Sport Republic

[Miltonaggro]

Wish no ill will on Jones at all, he seems an honest, earnest man trying to earn a living and get on. He should never have been given the Saints job, it looked a suicidal appointment to me, and many on here as well as neutrals. If he’d been made reserve coach most of us would have shrugged. Poor bastard looked shell-shocked and exasperated in the post match interviews today. But it’s our club on the slab. This is on Sports Republic and Semmens, manifesting as a masterclass monks-chain of passive agressive bullshitting. 

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

4 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Wish no ill will on Jones at all, he seems an honest, earnest man trying to earn a living and get on. He should never have been given the Saints job, it looked a suicidal appointment to me, and many on here as well as neutrals. If he’d been made reserve coach most of us would have shrugged. Poor bastard looked shell-shocked and exasperated in the post match interviews today. But it’s our club on the slab. This is on Sports Republic and Semmens, manifesting as a masterclass monks-chain of passive agressive bullshitting. 

He's not! Don't be fooled by him. 

[Saint86]

13 hours ago, Turkish said:

So our next home game will mark the one year anniversary of their arrival and celebrated as a brave new dawn for the club

however in reality it will see us highly likely in the relegation zone, quite possible bottom in the worse run of form many of us has ever seen. Many senior, influential figures have left off the pitch some have even come and gone. We go into a crucial transfer window without a head of recruitment. They appear to have appointed a poor manager hugely out of his depth, after keeping a failing manager far too long. they’ve presided over the largest transfer window spend in our history and the it appears the squad has got worse. Whilst off the pitch fans seem to be treated with distain, meanwhile the group chairman believes a small club in the turkish second division is the biggest one in our group of clubs and the chairman of the saints had said he doesn’t care what position the team finish in. 

have SR got anything right in a year?

The point about Ralph is debatable (reality is he just needed an ings replacement imo), but the rest is spot on and succinct. Absolute horror show from SR. 

We have finally got the academy back on track as well, with the first really good batch of top quality kids about to emerge... and we'll be relegated and financially stricken at just the perfect time to see them poached for peanuts and playing for Premiership sides. Deja vu. Cruel. 

Edited 27 December, 2022 by Saint86

[Turkish]

8 hours ago, Saint86 said:

The point about Ralph is debatable (reality is he just needed an ings replacement imo), but the rest is spot on and succinct. Absolute horror show from SR. 

We have finally got the academy back on track as well, with the first really good batch of top quality kids about to emerge... and we'll be relegated and financially stricken at just the perfect time to see them poached for peanuts and playing for Premiership sides. Deja vu. Cruel. 

Looks like it takes a bit more to run a premier league than spreadsheets, rolling your shirt sleeves up and Ted Talks

[Miltonaggro]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Looks like it takes a bit more to run a premier league than spreadsheets, rolling your shirt sleeves up and Ted Talks

Whereas in the Turkish second division it’s a piece of piss! 😂

[Smirking_Saint]

I was actually very optimistic when they came in, I heard some very promising noises coming out of the camp.. I was even lucky enough to be in the board room for a couple of games towards the end of last year and had some ‘brief’ chats to some of the board (obviously they let nothing go other than they wanted more consistency)

We spent a large chunk in the summer.. and despite our outlook coming true, a lot of young players that we signs look to have a good pedigree

I still believe our main issue was not making a decision on Ralph’s future sooner or backing him effectively in the summer. It was obvious to all of us. He needed a striker we didn’t provide that and that was along with Romeo Lavia, our priority area

It’s all starting to look very worrying, especially after the whole Jo shield situation which on paper looks like a very good appointment, but after the fall out, you start to wonder whether we had a proper scout of his character, surely his social media antics highlight his lack of professionalism… since that time, we have now lost Crocker, who is a very good footballing man, as well as leaving us in arguably our most important transfer window with a lack of direction with Semmens still at the helm and with a manager by all intents and purposes, looks very much like the fan base was correct and he is out of his depth

I won’t say any more than this sport. Republics main aim at the start of the season was to keep us in the Premier League, they were vocal about the fact that they relegation is incredibly damaging to their long-term project and even indicated that we would have, in the event of a change of manager, funds to spend

Unfortunately though, after all that’s happened, my early optimism has almost certainly now falling into a real pessimism that we are just not equipped to remain in the Premier League and it is now down to Rasmus, who has an incredibly high opinion of himself to prove his own ego, true

[Badger]

11 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

He's not! Don't be fooled by him. 

What is this based on ?

 

[Andrew Watson]

You have hit the nail on the head SS. Reading between the lines Ankergren and Semmens are both out of their depth and are running this club into oblivion.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

Looks like it takes a bit more to run a premier league than spreadsheets, rolling your shirt sleeves up and Ted Talks

An understanding of xG is also key. Seeing how many you might have scored, is just as good as actually scoring, getting points, not being relegated, not making staff redundant, not reducing finance for youth teams, women's team and not wallowing in the lower leagues for years. Just as good. 🙂

[Miltonaggro]

11 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

He's not! Don't be fooled by him. 

What do you know, Sidney. Anything not already obvious to most of us?

[miserableoldgit]

There were a couple of middle-Eastern looking chaps in Goztepe tops in front of us in the Kingsland yesterday.....I bet they were very impressed 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, miserableoldgit said:

There were a couple of middle-Eastern looking chaps in Goztepe tops in front of us in the Kingsland yesterday.....I bet they were very impressed 

watching their feeder club, went away know there is no one that they'd take.

[Wade Garrett]

SR are going to lose a fortune with their investment in our club.  Total fuckwits.

[Daft Kerplunk]

The lesson for SR here is that they shouldn’t have believed they were buying a dream of a club with an incredible academy and slick football and commercial operation. 

If they can’t see that there are big changes needed, then we will be relegated and they will struggle finance a return to the top flight. 

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

The lesson for SR here is that they shouldn’t have believed they were buying a dream of a club with an incredible academy and slick football and commercial operation. 

If they can’t see that there are big changes needed, then we will be relegated and they will struggle finance a return to the top flight. 

Surely they realised what a bunch of clowns they were dealing with when they met Semmens for the first time 

[verlaine1979]

Seen a few people saying Semmens is responsible for SR and hand-picked them. This is clearly a nonsense.

As with when Gao came along, it's an almost total certainty that SR were the top bidder from a very, very short list of interested parties. In both cases, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the only candidates to make a solid offer.

Semmens is an employee, not a king-maker.

[Badger]

10 hours ago, Andrew Watson said:

You have hit the nail on the head SS. Reading between the lines Ankergren and Semmens are both out of their depth and are running this club into oblivion.

 

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

SR are going to lose a fortune with their investment in our club.  Total fuckwits.

Worth remembering who’s funding this and behind it, as I understood it it’s from Dragan’s business (with 10% from KL).

I doubt he built his business by allowing slick marketing types and mid-tier management to self-indulge in schemes devised out of their own headwank  (whether spreadsheets or xg’s etc) where his money was on the line.

If things don’t improve you’d imagine Ted Talk & Semmens will at the least have some explaining to do, and sort it, 

[Daft Kerplunk]

18 hours ago, verlaine1979 said:

Seen a few people saying Semmens is responsible for SR and hand-picked them. This is clearly a nonsense.

As with when Gao came along, it's an almost total certainty that SR were the top bidder from a very, very short list of interested parties. In both cases, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the only candidates to make a solid offer.

Semmens is an employee, not a king-maker.

Words of Martin Semmens about him and the board finding the ‘right’ people to take over Southampton FC:

 

"Over the last two years, together with the shareholders of our club, we have searched for the right partner to take the club forward.

 

"Today we have found the perfect solution for our club.

"Sport Republic are experienced investors, but also experienced within the world of elite professional sports.

“That combination is very hard to find, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement that secures our short and long-term future.

"We are grateful for the support of Mr Gao and Katharina that allowed us to take our time, turn away the wrong options and ultimately find the right partner for the future of this great club, its fans, staff and the people of Southampton."

 

He added: "Today we welcome a new beginning with a new ownership group.

"We have found partners with ambition for the future, but with a clear understanding of what Southampton stands for and the direction we must go in now.

 

"The strategy is to push forward with the plans we have had in place over the last two years, but with their support we can now do this with a renewed focus and speed.

"Continuity, stability, and clarity of the way forward are equally as important as the new initiatives and ideas we can now bring to the club.

 

Sport Republic is being built to provide a network of people, clubs, and technology that allows the clubs within it to grow every day and gain the advantages you need to be successful. As a club, we have never wanted to buy success, but to earn it.

 

Sport Republic gives us the power to improve our operations at every level, helping us to reach for the success our staff work so hard for, and our fans crave.

 

"Everyone at Southampton welcomes Dragan, Henrik, Rasmus, and the people within Sport Republic to our great club.

"We searched the world for good people with the ambition and resources to lead us into the next era and I am happy to confirm we have found them.

"We can’t wait to get started and be part of the future of Sport Republic."

[verlaine1979]

3 minutes ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

Words of Martin Semmens about him and the board finding the ‘right’ people to take over Southampton FC:

 

"Over the last two years, together with the shareholders of our club, we have searched for the right partner to take the club forward.

 

"Today we have found the perfect solution for our club.

"Sport Republic are experienced investors, but also experienced within the world of elite professional sports.

“That combination is very hard to find, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement that secures our short and long-term future.

"We are grateful for the support of Mr Gao and Katharina that allowed us to take our time, turn away the wrong options and ultimately find the right partner for the future of this great club, its fans, staff and the people of Southampton."

 

He added: "Today we welcome a new beginning with a new ownership group.

"We have found partners with ambition for the future, but with a clear understanding of what Southampton stands for and the direction we must go in now.

 

"The strategy is to push forward with the plans we have had in place over the last two years, but with their support we can now do this with a renewed focus and speed.

"Continuity, stability, and clarity of the way forward are equally as important as the new initiatives and ideas we can now bring to the club.

 

Sport Republic is being built to provide a network of people, clubs, and technology that allows the clubs within it to grow every day and gain the advantages you need to be successful. As a club, we have never wanted to buy success, but to earn it.

 

Sport Republic gives us the power to improve our operations at every level, helping us to reach for the success our staff work so hard for, and our fans crave.

 

"Everyone at Southampton welcomes Dragan, Henrik, Rasmus, and the people within Sport Republic to our great club.

"We searched the world for good people with the ambition and resources to lead us into the next era and I am happy to confirm we have found them.

"We can’t wait to get started and be part of the future of Sport Republic."

All of which means "we spent the past two years desperately seeking an investor to buy this rapidly depreciating asset off the Chinese national that bought it, but that's been incredibly hard as other investment opportunities have massively outperformed sport during the pandemic. Now the owner has accepted he has to take a 100m haircut on his investment, and Serbia's only billionaire has decided to take a punt on it."

The idea that Semmens was fending off the wrong kind of billionaires for two years until he found one that would do his bidding is just fantasy.

[Killers Knee]

Quote

Sport Republic are experienced investors, but also experienced within the world of elite professional sports.

What exactly is their experience in elite professional sports?

[Daft Kerplunk]

6 hours ago, verlaine1979 said:

All of which means "we spent the past two years desperately seeking an investor to buy this rapidly depreciating asset off the Chinese national that bought it, but that's been incredibly hard as other investment opportunities have massively outperformed sport during the pandemic. Now the owner has accepted he has to take a 100m haircut on his investment, and Serbia's only billionaire has decided to take a punt on it."

The idea that Semmens was fending off the wrong kind of billionaires for two years until he found one that would do his bidding is just fantasy.

I don’t think it’s about doing his bidding, it’s that as directors, they had a say over in who took over the club, and that they therefore had a vested interest in making sure their jobs were safe.  Ask yourself if they’d have stepped aside if someone else bidding asked them to having read the words of Semmens himself. It’s not the most well paid role but Semmens sold a marketing agency and money isn’t a big concern, but relative power and glory is, and the premier league is a big deal globally. It’d certainly open some doors, even if most can’t grasp that when we are a provincial club. 
 

The reality therefore is that we are in deep trouble, likely because of their overconfidence in their abilities, and we are where we are, which is in a very difficult relegation battle. Semmens and Co are Rupert Lowe and Co but in more relaxed corporate clothes and modern presentation with less pompousness and no red trousers and checked shirts underneath green country jackets. 

[saintscottofthenortham]

If that's actually NJ on the NJ Out thread... 😆

[verlaine1979]

18 hours ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

I don’t think it’s about doing his bidding, it’s that as directors, they had a say over in who took over the club, and that they therefore had a vested interest in making sure their jobs were safe.  Ask yourself if they’d have stepped aside if someone else bidding asked them to having read the words of Semmens himself. It’s not the most well paid role but Semmens sold a marketing agency and money isn’t a big concern, but relative power and glory is, and the premier league is a big deal globally. It’d certainly open some doors, even if most can’t grasp that when we are a provincial club. 
 

The reality therefore is that we are in deep trouble, likely because of their overconfidence in their abilities, and we are where we are, which is in a very difficult relegation battle. Semmens and Co are Rupert Lowe and Co but in more relaxed corporate clothes and modern presentation with less pompousness and no red trousers and checked shirts underneath green country jackets. 

As directors of an entity majority owned by Gao, I'm confident that they had no veto over who took over the club, which is really all that matters here. 

Look at the timeline of the last two take-overs: in both cases, KL and Gao were highly motivated to sell (for KL Saints was apparently the highest value asset in her inheritance by far, for Gao he was bleeding cash from high interest loans and bought the club at the precise moment with the Chinese government stopped capital outflows for sport). But in both cases it took almost two years to find a buyer. For the simple reason that we're not an attractive proposition for investment. Hardly anyone was interested.

And yet, in both cases the club spun it as a careful process to bring in the only person capable of moving us forward. Which is of course, far preferable to saying that you sold to the only buyer who showed a serious interest.

[Daft Kerplunk]

1 hour ago, verlaine1979 said:

As directors of an entity majority owned by Gao, I'm confident that they had no veto over who took over the club, which is really all that matters here. 

Look at the timeline of the last two take-overs: in both cases, KL and Gao were highly motivated to sell (for KL Saints was apparently the highest value asset in her inheritance by far, for Gao he was bleeding cash from high interest loans and bought the club at the precise moment with the Chinese government stopped capital outflows for sport). But in both cases it took almost two years to find a buyer. For the simple reason that we're not an attractive proposition for investment. Hardly anyone was interested.

And yet, in both cases the club spun it as a careful process to bring in the only person capable of moving us forward. Which is of course, far preferable to saying that you sold to the only buyer who showed a serious interest.

Of course. I wouldn’t underestimate the influence of Martin Semmens though, he managed to work his way through some powerful people to become the CEO.  All being well, SR will be acutely aware that the plan that he has led for 7+ years hasn’t yielded the results needed. 

[SaintsLoyal]

As i stated from the outset, when Sport Republic bought Saints i was concerend that their talk of buying more clubs was going to be an issue. 

The club was a mess in the boardroom and on the training ground with a manager that was a dead man walking.

Sport republic should have concentrated on making us a midtable club before buying another one and taking their eye of the ball.

[SaintsLoyal]

On 27/12/2022 at 22:27, verlaine1979 said:

Seen a few people saying Semmens is responsible for SR and hand-picked them. This is clearly a nonsense.

As with when Gao came along, it's an almost total certainty that SR were the top bidder from a very, very short list of interested parties. In both cases, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the only candidates to make a solid offer.

Semmens is an employee, not a king-maker.

From what i hear its again Kat Liebherr and her investment manager who came across Solak.

[Miltonaggro]

19 hours ago, saintscottofthenortham said:

If that's actually NJ on the NJ Out thread... 😆

Looks like a family and friends sleeper blitz 

[Convict Colony]

On 27/12/2022 at 23:27, verlaine1979 said:

Seen a few people saying Semmens is responsible for SR and hand-picked them. This is clearly a nonsense.

As with when Gao came along, it's an almost total certainty that SR were the top bidder from a very, very short list of interested parties. In both cases, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the only candidates to make a solid offer.

Semmens is an employee, not a king-maker.

There is a lot of assumptions there disguised as facts.

[SotonianWill]

On 28/12/2022 at 17:23, verlaine1979 said:

All of which means "we spent the past two years desperately seeking an investor to buy this rapidly depreciating asset off the Chinese national that bought it, but that's been incredibly hard as other investment opportunities have massively outperformed sport during the pandemic. Now the owner has accepted he has to take a 100m haircut on his investment, and Serbia's only billionaire has decided to take a punt on it."

The idea that Semmens was fending off the wrong kind of billionaires for two years until he found one that would do his bidding is just fantasy.

“We are going to set forth a policy of signing young hungry players and develop them, as we really care about young players”

…

”And saving as much money as possible, we could sign anyone to play for us, as long as they are under 20 and we say they are highly rated by man city these dinlos who support us will still come, especially the nerds who think gav bazunu will be the best itw because he’s great on Football Manager” 

 

“Thank fuck Southampton are known for some young players, it makes this cheap arse strategy seem like a master plan” 

 

“Then when we’re bottom of the league and one of them actually turns out quite good, the former club can activate the buy back clause, making us a bunch of profit. Mind you might get relegated but we’re rich so who cares?” 

- The saints boardroom, probably.

[verlaine1979]

15 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

There is a lot of assumptions there disguised as facts.

Perhaps a smidge over-assertive, though there was still a caveating modifier.

But the fact remains, Semmens is a club employee with zero skin in the game. If you'd prefer to believe that Gao handed him complete authority to dispose of a c.300m (purchase price) asset however he saw fit, be my guest. But it doesn't pass the sniff test of how any other HNWIs I've encountered operate.

EDIT: By zero skin I mean he wasn't several hundred million in the hole and personally liable for most of that in the form of high interest loans sourced in Macau. I have no specific knowledge of the situation and have never met Semmens (I live in California), but I do know a couple of people out here with that kind of wealth, and they don't ever abdicate those kinds of decisions. With a quarter of a billion quid on the line, who Martin Semmens wanted as his next boss would have been vanishingly low down on Gao's list of priorities when seeking a buyer.

Edited 30 December, 2022 by verlaine1979

[Daft Kerplunk]

1 hour ago, verlaine1979 said:

Perhaps a smidge over-assertive, though there was still a caveating modifier.

But the fact remains, Semmens is a club employee with zero skin in the game. If you'd prefer to believe that Gao handed him complete authority to dispose of a c.300m (purchase price) asset however he saw fit, be my guest. But it doesn't pass the sniff test of how any other HNWIs I've encountered operate.

Semmens is a director of both SFC and St Mary's Football Group Limited, the company that is the holding company for the football club. I’d suggest he has ‘skin in the game’ because his position depends on it (even if as a simple employee, which he isn’t because he’s a director of two SFC entities with the responsibilities that the title carries, particularly of a business in a reasonably regulated industry), and he’s clearly an important person in the way the football club runs. Someone previously associated with the club, and a very close associate of Martin told me that he’d been the one who bought Gao to the table and was the driving force behind that takeover. Perhaps you know more about that as it’s interesting that you are continuing to try to deflect any criticism from him when he’s a thread that connects the early days of the Kat era to where we are now 🤔 

Anyway, we are where we are, and unless things improve, 

 

[benjii]

Always seemed to me that Gao was a complete nobody with no clue, who delegated far too much authority to Semmens to pick his successor.

The sooner everyone associated with the post-Markus era is gone, the better, in my view.

 

 

[Bakovnetski]

Dragon needs to sack the whole bloody lot of them.

[kristian]

Fewest points in the entirety of English football this calendar year. Sport Republic have shown no nous in their time here, spectacularly disappointed by Rasmus Ankersen especially given the reputation he brought. Don't think their multi-club model is going to end well for anyone.

[Sunglasses Ron]

2 hours ago, Bakovnetski said:

Dragon needs to sack the whole bloody lot of them.

He must have thought he was on to a good thing when we beat Brentford 4-1 in his first game.

[SaintsLoyal]

21 hours ago, benjii said:

Always seemed to me that Gao was a complete nobody with no clue, who delegated far too much authority to Semmens to pick his successor.

The sooner everyone associated with the post-Markus era is gone, the better, in my view.

 

 

Well i think semmens is off it that helps. 

[Dark Munster]

38 minutes ago, SaintsLoyal said:

Well i think semmens is off it that helps. 

ITK?

Please let it be true (and Nathan Wigley also, please).

[Turkish]

47 minutes ago, SaintsLoyal said:

Well i think semmens is off it that helps. 

🤞

[The Kraken]

Christ I hope so. He’s the absolute embodiment of the lack of drive and ambition at the moment. Should have been removed for coming out with that shite that team position doesn’t matter.

[Turkish]

Has anyone found something SR have for right yet?

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Christ I hope so. He’s the absolute embodiment of the lack of drive and ambition at the moment. Should have been removed for coming out with that shite that team position doesn’t matter.

Smug, self congratulatory tosser with no idea what football supporters want from a club

[the colonel]

Bring back Nicola Cortese.

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, the colonel said:

Bring back Nicola Cortese.

Talking of smug self congratulatory tossers….

[LGTL]

12 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Smug, self congratulatory tosser with no idea what football supporters want from a club

Don’t forget though, he also misses the family when having to stay overnight in a 5 star hotel for an away game… 

He’s a monumental dickhead.

Edited 31 December, 2022 by LGTL

[Turkish]

Just now, LGTL said:

Don’t forget though, he also misses he family when having to stay overnight in a 5 star hotel for an away game… 

He’s a monumental dickhead.

Whilst being paid to do it, sitting in corporate seats no doubt enjoying the hospitality. Twat

[the colonel]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

Talking of smug self congratulatory tossers….

That doesn't take shit.

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, the colonel said:

That doesn't take shit.

In all honesty we could do with some of that ruthless streak but without being a total cock with it

[The Kraken]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Has anyone found something SR have for right yet?

I was chatting today with my pals about what’s gone wrong, and when you actually go through it, it’s just a clown show.  From the end of last season…..

Kept faith with a manager who had overseen an incredibly terrible run in of 5 points from 12 league games the previous season. Insist that the manager bring in a new first team coach / assistant manager, but they’ll be the ones to approve who it.  Appoint a new head of recruitment who previously oversaw youth recruitment at a top premier league club, then let him spend a record incredible amount of money mostly on unproven young players from the club he was previously at. Then watch as the recruitment fella quits his job after the transfer window and says he wants to go elsewhere. Oversee a clear change in team formation over the pre season by switching to a 3 CB complete disaster, then watch the manager throw that in the bin within 3 games of the regular season. Persist with said manager who is clearly disillusioned with the whole thing and dialling it in until such point that there’s no other option than to bin him off. Install a manager with zero top flight experience anywhere and who horrendously outside of Luton Town, and who Stoke City fans rate as perhaps their worst manager ever. Give said manager more than a month to get his new team sorted, then watch him give his under-performing players an extended holiday while he gets his ideas sorted out, then takes his players on a jolly to southern Spain. Then watch the new manager changes his team formation from game to game trying to work out what he’s actually doing.

Fucking hell, it’s depressing just repeating it

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, The Kraken said:

I was chatting today with my pals about what’s gone wrong, and when you actually go through it, it’s just a clown show.  From the end of last season…..

Kept faith with a manager who had overseen an incredibly terrible run in of 5 points from 12 league games the previous season. Insist that the manager bring in a new first team coach / assistant manager, but they’ll be the ones to approve who it.  Appoint a new head of recruitment who previously oversaw youth recruitment at a top premier league club, then let him spend a record incredible amount of money mostly on unproven young players from the club he was previously at. Then watch as the recruitment fella quits his job after the transfer window and says he wants to go elsewhere. Oversee a clear change in team formation over the pre season by switching to a 3 CB complete disaster, then watch the manager throw that in the bin within 3 games of the regular season. Persist with said manager who is clearly disillusioned with the whole thing and dialling it in until such point that there’s no other option than to bin him off. Install a manager with zero top flight experience anywhere and who horrendously outside of Luton Town, and who Stoke City fans rate as perhaps their worst manager ever. Give said manager more than a month to get his new team sorted, then watch him give his under-performing players an extended holiday while he gets his ideas sorted out, then takes his players on a jolly to southern Spain. Then watch the new manager changes his team formation from game to game trying to work out what he’s actually doing.

Fucking hell, it’s depressing just repeating it

Plus fucking up signing perhaps the one position that it was most important to improve. 
 

it’s a real struggle to think what they’ve got right, other than spending a record amount in a transfer window, which is small beer for most clubs. They even managed to fuck that up.

[SotonianWill]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

Plus fucking up signing perhaps the one position that it was most important to improve. 
 

it’s a real struggle to think what they’ve got right, other than spending a record amount in a transfer window, which is small beer for most clubs. They even managed to fuck that up.

I still find it incredible that were still spending the same amount per player as we were when we came up to the prem. Gaston Ramirez would be a great record signing for us right now.