Sport Republic

[ChristopheVAFC]

Thank you for sharing the press article. 🙂

[Holmes_and_Watson]

6 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Some of my colleagues are not very happy, not about your promotion to the Premier League, but about the fact that our club is talking about you rather than the future plans for our club for next season.

Timeshare isn't necessarily popular in France or it hasn't often worked for other clubs (for example, Troyes and the City Group, who were relegated twice in two years)...

Of course, going down is never a good thing, but we hadn't been in the 3rd division for 20 years before we joined. 

I think that just like our friends at Goztepe and you, our friends at Southampton, we'll have a much better season next year, with a real chance of going up. I certainly hope so!

As part of the same group, we can share the good times, and support each other through the tough times.

You kindly posted some of the reflections from SR on your season, and there's no shortage of plans in place for you.

We've yet to really see the benefits of the group, so early days there. But plenty of areas could benefit us all. New York Saint's post has that nice pre season sense of optimism about it.

Lots of challenges, and we've seen plenty of errors.  But, and supported by Dragon's interview, willing to face them and learn from them over the long term. I don't think I've seen any criticism of his investment.  Criticism focused on how it was spent. Dragon nicely downplays his football knowledge. Yet, pinpoints us getting carried away on any single batch of players, or overly depending on a single source of recruitment. He seems outwardly okay about his funds.

[saintant]

Has Rasmus made any comment on our promotion? He seems strangely quiet.

[AlexLaw76]

4 hours ago, NewYorkSaint said:

I predict there will be a sea change attitude toward Sports Republic over the next couple years. Contrary to what others here feel (which may just possibly have been influenced by the pain of relegation), I think:

- Rasmus and the Sports Republic team have an exciting strategy for this club

- they're funded by a decent owner with a great combo of deep pockets and a willingness to delegate decision making 

- the network of clubs they're building will, over time, give us special strategic advantages in terms of the players we have access to 

- long-term investment in the academy will build on what is already great, and probably extend to other continents ensuring an exciting pipeline

- they learn quickly from their mistakes and aren't afraid to course correct

- they're in this for the long-term

In the premier league, you're up against some clubs with insane levels of 'irrational' money... money spent purely for ego. It's so far from a level playing field, it's crazy.

When someone's willing to risk £200m, and work like dogs to try to find a way to claim our own place there, I feel like they're entitled to a lot more respect than some have shown. Hopefully their successful appointment of Martin, and the immediate bounce-back, will turn the tide.  Personally, I'm really looking forward to how they manage things this summer. Could be pretty exciting...........

I thought no one could surpass Manji.....

[ChristopheVAFC]

19 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

As part of the same group, we can share the good times, and support each other through the tough times.

You kindly posted some of the reflections from SR on your season, and there's no shortage of plans in place for you.

We've yet to really see the benefits of the group, so early days there. But plenty of areas could benefit us all. New York Saint's post has that nice pre season sense of optimism about it.

Lots of challenges, and we've seen plenty of errors.  But, and supported by Dragon's interview, willing to face them and learn from them over the long term. I don't think I've seen any criticism of his investment.  Criticism focused on how it was spent. Dragon nicely downplays his football knowledge. Yet, pinpoints us getting carried away on any single batch of players, or overly depending on a single source of recruitment. He seems outwardly okay about his funds.

I agree with that. The 3 of us haven't had the same destiny, with 2 accessions and one relegation, but I remain confident for the future.

The first year of managing Sport Républic still didn't go very well but the second was much better, both for you and our friends from Goztepe.

Back home, I think SR didn't take this first year very well, as it was difficult for everyone, but now that they've got the club under control, they know where they're going and I'm convinced that they're already working hard to put something good in place.

Given what our club had become before the takeover, we were on the brink of filing for bankruptcy and closing the club, and I'll never thank SR for taking charge of my club.

I'm still very happy to be part of the big Sport Républic family and I know that in the near future, we'll be able to benefit from the new forces at work.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

10 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

I agree with that. The 3 of us haven't had the same destiny, with 2 accessions and one relegation, but I remain confident for the future.

The first year of managing Sport Républic still didn't go very well but the second was much better, both for you and our friends from Goztepe.

Back home, I think SR didn't take this first year very well, as it was difficult for everyone, but now that they've got the club under control, they know where they're going and I'm convinced that they're already working hard to put something good in place.

Given what our club had become before the takeover, we were on the brink of filing for bankruptcy and closing the club, and I'll never thank SR for taking charge of my club.

I'm still very happy to be part of the big Sport Républic family and I know that in the near future, we'll be able to benefit from the new forces at work.

There are any number of clubs, where owners come in, make mistakes and it goes from bad to worse.

In your case it seems that it was a combination of making some errors while also trying to fix things they didn't know about.

Had we not gone up, there would still have been progress in a number of areas. As it is, you can use us an an example of the support you'll get to fix what went wrong last season.

[ChristopheVAFC]

33 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

There are any number of clubs, where owners come in, make mistakes and it goes from bad to worse.

In your case it seems that it was a combination of making some errors while also trying to fix things they didn't know about.

Had we not gone up, there would still have been progress in a number of areas. As it is, you can use us an an example of the support you'll get to fix what went wrong last season.

In our case, even if the sportsman has not succeeded, there have been major changes in the day-to-day management of the club, with the introduction of round tables to gather the wishes of supporters, the introduction of an application, improved communications, regular meetings with the heads of supporters' groups, etc.

The management is listening and making proposals to ensure that everyone wins.

Apart from the sporting side of things, there's a lot of positive things going on, and the SR management have constantly reminded us that they won't be leaving us any time soon and that they want to set up something good here. I'm confident, as I keep saying when I see the projects in Goztepe and Southampton.

The effort will pay off sooner or later, I'm convinced of that.

[Master Bates]

Abel Lorincz joins from Hammarby FC. Going to be involved with all three clubs.

[Nolan]

On 01/06/2024 at 15:15, Master Bates said:

Abel Lorincz joins from Hammarby FC. Going to be involved with all three clubs.

Lorincz will have his new base in France and be involved in both Southampton, Valenciennes and Göztepe, as a coach for set pieces.

 

Local Media in Göztepe says they want another year of Mateusz Lis

[Master Bates]

2 hours ago, Nolan said:

Lorincz will have his new base in France and be involved in both Southampton, Valenciennes and Göztepe, as a coach for set pieces.

 

Local Media in Göztepe says they want another year of Mateusz Lis

Been agreed that he'll stay another season. Also wanting Mara.

[Convict Colony]

Rasmus is still alive 

https://x.com/Goztepe/status/1801551684809761019

Edited June 14 by Convict Colony

[Master Bates]

How much is the club worth to buy atm?

[Weston Super Saint]

7 hours ago, Master Bates said:

How much is the club worth to buy atm?

I don't think you have enough.

[Master Bates]

Sports Republic doing well so far with transfers. It's like there's been a takeover in the news of transfers in and out of the club.

[Master Bates]

Sport Republic Ltd, reported a £56m loss in 2022/23.

 

https://x.com/FPL_ElStatto/status/1810569448006271320

[Saint86]

Are there any rules that stop SR also taking over Bordeaux? Massive club at rock bottom right now, great heritage, and great academy! Surely would be a fine addition to any portfolio of clubs.

Edited July 31 by Saint86

[Weston Super Saint]

7 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Are there any rules that stop SR also taking over Bordeaux? Massive club at rock bottom right now, great heritage, and great academy! Surely would be a fine addition to any portfolio of clubs.

Apart from the one where we already own a French club?

[Matthew Le God]

7 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Are there any rules that stop SR also taking over Bordeaux? Massive club at rock bottom right now, great heritage, and great academy! Surely would be a fine addition to any portfolio of clubs.

Sport Republic already own a French club, Valenciennes FC. They can't own another at the same time.

[Saint86]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Sport Republic already own a French club, Valenciennes FC. They can't own another at the same time.

Yeah, i just googled it. I think its fully prohibited in France so they couldn't even invest in Bordeaux as a minority shareholder.

[Dusic]

This season should be the first where the multi club benefit is visible.

With Goztepe being back in the Superlig deals like Matsuki are possible and there are still bargains to be had as long as you have somewhere to put them in order to see if they can reach PL level whilst gaining a WP.

Will be massive if Saints and Goztepe can both stay up and Valenciennes get promoted.

Edited July 31 by Dusic

[Convict Colony]

Based on current feeling 

Valenciennes will be promoted

Gozteppe will stay up due to an increase in the referee inducement fund

We will stay up just, playing some awesome football but conceding late goals costing us wins or draws.

 

Edited July 31 by Convict Colony

[FredVaFC59100]

I feel quite the opposite regarding Valenciennes' future. Ben Chorley is mediocre at best, He has made poor choices since day 1. This does not fare well for SR's top farm club structure. 

[ChristopheVAFC]

18 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Sport Republic already own a French club, Valenciennes FC. They can't own another at the same time.

It seems to me that owning 2 clubs from the same country isn't really legal, it could be said to be a conflict of interest. That's why multi-owners generally have 1 club per country.

[ChristopheVAFC]

19 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Are there any rules that stop SR also taking over Bordeaux? Massive club at rock bottom right now, great heritage, and great academy! Surely would be a fine addition to any portfolio of clubs.

Honestly, it's not a good deal to buy Girondins de Bordeaux, firstly because they have a total debt of more than 90 million euros (Valenciennes had around 20 million at the time of the buyout).

Bordeaux may be one of the oldest clubs in France, but they have often been helped out in the past.

Sometimes you have to go backwards in order to go forwards, and Strasbourg, Sedan and others are examples of clubs that have gone from the bottom to the top.

I wish a lot of courage to those who will buy the club because in my opinion it's a real money pit and it's a club that lives well beyond its means.

Edited August 1 by ChristopheVAFC

[ChristopheVAFC]

3 hours ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

I feel quite the opposite regarding Valenciennes' future. Ben Chorley is mediocre at best, He has made poor choices since day 1. This does not fare well for SR's top farm club structure. 

Dear colleague, 

It's true that the 1st year of Sport Républic in Valenciennes has not been a success. Nevertheless, SR having experienced the same situation with our friends from Southampton and Goztepe, the second season is more than a success. Let's wish our club the same fate.

I would remind you that Eddy Zdziech (our former owner), left SR a derelict club with work to be done on all the club's structures.

Let's be patient. Work always pays off sooner or later.

[Convict Colony]

4 hours ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

I feel quite the opposite regarding Valenciennes' future. Ben Chorley is mediocre at best, He has made poor choices since day 1. This does not fare well for SR's top farm club structure. 

Dont worry look to what they did at Gozteppe, they replaced the director of football early in the season after a bad start, make no mistake chorley will be under massive pressure to ensure you guys start well.

 

[Convict Colony]

Well I am excited for Valenciennes season to start, i remember saints in the 3rd league and it was awesome as we were scoring lots of goals and winning a lot.

I will a keen watcher for the start, it seems you will start the same weekend as us (16th you, us 17th) so plenty of tests coming up and hopefully get some spirit back into the club before the season starts v Aubagne.

As an aside i saw the Versaille shirts the other day, looked really nice

[ChristopheVAFC]

3 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Dont worry look to what they did at Gozteppe, they replaced the director of football early in the season after a bad start, make no mistake chorley will be under massive pressure to ensure you guys start well.

 

Of course our sporting director, Ben Chorley, will be under a lot of pressure at the start of the season. We mustn't make the same mistakes as last season.

We mustn't forget that this is a business and that there's a lot of money at stake, and I think that Yoann Godin, our managing director, and Ben Chorley, our sporting director, must have been briefed by Sport Républic governance this summer.

As far as the fans are concerned, even if most of us have been patient and accepted our descent into the National, it won't be the same if the season gets off to a catastrophic start.

[ChristopheVAFC]

3 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Well I am excited for Valenciennes season to start, i remember saints in the 3rd league and it was awesome as we were scoring lots of goals and winning a lot.

I will a keen watcher for the start, it seems you will start the same weekend as us (16th you, us 17th) so plenty of tests coming up and hopefully get some spirit back into the club before the season starts v Aubagne.

As an aside i saw the Versaille shirts the other day, looked really nice

I look forward to bringing you regular updates from my team!

I hope we have a great season, and hopefully we'll be back in the top flight straight away!

For us, the 1st day of the championship is scheduled for Friday 16 August 2024.

[Nolan]

SR will have huge expectations at VAFC.

Last season Goztepe changed manager after 12 Games and when in 5th in the table. Two losses on the trot didn't cut it and Stoilov was brought in. 

Kantari will be expected to bring instant results, and there wont be messing around if changes are needed.

 

 

[ChristopheVAFC]

Il y a 5 minutes, Nolan a dit :

SR aura d’énormes attentes au VAFC.

La saison dernière, Goztepe a changé d’entraîneur après 12 matchs et alors qu’il était 5e au classement. Deux défaites au trot n’ont pas suffi et Stoilov a été fait appeler.

On s’attend à ce que Kantari apporte des résultats instantanés, et il n’y aura pas de déconneries si des changements sont nécessaires.

 

 

Le maintien d’Ahmed Kantari en tant qu’entraîneur de l’équipe première cet été n’a pas été bien accueilli par de nombreux fans ici, car nous nous attendions à un changement d’entraîneur.

Or, j’imagine qu’il a dû défendre ardemment sa cause lors de son interview cet été avec la gouvernance de la SR.

Je pense aussi qu’il n’aura pas beaucoup de marge d’erreur, car SR ne sera pas aussi patient qu’il l’a été la saison dernière.

[manji]

5 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Dont worry look to what they did at Gozteppe, they replaced the director of football early in the season after a bad start, make no mistake chorley will be under massive pressure to ensure you guys start well.

 

If I remember rightly Gozteppe started OK but not good enough so he got the chop. Ruthless but effective. 

[FredVaFC59100]

What I don't get is that SR always puts forward their "Scientific" approach to football with data based hiring, but yet, they keep on making bad decisions (for Valenciennes at least) whether it pertains to the management team or players on the pitch. The friendly games have so far, been underwhelming and the team shows no progress whatsoever. I predict mid-table standing at the end of the season.  

[Convict Colony]

Completely understand Fred we were in the same position last year.

We looked average to put it nicely basically for the first 10 league games in the season inc 4 straight losses and then it just clicked for something like a 27 game unbeaten run.

I assume SR are asking Valenciennes to play similar brand of possession football as ourselves so this seems to take a while to get going.

What is the monetary position for Valenciennes at the moment regarding the profit and sustainability rules, do you have money to spend this season if SR bankrolls it ?

I would of thought the ROI on investing for players to get out of the league would be huge this season, get a few good players from the league above in key positions and some expensive attacker from somewhere as its a tested methods to get promoted across lots of lower division leagues worldwide.

We've done it, Wrexham have recently done it, if you have a killer upfront it helps massively.

[Nolan]

Göztepe have ambition.

Stoilov said, "I am announcing this for the first time. This year, Göztepe will definitely fight to go to the European cups. We need to give the maximum fight for this. I think we should set our target very high. Maybe we may not be able to achieve this this year. I would not wait another summer for Europe. I do not have these opportunities. That's why we can play for Europe this year. Nobody came here for a holiday. We need to be a team that plays for the top tier. If we work hard, we can reach every team on the field. "We can win. Everything is in our hands. It is not easy, we have young players, but we are a good team. My goal is to win European cups."

Edited August 2 by Nolan

[Convict Colony]

59 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Göztepe have ambition.

Stoilov said, "I am announcing this for the first time. This year, Göztepe will definitely fight to go to the European cups. We need to give the maximum fight for this. I think we should set our target very high. Maybe we may not be able to achieve this this year. I would not wait another summer for Europe. I do not have these opportunities. That's why we can play for Europe this year. Nobody came here for a holiday. We need to be a team that plays for the top tier. If we work hard, we can reach every team on the field. "We can win. Everything is in our hands. It is not easy, we have young players, but we are a good team. My goal is to win European cups."

Their very own Che "were gonna win the league" Adams.

Love the spirit

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Nolan said:

Göztepe have ambition.

Stoilov said, "I am announcing this for the first time. This year, Göztepe will definitely fight to go to the European cups. We need to give the maximum fight for this. I think we should set our target very high. Maybe we may not be able to achieve this this year. I would not wait another summer for Europe. I do not have these opportunities. That's why we can play for Europe this year. Nobody came here for a holiday. We need to be a team that plays for the top tier. If we work hard, we can reach every team on the field. "We can win. Everything is in our hands. It is not easy, we have young players, but we are a good team. My goal is to win European cups."

I'd argue that it's probably easier, in financial sense anyway, to push Goztepe up to this level in a relatively poor Turkish league. Just needs clever scouting, not millions spent.

It's much harder for us in the PL, where you're looking at a hundred million + to build a squad to compete for Top 4 nowadays - which we couldn't do even if we wanted to because of PSR.

Just don't want to see this turn into an agenda where people believe SR are putting all their ambition and resources into Gozepte. They're not. They'll be putting the majority of their resources into us just for us to try and stay above 18th.

Edited August 2 by S-Clarke

[FredVaFC59100]

23 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

 

What is the monetary position for Valenciennes at the moment regarding the profit and sustainability rules, do you have money to spend this season if SR bankrolls it ?

I would of thought the ROI on investing for players to get out of the league would be huge this season, get a few good players from the league above in key positions and some expensive attacker from somewhere as its a tested methods to get promoted across lots of lower division leagues worldwide.

We've done it, Wrexham have recently done it, if you have a killer upfront it helps massively.

There has been a lot of talk from Ben Chorley & Co in March/April time-frame asserting we would go straight back up the following season; The day we got officially relegated, SR said they were deeply sadden and will do everything to minimize the stay in the 3rd division. i.e. they were already tuning down expectations... 

We are 2 weeks away from the first game and the squad is pretty weak. As expected, A lot of departures for only 4 arrivals on free transfers.. all mediocre players if you ask me. So, yeah, SR does not seem committed to go back up. Almost makes me regret the previous owner. The 3rd division is going to be very competitive this year, due to a lot of clubs used to first and second leagues being relegated in the past few years. I don't see us going back up (yet alone going ever back to the top league) anytime soon.

[ChristopheVAFC]

3 hours ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

There has been a lot of talk from Ben Chorley & Co in March/April time-frame asserting we would go straight back up the following season; The day we got officially relegated, SR said they were deeply sadden and will do everything to minimize the stay in the 3rd division. i.e. they were already tuning down expectations... 

We are 2 weeks away from the first game and the squad is pretty weak. As expected, A lot of departures for only 4 arrivals on free transfers.. all mediocre players if you ask me. So, yeah, SR does not seem committed to go back up. Almost makes me regret the previous owner. The 3rd division is going to be very competitive this year, due to a lot of clubs used to first and second leagues being relegated in the past few years. I don't see us going back up (yet alone going ever back to the top league) anytime soon.

I'd like to remind you that the state Valenciennes was in when it was bought by Sport Républic was not at all the same as that of our friends at Southampton and Goztepe.

Lack of staff, work to be done everywhere (stadium, training centre, academy, etc.) and that takes time. You can't erase 10 years of management by the previous owner in 1 year, it's impossible, whatever the club.

The mood of many of my compatriots is one of sadness and resignation, because we've had very little taste of victory and ambition.

As Ben Chorley said, VA is no longer used to winning and it's time for that to change.

The positive leads to the positive and we have to keep believing because our situation is far from hopeless. A project takes time to take shape and I have no doubt that we will rediscover the ambition that has returned to Southampton and Goztepe.

[FredVaFC59100]

On 02/08/2024 at 10:09, ChristopheVAFC said:

I'd like to remind you that the state Valenciennes was in when it was bought by Sport Républic was not at all the same as that of our friends at Southampton and Goztepe.

Lack of staff, work to be done everywhere (stadium, training centre, academy, etc.) and that takes time. You can't erase 10 years of management by the previous owner in 1 year, it's impossible, whatever the club.

The mood of many of my compatriots is one of sadness and resignation, because we've had very little taste of victory and ambition.

As Ben Chorley said, VA is no longer used to winning and it's time for that to change.

The positive leads to the positive and we have to keep believing because our situation is far from hopeless. A project takes time to take shape and I have no doubt that we will rediscover the ambition that has returned to Southampton and Goztepe.

Looks to me that SR is all talk but no action regarding VA FC .How can you put trust in SR when their actions (keeping Chorley/Kantari for more than a year for example) clearly shows poor judgement. How does Chorley fare better than the previous owner ? We only have 4 mediocre "has been" recruits on free transfer, and now, they are talking  about Free loan from LOSC and othe French teams. This is exactly Eddy Zdziech (previous owner)'s way of doing business in the last few years..

3 teams and 3 relegations does raise legitimate concerns. Makes me wonder if the two promotions this year were more a strike of luck than anything else.

Make me think that SR's strategy towards VA FC might be on purpose after all; They bought a good farm team training ground on the cheap, this is one way to toughen up young players in a good lower league to later send them out to flagship team (Southampton FC) if they do show some potential or dismiss them if they do not.  France has a reputation of producing good players; Top teams in Spain, Italy and Belgium to name a few,  regularly buy promising players from France's 2nd/3rd league.

Oh well, I have been supporting VA for 40 years and will do until my last breath, I just can't wait for SR to get the hell out. I miss the 70s/80s, and more generally the pre Bosman regulation era, where everything was more simple w/o multi properties business model.

Edited August 6 by FredVaFC59100

[Nolan]

51 minutes ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

Looks to me that SR is all talk but no action regarding VA FC .How can you put trust in SR when their actions (keeping Chorley/Kantari for more than a year for example) clearly shows poor judgement. How does Chorley fare better than the previous owner ? We only have 4 mediocre "has been" recruits on free transfer, and now, they are talking  about Free loan from LOSC and othe French teams. This is exactly Eddy Zdziech (previous owner)'s way of doing business in the last few years..

3 teams and 3 relegations does raise legitimate concerns. Makes me wonder if the two promotions this year were more a strike of luck than anything else.

Make me think that SR's strategy towards VA FC might be on purpose after all; They bought a good farm team training ground on the cheap, this is one way to toughen up young players in a good lower league to later send them out to flagship team (Southampton FC) if they do show some potential or dismiss them if they do not.  France has a reputation of producing good players; Top teams in Spain, Italy and Belgium to name a few,  regularly buy promising players from France's 2nd/3rd league.

Oh well, I have been supporting VA for 40 years and will do until my last breath, I just can't wait for SR to get the hell out. I miss the 70s/80s, and more generally the pre Bosman regulation era, where everything was more simple w/o multi properties business model.

You are saying very similar to what some people were saying about Southampton last year, and certainly what some of the Turkish fans were saying about Göztepe. 

If in 10 games, it isn't working at VAFC, there will be change.

[FredVaFC59100]

in 10 games it will be too late. The transfer window closes on August 31th. By the time heads roll down, you can make it back up to the top of the table regardless of the coach when most of the players are subpar. Another wasted season.

[Convict Colony]

Transfer window isn't shut yet, better players will be arriving i am sure later in the window when they make their final assessment and decide where to play.

Hopefully SR can offer a nicer salary that other teams or something to get them into the club.

Agree though that you need a good start, its always a pain that the season starts before the window ends but lets see what kantari has done with the players he has in the first games given he took over mid season and at least stabilised the team (10 wins, 3 draws, 14 losses) after a horrendous start.

I wonder if he continues play in the style of last season or now he has more time to get his idea's across if he plays more possession dominant game.

Will be interesting to watch.

[ChristopheVAFC]

The problem for us is that the club hasn't been used to winning for 11 years, so when SR arrived there was a lot of impatience and a lot of my compatriots are disappointed that the results aren't there.

I think that like Rome, which wasn't built in 1 day, it will take time for the work to pay off.

I'm very calm about the season to come, positive things lead to positive things and that will be my point of view for a long time to come.

I don't think that it's by criticising SR all the time that VA will come through and achieve better results.

Our former owner is now a long way from our club and that's no bad thing, I'd never want him back.

I wish the best of seasons to our 3 clubs and that we can all celebrate together next summer!

Edited August 6 by ChristopheVAFC

[ChristopheVAFC]

Last season, we recruited 15 players from the 4 corners of the world, but this year, as sporting director Ben Chorley told me, the aim is to recruit less, but to recruit better, with players who have a good mentality and who have made it up the league. 

I also think that because the squad hasn't changed much, the players already know each other and that could save time in the league.

They know it didn't work last year and are trying to do things differently. I'm fine with that.

The result will be determined on the pitch, but SR knows that the fans are waiting for him and that if he doesn't get the league off to a good start, the fans will be quick to show their anger.

[Nolan]

58 minutes ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

in 10 games it will be too late. The transfer window closes on August 31th. By the time heads roll down, you can make it back up to the top of the table regardless of the coach when most of the players are subpar. Another wasted season.

We know where you are coming from, But Sports Republic will have learnt from there experiences with Saints and Goztepe.

Look at Goztepe last season the change to Stoilov came after the first back to back defeats of the season.

yes it will take time to regain all fans confidence, but the time for panic is not now.

 

[AlexLaw76]

39 minutes ago, Nolan said:

We know where you are coming from, But Sports Republic will have learnt from there experiences with Saints and Goztepe.

Look at Goztepe last season the change to Stoilov came after the first back to back defeats of the season.

yes it will take time to regain all fans confidence, but the time for panic is not now.

 

Sports Republic are pretty shite owners, to be fair

[Nolan]

7 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Sports Republic are pretty shite owners, to be fair

a subjective opinion, and without comparison. Who do you consider good owners?

Do you consider they would be better owners had the previously owners not borrowed £80million from MSD during the pandemic?

 

Sports Republics Record so far is fair.

➡️Goztepe play-off Final losers in First Season.

↗️Goztepe promotion is Second Season.

↘️Southampton Relegated in First Season

↗️Southampton Promoted in Second Season.

↘️Valenciennes Relegated in First Season. 

[Saint86]

12 minutes ago, Nolan said:

a subjective opinion, and without comparison. Who do you consider good owners?

Do you consider they would be better owners had the previously owners not borrowed £80million from MSD during the pandemic?

 

Sports Republics Record so far is fair.

➡️Goztepe play-off Final losers in First Season.

↗️Goztepe promotion is Second Season.

↘️Southampton Relegated in First Season

↗️Southampton Promoted in Second Season.

↘️Valenciennes Relegated in First Season. 

How much money have they spent for each of their clubs to effectively go backwards from where they were before the purchased them? Last year at saints was the absolute bare minimum... Which we squeaked. Outside of that, they have set the club back years in relation to scouting, coaching, and particularly the academy. First team quality is also significantly below that of the prem relegation season. Tino, lavia, and JWP absolutely waltz into our starting 11.

Edited August 6 by Saint86

[Nolan]

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

How much money have they spent for each of their clubs to effectively go backwards from where they were before the purchased them? Last year at saints was the absolute bare minimum... Which we squeaked. 

I'm sorry? 12 months ago it felt like the consensus on here didn't expect us to be near promotion, let alone back in the Premier League now.

Backwards from where we were under Gao with Zero investment?

Edited August 6 by Nolan