Sport Republic

[RedArmy]

5 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Was xG being put together by a blind man?

5.29 seems very low as they had at least 3 chances in the second half that could easily have gone in. Hit the post twice.

I think Lumley made more than 5 saves. 
 

They hit the woodwork 3, 4 times? 

Edited December 4 by RedArmy

[Wade Garrett]

Sports Republic deserve Russell Martin and the shitshow that our football club has become.

Us, the fans, do not.

[Badger]

2 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Martin is definitely going tonight even if not formally confirmed until tomorrow.

That’s only the battle - the war is that Rasmus Ankerson has to be in the cross-hairs of every Southampton supporter.

I think you’re clutching at straws Glos Saint. 
 

It’s probably just the Christmas piss up, where they gather and smugly congratulate each other on how well they’ve done.

Probably discuss a bit of business as well. Things like extending Martin’s contract again. 

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, Badger said:

I think you’re clutching at straws Glos Saint. 
 

It’s probably just the Christmas piss up, where they gather and smugly congratulate each other on how well they’ve done.

Probably discuss a bit of business as well. Things like extending Martin’s contract again. 

The sad reality probably. What a shit show. It’s their club now, their mess to clean up. Colossal mess as well, will need a massive J Cloth. 

[Badger]

2 hours ago, Master Bates said:

Why the camera men? Is it a meeting or Amazon presenters?

Bald bloke with his back to the window towards the left. Perhaps it’s Gregg Wallace being offered the role as club’s head of PR 

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, Badger said:

Bald bloke with his back to the window towards the left. Perhaps it’s Gregg Wallace being offered the role as club’s head of PR 

Football doesn’t get any tougher than this!

[Toussaint]

4 minutes ago, Badger said:

Bald bloke with his back to the window towards the left. Perhaps it’s Gregg Wallace being offered the role as club’s head of PR 

Masseuse for the ladies team apparantly 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Sadly not but been at enough workplaces and boardrooms to know what that gathering looks like - it’s always a big cheese going. Not being very discreet about it either. 

After a robust exchange of views, those attending have agreed that a bit more red is needed for the next light show.

[Saint86]

5 hours ago, Master Bates said:

Why the camera men? Is it a meeting or Amazon presenters?

Looks like one of Rasmus' TED talks to me... "if it ain't broke, break it etc etc..."

[Saint in Paradise]

Well big congratulations to Rasmus then, he has been allowed by S.R. to have truly broken, smashed to smithereens and cremated Southampton FC

Now it needs several proper adults and a couple of years work to try and repair Saints. Alas under this ownership I think that is now almost an impossibility.  

[ally_uk]

One royal fk up after the other 

Ownership are utter clowns 🤡 

[Weston Super Saint]

8 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

The sad reality probably. What a shit show. It’s their club now, their mess to clean up. Colossal mess as well, will need a massive J Cloth. 

The one thing they won't be doing is deciding to change the manager.

You don't go and blow a whole summer's transfer budget on championship squad players for NEXT season and then have any concern that you will be relegated this season.

Remember, there's a definite plan that says we are doing the right thing.

[Farmer Saint]

9 hours ago, RedArmy said:

I think Lumley made more than 5 saves. 
 

They hit the woodwork 3, 4 times? 

XG is not to do with what happened with the shot, it's the probability that an average player would score. Therefore you will tend to see better teams outscoring their XG, and teams like us with shit players underperforming their XG. For instance, a penalty has an XG of 0.79.

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

The one thing they won't be doing is deciding to change the manager.

You don't go and blow a whole summer's transfer budget on championship squad players for NEXT season and then have any concern that you will be relegated this season.

Remember, there's a definite plan that says we are doing the right thing.

It might get to the point where we have to just suck it up and accept the plan was always to accept relegation and come back stronger, as if we're a Blackpool or Wigan instead of a club that's been in the top flight for the majority of the last 40 years and played in Europe and multiple cup finals. 

[tdmickey3]

5 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

It might get to the point where we have to just suck it up and accept the plan was always to accept relegation and come back stronger, as if we're a Blackpool or Wigan instead of a club that's been in the top flight for the majority of the last 40 years and played in Europe and multiple cup finals. 

But how will we come back stronger, losing the best we have again

[Saint_clark]

23 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

But how will we come back stronger, losing the best we have again

The idea behind the plan is that by the time the team comes back up the majority of them will have had 2 years together instead of the usual 1. 

[Badger]

11 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Clinging onto Martin has severely harmed Rasmus too - good, fully deserved. 

Doubt it will hit Rasmus too hard or affect his glittering career.

Rasmus strikes me as one of those cunts who are Teflon coated no matter what (I'm sure we've all encountered them in our working lives). If we were doing well he'd be at the forefront taking the praise but disappears when it goes tits up. We're frequently reminded of his 'wider role', and of course how well Goztepe are doing. 

[saint michael]

New premier league standard… light show followed by shit show 

[tdmickey3]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

The idea behind the plan is that by the time the team comes back up the majority of them will have had 2 years together instead of the usual 1. 

The quality will leave, not wanting to play in EPL

[saintant]

Are they still here!!!!

[miserableoldgit]

I understand the people that say that Owners don't normally issue statements about Manangers/plans etc, but to a degree we are in new territory here. Most clubs in our position would have sacked their manager by now and replaced him with a more expensive alternative who probably has a big bonus in place if he keeps the club up. SR are doing something different......they have decided that RM is doing a great job, and is,therefore, the right Manager for us whatever happens.....which means that they have long-term plans in place. I think that it's only right that us customers are told what the plans are.

[Sheaf Saint]

56 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

I understand the people that say that Owners don't normally issue statements about Manangers/plans etc, but to a degree we are in new territory here. Most clubs in our position would have sacked their manager by now and replaced him with a more expensive alternative who probably has a big bonus in place if he keeps the club up. SR are doing something different......they have decided that RM is doing a great job, and is,therefore, the right Manager for us whatever happens.....which means that they have long-term plans in place. I think that it's only right that us customers are told what the plans are.

Indeed. Fans pay money to watch games because they want to see their team trying to win games and achieve some relative success. If whatever SR are doing goes against that then they are taking customer's money under false pretences.

Edited December 5 by Sheaf Saint

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

 

Damnit. I pressed quote instead of edit.

Edited December 5 by Sheaf Saint

[FredVaFC59100]

Well, SR has been a disaster at Valenciennes FC and I see the same pattern here. The question is : When is Dragan going to wake up ?

[Oldandtired]

1 hour ago, miserableoldgit said:

....which means that they have long-term plans in place. I think that it's only right that us customers are told what the plans are.

Exactly, what are the fabled long term plans? Maybe it’s to get us in the premier league when we go down to league one.

 

[Convict Colony]

5 hours ago, FredVaFC59100 said:

Well, SR has been a disaster at Valenciennes FC and I see the same pattern here. The question is : When is Dragan going to wake up ?

Probably the same time his paramilitary Serbian hitmen do.

[Wade Garrett]

11 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

XG is not to do with what happened with the shot, it's the probability that an average player would score. Therefore you will tend to see better teams outscoring their XG, and teams like us with shit players underperforming their XG. For instance, a penalty has an XG of 0.79.

XG means nothing apart.  It’s only nerdy spreadsheet wankers like Rasmus that beat their fucking meat over it.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

19 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

After a robust exchange of views, those attending have agreed that a bit more red is needed for the next light show.

For the light show Jack, for the light show!!!

[Miltonaggro]

That boardroom photo last night from another angle...

[Saint_clark]

11 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

The quality will leave, not wanting to play in EPL

You haven't been following that entire conversation. We weren't talking about the likes of Fernandes and Dibling. 

[Farmer Saint]

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

XG means nothing apart.  It’s only nerdy spreadsheet wankers like Rasmus that beat their fucking meat over it.

I wasn't the person who brought it up, I was just explaining it.

[tdmickey3]

19 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

You haven't been following that entire conversation. We weren't talking about the likes of Fernandes and Dibling. 

Fair enough 

[Miltonaggro]

On 04/12/2024 at 19:58, Master Bates said:

Why the camera men? Is it a meeting or Amazon presenters?

[FarehamSaintJames]

Take the fine or the point deduction. Break FFP. Who cares. Everyone else does.

Sack the manager. Pay up. And then buy good players and pay your way out of trouble. 

[LGTL]

Still waiting for an update from Manji. He loved blowing smoke up the arse of the worst owners we’ve ever had. His silence is deafening. 

[BarberSaint]

1 hour ago, LGTL said:

Still waiting for an update from Manji. He loved blowing smoke up the arse of the worst owners we’ve ever had. His silence is deafening. 

 

 

Shisha's on the blink.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

On 04/12/2024 at 21:46, S-Clarke said:

They have no idea what they're doing. I'm scared for the future of our club, especially with January coming up.

If I was Dragon I'd pull up the draw bridge and not spend a single penny in January, it would be foolish to do so. This season is done, we need to save as much as we can for the Championship season.

S-Clarke, you're not doing your post match analysis so much nowadays which is a shame because they've always been pretty insightful...and so are your comments on SR.

Sadly, the days of a Jack Walker at the helm of a club are long gone. Boards often consist of no-one with a special love for the club and we're no different. To Dragan and his team, we're just a project. If it goes wrong, so what? But what I don't get is why they haven't got rid of RM. Surely they can see he is dragging the club down. I can only assume they've been approaching managers and they've all said no.

[Gloucester Saint]

On 04/12/2024 at 21:46, S-Clarke said:

They have no idea what they're doing. I'm scared for the future of our club, especially with January coming up.

If I was Dragon I'd pull up the draw bridge and not spend a single penny in January, it would be foolish to do so. This season is done, we need to save as much as we can for the Championship season.

Yeah, Dragan needs to cut off Rasmus’s supply in January. If we have another January 2023 spree window inspired by Rasmus (Sulemana - £22m anyone?), even a reincarnated Markus wouldn’t be able to save the club from the firestorm created. We will all be Sholing fans.

Need to sell and loan out as much as possible whilst retaining some of sporting integrity. Part of that is by freeing up enough to sack Martin, that would be the best apology to the league. 

[ant]

On 04/12/2024 at 21:46, S-Clarke said:

They have no idea what they're doing. I'm scared for the future of our club, especially with January coming up.

If I was Dragon I'd pull up the draw bridge and not spend a single penny in January, it would be foolish to do so. This season is done, we need to save as much as we can for the Championship season.

This point's particularly pertinent. It's almost 2 years ago that I sat across from Ankersen as he claimed that:

a) Sports Republic's recruitment to date wasn't the problem;

b) That the players were not being poorly managed.

We were told, po-faced, that the board had equipped Jones with the "tools" he needed to succeed. 

It's scary how few lessons have been learned since. If they double-down in January the long -term effects don't bear thinking about.

[AlexLaw76]

Question is….

are they leading us into the greatest era in our history?

[S-Clarke]

20 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Take the fine or the point deduction. Break FFP. Who cares. Everyone else does.

Sack the manager. Pay up. And then buy good players and pay your way out of trouble. 

Absolutley the worst thing they could do (not sack the manger, but spend,spend,spend). Dragan needs to put a lid on the spending bottle as weird as that may sound, these idiots are abusing his money. We are already gone, so there's no paying our way into anything other than serious debt as a Championship club.

[S-Clarke]

14 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

S-Clarke, you're not doing your post match analysis so much nowadays which is a shame because they've always been pretty insightful...and so are your comments on SR.

Sadly, the days of a Jack Walker at the helm of a club are long gone. Boards often consist of no-one with a special love for the club and we're no different. To Dragan and his team, we're just a project. If it goes wrong, so what? But what I don't get is why they haven't got rid of RM. Surely they can see he is dragging the club down. I can only assume they've been approaching managers and they've all said no.

Thank you - to be honest, there isn't much to add on match comments these days as every game ends the same .

One thing I will say about SR, Dragan in particular, is that he's put the money up. We all called for investment as we'd sat still for so many years under Gao. But sadly we've produced a fine example of why spending is not what it's all about. They all seem a bit ponderous though, it's not just us as the French club fans are equally as scathing of them. 

The only club they've had a certain level of success at is Gotzepe, but you could argue that we've enabled that by being a vehicle for their players and subsequent loans.

We never got the 5 pledges from Gao, but if I'm honest I'm just at a loss with these guys and what their plan or goal is here.

[Matthew Le God]

Goztepe are 4th in the Turkish top flight. So they are getting something right in football, even though it might not seem like it for Saints fans.

[Daft Kerplunk]

Quite possibly the worst leadership ever of the club because they've had the money to spend, but this club is FUBAR.

[EBS1980]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Goztepe are 4th in the Turkish top flight. So they are getting something right in football, even though it might not seem like it for Saints fans.

Easier to achieve in an smaller league. Easier to build a competitive squad. 
Us out the PL will impact them too with less money coming in, you need to get the top of the pyramid working first to really benefit the rest of the group longer term

[HarvSFC]

Can't be a majority owner of two clubs in the same European competition. Why Bloom had to sell shares at Union Saint-Gilloise. Ankersen's repeatedly said that Goztepe are the number one club for SR. He's heavily involved there, being their president. I said in the summer that it was weird that we didn't have anyone from SR at the fans forum, only their employees, so we don't actually know what their goal is. However, this season is giving a feeling that we're not a priority. We're the money club of the model. We're the one that will bring in the most due to the Premier League and so far we've been used to sign three players for Goztepe, plus that one who went there in the Alcaraz deal, who we don't own. While, it looks like Goztepe are the club who they can make a success in football. It takes far fewer resources to be successful in Turkey than it does in England. I'm sure Goztepe also sacked their manager last season despite being in the promotion places, while we can't shake one of the worst manager's in Premier League history

And, on the topic of Ankersen, he said this a couple of weeks back: "I also think it is important to have a style of play that the fans and the community behind the club like. I think Göztepe fans like this type of football. They like action. I think they don't want to watch a classical music concert every week, they want to go to a rock'n'roll concert. And we offer them rock'n'roll at the stadium."

Well, your other club, Southampton fans do not like the style of play being served up every week. It's shite.

 

[S-Clarke]

4 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Goztepe are 4th in the Turkish top flight. So they are getting something right in football, even though it might not seem like it for Saints fans.

However, we're enabling that by being the vehicle for building their squad.

[Challenger]

How any company can be happy marketing this shit as their product is beyond me.

[FredVaFC59100]

You know what I like about SR ?

NOTHING!

SR are just a bunch of $h!theads. They sacked the manager at Valenciennes FC about 2 weeks ago and still haven't named a replacement. Meanwhile, we are treading water right in the middle of the table, 8 points behind the leader w/ the first budget in the league. We will very likely play another season in the 3rd division next year. The youth teams are dreadful as well. I miss our previous awful owner, at least he kept us in league 2 with more hope than I ever had under SR.

Edited Saturday at 21:20 by FredVaFC59100

[Whitey Grandad]

4 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

Can't be a majority owner of two clubs in the same European competition. Why Bloom had to sell shares at Union Saint-Gilloise. Ankersen's repeatedly said that Goztepe are the number one club for SR. He's heavily involved there, being their president. I said in the summer that it was weird that we didn't have anyone from SR at the fans forum, only their employees, so we don't actually know what their goal is. However, this season is giving a feeling that we're not a priority. We're the money club of the model. We're the one that will bring in the most due to the Premier League and so far we've been used to sign three players for Goztepe, plus that one who went there in the Alcaraz deal, who we don't own. While, it looks like Goztepe are the club who they can make a success in football. It takes far fewer resources to be successful in Turkey than it does in England. I'm sure Goztepe also sacked their manager last season despite being in the promotion places, while we can't shake one of the worst manager's in Premier League history

And, on the topic of Ankersen, he said this a couple of weeks back: "I also think it is important to have a style of play that the fans and the community behind the club like. I think Göztepe fans like this type of football. They like action. I think they don't want to watch a classical music concert every week, they want to go to a rock'n'roll concert. And we offer them rock'n'roll at the stadium."

Well, your other club, Southampton fans do not like the style of play being served up every week. It's shite.

 

Whereas what we get is John Cage's 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.