, there is a fair amount of overlap between our U23 squad and the first team squad so maybe a mixture of the two. I can't imagine Hasenhuttl being overly happy with breaking up the squad during pre-season though...

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My guess would be some kind of commercial obligation with new sponsors? The OS article states that the players going to Ireland wil be "the remainder of the first-team squad", thus implying that the team going to Macau is also a first team line up. That said, there is a fair amount of overlap between our U23 squad and the first team squad so maybe a mixture of the two. I can't imagine Hasenhuttl being overly happy with breaking up the squad during pre-season though...

 

Paddy Power as new sponsors then

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Didn't the some of the money Mr Gao pulled out of his hat to buy the 80% come from a loan in Macau chicaned via Hong Kong?

:?

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Imagine the 'Southampton XI' in Macau will be the U23s seeing as the Dublin trip directly overlaps it.

 

Odd timing otherwise.

 

Imagine that trip aside RH has been given free reign to plan pre season which is great.

 

I remember Adam Leitch on TSP saying that from people he had spoken to about the Chinese trip last season, it was largely seen as taking us backwards.

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Certainly some tough talking from Ralph about shaking up the whole structure during the summer - "everyone must work 24/7 a week" - does mean that some of the coaches and other back room staff are under threat? Without being unfairly rude to the guy, seems unlikely Kelvin could work 24/7 for one day let along week-in, week-out?

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I remember Adam Leitch on TSP saying that from people he had spoken to about the Chinese trip last season, it was largely seen as taking us backwards.
Remember the same. Sounded like an absolute fiasco.

 

Thats why I doubt all the first team will trek over for this pointless game.

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Logistically the organisation looks odd to me. Austria makes sense for a fitness camp and a game, quick trip to Macau for a game makes no sense other than a sponsorship obligation especially when it overlaps with a separate short trip to Dublin.

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https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/southampton-to-play-on-home-side-in-match-against-guangzhou-rf.html

 

The announcement of the Sports Bureau (ID) on May 3 that the teams of Southampton Football Club and Guangzhou R&F Football Club would meet for a match in Macau in July this year as part of the celebrations of the 20th Anniversary of the handover, left several unanswered questions. The most recurrent question was why these two teams, one from the British Premier League and another from the Chinese Super League, had been chosen to play one another.

 

The ID said in reply to the Times that one consideration behind the decision was the fact that “the owner of the Southampton FC is from Macau,” which in the words of the governmental department, “makes the choice more meaningful.” It is also the first time that such team will play in the region.

 

The bureau also stated that it took account of “the submitted proposal in terms of the selection of the teams, event schedule and the conditions involved.”

 

80% of Southampton FC has been jointly owned by Gao Jisheng and his daughter Nelly Gao since August 2017, when the entrepreneur and executive vice president of the Macao Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs acquired the large majority of shares in the British club. Gao is the ninth Chinese entrepreneur to acquire a European football club since Tony Xia, CEO, and owner of Recon Group, bought the Aston Villa Football Club (also British) in June 2016.

 

Gao, who attended the ID press conference that announced the match, is also the chairman and director of “Lander Sports Development Company Ltd,” a company that he founded in 1995. He is the majority stakeholder of the company, with an approximate 53% of shareholding in the company.

 

The match will take place at Taipa Stadium on July 23 with the kick-off scheduled for 8 p.m. In addition to this, the British team will participate in a joint training session with the Macau national team and young local players, the president of ID, Pun Weng Kun, announced during the press conference. Pun stated, “this will be an opportunity for the local team and local youth players to learn more and raise their skill level.”

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It would be good. MK Dons scheduled a game at quite short notice when they were over here a few years ago. Be interested to hear where Saints are staying. There's a few possible locations with training facilities attached.

 

Carton House just outside Dublin is used by Ireland rugby team and has been used as a pre season base by Newcastle and Ipswich in recent years

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