Sport Republic

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Point is cortese is the perfect person to let run the club .. solak wouldn’t have to lift a finger if he had him in charge just  like Markus didn’t. Pinning all our hopes on spors who probably won’t even stay two seasons seems a reach 

Spors is not running the club, Cortese was. That is why I said it wasn't a like for like comparison.

If Spors ends up leaving for an elite club it'll be because he has done well with us. He won't attract a big club offer if we aren't promoted. 

It is better to have good players and staff for a short period that top clubs want, rather than plod along with players and staff they don't want. It means we get to benefit from their time here before they move on and we hopefully replace then well. That has largely been our problem since 2016.

[Badger]

37 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Point is cortese is the perfect person to let run the club .. solak wouldn’t have to lift a finger if he had him in charge just  like Markus didn’t. Pinning all our hopes on spors who probably won’t even stay two seasons seems a reach 

It’s hard to compare roles like for like as cortese was super hands on and was dictating everything whilst other executive chairman might be the opposite .,

Know the point you’re making, and a CEO like Cortese (but not him) might be good, but it’s an over simplification to think just parachute him into SFC.

As I recall Cortese wanted to be left alone to run the club on Liebherr money, without input from the owners. I don’t expect he’d want to be accountable to Dragan Solak, and doubtful Solak would be open to that arrangement either.

Sad thing is had Markus Liebherr remained things might have been different. Until AC Milan came calling of course. 

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

5 minutes ago, Badger said:

As I recall Cortese wanted to be left alone to run the club on Liebherr money, without input from the owners. I don’t expect he’d want to be accountable to Dragan Solak, and doubtful Solak would be open to that arrangement either.

You really think ANYONE is being held to account by Solak right now?

We've been relegated twice and we're currently have the worst points haul since Derby.

Edited February 23 by ApprenticeBillionaire

[Badger]

Just now, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

You really think ANYONE is being held to account by Solak right now?

We've been relegated twice and we're currently have the worst points haul since Derby.

Fair point. You’re probably right in football terms. 
 

But I’m damn sure he and those he’s brought in from his other businesses would be over it if we were haemorrhaging cash. My point is that I can’t see him giving a CEO an open cheque book without being held accountable. 

[pimpin4rizeal]

I see dragon pretty much as a backseat owner a bit like Markus was the main difference is Markus had a absolute gem in cortese overseeing everything so he didn’t have to ., whilst solak has had idiots like Ankerson and Kraft and is now having to step in himself 

as for open cheque books it isn’t like cortese was spending more then Sr anyway. What he did well aas to put excellent people in positions like  Mitchell, adkins pochettino.. he wouldn’t tolerate failure which is why we had a great recruitment period and we where always on the upwards trajectory 

[Saint_clark]

5 hours ago, Badger said:

Know the point you’re making, and a CEO like Cortese (but not him) might be good, but it’s an over simplification to think just parachute him into SFC.

As I recall Cortese wanted to be left alone to run the club on Liebherr money, without input from the owners. I don’t expect he’d want to be accountable to Dragan Solak, and doubtful Solak would be open to that arrangement either.

Sad thing is had Markus Liebherr remained things might have been different. Until AC Milan came calling of course. 

I suspect if Markus had still been around we'd have seen a huge money sponsorship deal with Liebherr International Group upon reaching the Prem.

[Football Special]

8 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

I suspect if Markus had still been around we'd have seen a huge money sponsorship deal with Liebherr International Group upon reaching the Prem.

My memory isn't great on this, but I don't think Markus was actually that wealthy and the big Liebherr construction group wasn't owned by him, it was other members of the family 

[Gloucester Saint]

9 minutes ago, Football Special said:

My memory isn't great on this, but I don't think Markus was actually that wealthy and the big Liebherr construction group wasn't owned by him, it was other members of the family 

Somewhere inbetween IIRC. Mali Group was Markus and you are right that the main Liebherr Group was owned by the overall family. Markus’s fortune was still worth £2.5-3bn according to figures at the time of his sad passing which is still more than Dragan Solak who isn’t exactly skint either and Tony Bloom who has funded Brighton. It was a quantum leap from Lowe and Wild and was big bucks then in PL terms let alone the EFL.

Edited February 24 by Gloucester Saint

[ChristopheVAFC]

On 22/02/2025 at 20:34, Matthew Le God said:

That is a claim, it is not evidence for the claim. You've so far failed to demonstrate the connection that what is happening at Göztepe or Valenciennes is the cause for the Saints Omnishambles. 

My friend, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you how I feel about our joint owner, Sport Républic.

As far as your situation is concerned, I was really happy for you last year and your promotion back to the Premier League was well deserved, even if you had a scare at the end when you went into the play-offs. It's true that this year it's very complicated for you and you should know that I'm sad about that, because you have a club with a great history. 

As far as our sister club Goztepe is concerned, our owner seems to be doing well, having climbed back into the Turkish D1 last year and achieved a respectable position at the top of the league for the time being. I have no doubt that they will have a rather quiet season.

Finally, as far as my club, Valenciennes, is concerned, I can tell you that before the arrival of Sport Républic, things were really very complicated for us, with absentee management, a president whose management bordered on dictatorship, and we were very close to bankruptcy.

It's true that SR's first year at the head of Valenciennes was very complicated and we went down to the 3rd division, but a lot of things are improving every day.

I don't think that SR is as bad as that, he makes mistakes that I think are sometimes avoidable and tries to do the best he can, it's a shame because I think that with a better entourage, he could do a lot better for our 3 clubs...

[Saint_clark]

3 hours ago, Football Special said:

My memory isn't great on this, but I don't think Markus was actually that wealthy and the big Liebherr construction group wasn't owned by him, it was other members of the family 

Markus was extremely wealthy. I'm aware he wasn't involved in the main Liebherr group at the time but that doesn't mean they wouldn't want the publicity of a Premier League team sponsorship. 

[Football Special]

What a funny old game football is , paying millions a week on players and then doing stuff like this 

[S-Clarke]

That Jim Radcliffe takeover has been a total disaster for Man Utd, funny to watch it all unfold though.

The Glazers have always been shit, so everyone assumed this would be better - but he's gone a bit Elon Musk on them all!

[miserableoldgit]

46 minutes ago, Football Special said:

What a funny old game football is , paying millions a week on players and then doing stuff like this 

A few years back, people on here were pushing/suggesting for him to buy us as he had a home in the New Forest.

[sambosa75]

41 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

That Jim Radcliffe takeover has been a total disaster for Man Utd, funny to watch it all unfold though.

The Glazers have always been shit, so everyone assumed this would be better - but he's gone a bit Elon Musk on them all!

He's gone completely Mike Ashley.  And I've got all the time in the world for it.

[Football Special]

38 minutes ago, sambosa75 said:

He's gone completely Mike Ashley.  And I've got all the time in the world for it.

It is hard not to laugh a bit , he also removed stewards £50 Christmas bonus I think, seems incredibly petty but losing a lot of goodwill 

[sadoldgit]

20 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

What I find crazy is when cortese was in charge there was and still is a big portion of people who didn’t like him ., well he was quite the opposite of sports republic the way they get every big decision wrong he got every one  right .

if you really wanted someone who could run the club and might actually stay I’d take him over this johannes spors all day long .. I noticed spors has had a plethora of clubs and doesn’t usually stick around for more then a couple of years.. I can see this going the same way as shields and Wilcox  especially as he’s already been linked with bigger clubs like spurs and Newcastle .

Wishfull  thinking on the cortese stuff but he was amazing for us and I’d piggy back him here

I’m not sure that Cortese got every big decision right (but clearly more than those who followed) and playing fast and loose with other people’s money is never a good idea. He was a divisive character with a messiah complex and people like him don’t tend to stay in places very long. It is always just a matter of time before characters like him fall out with others big time. I remember him being interviewed on TalkSport a few years ago and he said he had his choice of several big jobs in football lined up. Nothing came of them. If he was some kind of football genius you would think they would be breaking down the doors for his expertise.

[sambosa75]

22 minutes ago, Football Special said:

It is hard not to laugh a bit , he also removed stewards £50 Christmas bonus I think, seems incredibly petty but losing a lot of goodwill 

Feel sorry for the non-playing staff but they've had it very good for a number of years and it can happen to employees of any other company type so I won't lose any sleep over it.

I have to laugh when Rio Ferdinand complains about how unfair it all is when a few years ago he was flippantly saying Newcastle fans should be grateful for how Mike Ashley ran Newcastle.

[Turkish]

5 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

My friend, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you how I feel about our joint owner, Sport Républic.

As far as your situation is concerned, I was really happy for you last year and your promotion back to the Premier League was well deserved, even if you had a scare at the end when you went into the play-offs. It's true that this year it's very complicated for you and you should know that I'm sad about that, because you have a club with a great history. 

As far as our sister club Goztepe is concerned, our owner seems to be doing well, having climbed back into the Turkish D1 last year and achieved a respectable position at the top of the league for the time being. I have no doubt that they will have a rather quiet season.

Finally, as far as my club, Valenciennes, is concerned, I can tell you that before the arrival of Sport Républic, things were really very complicated for us, with absentee management, a president whose management bordered on dictatorship, and we were very close to bankruptcy.

It's true that SR's first year at the head of Valenciennes was very complicated and we went down to the 3rd division, but a lot of things are improving every day.

I don't think that SR is as bad as that, he makes mistakes that I think are sometimes avoidable and tries to do the best he can, it's a shame because I think that with a better entourage, he could do a lot better for our 3 clubs...

If i was a Goztepe of=r Valencciennes fan i'd be happy with them too, Gotzepe doing well in a noddy league and SR just wrote you a cheque to fund a squad to build a team capable of at least one, if not two promotions. Unfortunately for us they've been and continue to be an absolute shit show. 

[Turkish]

21 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Point is cortese is the perfect person to let run the club .. solak wouldn’t have to lift a finger if he had him in charge just  like Markus didn’t. Pinning all our hopes on spors who probably won’t even stay two seasons seems a reach 

It’s hard to compare roles like for like as cortese was super hands on and was dictating everything whilst other executive chairman might be the opposite .,

Based on what?

I think we might have spotted the flaw in your plan

[Football Special]

13 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Based on what?

I think we might have spotted the flaw in your plan

It's like our fans thinking ABK will fix our defensive problems 

[Football Special]

24 minutes ago, sambosa75 said:

Feel sorry for the non-playing staff but they've had it very good for a number of years and it can happen to employees of any other company type so I won't lose any sleep over it.

I have to laugh when Rio Ferdinand complains about how unfair it all is when a few years ago he was flippantly saying Newcastle fans should be grateful for how Mike Ashley ran Newcastle.

Watching Man Utd fans reaction is comedy gold, feel sorry for the normal people losing their jobs though 

 

[sadoldgit]

Talking of Cortese, found this earlier. Seems he wanted to be the manager as well as the CEO.

https://saintsmarching.com/2020/08/19/southampton-former-saint-billy-sharp-makes-stunning-cortese-claim/

[tdmickey3]

Fuck off now you utter clowns

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

Just fuck off. 

They've not got a clue. Just look at the managerial appointments. Says it all. 

[Pamplemousse]

They're not going anywhere but they have this season to really sort things out. If we're not in the promotion mix next season I suspect that is when the fans' patience will run out.

We have new DOF so let's see. But they are on notice.

[Katalinic]

Absolute amateurs. Awful decision after awful decision.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just how the fuck is Solak such a fucking successfully business guy if he runs his companies like he runs us? I just don't get it. He is as complicit in this shitshow as all the other wankers in the boardroom. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Just how the fuck is Solak such a fucking successfully business guy if he runs his companies like he runs us? I just don't get it. He is as complicit in this shitshow as all the other wankers in the boardroom. 

He's far from the first owner to become wealthy in one field, only to be taken for a ride in another. Certainly if that other field is football.

He'd also not be the first wealthy person who's success is built firmly on the backs of others, but I don't know enough about his background to know if that applies here.

He was taken for a ride by Rasmus and Kraft. The terrible decisions kept coming, and that was allowed. His being in closer control now doesn't inspire confidence. He's shown no aptitude to be anywhere decision making in football.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

He's far from the first owner to become wealthy in one field, only to be taken for a ride in another. Certainly if that other field is football.

He'd also not be the first wealthy person who's success is built firmly on the backs of others, but I don't know enough about his background to know if that applies here.

He was taken for a ride by Rasmus and Kraft. The terrible decisions kept coming, and that was allowed. His being in closer control now doesn't inspire confidence. He's shown no aptitude to be anywhere decision making in football.

But its been three years now, if you listen to what Manji says he'd have you believe that Solak is some kind of Serbian warlord. Seems to me he is just as much to blame as all the other twats running our club into the ground.

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

Financial ruin is the ultimate worst nightmare for us, so they aren't quite THAT.

BUT

They're our worst nightmare in just about every other fucking facet you could possibly imagine for a professional elite football club.

They have been diabolical.

Just put us all out of our misery Solak SELL UP AND FUCK OFF!!!
 

[FarehamSaintJames]

Dragan Solak hasn’t been the problem. He’s been more than willing to put his hand in his pocket.

His mistake is letting some absolute chancers run the club, or think they can run the club with no footballing experience. They’ve tried to cut corners along the way.

If you want a football group model, you need to have your focal team first, prove that works and is up to standard and then branch out.
They’ve done too much too soon, and have done it with little to no experience in the football field i.e players, staff etc.

Goztepe have done well this season but also I think that is a bit of a fluke. The Turkish league is so low in quality that aside from the big three or four the rest of the league is a free for all.

[Dr. Kucho]

13 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Dragan Solak hasn’t been the problem. He’s been more than willing to put his hand in his pocket.

His mistake is letting some absolute chancers run the club, or think they can run the club with no footballing experience. They’ve tried to cut corners along the way.

If you want a football group model, you need to have your focal team first, prove that works and is up to standard and then branch out.
They’ve done too much too soon, and have done it with little to no experience in the football field i.e players, staff etc.

Goztepe have done well this season but also I think that is a bit of a fluke. The Turkish league is so low in quality that aside from the big three or four the rest of the league is a free for all.

Dragan is the problem, he’s let these charlatans ruin the club and didn’t stop them. When Goa was in charge we weren’t great, but the set up was decent with people in charge who knew what they were doing. In come Sport Republic and now it’s a big mess. 

Who’s in charge now? Who decided to sack Martin? Who hired Juric? Who did the recruitment prior to Spors joining? Are they experienced ‘football’ people? Dragan let others create this chaos and now hes losing money on his investment. 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

On 24/02/2025 at 09:02, Football Special said:

My memory isn't great on this, but I don't think Markus was actually that wealthy and the big Liebherr construction group wasn't owned by him, it was other members of the family 

And the Marcus Liebherr pavillion has yet to be paid for. I believe that debt rests with his daughter.

[beatlesaint]

27 minutes ago, Dr. Kucho said:

Dragan is the problem, he’s let these charlatans ruin the club and didn’t stop them. When Goa was in charge we weren’t great, but the set up was decent with people in charge who knew what they were doing. In come Sport Republic and now it’s a big mess. 

I would really like to know how Dragan is tied in with this SR lot legally. What I mean is, is it possible for him to basically sack them or has he a binding contract with them that makes any such action either impossible or extremely long and drawn out?

They have bascially taken his money and pissed it up against a wall. No wonder he isn't happy and has taken over as Chairman. But I would really like to know what action he can take......not what WE think he should do but what he actually can do.

[Gloucester Saint]

17 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

I would really like to know how Dragan is tied in with this SR lot legally. What I mean is, is it possible for him to basically sack them or has he a binding contract with them that makes any such action either impossible or extremely long and drawn out?

They have bascially taken his money and pissed it up against a wall. No wonder he isn't happy and has taken over as Chairman. But I would really like to know what action he can take......not what WE think he should do but what he actually can do.

Depends what their roles are within the group and what they’ve brought with them.

Kraft is actually worth more than Solak IIRC https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/4-facts-you-may-not-know-about-southampton-chairman-henrik-kraft/

So whilst Henrik Kraft has stepped down and Šolak taken over as SFC chairman, I suspect Šolak needs him as an SR partner in financing the overall umbrella.

Where he has more of a problem is with Rasmus. Rasmus is also a partner but I’d assume bringing football strategy and transfer/AI databases to execute player recruitment. That’s worked to an extent for Göztepe via Saints as a bridge in some cases, but for Saints it’s been the worst in Europe for similar medium-sized regular top league clubs and yet to know on Valenciennes. 

In effect, he seems to have ended up operationally-leading Goztepe. Hopefully he will now have very little to do with Saints as I suspect that will be Spores’s main focus within SR but the fact he’s been with him at recent home games tells me that he won’t relinquish the train set easily. So Spores will need to get Dragan, Dragan’s new board appointees and try and divide a wedge in the Denmark link on the board to get his plans for SFC through, including choice of manager. 

[EBS1980]

4 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Dragan Solak hasn’t been the problem. He’s been more than willing to put his hand in his pocket.

His mistake is letting some absolute chancers run the club, or think they can run the club with no footballing experience. They’ve tried to cut corners along the way.

If you want a football group model, you need to have your focal team first, prove that works and is up to standard and then branch out.
They’ve done too much too soon, and have done it with little to no experience in the football field i.e players, staff etc.

Goztepe have done well this season but also I think that is a bit of a fluke. The Turkish league is so low in quality that aside from the big three or four the rest of the league is a free for all.

Agree. If you get the club at the top of the tree set up and working then you can start to spread out to other clubs. Get us established in prem for a couple of years then you can invest in youngsters to farm out to feeder teams.

[FarehamSaintJames]

I was under the impression that it was the consortium that approached Dragan Solak and asked for his investment. 

I’d have thought that with his investment he effectively becomes owner with the muppets underneath him.

I’m sure he didn’t anticipate it being as much of a muppet show as has turned out.

As someone mentioned above it’ll be interesting to see where he’s stands legally with the others.

[manji]

On 24/02/2025 at 09:07, Gloucester Saint said:

Somewhere inbetween IIRC. Mali Group was Markus and you are right that the main Liebherr Group was owned by the overall family. Markus’s fortune was still worth £2.5-3bn according to figures at the time of his sad passing which is still more than Dragan Solak who isn’t exactly skint either and Tony Bloom who has funded Brighton. It was a quantum leap from Lowe and Wild and was big bucks then in PL terms let alone the EFL.

Got to remember SR is a small part of Solaks empire his main area of control is Union Group they are the main Comms Group in South Eastern Europe . Now that’s big and importantly gives him a massive voice in a potentially rich but volatile area. I’ve mentioned it a lot but Serbia in particular are pro-Russian most of the population don’t think they are living under a Russian jackboot the alliance seems perfectly * read Anna Karenina for some perspective * normal. Solak is supporting the pro-EU urbanites that has upset some people so he is careful when he returns to his homeland. 
he does not see SR as a toy having a succesful club in the Premier League would be an important feather in the cap for Union Group 

all that I’ve researched and is verified . The one thing I know for definite is he is fucked off and has been humiliated by Southamptons performance. I get it for various reasons I havnt had a season this year but I hear the pain and anger from plenty of people that go . The fans on here that slagged of our away mob really need to fuck off. 
I wish the season was over but we have the rest of this season and the summer to get ready for next season . Solak admitted he was too distant from the team and he relied on certain experts. He is not happy with these experts. He’s not going to make team decisions FFS but this time he has sought advice elsewhere . He already made some in business terms radical decisions anyone who thinks Spors was just some random appointment is mistaken. 
Solak expects auto promotion next season so do I as it’s happens . He’s has big shit business and political opponents desperate for him to fuck up again now think about I can’t think of a better person in charge. BTW I completely disagree with his politics I’ve got no axe to grind all I give a fuck about is how well we do. 
and we aren’t the laughing stock of the Premier League " Sir Jim’s " United, City, Spurs have that sewn up .
 

[Gloucester Saint]

Got to cross our fingers that you’re right Manji, because the alternative is far worse again.

[manji]

8 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Depends what their roles are within the group and what they’ve brought with them.

Kraft is actually worth more than Solak IIRC https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/4-facts-you-may-not-know-about-southampton-chairman-henrik-kraft/

So whilst Henrik Kraft has stepped down and Šolak taken over as SFC chairman, I suspect Šolak needs him as an SR partner in financing the overall umbrella.

Where he has more of a problem is with Rasmus. Rasmus is also a partner but I’d assume bringing football strategy and transfer/AI databases to execute player recruitment. That’s worked to an extent for Göztepe via Saints as a bridge in some cases, but for Saints it’s been the worst in Europe for similar medium-sized regular top league clubs and yet to know on Valenciennes. 

In effect, he seems to have ended up operationally-leading Goztepe. Hopefully he will now have very little to do with Saints as I suspect that will be Spores’s main focus within SR but the fact he’s been with him at recent home games tells me that he won’t relinquish the train set easily. So Spores will need to get Dragan, Dragan’s new board appointees and try and divide a wedge in the Denmark link on the board to get his plans for SFC through, including choice of manager. 

Completely agree but Spors will be completely aware of what’s happened so far can’t imagine him joining without some lines drawn, it’s like a lot of politics posturing if as I reckon Rasmuss has been told to fuck off and worry about Goztepe that’s going to be embarrassing for him and of course Solak still sees them as an important team Turkey is becoming a big mover in world politics and economics. So Rasmus being in the photos is important.

 

[Gloucester Saint]

3 minutes ago, manji said:

Completely agree but Spors will be completely aware of what’s happened so far can’t imagine him joining without some lines drawn, it’s like a lot of politics posturing if as I reckon Rasmuss has been told to fuck off and worry about Goztepe that’s going to be embarrassing for him and of course Solak still sees them as an important team Turkey is becoming a big mover in world politics and economics. So Rasmus being in the photos is important.

 

Rasmus had a face like a smacked arse when he was sat next to Spores at SMS. It felt like he’d been told he has to do some of the ‘boring’ everyday work at Goztepe. No more swotty Phil Giles to do it all like at Brentford.

Edited Wednesday at 19:05 by Gloucester Saint

[manji]

4 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Got to cross our fingers that you’re right Manji, because the alternative is far worse again.

I’m not saying I’m right it just seems to make sense and I don’t just remember the Branfoot days it doesn’t seem so long ago we couldn’t pay anyone’s wages aren’t anywhere that. Trouble is with all the social media twittering away it seems like it.

[manji]

1 minute ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Rasmus had a face like a smacked arse when he was sat next to Spores at SMS. It felt like he’d been told he has to do some of the ‘boring’ everyday work at Goztepe. No more swotty Phil Giles to do it all like at Brentford.

Rasmuss should be grateful could have been worse found in some Eastern European forest 🤔

[manji]

19 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

But it’s been three years now, if you listen to what Manji says he'd have you believe that Solak is some kind of Serbian warlord. Seems to me he is just as much to blame as all the other twats running our club into the ground.

I don’t believe hes some warlord but he’s a powerful man in South Eastern Europe and laugh if you like ( in your ignorance ) that’s a big deal .

read some fucking books.

[manji]

20 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Just how the fuck is Solak such a fucking successfully business guy if he runs his companies like he runs us? I just don't get it. He is as complicit in this shitshow as all the other wankers in the boardroom. 

Because Sports Republic is a relatively small part of United Group .

[Matthew Le God]

11 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Spores

Why do you keep calling him that?

[miserableoldgit]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why do you keep calling him that?

It's probably going to be a TSW "thing".........like calling Gao "Goa".

[Wade Garrett]

9 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Dragan Solak hasn’t been the problem. He’s been more than willing to put his hand in his pocket.

His mistake is letting some absolute chancers run the club, or think they can run the club with no footballing experience. They’ve tried to cut corners along the way.

If you want a football group model, you need to have your focal team first, prove that works and is up to standard and then branch out.
They’ve done too much too soon, and have done it with little to no experience in the football field i.e players, staff etc.

Goztepe have done well this season but also I think that is a bit of a fluke. The Turkish league is so low in quality that aside from the big three or four the rest of the league is a free for all.

I think that’s pretty fair, especially the comment about the chancers.

[Gloucester Saint]

10 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why do you keep calling him that?

Spors, it’s an incorrect spelling, it’s not as if I called him Harry Redknapp by mistake is it?

I spelt it wrong but that’s his name..

Believe or not, I have bigger priorities than the exact spelling of an SR employee…

[Convict Colony]

8 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Depends what their roles are within the group and what they’ve brought with them.

Kraft is actually worth more than Solak IIRC https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/4-facts-you-may-not-know-about-southampton-chairman-henrik-kraft/

So whilst Henrik Kraft has stepped down and Šolak taken over as SFC chairman, I suspect Šolak needs him as an SR partner in financing the overall umbrella.

Where he has more of a problem is with Rasmus. Rasmus is also a partner but I’d assume bringing football strategy and transfer/AI databases to execute player recruitment. That’s worked to an extent for Göztepe via Saints as a bridge in some cases, but for Saints it’s been the worst in Europe for similar medium-sized regular top league clubs and yet to know on Valenciennes. 

In effect, he seems to have ended up operationally-leading Goztepe. Hopefully he will now have very little to do with Saints as I suspect that will be Spores’s main focus within SR but the fact he’s been with him at recent home games tells me that he won’t relinquish the train set easily. So Spores will need to get Dragan, Dragan’s new board appointees and try and divide a wedge in the Denmark link on the board to get his plans for SFC through, including choice of manager. 

Ok on this I am calling utter bollocks on this.

Hes not worth 2billion or anywhere near to that cos he owns like 10% of shares in the group.

I would see Kraft more in the 10-20mil range.