Sport Republic

[CB Fry]

8 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

How are Göztepe 5th in the Turkish top flight having not come close to that for decades? 

Sure Saints and Valenciennes aren't having the best time of it at the moment, but the Turkish league isn't pub level. 

Jesus wept.

[Convict Colony]

This is going to be the hot thread i reckon for the next 5 months.

I expect some big moves from Dragan by end of season or summer as he gets fed up with this yo yo bullshit.

Might be time to put a serious person in charge of the football dept.

[ant]

Granted, there weren't many fans left by the end of the Brentford match, but a growing number were voicing their ire specifically towards Sports Republic. Both lone voices and wider chants.

It'll be interesting to see how quickly the poison spreads.

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

21 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

How are Göztepe 5th in the Turkish top flight having not come close to that for decades? 

Sure Saints and Valenciennes aren't having the best time of it at the moment, but the Turkish league isn't pub level. 

Yeah. That's right.

Goztepe are doing cosmic mate.

Fuck us who cares.

It's goztepe mate... Goztepe.

[Gloucester Saint]

On 01/01/2025 at 23:14, Badger said:

Fair point that Kraft and Parsons seem to be going under the radar and escaping the wrath of supporters.
 

Given Krafts comments in an interview about Rasmus being ‘Mr Football’ though it’s not surprising that most link all football decisions as having Rasmus’ dabs on them. 

That was deliberate from Kraft ‘not me mate, that’s Rasmus that is’. 

[Master Bates]

13 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Jesus wept.

Didn't he die after that?

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

Yeah. That's right.

Goztepe are doing cosmic mate.

Fuck us who cares.

It's goztepe mate... Goztepe.

Read my post in the context of what it was replying to rather than in isolation.

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

Read my post in the context of what it was replying to rather than in isolation.

I imagine his point still stands.

[Mr X]

[Mr X]

We have to be one of the worst run clubs in any league! and yet sports republic claim they are self declared experts in the sporting investments field! 😂

[FredVaFC59100]

Can't wait to see the next club's fans reactions they are planning to purchase. Is there any multi-properties company as unsuccessful as SR in Europe ? 

[manji]

On 07/01/2025 at 10:04, Mr X said:

We have to be one of the worst run clubs in any league! and yet sports republic claim they are self declared experts in the sporting investments field! 😂

I’d say 80% of fans think their club is the worst run club. Talking to a hardcore Hull fan they are having a meltdown because Selles hasn’t put them in a promotion position. It’s has been shit this season but really how many really expected us to do well this season ?
stop being a fucking drama queen . It’s getting harder and harder to sustain a solid position in the PL. I’d reckon even Forest are having a false dawn. 
it’s ages since Sir Jim took over United, Spurs all over the place and so on.t 

how long you been supporting Saints ? I remember we were stuffed 7-0 by Everton, no meltdown by fans think it was the following week we then beat Boro 4-0. 
Im not defending SR but again we could have a lot worse in charge. I’d be happy with Elon Musk in charge but in a lot of ways I hate clubs being used as pawns. 
fucking hell Sir Jim Ratcliffe that would be really bad and that’s without mentioning his unsavory history.

[Raging Bull]

What’s his unsavoury history @manji? 

[miserableoldgit]

5 minutes ago, Raging Bull said:

What’s his unsavoury history @manji? 

I seem to remember a few years ago that some on here were suggesting him as a potential buyer for us because he has/had a home in the New Forest.

[Mr X]

3 hours ago, manji said:

I’d say 80% of fans think their club is the worst run club. Talking to a hardcore Hull fan they are having a meltdown because Selles hasn’t put them in a promotion position. It’s has been shit this season but really how many really expected us to do well this season ?
stop being a fucking drama queen . It’s getting harder and harder to sustain a solid position in the PL. I’d reckon even Forest are having a false dawn. 
it’s ages since Sir Jim took over United, Spurs all over the place and so on.t 

how long you been supporting Saints ? I remember we were stuffed 7-0 by Everton, no meltdown by fans think it was the following week we then beat Boro 4-0. 
Im not defending SR but again we could have a lot worse in charge. I’d be happy with Elon Musk in charge but in a lot of ways I hate clubs being used as pawns. 
fucking hell Sir Jim Ratcliffe that would be really bad and that’s without mentioning his unsavory history.

Get a grip anfd stop insulting people for the sake of it,nothing i Said makes me a "fucking drama queen" 

[Turkish]

3 hours ago, manji said:

I’d say 80% of fans think their club is the worst run club. Talking to a hardcore Hull fan they are having a meltdown because Selles hasn’t put them in a promotion position. It’s has been shit this season but really how many really expected us to do well this season ?
stop being a fucking drama queen . It’s getting harder and harder to sustain a solid position in the PL. I’d reckon even Forest are having a false dawn. 
it’s ages since Sir Jim took over United, Spurs all over the place and so on.t 

how long you been supporting Saints ? I remember we were stuffed 7-0 by Everton, no meltdown by fans think it was the following week we then beat Boro 4-0. 
Im not defending SR but again we could have a lot worse in charge. I’d be happy with Elon Musk in charge but in a lot of ways I hate clubs being used as pawns. 
fucking hell Sir Jim Ratcliffe that would be really bad and that’s without mentioning his unsavory history.

They've been here 3 years, in that time we're going to be relegated twice. They've spent almost £250m on transfers plus probably about £25m on hiring and firing 4 managers in 3 years turning us from an established premier league club into probably the worst premier league club ever. Factoring all that in find a club that's been run worse.

[FarehamSaintJames]

They’ve no problem with investing it would seem, but imagine where we could be if that money had been spent by football people rather than chancers who’ve no idea and focus on spreadsheets.

[Turkish]

28 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

They’ve no problem with investing it would seem, but imagine where we could be if that money had been spent by football people rather than chancers who’ve no idea and focus on spreadsheets.

That’s the worst thing about. For one of the only times in the last 30 years we haven’t been working on a sell to buy basis and they’ve wasted hundreds of millions. 

[trousers]

59 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

They’ve no problem with investing it would seem, but imagine where we could be if that money had been spent by football people rather than chancers who’ve no idea and focus on spreadsheets.

 

25 minutes ago, Turkish said:

That’s the worst thing about. For one of the only times in the last 30 years we haven’t been working on a sell to buy basis and they’ve wasted hundreds of millions. 

In a parallel universe, my old love buddy Ralph is still at the helm with Dragan's cash to play with, a proper football board structure in place, tearing up the league, and getting ready for another European campaign... 😁

#dreamon #oxfordcomma

[Convict Colony]

6 hours ago, Raging Bull said:

What’s his unsavoury history @manji? 

Invested in Man Utd surely and a terrible collection of scarves he wears no matter the weather

[23rdSaint]

3 hours ago, Mr X said:

Get a grip anfd stop insulting people for the sake of it,nothing i Said makes me a "fucking drama queen" 

Calling you that is uncalled for. I would say that listening to The Price of Football podcast really puts our ownership issues into context. There are a lot more clubs with bigger issues than us...

[Mr X]

1 hour ago, 23rdSaint said:

Calling you that is uncalled for. I would say that listening to The Price of Football podcast really puts our ownership issues into context. There are a lot more clubs with bigger issues than us...

Yes i definitely know there's other clubs in a dire state financially and probably badly run but ours just seems to be bad decisions everywhere and so regularly.... And they just seem to repeat the same mistakes, Hopefully 6 points on the board and a latest 5-0 defeat is the wake up call they need to start putting things right.... We can only hope! 🤞🙏 

[S-Clarke]

9 hours ago, manji said:

I’d say 80% of fans think their club is the worst run club. Talking to a hardcore Hull fan they are having a meltdown because Selles hasn’t put them in a promotion position. It’s has been shit this season but really how many really expected us to do well this season ?
stop being a fucking drama queen . It’s getting harder and harder to sustain a solid position in the PL. I’d reckon even Forest are having a false dawn. 
it’s ages since Sir Jim took over United, Spurs all over the place and so on.t 

how long you been supporting Saints ? I remember we were stuffed 7-0 by Everton, no meltdown by fans think it was the following week we then beat Boro 4-0. 
Im not defending SR but again we could have a lot worse in charge. I’d be happy with Elon Musk in charge but in a lot of ways I hate clubs being used as pawns. 
fucking hell Sir Jim Ratcliffe that would be really bad and that’s without mentioning his unsavory history.

Sorry Manji, but at this stage I struggle to see anyone worse than Sports Republic. They have been utterly, utterly horrific in every single way possible. They are in the midst of destroying our club as it stands.

''How many expected us to do well this season?'' - I'd say the majority of fans expected us to be sat on more than 6 points and not already relegated in January, let's not try and kid ourselves that this league is an insurmountable feat. We haven't even competed, not in a single game. Ipswich and Leicester came up with us and they are streets ahead of us development wise.

We came into this season entirely underprepared because our owners don't understand football.

[FarehamSaintJames]

You can’t say this is a well run football club.

Two relegation’s in their two full seasons in the Premier League is horrendous.

[saintant]

As a successful businessman from a country known for what could be termed a cut throat approach I am baffled as to how Dragan seems to allow SR to continue on the current downward spiral. Presumably the millions they have wasted on the wrong managers and players comes, in the main, from his pocket. At what point does he decide it's time for him to take a more hands on approach in the running of Southampton FC? He must look at other clubs of similar size and status and wonder what we are doing so wrong. He's clearly not a stupid man so I can't work out why he sits back and lets these charlatans continue to stitch him up.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 hours ago, trousers said:

 

In a parallel universe, my old love buddy Ralph is still at the helm with Dragan's cash to play with, a proper football board structure in place, tearing up the league, and getting ready for another European campaign... 😁

#dreamon #oxfordcomma

Does Ralph get a striker in this scenario? Just that it's hard to picture one, even in a fantasy setting. 🙂

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

"If it's not broken, consider breaking it"

[Saint in Paradise]

32 minutes ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

"If it's not broken, consider breaking it"

Well at least they got that part right.  🤬

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Does Ralph get a striker in this scenario? Just that it's hard to picture one, even in a fantasy setting. 🙂

Statistically, I don't think there's enough parallel universes in existence for that far-fetched scenario to ever occur...

[EBS1980]

There are many worse run clubs than us. Our issue is the recruitment of players has been poor. Maybe that falls on Mowbray? Do we need a better head of recruitment..

We aren’t in trouble with FFP, we aren’t spending money we don’t have and in a financial hole.  We are just crap at identifying players who are good enough for PL level.

[trousers]

2 minutes ago, EBS1980 said:

There are many worse run clubs than us. Our issue is the recruitment of players has been poor. Maybe that falls on Mowbray? Do we need a better head of recruitment..

We aren’t in trouble with FFP, we aren’t spending money we don’t have and in a financial hole.  We are just crap at identifying players who are good enough for PL level.

I guess the argument is, what's the point of getting the former right if we can get the latter right...

[Dark Munster]

2 hours ago, saintant said:

As a successful businessman from a country known for what could be termed a cut throat approach I am baffled as to how Dragan seems to allow SR to continue on the current downward spiral. Presumably the millions they have wasted on the wrong managers and players comes, in the main, from his pocket. At what point does he decide it's time for him to take a more hands on approach in the running of Southampton FC? He must look at other clubs of similar size and status and wonder what we are doing so wrong. He's clearly not a stupid man so I can't work out why he sits back and lets these charlatans continue to stitch him up.

Sunk cost fallacy?

Or maybe doesn't want to admit (to others or even himself) to the embarrassing mistake that he was conned by a couple of Danish charlatans?

[Zorba]

12 hours ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

"If it's not broken, consider breaking it"

Rasmus’ nose? 🥊

[Turkish]

The recent "sale" of this French kid to us for €5m is good news for the SR Group. There is virtually no money in French football these days aside from the big clubs so £5m is a huge windwall for Valencieenes. Their biggest ever transfer fee received before this was €3m in 2012. This money would surely enable them to at least buy their way in the second tier, possibly even the top league. Transfer market values Sanda at €800k and the entire Vaelencieenes squad at only €7m with not a single player valued at over €1m.

Signing a player from the third tier of French football for a fee so large certainly seems a little unprecedented, whilst €5m is not much by premier league standards It's either the 2nd or 3rd biggest fee ever from a 3rd tier French club. 

Certainly seems like Valencieenes are also going to benefit from premier league money while it last.

[AlexLaw76]

11 minutes ago, Turkish said:

The recent "sale" of this French kid to us for €5m is good news for the SR Group. There is virtually no money in French football these days aside from the big clubs so £5m is a huge windwall for Valencieenes. Their biggest ever transfer fee received before this was €3m in 2012. This money would surely enable them to at least buy their way in the second tier, possibly even the top league. Transfer market values Sanda at €800k and the entire Vaelencieenes squad at only €7m with not a single player valued at over €1m.

Signing a player from the third tier of French football for a fee so large certainly seems a little unprecedented, whilst €5m is not much by premier league standards It's either the 2nd or 3rd biggest fee ever from a 3rd tier French club. 

Certainly seems like Valencieenes are also going to benefit from premier league money while it last.

Maybe SR should stock ‘SR related 3-way scarfs’ in the clubs shops. 
 

be first, be the best 

[ChristopheVAFC]

14 minutes ago, Turkish said:

The recent "sale" of this French kid to us for €5m is good news for the SR Group. There is virtually no money in French football these days aside from the big clubs so £5m is a huge windwall for Valencieenes. Their biggest ever transfer fee received before this was €3m in 2012. This money would surely enable them to at least buy their way in the second tier, possibly even the top league. Transfer market values Sanda at €800k and the entire Vaelencieenes squad at only €7m with not a single player valued at over €1m.

Signing a player from the third tier of French football for a fee so large certainly seems a little unprecedented, whilst €5m is not much by premier league standards It's either the 2nd or 3rd biggest fee ever from a 3rd tier French club. 

Certainly seems like Valencieenes are also going to benefit from premier league money while it last.

Joachim is the 3rd biggest transfer for Valenciennes:

Kévin Cabral sold to LA Galaxy on 8 April 2021 for €5.4m

Steve Savidan was sold to Stade Malherbe de Caen on 1 July 2008 for €5m.

and Joachim in the last few days for €5m.

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Joachim is the 3rd biggest transfer for Valenciennes:

Kévin Cabral sold to LA Galaxy on 8 April 2021 for €5.4m

Steve Savidan was sold to Stade Malherbe de Caen on 1 July 2008 for €5m.

and Joachim in the last few days for €5m.

ah yes you're correct, i was looking at the wrong thing on transfer market, but still makes him a very large sale for you and for the French 3rd division and 4.5x his market value.

Edited 6 hours ago by Turkish

[Osvaldorama]

21 minutes ago, Turkish said:

The recent "sale" of this French kid to us for €5m is good news for the SR Group. There is virtually no money in French football these days aside from the big clubs so £5m is a huge windwall for Valencieenes. Their biggest ever transfer fee received before this was €3m in 2012. This money would surely enable them to at least buy their way in the second tier, possibly even the top league. Transfer market values Sanda at €800k and the entire Vaelencieenes squad at only €7m with not a single player valued at over €1m.

Signing a player from the third tier of French football for a fee so large certainly seems a little unprecedented, whilst €5m is not much by premier league standards It's either the 2nd or 3rd biggest fee ever from a 3rd tier French club. 

Certainly seems like Valencieenes are also going to benefit from premier league money while it last.

Tbf, I’m glad someone’s benefiting from our premier league money. 
 

Even donating it all to charity is a better use of it than giving it to our scouts

[Badger]

17 minutes ago, Turkish said:

ah yes you're correct, i was looking at the wrong thing on transfer market, but still makes him a very large sale for you and for the French 3rd division and 4.5x his market value.

This is where Sports Republic excel. 

[hypochondriac]

10 minutes ago, Badger said:

This is where Sports Republic excel. 

We don't breed success, we buy it at 4.5x it's value from our feeder club. 

[Turkish]

52 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

We don't breed success, we buy it at 4.5x it's value from our feeder club. 

wonder if this kid will ever play for our first team? It really just sounds like a deal to enable the french club to invest in their squad to get promotion. 

[Sarnia Cherie]

On 07/01/2025 at 10:04, Mr X said:

We have to be one of the worst run clubs in any league! and yet sports republic claim they are self declared experts in the sporting investments field! 😂

My parents told me that self praise was no recommendation. Fits SR spot on.

[Turkish]

On 07/01/2025 at 10:04, Mr X said:

We have to be one of the worst run clubs in any league! and yet sports republic claim they are self declared experts in the sporting investments field! 😂

they are, they've just pumped €5m into one of their clubs without spending a penny!

[AlexLaw76]

So, we have just a player from what ever league in France for a vastly inflated fee

SR can fuck right off

[AlexLaw76]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

wonder if this kid will ever play for our first team? It really just sounds like a deal to enable the french club to invest in their squad to get promotion. 

He will likely be harvested out to Turkey, along with the new Brazilian lad.

greatest era in our history!!!!

[hypochondriac]

23 minutes ago, Turkish said:

wonder if this kid will ever play for our first team? It really just sounds like a deal to enable the french club to invest in their squad to get promotion. 

Given it's such a small amount I'm not overly fussed about it but I think it underlines yet again that load sof officials are distracted with their minds elsewhere instead of being 100% invested in improving our lot. I'd be more up for this sort of thing when we are comfortable mid table premier league side. 

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Given it's such a small amount I'm not overly fussed about it but I think it underlines yet again that load sof officials are distracted with their minds elsewhere instead of being 100% invested in improving our lot. I'd be more up for this sort of thing when we are comfortable mid table premier league side. 

It’s a small amount by premier league standards but a decent amount by championship standards, what did we spend last time? Think it was about £18m or so on Charles and Stewart the rest of our signings were loans or frees, so potentially about 1/4 of our pot for next season. By French league 3 standards it’s a huge amount. All on an 18 year old kid where this level, probably the equivalent of national league or league 2, is the highest he’s ever played it. maybe he’s the new Desailly but somehow I think there more chance of him ending up in Turkey and never playing a game for us 

[hypochondriac]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

It’s a small amount by premier league standards but a decent amount by championship standards, what did we spend last time? Think it was about £18m or so on Charles and Stewart the rest of our signings were loans or frees, so potentially about 1/4 of our pot for next season. By French league 3 standards it’s a huge amount. All on an 18 year old kid where this level, probably the equivalent of national league or league 2, is the highest he’s ever played it. maybe he’s the new Desailly but somehow I think there more chance of him ending up in Turkey and never playing a game for us 

I expect it's more that it's sports republic money in the group rather than Southampton money personally. Maybe the kid is really good and we will be able to sell him for more. I agree with you it does seem like a lot. 2-3 million seems more appropriate.