Sport Republic

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

Better how? He was a nothing owner that didn't invest a single penny in the club. Sure SR have messed up lots of transfers, but we've still had £260m+ of spending over the last 2 PL seasons. At least SR are trying (even though it is failing).

So you think it's better to waste millions on poor players and managers and oversee a relegation than spend not a single penny (your words) and retain our position in the Premier League? Interesting take on fiscal prudence.

[coalman]

Of the three people at Sport Republic, or "the gang" as Martin described them I have a lot of sympathy for Dragan as he's continued writing cheques despite the incompetence of the people who are meant to be running his football empire. As an owner he's been everything you could want except maybe ruthless his leadership team but at the same time as least he hasn't gone full Boehly so he's given the manager, CEO and Mr Football a go of things without interfering.

[SouSaint]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Better how? He was a nothing owner that didn't invest a single penny in the club. Sure SR have messed up lots of transfers, but we've still had £260m+ of spending over the last 2 PL seasons. At least SR are trying (even though it is failing).

It's probably more dangerous to have an owner who is seemingly throwing money at crap than one who didn't invest tbh. It feels like it'll end with the club up the financial shit creek without a paddle. 

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Better how? He was a nothing owner that didn't invest a single penny in the club. Sure SR have messed up lots of transfers, but we've still had £260m+ of spending over the last 2 PL seasons. At least SR are trying (even though it is failing).

Agree with your first bit, but the second is being negated by having someone with no top leagues experience as Mr Football. Les Reed lost it at SFC 2016-19 after a very good 2009-16, but nobody could say he didn’t have many years at the sharp end in high level football as a DoF, with the FA and elsewhere. Ankerson has no practical experience, no idea and it’s becoming obvious that Phil Giles did any heavy lifting at Brentford in terms of football operations.

All of his transfer software isn’t building a cohesive squad allied to dreadful judgement in selecting managers. As S Clarke said yesterday that’s how we we’ve gone from pressing-direct ball-glacial 70% possession and no shots on target in just over 2 years. What a mess and it can’t help the very many players we have bought. 

All that leads to is a bloated squad, with lots of players on big contracts out in the cold, relegation and if you we don’t bounce back quickly, serious financial issues as the parachute payments thin out. That’s without considering how to actually make SFC vaguely competitive again in the PL because this year is a football and commercial disaster again with SR. Dragan needs to dissolve it and re-think it with top level football industry experience on board from the top leagues. See if he can attract a top ex-player who has gained some sporting Director experience in a top league who can re-set the course for all three clubs in the group.

There’s been plenty of fans from all 3 clubs on here very unhappy.

Edited 11 November, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[HarvSFC]

The Nottingham Forest football club group have been able to attract Edu from Arsenal to oversee their group of clubs. See who we go for, if we do look to bring someone in.

[CB Fry]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Better how? He was a nothing owner that didn't invest a single penny in the club. Sure SR have messed up lots of transfers, but we've still had £260m+ of spending over the last 2 PL seasons. At least SR are trying (even though it is failing).

Gao recruited one manager, Ralph, who is ten times better than anyone SR have recruited.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

7 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

The Nottingham Forest football club group have been able to attract Edu from Arsenal to oversee their group of clubs. See who we go for, if we do look to bring someone in.

We have our own Arsenal link. The return of Maitland-Niles! 🙂

[Badger]

10 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

Well, now we have confirmation of the unqualified incompetence running through this club, we are rapidly becoming an absolute basket case

Can’t make my mind up on Kraft and Rasmus. Shitesters, charlatans, or both ? 

[Badger]

51 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

The Nottingham Forest football club group have been able to attract Edu from Arsenal to oversee their group of clubs. See who we go for, if we do look to bring someone in.

Someone with Southampton links. Fred Scuttle. 

[Master Bates]

If we don't get a new top quality  keeper by tomorrow, they should be stripped of all powers and kicked in to touch........

[bugenhagen]

2 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

The Nottingham Forest football club group have been able to attract Edu from Arsenal to oversee their group of clubs. See who we go for, if we do look to bring someone in.

Just shows there is hope. They were a shit-show a few years back, and look at them now😉

[ally_uk]

Bunch of clowns at the helm

A rudderless ship without direction. 

[Dark Munster]

3 hours ago, Badger said:

Can’t make my mind up on Kraft and Rasmus. Shitesters, charlatans, or both ? 

Both. I'd call them the Danish Laurel and Hardy, but that would be insulting to Stan and Ollie.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

14 hours ago, coalman said:

Of the three people at Sport Republic, or "the gang" as Martin described them I have a lot of sympathy for Dragan as he's continued writing cheques despite the incompetence of the people who are meant to be running his football empire. As an owner he's been everything you could want except maybe ruthless his leadership team but at the same time as least he hasn't gone full Boehly so he's given the manager, CEO and Mr Football a go of things without interfering.

The problem is, as I understand it, the gang of three (Dragan, Ankersen, Kraft) are inextricably linked. So while there might be agreement that Ankersen has made a complete pig's ear of our club, I can't see Dragan getting rid of him without Dragan going himself. So, they need to be persuaded that this obsession with RM is totally wrong.

Problem is, I'm sure they've already made approaches to other managers and they've said no. So do we go for some unknown manager or stick with what we've got? I think we go for some unknown manager. It really has got that bad!

[Badger]

15 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

 

Problem is, I'm sure they've already made approaches to other managers and they've said no. So do we go for some unknown manager or stick with what we've got? I think we go for some unknown manager. It really has got that bad!

Even an unknown manager will likely insist on a 2.5 year contract (giving a bit of a cushion to the inevitable end of season departure). 

How many managers (and their back room staff) do we want to be paying off ? 

[coalman]

22 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

The problem is, as I understand it, the gang of three (Dragan, Ankersen, Kraft) are inextricably linked. So while there might be agreement that Ankersen has made a complete pig's ear of our club, I can't see Dragan getting rid of him without Dragan going himself. So, they need to be persuaded that this obsession with RM is totally wrong.

Problem is, I'm sure they've already made approaches to other managers and they've said no. So do we go for some unknown manager or stick with what we've got? I think we go for some unknown manager. It really has got that bad!

It's Dragan's money. He's the majority shareholder. If or when he loses patience I imagine he can replace them.

Agree that finding another manager is going to be a challenge. Both in terms of attracting them and also finding one that's competent with Mr Football in charge.

[pimpin4rizeal]

I’m more annoyed at sports republic then I am Martin at this stage. Absolutely shocking.  Every man and his dog can see it’s not gonna work under Martin yet they allow this madness to continue .. and with every game our chances of turning it around are getting worse .

some people credit them with spending money but I think even this is skewed they haven’t really raised the amounts we spend on a single player we are still spending around the 20 million max on a single player which we where close too about ten years ago they simply have just bought in bigger quantity. So I give them no credit here either 

[Dr. Kucho]

1 hour ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

The problem is, as I understand it, the gang of three (Dragan, Ankersen, Kraft) are inextricably linked. So while there might be agreement that Ankersen has made a complete pig's ear of our club, I can't see Dragan getting rid of him without Dragan going himself. So, they need to be persuaded that this obsession with RM is totally wrong.

Problem is, I'm sure they've already made approaches to other managers and they've said no. So do we go for some unknown manager or stick with what we've got? I think we go for some unknown manager. It really has got that bad!

I find it hard to believe that Dragan, the billionaire who funds this project, can’t get rid of Ankersen and Kraft. He must be a complete idiot if he hasn’t had the contract written in a way that he can get rid of the others if they make a mess of his investment.

Though the way things are going I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the case. 

[SambaMaverick]

What is it about us that attracts the nutters? Cortese, that Ralph Kruger and now this lot. 

[Matthew Le God]

20 hours ago, saintant said:

So you think it's better to waste millions on poor players and managers and oversee a relegation than spend not a single penny (your words) and retain our position in the Premier League? Interesting take on fiscal prudence.

I did not use those words. 

[Matthew Le God]

19 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Gao recruited one manager, Ralph, who is ten times better than anyone SR have recruited.

What makes you think Gao made the appointment? 

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

If they haven’t already, then it should be dawning on SR now that the supporters are turning as I got access as a member today for cup tickets and looks like ST holders have shunned this game. Thousands of unsold seats for a quarter final, I guess even the biggest die-hards can only take so much pointless possession and little attacking intent.

[FarehamSaintJames]

Brighton have axed most of their scouts according to the Telegraph today.

Go on Saints. Open your eyes.

[Disco Stu]

3 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Brighton have axed most of their scouts according to the Telegraph today.

Go on Saints. Open your eyes.

Huge gamble for them. "If it ain't broke" and all that.

[Toussaint]

18 hours ago, ally_uk said:

Bunch of clowns at the helm

A rudderless ship without direction. 

Not true, the course has been set to the degree, minute and second. Sneak preview below. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Brighton have axed most of their scouts according to the Telegraph today.

Go on Saints. Open your eyes.

Have they been replaced by a data driven model?

[tdmickey3]

 

omnishambles

a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.

 

Sums up the situation for this lot

[Morse]

The biggest question is not when or even if SR sack Martin, it's when Dragan Solak looses patience with Rasmus Ankerson and co. It's they who sold him the plan, and it's his money draining away. As a self made Billionaire I presume he has some awareness of mugs trying to fleece him. 

[Patrick Bateman]

18 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Brighton have axed most of their scouts according to the Telegraph today.

Go on Saints. Open your eyes.

Really?? Christ, snap them up Saints. Brighton's recruitment has been much better than a lot of other teams. 

[S-Clarke]

23 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

What makes you think Gao made the appointment? 

I think Ralph was a Semmens appointment. At the end of the day, Gao sat back and allowed Semmens and David Jones to effectively run the club and make all the decisions. He had nothing to do with us bar his name on the shareholders documents.

I thought Martin Semmens was decent for us up to a point, I thought he started to waiver once SR got their teeth into it a bit more - and I think as fans we did like to see the ownership get a bit more involved, but I don't think any of us appreciated how utterly hopeless and underpreped they'd be. I think if you look at the club prior to SR, we had David Jones, Martin Semmens, Ralph, Crocker, Brunnschweiler all at the top levels. They had no money, but they did have a plan and there were football people in the mix.

I always felt like we had a little more credence to what we were trying to do, it was just the lack of finances that were really holding us back at this point. 

You do have to question why so many people have done a runner since SR have come in. As a club we never replaced the Technical Director or Director of Football - they've just morphed it into the roles of 'business' people which is why it's simply not working. 

We can sack Martin and spend a shit ton of money again in January, but it makes no odds if the club structure isn't in place to make the right decisions.

[coalman]

4 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I think Ralph was a Semmens appointment. At the end of the day, Gao sat back and allowed Semmens and David Jones to effectively run the club and make all the decisions. He had nothing to do with us bar his name on the shareholders documents.

I thought Martin Semmens was decent for us up to a point, I thought he started to waiver once SR got their teeth into it a bit more - and I think as fans we did like to see the ownership get a bit more involved, but I don't think any of us appreciated how utterly hopeless and underpreped they'd be. I think if you look at the club prior to SR, we had David Jones, Martin Semmens, Ralph, Crocker, Brunnschweiler all at the top levels. They had no money, but they did have a plan and there were football people in the mix.

I always felt like we had a little more credence to what we were trying to do, it was just the lack of finances that were really holding us back at this point. 

You do have to question why so many people have done a runner since SR have come in. As a club we never replaced the Technical Director or Director of Football - they've just morphed it into the roles of 'business' people which is why it's simply not working. 

We can sack Martin and spend a shit ton of money again in January, but it makes no odds if the club structure isn't in place to make the right decisions.

Imagine what that group could have done with the money that Dragan has poured into the club.

[Osvaldorama]

- Recruitment: Terrible

- Manager appointments: Worse than terrible 

I do quite like the fan zone and the stadium improvements though, so there’s that. 
 

But all in all, these guys are fucking idiots 

[S-Clarke]

25 minutes ago, coalman said:

Imagine what that group could have done with the money that Dragan has poured into the club.

That's the frustration really, when SR came in I don't think the club was broken per-say - we had a pretty stable setup, just incredibly limited due to finances and Gao's lack of involvement. We're in a much worse state in terms of the local leadership nowadays.

We obviously followed the Rasmus ''If it's not broke, break it'' approach. Absolute charlatan.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

4 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

That's the frustration really, when SR came in I don't think the club was broken per-say - we had a pretty stable setup, just incredibly limited due to finances and Gao's lack of involvement. We're in a much worse state in terms of the local leadership nowadays.

We obviously followed the Rasmus ''If it's not broke, break it'' approach. Absolute charlatan.

So now what do SR do? Are you suggesting SR concentrate of the structure of the club and they invest in a new Director of Football & Technical Director and leave the manager in situ? Problem is, I can't see that happening and I reckon SR are just weighing up 3 options with Russ M:

1) Leave him in for the next few weeks and see how it goes and when we inevitably lose these games, get rid of RM.

2) Hold out for as long as possible and panic fire him around beginning of February.

3) Keep with him even when we're relegated.

THey'll probably completely arse this up too and settle with Option 2 😏

 

[FarehamSaintJames]

Copied from separate thread:

It isn’t difficult to scout players if you watch the right kind of football, and with that a decent amount of football.

Having watched since the age of ten (now 31) I’m pretty confident that I could pick out a player that is somewhat promising.

You can tell the flashes in the pan players to the ones with genuine talent, belief, urgency, determination etc. 

The amount of players my old man and I have watched over the years just by going to games that have gone on to better things is staggering.

Sport Republics model is based on a game of Football Manager. Have any of their scouting department been to a football match ever? Or do they just watch numbers flicker on a screen?

[Matthew Le God]

6 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

As a club we never replaced the Technical Director or Director of Football - they've just morphed it into the roles of 'business' people which is why it's simply not working. 

We do have a Director of football and it is not a 'business' person.

[Saint Fan CaM]

On 12/11/2024 at 15:16, FarehamSaintJames said:

Brighton have axed most of their scouts according to the Telegraph today.

Go on Saints. Open your eyes.

How do we know Brightons successes have been despite their (now) ex-scouts?

[Master Bates]

10 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

 

Copied from separate thread:

Sport Republics model is based on a game of Football Manager. Have any of their scouting department been to a football match ever? Or do they just watch numbers flicker on a screen?

In the transfer thread, scouts were at a couple of games last weekend.

[Challenger]

SR PLAN

In the beginning was the plan.

And the plan was without substance.

And darkness was upon the face of the workers.

And they spoke among themselves saying " It is a crock of shit and it stinketh".

And the workers went into their supervisors and said " it is a pail of dung and no one may abide the odour thereof"

And the supervisors went unto their managers saying " it is a container of excrement and it is very strong".

And the managers went unto their directors saying" it is a vessel of fertiliser and none may abide its strength ".

And the directors spoke amongst themselves saying" it contains that which will help growth and is very strong ".

And the directors went to the owner and said" this promotes growth and is very powerful".

And the owner looked upon the plan and said it was good.

The plan became policy.

This is how shit happens.

 

 

 

 

Edited 14 November, 2024 by Challenger

[Whitey Grandad]

4 hours ago, Challenger said:

SR PLAN

In the beginning was the plan.

And the plan was without substance.

And darkness was upon the face of the workers.

And they spoke among themselves saying " It is a crock of shit and it stinketh".

And the workers went into their supervisors and said " it is a pail of dung and no one may abide the odour thereof"

And the supervisors went unto their managers saying " it is a container of excrement and it is very strong".

And the managers went unto their directors saying" it is a vessel of fertiliser and none may abide its strength ".

And the directors spoke amongst themselves saying" it contains that which will help growth and is very strong ".

And the directors went to the owner and said" this promotes growth and is very powerful".

And the owner looked upon the plan and said it was good.

The plan became policy.

This is how shit happens.

 

 

 

 

And the team was without form and void.

[Badger]

6 hours ago, Challenger said:

SR PLAN

In the beginning was the plan.

And the plan was without substance.

And darkness was upon the face of the workers.

And they spoke among themselves saying " It is a crock of shit and it stinketh".

And the workers went into their supervisors and said " it is a pail of dung and no one may abide the odour thereof"

And the supervisors went unto their managers saying " it is a container of excrement and it is very strong".

And the managers went unto their directors saying" it is a vessel of fertiliser and none may abide its strength ".

And the directors spoke amongst themselves saying" it contains that which will help growth and is very strong ".

And the directors went to the owner and said" this promotes growth and is very powerful".

And the owner looked upon the plan and said it was good.

The plan became policy.

This is how shit happens.

 

 

 

 

You either forgot, and perhaps haven’t reached, the bit where Moses comes down from Mount Sinai carrying two tablets of stone containing the Five Pledges. 
 

( or comes down saying, “nah fuck it, they’re still not there…”) 

Edited 14 November, 2024 by Badger

[Wade Garrett]

Wonder what master plan the idiots have got in store for us to try and improve the fucking shite being served up week after week.

My bet, and I hope I’m wrong, is stick to the same fucking idiot manager and lose games every week in the same idiotic way.

Fucking genius.

[saint michael]

Would be interesting to see how much Saints would cost to buy now. I’m not sure that SR would be so badly affected even with all the shyte going on now. This might be why they are not reacting to it. They might just believe that buying young and developing over the longer term may well give them the best position. Cheap version of Chelsea approach. The unknown of course is the relationship between Martin and them and their belief in what he is doing. 
 

personally can’t stand watching us die this slow death after watching them for years. 
 

There has been little in the way of any hard feedback like lost gate revenue or crowd protesting or stuff that sky and the media would drive on. I really can’t see them outwardly caring at the moment. Certainly not letting anything leak on it. 

[Gloucester Saint]

37 minutes ago, saint michael said:

Would be interesting to see how much Saints would cost to buy now. I’m not sure that SR would be so badly affected even with all the shyte going on now. This might be why they are not reacting to it. They might just believe that buying young and developing over the longer term may well give them the best position. Cheap version of Chelsea approach. The unknown of course is the relationship between Martin and them and their belief in what he is doing. 
 

personally can’t stand watching us die this slow death after watching them for years. 
 

There has been little in the way of any hard feedback like lost gate revenue or crowd protesting or stuff that sky and the media would drive on. I really can’t see them outwardly caring at the moment. Certainly not letting anything leak on it. 

Not a bad analysis. They’ve still got the COVID repayments which might deter a buyer or reduce the asking price, but it’s still a lot of club for the money after Gao lost his shirt. 👕 

The protests are starting to bubble away after yesterday, unless there’s a huge change in methods, results and style from Martin that’s a certainty to escalate. Criticising or mocking the paying fans never works well (see Ian Branfoot and the Leeds and Oldham games) either and tends to add petrol to a rising temperature. And Dragan will not want the Belgrade Mirror or Telegraph with his political opponents rubbing his nose in it about SR and their flagship brand’s abject failures. Rasmus is on thin ice I reckon, not just Martin.

Rasmus might not be an employee as Russell is but Dragan holds the clout and could restructure SR to be rather less Danish than it is now. Remember, Lowe had Wiseman and others removed from the board when it suited him/felt challenged and Rupert had less financial and political clout than Dragan has in his region.

Edited 25 November, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[SaintNewForest]

4 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Wonder what master plan the idiots have got in store for us to try and improve the fucking shite being served up week after week.

My bet, and I hope I’m wrong, is stick to the same fucking idiot manager and lose games every week in the same idiotic way.

Fucking genius.

It's the last thing the opposition will expect, doing the same failed thing over and over again 

[saintant]

Has Dragan sacked the lot of them yet? I thought he was a successful businessman.

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Has Dragan sacked the lot of them yet? I thought he was a successful businessman.

It appears that he doesn’t give two shits about the club.

[bugenhagen]

12 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

It appears that he doesn’t give two shits about the club.

Nope, he just doesn't give two shits about what you think, or me, or this forum 😉

[Gloucester Saint]

18 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

It appears that he doesn’t give two shits about the club.

But he will about his pride and reputation, which won’t be good with his media rivals showing the PL highlights in Serbia and his outfit making the same weekly mistakes playing out from the back and rooted to the basement laughing at him.

I don’t imagine he’s too happy about that at all. If our fans and Valenciennes start protesting, he’ll be in an even worse mood. Given what he paid for SFC, I can’t imagine he’ll be pushing the panic button yet. However, I imagine Rasmus is having to bullshit and backpedal at speed under scrutiny, covering over his mess. 

The summer transfer activity wasn’t actually so bad it turns out but he’s retained a manager who is tactically the worst the club has ever had.

Edited 25 November, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[ally_uk]

Where is the pride and passion we are limpering back to the Championship it's embarrassing watching this shit football being served up. 

Listening to the egotistical incoherent scar tissue and being brave post match bollocks by Tambourine whacker Martin...... 

When is the penny actually going to drop for Dragan? Mass changed are needed!