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Gloucester Saint

Gloucester Saint

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think there’s only two ways out of this:

- SR sells the club (unlikely with 4 years of parachute payments coming up)

- Dragan restructures SR. Depends how much will he had to do it, because it will be toxic, complex, not instant and people won’t want to easily give up the train set, but personally I’d be getting the best legal advice I could on how to dissolve the current structure as the financial underwriter/main investor and get Rasmus and his mates off the SR board and start afresh with some football industry ops experience. You can buy recruitment software but not good leaders with industry track record. Preferably for what they want to create as a multi-club set up, further high worth investors on board as well.

I think option 2 is fairly unlikely as well unless Dragan is an activated owner, so the future is Watford lite, given the other clubs in their group are Udinese and Granada IIRC. Gates of 18-20k and bobbing around 8th-20th places in the Champ selling the odd gem to stay afloat. Probably why Martin feels so safe.

Edited by Gloucester Saint
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Gloucester Saint

Gloucester Saint

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

8th of July 2009. 

Marcus Liebherr's bid to buy Southampton completed | Daily Echo

I’d argue 1975-85 - was a young supporter for the later part of that period and it was fab. 2009-17 was brilliant to be part of and ran the 70s/80s quite close, but our folks were very fortunate to see what they did as Saints fans. My dad got to watch Keegan as Dell STH. 1986-91 was good, attacking football under Nicholl, decent cup side and young exciting players. The promotion to the first division under Bates was probably excellent as well but before my time.

Edited by Gloucester Saint
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Toussaint

Toussaint

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

Rasmus Ankersen is due to appear in the local press tomorrow, and I'll share the interview with you. I know that Rasmus was in Valenciennes this Friday at the Stade du Hainaut...

to be continued....

I’ve heard he has a bio weapon in his suitcase, your authorities should detain him indefinitely. 

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tdmickey3

tdmickey3

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

Rasmus Ankersen is due to appear in the local press tomorrow, and I'll share the interview with you. I know that Rasmus was in Valenciennes this Friday at the Stade du Hainaut...

to be continued....

Please spare us the man’s utter nonsense, we are irritated enough

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saintant

saintant

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

Rasmus Ankersen is due to appear in the local press tomorrow, and I'll share the interview with you. I know that Rasmus was in Valenciennes this Friday at the Stade du Hainaut...

to be continued....

It's not that I don't appreciate your efforts but second hand bullshit is still bullshit.

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Gloucester Saint

Gloucester Saint

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Master Bates said:

https://x.com/JustSaints_/status/1855358658403848682

Screenshot_20241110-054455_Samsung Internet.jpg

Unless the DoF has 100% football control and neutralises completely the ineptitude of the blond bloke on the right of the picture, nothing will change. Rupert Lowe knew far more about football than Rasmus does, and that is not any kind of bar to clear. Personally I think SR should be restructured with Rasmus and Kraft bought out but that seems unlikely. The DoF needs to be a global big hitter - Henry, Vieira, if SR is to start being taken seriously. And Dragan needs some other high worth investors to pull off a multi club model.

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Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

Rasmus Ankersen is due to appear in the local press tomorrow, and I'll share the interview with you. I know that Rasmus was in Valenciennes this Friday at the Stade du Hainaut...

to be continued....

He’s going to announce the incoming manager, unexpectedly available, Russel Martine. Bon chance…

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Wade Garrett

Wade Garrett

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

Rasmus Ankersen is due to appear in the local press tomorrow, and I'll share the interview with you. I know that Rasmus was in Valenciennes this Friday at the Stade du Hainaut...

to be continued....

Thanks for posting, but I couldn’t give a shiny shit what that imposter has to say.

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S-Clarke

S-Clarke

Posted
Posted (edited)

I thought I'd have a quick look through our history with them up to now (regarding managers/backroom). We had some stability with David Jones, Semmens, Crocker - but one of SR's first jobs was to rip all that apart behind the scenes, and bring in their own people (i.e. Joe Shields) - that was just the start.

Ralph was always onto a hiding and it was inevitable SR wanted their own man, so they were always going to bin him off as their next radical change. In comes Jones as some sort of forward thinking, clever appointment. His teams were dull, defensively focused and not particularly attacking. Didn't fit with what we had at all in terms of a player profile.

So, they go into the January window and splurge £18m on a big tall centre forward and two wingers. Clear as day it was a hit it long to the channels, cross it for the big ban style approach. It was never going to work and was too much of a change from what we had before in a short space of time.

They tried to get Marsch, who himself bailed because he didn't see the joined up plan with all at the club - so they stuck with Selles with the PR that this was another clever appointment. The inevitable happened and he was like a rabbit in the headlights, felt a bit sorry for him - but it was another Wigley moment.

So, after changing Ralph with the idea of going with someone who is a bit defensively minded (Jones), we then rip it up again the following summer and totally change tact to the other extreme with Martin. Thus we end up with the situation last summer where we have the likes of Onuachu, Sulemana, Charly (bought for a Jones style) are stuck in the building who are now not suited to this new manager - does this seem like any sort of plan at all?

I think at this stage it's plainly clear they're totally lost with no idea. They have no plan, they keep trying things in the hope that they stick - but I don't believe even they know what their grand plan is, they seem totally confused. In the last 2 years we have crossed between a gegenpress, low block and a tiki-taka style managers - we have tried to reinvent ourselves 3 times and it hasn't worked because they don't know how to execute it.

I wonder what's next? What other style haven't we attempted yet? 

Edited by S-Clarke
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saintant

saintant

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I thought I'd have a quick look through our history with them up to now (regarding managers/backroom). We had some stability with David Jones, Semmens, Crocker - but one of SR's first jobs was to rip all that apart behind the scenes, and bring in their own people (i.e. Joe Shields) - that was just the start.

Ralph was always onto a hiding and it was inevitable SR wanted their own man, so they were always going to bin him off as their next radical change. In comes Jones as some sort of forward thinking, clever appointment. His teams were dull, defensively focused and not particularly attacking. Didn't fit with what we had at all in terms of a player profile.

So, they go into the January window and splurge £18m on a big tall centre forward and two wingers. Clear as day it was a hit it long to the channels, cross it for the big ban style approach. It was never going to work and was too much of a change from what we had before in a short space of time.

They tried to get Marsch, who himself bailed because he didn't see the joined up plan with all at the club - so they stuck with Selles with the PR that this was another clever appointment. The inevitable happened and he was like a rabbit in the headlights, felt a bit sorry for him - but it was another Wigley moment.

So, after changing Ralph with the idea of going with someone who is a bit defensively minded (Jones), we then rip it up again the following summer and totally change tact to the other extreme with Martin. Thus we end up with the situation last summer where we have the likes of Onuachu, Sulemana, Charly (bought for a Jones style) are stuck in the building who are now not suited to this new manager - does this seem like any sort of plan at all?

I think at this stage it's plainly clear they're totally lost with no idea. They have no plan, they keep trying things in the hope that they stick - but I don't believe even they know what their grand plan is, they seem totally confused. In the last 2 years we have crossed between a gegenpress, low block and a tiki-taka style managers - we have tried to reinvent ourselves 3 times and it hasn't worked because they don't know how to execute it.

I wonder what's next? What other style haven't we attempted yet? 

Time to simplify things and play fast attacking football with no fear of committing men forward in numbers. Get players receiving the ball between the opposition lines by good movement. Midfielders constantly on the half turn looking to go forward rather than backwards. Crosses, shots and wingers hugging the touchline. Our defence will never be great so accept that and with some luck and Ramsdale performing heroics we'll win more games and at least show some balls and fight instead of this mundane walking football that serves no purpose other than to inflate our possession stats.  We know we're probably going down so let's do it with some passion and not with a whimper. We are a better side than being portrayed by the current manager who continues on his own crusade to reinvent football even though he clearly doesn't have the tools or nous to do it. 

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Badger

Badger

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

This picture is so telling. Dragan is so serious and concerned while the two clowns on his left are having a good time.

I think this must have been taken two years ago as Martin Semmens is on Dragan’s right. He was the one who treated the SR arrival with a great fanfare.

If the picture is ‘telling’ then it’s worrying that Dragan has had nearly two years to bin the knobhead chancers, and they’re still here. 

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Badger

Badger

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

Rasmus Ankersen is due to appear in the local press tomorrow, and I'll share the interview with you. I know that Rasmus was in Valenciennes this Friday at the Stade du Hainaut...

to be continued....

Thanks for the update.

If you bump into him at a Valenciennes  match or press conference, please give him my best wishes in finest English.

”Oh by the way Rasmus, Badger sends his regards. And he thinks you’re a cunt ”. 

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Turkish

Turkish

Posted
Posted

Why do we seem to attract owners/chairman that think they can reinvent football? Barring a few years of sanity we’ve had them for the last 30 years.  Lowe was one of them, Cortese the same, Semmens the marketing guy and his weird ideas and how Rasmus with his player trading and philosophy bollocks. Why can’t we have a normal owner and bloke in charge who goes for the tried and tested formula of a decent manager and good players. Rather than being obsessed with buying 3 shit players the price of one good one, spending tens of millions hoping to find the new Ronaldo and let the sink or swim and trying to find the new Pochettino with every management appointment 

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Wade Garrett

Wade Garrett

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Why do we seem to attract owners/chairman that think they can reinvent football? Barring a few years of sanity we’ve had them for the last 30 years.  Lowe was one of them, Cortese the same, Semmens the marketing guy and his weird ideas and how Rasmus with his player trading and philosophy bollocks. Why can’t we have a normal owner and bloke in charge who goes for the tried and tested formula of a decent manager and good players. Rather than being obsessed with buying 3 shit players the price of one good one, spending tens of millions hoping to find the new Ronaldo and let the sink or swim and trying to find the new Pochettino with every management appointment 

Magnificent post.

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trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Why do we seem to attract owners/chairman that think they can reinvent football? Barring a few years of sanity we’ve had them for the last 30 years.  Lowe was one of them, Cortese the same, Semmens the marketing guy and his weird ideas and how Rasmus with his player trading and philosophy bollocks. Why can’t we have a normal owner and bloke in charge who goes for the tried and tested formula of a decent manager and good players. Rather than being obsessed with buying 3 shit players the price of one good one, spending tens of millions hoping to find the new Ronaldo and let the sink or swim and trying to find the new Pochettino with every management appointment 

We have a winner for this month's Saintsweb 'In a Nutshell' Award...

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Charlie Wayman

Charlie Wayman

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

I think there’s only two ways out of this:

- SR sells the club (unlikely with 4 years of parachute payments coming up)

- Dragan restructures SR. Depends how much will he had to do it, because it will be toxic, complex, not instant and people won’t want to easily give up the train set, but personally I’d be getting the best legal advice I could on how to dissolve the current structure as the financial underwriter/main investor and get Rasmus and his mates off the SR board and start afresh with some football industry ops experience. You can buy recruitment software but not good leaders with industry track record. Preferably for what they want to create as a multi-club set up, further high worth investors on board as well.

I think option 2 is fairly unlikely as well unless Dragan is an activated owner, so the future is Watford lite, given the other clubs in their group are Udinese and Granada IIRC. Gates of 18-20k and bobbing around 8th-20th places in the Champ selling the odd gem to stay afloat. Probably why Martin feels so safe.

Personally I have lost all respect for the board, small minded people of limited ambition and minimal competence. I hope they do sell up so that we can start a new chapter.

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ChristopheVAFC

ChristopheVAFC

Posted
Posted

Henrik Kraft intervieuw in local press today:

 

Quote

"VA is still a club that we would like to bring back to Ligue 1", assures Henrik Kraft, the owner of VAFC

Boss of Sport Republic and therefore of VAFC, Henrik Kraft granted us an interview before the match against Bourg-en-Bresse. He explains his strategy and reaffirms the ambition to bring VA back to the top despite the relegation to National.

Sport Republic has been in Valenciennes for a year and a half, are you still happy to be here?

"Absolutely. We are disappointed to be in National but we are still happy with our investment and the welcome received. In a club, there are of course the sporting results but also a lot of other aspects and many good things have been done."

You are at the head of VA but also of Southampton in the Premier League, how do you go about it?

"It's like having two children. Three even, since there is also Goztepe in Turkey (managed by Rasmus Ankersen). You love them and you focus on both at the same time. They have different characteristics, not the same charm or the same problems, but we dedicate ourselves to both. I try to be present at all the home games of both clubs and I think I have succeeded."

What exactly is the division of roles between you and Rasmus Ankersen who shares the head of Sport Republic with you. ?

To put it simply, Rasmus is Mr. Football. He works closely with the sporting directors of our different clubs on player recruitment, with the staff and the performance departments. I am more focused on the commercial part of the organization, finances, governance. In particular, I spend a lot of time with the respective GMs. We also have Goztepe in Turkey (currently 6th in the SuperLig), of which Rasmus is the president. I also go there regularly and we both constantly exchange on many subjects. »

The multi-ownership of clubs is rarely seen in a good light by the supporters, the biggest generally crushing the others. You seem to succeed in putting VA on the same level. What is your model?

"It's normal, it's a question of respect for the supporters, for the partners, the sponsors, to be present here. We want them to realize that we are concerned, that we care about the club. Our overall strategy is to create a group where each club benefits from more resources and expertise. We believe a lot in synergies, it's like a family. We don't have a particular model. We can't compare ourselves to Red Bull which has a brand above its clubs, nor to Manchester City (to which Troyes belongs) which still does things differently"

Since your arrival, VAFC has evolved a lot in its structure. What is the next project?

"We spent a lot of time rebuilding the foundations here, in all areas. Communication, marketing, the whole environment around the team… We are entering a phase where we need to consolidate all of that, have even more partners, have more people at the stadium. And then, there is the sporting side. We hope to return to Ligue 2 this season. Because we can do a lot of things, a football club needs a winning team, otherwise everyone makes fun of the rest.”

What would be your reaction if VA failed to get back up this season?

“We would all be disappointed, both the owners and the supporters. But we will get back to work to understand what went wrong and we will do better next year.”

Last season, marked by the relegation to the National, you devoted a lot of energy to restructuring the club. In hindsight, haven’t you neglected the sporting aspect a little?

"It's certain that if we could start over, we would do things a little differently. We also went about recruiting differently this summer. Last year's team lacked experience. We added three players during the winter break (Moursou, Flamarion and Oyewusi) and it logically took them time to acclimatise and we see their contribution today. Mathias Oyewusi is probably the best player in the championship."

In the near future, can we expect to have more players from your other clubs come to Valenciennes when for the moment only Daouda Traoré is on loan from Southampton?

"It is an integral part of the strategy that the clubs help each other. It is about finding the right moment for each player. We constantly evaluate them to build the best plan for each of them."

How do you see the medium-term future of VAFC? Where do you imagine the club in a few years?

“The project has not changed since we arrived. VA is still a club that we would like to bring back to Ligue 1, where it has spent a large part of its history. The infrastructure is of an excellent level and we are convinced that we are in a region that can have a third Ligue 1 club. That is still the objective. How long will it take? We are moving forward step by step and the first is already to go back to Ligue 2.”

How long is Sport Republic prepared to wait to achieve its objective?

“There is no deadline, we are here in a long-term project. We are convinced that in two, three, four years, the links between our clubs will be stronger, that the academy that we launched in Mali will also be stronger. We are only at the beginning, it will take time before we get the results."

Have you set a "deadline" for the sports sector to move up to L2?

"I am not sure that it is useful to do so. I could go and see them and say: You have to win tonight but that is not what will get you there. We are trying to put everything in place to achieve it but it is still sport. There may be injuries, an unjustified penalty, an offside goal... We also made a good start before injuries and suspensions ruled out several players from the team. We have to hang on to stay at the top of the table."

What do you say to the supporters who were very enthusiastic when you arrived but are also, rightly, impatient to see results?

"I would like to thank them for their patience. Their support makes all the difference, we have seen it since the start of the season. There are also a lot of them away and it is great. So please continue to support us and be sure that we are doing everything to make the team proud.”

 

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Gloucester Saint

Gloucester Saint

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

bit i liked was the comment about not signing anyone with relegation scar tissue and then in the next line mention archer

Sums up what Forkbeard the Swansea fan was saying about Martin and those around him saving their necks by giving easy access and copy to national media despite results and anyone with an IQ in double digits seeing things are not going well.

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tdmickey3

tdmickey3

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Well there we have it from Henrik Kraft - Rasmus is Mr Football and in charge of transfers at all three clubs.

Very clear where our ire needs to be directed. 

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

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Daft Kerplunk

Daft Kerplunk

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

bit i liked was the comment about not signing anyone with relegation scar tissue and then in the next line mention archer

Scar tissue and Rasmus being key to Brentford’s success suggests a lovely interaction between the journalist and Saints PR guru Jordan Sibley.

If the journo did additional fact finding they’d see that Brentford have done better since Rasmus left. Scar tissue is pure Russ. 

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Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, OldNick said:

In my opinion Gao was a better owner. 

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).

Edited by Matthew Le God
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Holmes_and_Watson

Holmes_and_Watson

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Sums up what Forkbeard the Swansea fan was saying about Martin and those around him saving their necks by giving easy access and copy to national media despite results and anyone with an IQ in double digits seeing things are not going well.

It explains why it was Russ on the radio being quoted about the number of fixtures being played following Rodri's comments. The PL manager they have easy access to?

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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman

Posted
Posted
40 minutes 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).

You're right - they have spent, or at least allowed SOMEONE to spend so criminally badly it's unreal.  Our recruitment was always hit and miss, but mostly more hit, apart from a couple, it's been so bad. That sum of money is frightening, given what we could've done with it.  

I mean it doesn't even need to be a lot, who is that player at Villa for instance they got from Middlesbrough for not much? Morgan Rogers? Although he's probably getting better service than he would here ... 

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Toussaint

Toussaint

Posted
Posted (edited)
55 minutes 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).

Well he was better in so much as he openly admitted he knew nothing about football, that in itself makes him better than Rasmus, who demonstrably knows even less than Gao but sees himself as Mr Football. 

Edited by Toussaint
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saintant

saintant

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Well there we have it from Henrik Kraft - Rasmus is Mr Football and in charge of transfers at all three clubs.

Very clear where our ire needs to be directed. 

I gave up at the phrase 'Rasmus is Mr Football' which told me the whole thing was complete bullshit. We will not be patronised by this rubbish Kraft so don't insult our intelligence.

Edited by saintant
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OldNick

OldNick

Posted
Posted
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).

I dont wish to get into a long drawn out conversation with you but, Gao left Semmens alone to run the club. In that period we comfortably stayed up and didnt have the debacle of the past seasons. We dont really know how the money spent has been allotted and whether there is a lien on the club. Gao would have spent had it not been for the Chinese government closing the ability to send money out.

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