Sport Republic

[SaintLondon]

No additional cash for transfers then.. 

[trousers]

Q: "Will the club be more competitive in the transfer market"

Semmens: "We're in a better position than yesterday but you won't see any major changes in our transfer strategy, maybe gives us the opportunity to invest in a couple more Livramento type acquisitions" (or words to that effect)

[CanadaSaint]

11 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

NBC putting a different value on the deal...

That suggests that they have indeed paid off the loan as part of their investment - 125 million to Gao and 75 million to McQuarrie.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Martin's being very coy, which is good. Last thing we want are teams suddenly demanding stupid money.

[Saint Matty 76]

Just now, Pamplemousse said:

Martin's being very coy, which is good. Last thing we want are teams suddenly demanding stupid money.

Definitely a positive spin on it!

[Toadhall Saint]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

Q: "Will the club be more competitive in the transfer market"

Semmens: "We're in a better position than yesterday but you won't see any major changes in our transfer strategy, maybe gives us the opportunity to invest in a couple more Livramento type acquisitions" (or words to that effect)

And I’m more than happy with that.

[Chez]

10 minutes ago, farawaysaint said:

It's pretty standard practice, 99% of our debt is shareholder debt. Would you sell the club without being paid back for your investment? This is also where the £250mi figure comes from I guess. 

what makes you think 99% of our debt is shareholder debt? Isn't the £70m loan (the lions share of our debt) taken out by the company (SFC) from MSD capital?

[Tamesaint]

3 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Martin and Adam say this....

Why this takeover? We have been at this a long time.  Gao and Kat have allowed the team time to find the right new owners/solution and turn away the wrong option.  Sports Republic have the same values for the long term for SFC.  We are the right club to fit their strategy.

 

Why are they right for us?  It is hard to find good investors, lots of rich people out there.  Some have good ideas who do not have the money.  We wanted good people/good investors and we have that with these people. We were looking for experience in elite sports.  Rasmus has that and believes in what we believe in.  The other 2 have deep experience in investment in sport.  We looked for an investment in the plan we all believe in.  They are committed to that path.  We need to develop young players like JwP and bring in the likes of Tino.  Improve players like we have with Oriel.  Sports Republic will make us do this better.  This is a new business and want a network of clubs, they looked for us and we fit that model.  They will bring new technologies and practices to make us better.  Multi-club model will allow us to develop players better.

 

Have they borrowed money / will money be leveraged? NO to both.  That was a pre-requisite to this and they have brought their own money to buy the club.

 

Do we know what formal positions the 3 will take up?  Leadership at SFC not changed.  They will be part of the ownership board and will work on the multi-club area

 

What stature of future clubs in their portfolio? Early in its development.  Way too early to discuss.  All will sit in Sports Republic

 

Will the club be more competitive in transfers?  We have a strategic plan and they have bought into that.  We are absolutely in a better position than we were yesterday.

Thanks for posting this. Excellent summary.

[verlaine1979]

There's value out there in the transfer market if you know where (and how) to look. I just want us to be in a financial position where taking a gamble on Livramento doesn't mean we can't afford to buy a goalie when it's been obvious we need one for two years.

[Convict Colony]

Lyananco capt and undroppable now

[DT]

Have to say, whenever I hear Semmens talk I am very reassured. Seems very bright and sensible.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

I like the fact we're in a better position today than we were yesterday and I didn't ever feel this would make us one of the top players in the transfer market. That said, if we are able to spend a bit more like the Villas of the world when we need to and identify the right player, that would be an improvement. And I really won't mind if Dragan comes in and says "I'm not going to interfere as a rule but your goalies are all shit, now go and buy a proper one..."

[Jimmy_D]

"We're in a better position than yesterday" is probably as far as you're going to hear about any plans from any sensible new owner, regardless of actual plans, especially in a transfer window. We'll just have to wait and see.

Takeover not being a leveraged buyout is excellent news, though.

[OldNick]

Just now, DT said:

Have to say, whenever I hear Semmens talk I am very reassured. Seems very bright and sensible.

I hope he is staying and is an important cog

[maysie]

So glad Semmens is staying, have confidence in him

[AlexLaw76]

Fit and proper persons test.  Have they all passed? All passed and the premier league have been very supportive over the last few years.  transaction went through over xmas.  Dragan has already got a relationship with the premier league

 

Does the club now sit in a better financial position day-to-day? Yes. We now have clarity and confidence.  More investment opportunities in the future and we are absolutely fine.  Katarina has built a good relationship with the new people and all are happy with her involvement.

 

What does this mean for Manager and team? In short term, not much change.  We want to stay on our path.  We have stability with Ralph and the team as much as possible.  We will now see improvements on our path.

 

Gao was unlucky with his timing of owning the club.  What would you say about his ownership?  Interesting question.  Gao and his family are good people and did no harm.  They have not got in the way.  The pace the club wanted could not exist under him.  He allowed us to get to this space and allowed us we continue during the pandemic.  We are in a good position in the premier league with some stability.  His legacy is that he took us to Sport Republic, where he could have easily led us to a different place.  He should be proud of that.

 

Will ladies football be part of the club and continue to grow?  It will be and part of the commitment.  We do not know when the ladies team will hit the required commercial level, but it will

 

What it is like knowing this announcement in imminent?  You get used to it to a degree.  We were sat in Europe with the new team a few weeks ago, and Dragon wanted to know more about the fans, city, community.  It is a real joy as we can connect with the community.  Today is not a success; success will be when we make this good.  Even abuse on Twitter means people care

 

[Toadhall Saint]

1 minute ago, DT said:

Have to say, whenever I hear Semmens talk I am very reassured. Seems very bright and sensible.

Absolutely 

[Chez]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

Q: "Will the club be more competitive in the transfer market"

Semmens: "We're in a better position than yesterday but you won't see any major changes in our transfer strategy, maybe gives us the opportunity to invest in a couple more Livramento type acquisitions" (or words to that effect)

better position because an outgoing boss wanted to spend zero as he wont see the benefits of that investment, while the new owners will see the benefits, however, they don't intend on gifting the club any money, so it's the self sustaining  model. Which is fine by me, unless self sustaining means £70m bank loans every few years!

[Crab Lungs]

Sorry to wade in on the Semmens love-in, but did he just say the women's team is the most important thing at the club and it will grow to the commercial level of the mens game?

Does he truly honestly think that?

[Saints foreva]

1 minute ago, Crab Lungs said:

Sorry to wade in on the Semmens love-in, but did he just say the women's team is the most important thing at the club and it will grow to the commercial level of the mens game?

Does he truly honestly think that?

He said similar at the fan forum earlier in the season. Zero chance. 

[manji]

1 minute ago, Crab Lungs said:

Sorry to wade in on the Semmens love-in, but did he just say the women's team is the most important thing at the club and it will grow to the commercial level of the mens game?

Does he truly honestly think that?

In 18 years time….maybe

[CanadaSaint]

2 minutes ago, verlaine1979 said:

There's value out there in the transfer market if you know where (and how) to look. I just want us to be in a financial position where taking a gamble on Livramento doesn't mean we can't afford to buy a goalie when it's been obvious we need one for two years.

One of the biggest opportunities out there for clubs like us comes from the profligacy of the big clubs. They hoover up talent, especially young talent, much of which is very good but not good enough. The transfer fees aren't big but the wages have been a problem for us, especially with the loan swallowing a lot of our viability.

I don't expect big-price transfers but good young talent and older free agents. I'm hoping that Semmen's comment "we're much better placed than we were yesterday" means that the loan gone.

[Saint_clark]

Just now, CanadaSaint said:

One of the biggest opportunities out there for clubs like us comes from the profligacy of the big clubs. They hoover up talent, especially young talent, much of which is very good but not good enough. The transfer fees aren't big but the wages have been a problem for us, especially with the loan swallowing a lot of our viability.

I don't expect big-price transfers but good young talent and older free agents. I'm hoping that Semmen's comment "we're much better placed than we were yesterday" means that the loan gone.

Very disappointed that the loan wasn't asked about.

[Nolan]

[Crab Lungs]

59 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Very disappointed that the loan wasn't asked about.

I'm sure the next opportunity to ask the club, all the important questions we need answers for will be asked. 🤣

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, Crab Lungs said:

Sorry to wade in on the Semmens love-in, but did he just say the women's team is the most important thing at the club and it will grow to the commercial level of the mens game?

Does he truly honestly think that?

No but it's an easy sound bite and makes for good PR with minimal commitment. Hardly surprising that he'd say something like that.

[Chez]

 

3 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

I'm hoping that Semmen's comment "we're much better placed than we were yesterday" means that the loan gone.

I hope so too, but I doubt it. However, if they haven't spent £70m+ paying off the loan, then they are £70+ richer for not having done so - so that money might be available. Doubt it will be provided though. It will be a self sustaining business model, and with £100m+ income, no reason why it shouldn't be too.

[TWar]

Just now, Chez said:

 

I hope so too, but I doubt it. However, if they haven't spent £70m+ paying off the loan, then they are £70+ richer for not having done so - so that money might be available. Doubt it will be provided though. It will be a self sustaining business model, and with £100m+ income, no reason why it shouldn't be too.

Why?

[Chez]

8 minutes ago, Saints foreva said:

He said similar at the fan forum earlier in the season. Zero chance. 

you don't ever see a situation where the women's game has parity with the mens, or do you think esports will wipe the physical game off the map before that has chance to happen? 😉

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, Nolan said:

They kept it very quiet!

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, Crab Lungs said:

I'm sure the next opportunity to ask the club, all the important questions we need answers for will be asked. 🤣

Will our beer still be Kingfisher? Is there any possibility to introduce vegan burgers? I'd like to ask Dragan if he thinks a fan on the board might be something he'd consider?

[CanadaSaint]

3 minutes ago, Chez said:

 

I hope so too, but I doubt it. However, if they haven't spent £70m+ paying off the loan, then they are £70+ richer for not having done so - so that money might be available. Doubt it will be provided though. It will be a self sustaining business model, and with £100m+ income, no reason why it shouldn't be too.

It's the only explanation I can think of for the 125 million/200 million disparity in the "price paid" stories.

It also makes excellent sense of the goal is to make the club better able to fund a higher quality squad without throwing crazy money at transfer fees.

[HarvSFC]

If we can continue as we are without needing to sell to buy every single time we want to bring in a new player, then I'm all for it.

[Crab Lungs]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Will our beer still be Kingfisher? Is there any possibility to introduce vegan burgers? I'd like to ask Dragan if he thinks a fan on the board might be something he'd consider?

Nailed it. 🤣

[Chez]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

Why?

I explained my thoughts in a few earlier posts. Basically, why spend £70m clearing the debt when you don't have to? The club own that debt not the owners and it can pay that off out of earnings. That £70m expenditure (basically a shareholders loan) would earn zero back. Better to invest that on something else (another club for example). I might be wrong. Others will know better.

[Mattster]

15 minutes ago, Chez said:

better position because an outgoing boss wanted to spend zero as he wont see the benefits of that investment, while the new owners will see the benefits, however, they don't intend on gifting the club any money, so it's the self sustaining  model. Which is fine by me, unless self sustaining means £70m bank loans every few years!

Just as important as acquisitions, perhaps even more important IMO, is the ability to keep talent once we have found it and nurtured it. I don't need to list the players we have had over even recent years, who have gone on to bigger clubs and great things - imagine if we had been able to keep some of them. And I think just as important as money for retaining some of these players (and hopefully we will have more of that to offer them, too) is that the club has a vision and ambition to get there - something that has been lacking in recent years for us. If we can say to these players, who would have upped sticks after a season or two in the past, that we are looking to push on in the league and not just survive, and they can see that this is actually happening, then that could be a great thing. 

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Oh FFS please just stop it. Please.

Today is a (hopefully) good day and we should all be focussing on that rather than engaging in some churlish online dick fight.

Its going to take some to beat this post to the title of most like post of 2022 - You've got in early 🤣

[Uncle Albert]

Blimey tsp on the airwaves, going up in the world.

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

It's the only explanation I can think of for the 125 million/200 million disparity in the "price paid" stories.

It also makes excellent sense of the goal is to make the club better able to fund a higher quality squad without throwing crazy money at transfer fees.

Agreed. I'd like to see the debt paid off, as it is going to increase to over £100m before we MUST start paying it back, and that £8m+ interest accrued could be better spent on wages etc. 

[SW5 SAINT]

54 minutes ago, Uncle Albert said:

‘Maybe we can buy Broja’😁😁😁😁

Yes as a fellow Slav, Albania is next door to Serbia…..

[Chez]

6 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

If we can continue as we are without needing to sell to buy every single time we want to bring in a new player, then I'm all for it.

if we `continue as we are', that would be selling Ings to fund our summer transfers, wouldn't it? 

[Smirking_Saint]

A lot of negativity around Semmens not coming out and outright saying we would now be hige financial powerhouses… that was never going to be the case regardless of ownership wealth due to FFP

I imagine the club has already been in touch regarding potential transfers, and as such, those targets clubs may now want more purely because they now know we’ve been taken over, surely its just Semmens keeping his cards close to his chest regardless 

For me, im more than happy we have been taken over with zero leverage and the club seems to be in good hands with reasonable mid/long term strategy and a good leadership team.. that plus any balanced spending/player retention is surely a much better option for us right now

Besides… if they can get the multiclub strategy correct I imagine that in itself opens doors for future investments

[Uncle Albert]

Is it to early to be playing this?  

 

Edited 4 January, 2022 by Uncle Albert

[tajjuk]

3 minutes ago, Chez said:

if we `continue as we are', that would be selling Ings to fund our summer transfers, wouldn't it? 

I presume that more means the model of buying young players and improving them, rather than buying players for £40-50 million. Doesn't necessarily mean we will need to sell to buy, or hopefully not as much as we used to. 

Which is basically the RB Leipzig model anyway, with their feeder clubs. 

Which I presume is basically what they are aiming we become, but with a data driven recruitment model a la 'moneyball' and similar to Brentford. 

Edited 4 January, 2022 by tajjuk

[Chez]

6 minutes ago, Mattster said:

Just as important as acquisitions, perhaps even more important IMO, is the ability to keep talent once we have found it and nurtured it. I don't need to list the players we have had over even recent years, who have gone on to bigger clubs and great things - imagine if we had been able to keep some of them. And I think just as important as money for retaining some of these players (and hopefully we will have more of that to offer them, too) is that the club has a vision and ambition to get there - something that has been lacking in recent years for us. If we can say to these players, who would have upped sticks after a season or two in the past, that we are looking to push on in the league and not just survive, and they can see that this is actually happening, then that could be a great thing. 

keep Shaw (the rest would have stayed) and we'd of been a CL side...maybe...possibly...

[Manuel]

Early days I know but I feel a lot more positive about this takeover than I did the day Gao took over.  

[Jimmy_D]

2 minutes ago, Chez said:

if we `continue as we are', that would be selling Ings to fund our summer transfers, wouldn't it? 

Swapping one season of Ings for at least 2-3 seasons of Armstrong, at least 2 seasons of Livramento, and 1 season of Broja was one of the better deals we've done.

If we're able to get Broja longer term with this takeover, that'd be an excellent start.

[Chez]

1 minute ago, tajjuk said:

I presume that more means the model of buying young players and improving them, rather than buying players for £40-50 million. Doesn't necessarily mean we will need to sell to buy, or hopefully not as much as we used to. 

is there any `self sustaining' club (in the Prem) that doesn't need to sell a player to balance the books?

Unless the wage bill goes down somehow, we'll need to sell to buy going forward. 

[notnowcato]

Rasmus Ankersen is a very interesting character, features heavily in Christoph Biermann's Football Hackers book, worth a read if you get the chance and are open to the  significant role data plays in todays professional game.  If you're not a fan of backing decisions or thoughts with data then prepare yourself to be pissed off - suspect that could impact a few on here.  I'm not certain if he was the first to publicly back a manager using xG (expected goals) but he was doing that 4 years ago whilst at FC Midtjylland.  He was also part of Brentford ditching their youth development teams, a financial decision and arguably the correct one, allow the Bees to pick up players from top teams who's pathway was blocked.

As I said an interesting character but from what I've seen so far the decisions he's a part of are for the betterment of the club.

Buckle up... 

[tajjuk]

Be interesting to see how quickly they get and where the feeder clubs are. 

The Leipzig model is pretty damn good to be honest, if we can emulate that then I'd be very happy. Leipzig are only disliked because of the way they came about in German football basically appearing from nowhere and bypassing the 50+1 rule, how the group actually runs their clubs is pretty good model.