Sport Republic

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

We absolutely should be harsh on Sports Republic.

They took the club from Premier League mid table to the Championship in little over a year. Mainly because of decisions they made.

What will get them back on track now and back in favour with the fans is how they plan out the next couple of months. Getting the right manager. The right players. The right kit. Even the right relationship with the fans, because that especially now is non-existent.

I think it's important to take a step back slightly and remove the emotion from it for a second. Let's not kid ourselves that we were this mega stable mid-table PL club when they came in, far from it, we've been circling the drain for many years. We had a lucky season after Covid, but beyond that it's been outside relegation scraps or relegation scraps since 2018 - before them. So let's not re-write history to believe we were some sort of amazing club before they came.

What I don't think anyone can hold against Sport Republic is their desire to change, and there was a lot here that was broken when they came in. Lack of investment being one, which they remedied massively and for that you cannot knock them.

The issue has come with the decisions they have made on the back of that investment, they've gone all in way too quickly rather than taking a more considered approach - whilst things needed to change, the way they've gone about this is all wrong and that's why we are where we are. 

I don't believe their intentions are bad, far from it, it's just the decision making which has let them down - and if i'm honest that does still worry me for the summer, so let's see how that pans out.

If SR had come in and started selling everyone, putting the ground up for sale, not allowing us to buy players etc then fair enough - smash them with a stick on that, but they haven't done that - they've come in with the investment to try and make a change, they've just done it wrong.

[hypochondriac]

9 minutes ago, saint michael said:

It’s not untrue.. it’s my opinion. I’ve never met a businessman that thinks he will plough millions in and not think he’s going to make money. This guy is not hugely wealthy in football terms.  Their main focus is making money based on the concept of the resale of players. They also believe that they can make the club sound by doing this without impacting the club over the short term or long term, meaning it doesn’t matter that you have turnover of your best players there is always another on the conveyor belt. 
 

for this to work both player recruitment and fantastic coaching is needed. I don’t believe that any element that makes this a success is evident in decisions they have yet made. Recruitment of Lavia type players need to not be the exception but need to be almost guaranteed 

Name a football owner that has consistently made money from football without asset stripping? Particularly a smaller club like saints. Doesn't happen. 

[hypochondriac]

Just now, S-Clarke said:

I think it's important to take a step back slightly and remove the emotion from it for a second. Let's not kid ourselves that we were this mega stable mid-table PL club when they came in, far from it, we've been circling the drain for many years. We had a lucky season after Covid, but beyond that it's been outside relegation scraps or relegation scraps since 2018 - before them. So let's not re-write history to believe we were some sort of amazing club before they came.

What I don't think anyone can hold against Sport Republic is their desire to change, and there was a lot here that was broken when they came in. Lack of investment being one, which they remedied massively and for that you cannot knock them.

The issue has come with the decisions they have made on the back of that investment, they've gone all in way too quickly rather than taking a more considered approach - whilst things needed to change, the way they've gone about this is all wrong and that's why we are where we are. 

I don't believe their intentions are bad, far from it, it's just the decision making which has let them down - and if i'm honest that does still worry me for the summer, so let's see how that pans out.

If SR had come in and started selling everyone, putting the ground up for sale, not allowing us to buy players etc then fair enough - smash them with a stick on that, but they haven't done that - they've come in with the investment to try and make a change, they've just done it wrong.

Exactly. I bet Burnley owners got similar comments when they got relegated last year. They are now being hailed as brilliant. Sports Republic deserve the chance to show they have learnt precisely because they haven't acted like you described. 

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Exactly. I bet Burnley owners got similar comments when they got relegated last year. They are now being hailed as brilliant. Sports Republic deserve the chance to show they have learnt precisely because they haven't acted like you described. 

Burnley's takeover is still a bit iffy, it was a takeover against the club in the sense of a loan - so they piled debt on the club. SR haven't done that, so in that sense they've done better.

This summer will be a big signal of their intentions, but I have no reason to believe they won't significantly back us. It's also not all about financial investment, but it's about developing a project that 'sought after' coaches can get behind - I feel they have the clout to do that, so we'll see.

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, saint michael said:

I don’t think they have high aspirations for the club at all their aim is purely on making money. They are not doing a very good job of that so far are they.  As someone stated earlier, they have wrongly been looking at players to buy based on resale value not what the club needs to make the club better. This is not about the long term development of saints as a competing club. Only exceptions might be Bree, big paul and Orsic…all driven on the fear of the drop. Hence we are where we are. 
 

the evidence and facts so far is that their decision making is piss poor… they need to prove us wrong on this. So they have been awful owners so far I think. 

I've been as harsh as anyone on reviewing sports republic's (mainly rasmus') decision making this year... But i think having a go at them and saying that targeting player trading as a route to improve the club isn't having high aspirations is unfair.  And who is to say they didn't target squad needs? We know we tried to get some good forwards in the summer (but failed), and in january we signed Paul and Orsic (albeit too late and mismatched to manager styles). Also, players having value for resale will only happen if the players are good... (i am okay with this 😄). Look how much trouble we had trying to sell Lamina, Boufal, Carillo, Heodt etc...

On "This is not about the long term development of saints as a competing club" - I think Brighton's and Brentford's owners have high aspirations, and a big part of that is through a focus on recruitment and player trading? Reality is that clubs at our level don't have access to the huge commercial deals and other income levels of bigger clubs. So the only real ways we can compete are through clever squad development (and player trading), or through sugar daddy ownership. We don't have the latter.

Reality is the squad did need significant investment - we'd survived quite admirably with negligible investment (relative to the rest of the league) for years under Gao. SR came in and did the right thing in investing in the squad. And in fairness, a lot of the players we signed are mostly very talented young players with the potential to improve significantly - as opposed to older players nearing the ends of their peak period / careers that we will struggle to generate additional income from. Also, some of these young players have proven to be our best players - Are we now saying that we shouldn't have signed Alcaraz, Lavia, ABK, Sulemana etc? Or in recent seasons under Semmens/ralph, players like Tino, Salisu, KWP?

No, i think the idea and aspiration was correct from SR. But sadly the execution has been very poor. 

Edited 5 May, 2023 by Saint86

[Wurzel]

Quote

21 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I've been as harsh as anyone on reviewing sports republic (mainly rasmus') decision making this year... But i think having a go at them and saying that targeting player trading as a route to improve the club isn't having high aspirations is unfair.  And who is to say they didn't target squad needs? We know we tried to get some good forwards in the summer (but failed), and in january we signed Paul and Orsic (albeit too late and mismatched to manager styles). Also, players having value for resale will only happen if the players are good... Look how much trouble we had trying to sell Lamina, Boufal, Carillo, Heodt etc...

On "This is not about the long term development of saints as a competing club" - I think Brighton's and Brentford's owners have high aspirations, and a big part of that is through a focus on recruitment and player trading? Reality is that clubs at our level don't have access to the huge commercial deals and other income levels of bigger clubs. So the only real ways we can compete are through clever squad development (and player trading), or through sugar daddy ownership. We don't have the latter.

Reality is the squad did need significant investment - we'd survived quite admirably with negligible investment (relative to the rest of the league) for years under Gao. SR came in and did the right thing in investing in the squad. And in fairness, a lot of the players we signed are mostly very talented young players with the potential to improve significantly - as opposed to older players nearing the ends of their peak period / careers that we will struggle to generate additional income from. Also, some of these young players have proven to be our best players - Are we now saying that we shouldn't have signed Alcaraz, Lavia, ABK, Sulemana etc? Or in recent seasons under Semmens/ralph, players like Tino, Salisu, KWP?

No, i think the idea and aspiration was correct from SR. But sadly the execution has been very poor. 

Totally agree with you.  I think even the squad we have now (if it stays together, and the owner sticking another £15m in last month makes me think selling them off now isn't part of the plan), with the addition of a natural goal scorer or two (and you can't say we didn't try to get them) will, this time next year be looking a pretty decent side. There are some very good young players there who can only improve the more they play, and will hopefully play under a manager that picks a side to suit their strengths, not emphasise their weaknesses. The big mistake, or maybe you could say the big gamble was that there would be 3 worse sides than us this year whilst they developed - that well and truly back fired.  Too many too soon but, if they get the next manager right and a goalscorer, I could see us coming straight back and this season will be all but forgotten except as a reminder of how quickly things can go wrong.

 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

Burnley's takeover is still a bit iffy, it was a takeover against the club in the sense of a loan - so they piled debt on the club. SR haven't done that, so in that sense they've done better.

This summer will be a big signal of their intentions, but I have no reason to believe they won't significantly back us. It's also not all about financial investment, but it's about developing a project that 'sought after' coaches can get behind - I feel they have the clout to do that, so we'll see.

Yes that's how I feel. They deserve much criticism for this season but they've also backed us financially. Undeniably that is a positive and it could translate to significant success as long as they get the structure and the decision making in place to make it happen.

[Pamplemousse]

Personally I think Rasmus Ankersen and his ego is the problem, not Sport Republic as a whole.

[manji]

5 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Personally I think Rasmus Ankersen and his ego is the problem, not Sport Republic as a whole.

Rasmus wasn’t supposed to be the recruiter Joe Shields was. Still think Rasmus will do a good job but I think he panicked and made some poor choices. 
Anyway Jason Wilcox is in charge of recruiting and has built a quality team of scouts. He has already had plenty of time to plan.

I will bet he’s at least got a good short list of managers and players.

someone said we’ve been “ circling the drain for years” is so spot on.

[Badger]

5 minutes ago, manji said:

Rasmus wasn’t supposed to be the recruiter Joe Shields was. Still think Rasmus will do a good job but I think he panicked and made some poor choices. 
Anyway Jason Wilcox is in charge of recruiting and has built a quality team of scouts. He has already had plenty of time to plan.

I will bet he’s at least got a good short list of managers and players.

someone said we’ve been “ circling the drain for years” is so spot on.

Would Joe Shields have been responsible for identifying and appointing a manager ? I certainly didn’t read his role that way, only player recruitment. 

 

[aintforever]

3 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I think it's important to take a step back slightly and remove the emotion from it for a second. Let's not kid ourselves that we were this mega stable mid-table PL club when they came in, far from it, we've been circling the drain for many years. We had a lucky season after Covid, but beyond that it's been outside relegation scraps or relegation scraps since 2018 - before them. So let's not re-write history to believe we were some sort of amazing club before they came.

What I don't think anyone can hold against Sport Republic is their desire to change, and there was a lot here that was broken when they came in. Lack of investment being one, which they remedied massively and for that you cannot knock them.

The issue has come with the decisions they have made on the back of that investment, they've gone all in way too quickly rather than taking a more considered approach - whilst things needed to change, the way they've gone about this is all wrong and that's why we are where we are. 

I don't believe their intentions are bad, far from it, it's just the decision making which has let them down - and if i'm honest that does still worry me for the summer, so let's see how that pans out.

If SR had come in and started selling everyone, putting the ground up for sale, not allowing us to buy players etc then fair enough - smash them with a stick on that, but they haven't done that - they've come in with the investment to try and make a change, they've just done it wrong.

Circling the drain is a bit strong, it was only the Pelligrino/Hughes year we were in a proper relegation fight. Ralph kept this shower of shite well clear of relegation trouble year after year.

Circling the drain was us in the 90's.

 

[Dark Munster]

3 hours ago, manji said:

Rasmus wasn’t supposed to be the recruiter Joe Shields was. Still think Rasmus will do a good job but I think he panicked and made some poor choices. 
Anyway Jason Wilcox is in charge of recruiting and has built a quality team of scouts. He has already had plenty of time to plan.

I will bet he’s at least got a good short list of managers and players.

someone said we’ve been “ circling the drain for years” is so spot on.

He was tracking Nathan F*cking Jones for ages, so that diabolical decision certainly wasn't a panicked one. Just pure, unadulterated incompetence.

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

He was tracking Nathan F*cking Jones for ages, so that diabolical decision certainly wasn't a panicked one. Just pure, unadulterated incompetence.

100%.

Absolutely ridiculous for anyone to say it was a panic decision.

They were falling over themselves to say how much they had monitored him and the due diligence they'd done, and how his failure at Stoke was a good thing actually because he had learnt from it etc etc etc. And hoe they nearly gave him the job four months before.

Absolutely clear-eyed focused strategic decision on their part. And what an absolute fucking disaster.

Ditto the summer window and absolute failure to solve the glaring gaps and ditto January window ("everything we are doing is focused on staying up") where they spend fifty plus million on several players of which one has become genuinely central to the squad and two of them barely feature even on the bench.

Fuck up upon fuck up. 

 

[AlexLaw76]

5 hours ago, manji said:

Rasmus wasn’t supposed to be the recruiter Joe Shields was. Still think Rasmus will do a good job but I think he panicked and made some poor choices. 
Anyway Jason Wilcox is in charge of recruiting and has built a quality team of scouts. He has already had plenty of time to plan.

I will bet he’s at least got a good short list of managers and players.

someone said we’ve been “ circling the drain for years” is so spot on.

🤣

[James G]

10 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I think it's important to take a step back slightly and remove the emotion from it for a second. Let's not kid ourselves that we were this mega stable mid-table PL club when they came in, far from it, we've been circling the drain for many years. We had a lucky season after Covid, but beyond that it's been outside relegation scraps or relegation scraps since 2018 - before them. So let's not re-write history to believe we were some sort of amazing club before they came.

What I don't think anyone can hold against Sport Republic is their desire to change, and there was a lot here that was broken when they came in. Lack of investment being one, which they remedied massively and for that you cannot knock them.

The issue has come with the decisions they have made on the back of that investment, they've gone all in way too quickly rather than taking a more considered approach - whilst things needed to change, the way they've gone about this is all wrong and that's why we are where we are. 

I don't believe their intentions are bad, far from it, it's just the decision making which has let them down - and if i'm honest that does still worry me for the summer, so let's see how that pans out.

If SR had come in and started selling everyone, putting the ground up for sale, not allowing us to buy players etc then fair enough - smash them with a stick on that, but they haven't done that - they've come in with the investment to try and make a change, they've just done it wrong.

They've got a plan in place, and it continues next season. They're confident of bouncing back up straight away. There is money there if needed and they will be talking to a particular manager once everything is mathematically determined, so keep an eye on next manager odds after that time

[CB Fry]

25 minutes ago, James G said:

They've got a plan in place, and it continues next season.

So we are going to continue to appoint utterly shit managers and waste huge amounts of money on players that barely even make the bench?

That's a bit of a shame to be honest.

[Hodgey]

Interesting to see the thoughts of people here. For me they have done a terrible job, irrelevant of the context which is fair (lack of investment, club was on a downwards spiral). 
I’m more interested why people think Wilcox can make solid managerial / recruitment decisions ?. Im not seeing any experience there (aside from youth teams) but I’m not clued up so interested to hear why people have confidence he can pull us around ? - is this based on results ? Gut feeling ? Info I’m not aware of ?

[Dark Munster]

1 hour ago, Hodgey said:

Interesting to see the thoughts of people here. For me they have done a terrible job, irrelevant of the context which is fair (lack of investment, club was on a downwards spiral). 
I’m more interested why people think Wilcox can make solid managerial / recruitment decisions ?. Im not seeing any experience there (aside from youth teams) but I’m not clued up so interested to hear why people have confidence he can pull us around ? - is this based on results ? Gut feeling ? Info I’m not aware of ?

He's not Rasmus W. Ankersen so that's a massive step up.

[aintforever]

8 hours ago, Hodgey said:

Interesting to see the thoughts of people here. For me they have done a terrible job, irrelevant of the context which is fair (lack of investment, club was on a downwards spiral). 
I’m more interested why people think Wilcox can make solid managerial / recruitment decisions ?. Im not seeing any experience there (aside from youth teams) but I’m not clued up so interested to hear why people have confidence he can pull us around ? - is this based on results ? Gut feeling ? Info I’m not aware of ?

As the post above says, at least he has some working knowledge of elite football, unlike the current clowns. 

[Saint Billy]

We faired better under the ownership of Gao with little investment, perhaps a good indicator of how well SR have done despite their spend amount.

[Suhari]

I always was, and remain, a fan of the SR concept.....buy talented, highly rated youngsters, give them game time, sell at a big profit, rinse and repeat. Couple this with high-press, attacking footbal and we have a clear identity, which aligns to the best of our recent times. And credit to them: they have a few £££ and haven't been afraid to spend it.

But their implementation of this has been utter dogshit. Woeful. Complete clusterfuck at every level.

We need more than just kids: we need some experience around them; we need an experienced manager buying into 'the project' and we need less 'trying-to-be-clever-spreadsheet-bollocks.'

Hoping we see a big clear out and refresh this summer, and quickly.

I am quite excited to see what will develop; next season could be lots of fun.

Edited 7 May, 2023 by Suhari

[UpweySaint]

1 hour ago, Suhari said:

I always was, and remain, a fan of the SR concept.....buy talented, highly rated youngsters, give them game time, sell at a big profit, rinse and repeat. Couple this with high-press, attacking footbal and we have a clear identity, which aligns to the best of our recent times. And credit to them: they have a few £££ and haven't been afraid to spend it.

But their implementation of this has been utter dogshit. Woeful. Complete clusterfuck at every level.

We need more than just kids: we need some experience around them; we need an experienced manager buying into 'the project' and we need less 'trying-to-be-clever-spreadsheet-bollocks.'

Hoping we see a big clear out and refresh this summer, and quickly.

I am quite excited to see what will develop; next season could be lots of fun.

 

Really sound post. 

I think most saints fan are familiar with, and broadly supportive of, the supposed model but as you say the execution is key. We've made too many poor decisions both in the years preceding SR and in their time. We've obviously made one too many big mistakes in quick succession and it has really caught up with us evidenced by the dross we've served up most weeks on the pitch and the state of the squad/staff off it.

While I'm not expecting us to walk the championship (losing is a hard habit to break) next season could be good fun if we get more of the big calls right.

[Daft Kerplunk]

4 hours ago, Saint Billy said:

We faired better under the ownership of Gao with little investment, perhaps a good indicator of how well SR have done despite their spend amount.

We were on our way to relegation under Gao. The problems of this year are just a culmination of what has been happening for awhile. Apart from the early days of Kat Liebherr, we’ve been on a downward trajectory since 2018.

[trousers]

On 05/05/2023 at 23:08, James G said:

They've got a plan in place, and it continues next season.

Any good news though...?

[Daft Kerplunk]

2 hours ago, Suhari said:

I always was, and remain, a fan of the SR concept.....buy talented, highly rated youngsters, give them game time, sell at a big profit, rinse and repeat. Couple this with high-press, attacking footbal and we have a clear identity, which aligns to the best of our recent times. And credit to them: they have a few £££ and haven't been afraid to spend it.

But their implementation of this has been utter dogshit. Woeful. Complete clusterfuck at every level.

We need more than just kids: we need some experience around them; we need an experienced manager buying into 'the project' and we need less 'trying-to-be-clever-spreadsheet-bollocks.'

Hoping we see a big clear out and refresh this summer, and quickly.

I am quite excited to see what will develop; next season could be lots of fun.

The proof will be in their actions of the summer. If they realise that to develop youngsters, you need some experience alongside them, and that you don’t buy more than you need unless it’s an outstanding talent, then things could get better. 

I am hopeful that there is a focus on a decent squad that is lean and hungry. I’m not convinced that Che and Armstrong will be good in the championship any more because their confidence will need rebuilding. But perhaps with a decent manager, it might be possible. 

A good clear out of staff behind the scenes to make it leaner is needed. In the past few years the accompanying staff on a match day have almost matched the number of players. That is apparently the same at the youth level too. And the commercial and legal teams that became bloated too apparently. That’ll probably happen anyway as whatever Semmens says, it’ll be difficult to justify a marketing team of 20+ people in the championship. 

Plenty to do. 

[Wade Garrett]

3 hours ago, Suhari said:

I always was, and remain, a fan of the SR concept.....buy talented, highly rated youngsters, give them game time, sell at a big profit, rinse and repeat. Couple this with high-press, attacking footbal and we have a clear identity, which aligns to the best of our recent times. And credit to them: they have a few £££ and haven't been afraid to spend it.

But their implementation of this has been utter dogshit. Woeful. Complete clusterfuck at every level.

We need more than just kids: we need some experience around them; we need an experienced manager buying into 'the project' and we need less 'trying-to-be-clever-spreadsheet-bollocks.'

Hoping we see a big clear out and refresh this summer, and quickly.

I am quite excited to see what will develop; next season could be lots of fun.

Crystal Palace tried the same thing in the 80s.  They were relegated straight away as we are.

If you are in it to be a player trading service, you aren’t going to stay in the Premier League.

[Master Bates]

https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2023/05/budget-limits-have-cost-saints.html?m=1

[Mystic Force]

I think the opportunity to play the transfer market like we did is gone. We were buying 21-22 year Olds who had already demonstrated some ability at a lower level and we would get them to showcase their ability before leaving at their prime of 24. Those opportunities are gone those players are going straight to the big boys now so we are fishing in the 18 and 19 year old level where they have not yet been challenged properly and its not surprising that more of them are not ready for the rigors of the premier league. You can carry a player who needs time to develop, you sacrifice a little now for the longer term gain, but you can't carry a team of developing players. You will not develop them and your performance will suffer.

[david in sweden]

On 05/05/2023 at 13:38, S-Clarke said:

I think it's important to take a step back slightly and remove the emotion from it for a second. Let's not kid ourselves that we were this mega stable mid-table PL club when they came in, far from it, we've been circling the drain for many years. We had a lucky season after Covid, but beyond that it's been outside relegation scraps or relegation scraps since 2018 - before them. So let's not re-write history to believe we were some sort of amazing club before they came.

What I don't think anyone can hold against Sport Republic is their desire to change, and there was a lot here that was broken when they came in. Lack of investment being one, which they remedied massively and for that you cannot knock them.

The issue has come with the decisions they have made on the back of that investment, they've gone all in way too quickly rather than taking a more considered approach - whilst things needed to change, the way they've gone about this is all wrong and that's why we are where we are. 

I don't believe their intentions are bad, far from it, it's just the decision making which has let them down - and if i'm honest that does still worry me for the summer, so let's see how that pans out.

If SR had come in and started selling everyone, putting the ground up for sale, not allowing us to buy players etc then fair enough - smash them with a stick on that, but they haven't done that - they've come in with the investment to try and make a change, they've just done it wrong.

Excellent post Clarke-y .    I can only hope that whoever recommended buying some of the newcomers is among those who have already left the club.

Clearly, we will have a generational shift beyond anything in living memory, but importantly get a manager who can  find  a workable formation and a good squad

to make positive something out of the pigs-breakfast we find ourselves in. 

INTERESTING QUOTE  from the excellent interview sequence with Rickie Lambert - ( when he claimed Southampton was the best club he ever played for)  

..when he said ..." get rid of ....everyone / anyone ...who doesn't want to play for the club ". 

 By the time we've sold our crown jewels in the summer,  SR will have re-couped the money they've spent this season, and hopefully get it right next time. 

I just they insist on a sell-on clause in every deal. 

 

[AlexLaw76]

 

Can't wait for more Sports Republic next season

[Dr. Kucho]

Sports Republic have been terrible so far. Yes they’ve spent (squandered) lots of money, but look what we bought! Then they tried to change the setup of the club within 1 year, just like Chelsea’s new owners and look how that’s going. 

I have little faith in these cowboys and don’t think we’ll be promoted next season, or anytime soon with these idiots in charge. 

[Archers Road Stand]

Need to be giving this lot, the players and the management pelters on Saturday but we won't because the match going fans are soft as shit. 

[Wade Garrett]

14 minutes ago, Archers Road Stand said:

Need to be giving this lot, the players and the management pelters on Saturday but we won't because the match going fans are soft as shit. 

Wind your neck in for fucks sake.

[Suhari]

But damn SR. DAMN.

You guys have some work to do to make up for this shit-show of a season.

Rasmus is gonna need a whole new book.

[rallyboy]

Worst performance of the season?

Probably in the boardroom. 

[Dragon_man]

On 07/05/2023 at 12:10, UpweySaint said:

 

Really sound post. 

I think most saints fan are familiar with, and broadly supportive of, the supposed model but as you say the execution is key. We've made too many poor decisions both in the years preceding SR and in their time. We've obviously made one too many big mistakes in quick succession and it has really caught up with us evidenced by the dross we've served up most weeks on the pitch and the state of the squad/staff off it.

While I'm not expecting us to walk the championship (losing is a hard habit to break) next season could be good fun if we get more of the big calls right.

I don't think so. Just over a year ago Semmons laid that out on the infamous R5 interview and we've been dreadful ever since

It said to the players, 'you're just assets in our business model'. While that's always true and always has been for anyone outside the top 6, I don't think it's a coincidence that the drop in form followed.

There doesn't seem to be that 'we're here for the club and the fans'. Nope, its turned into 'we're here for us'. Many of these players won't care that the team is relegated, they will get sold and picked up anyway.

It's a club sport, not an individual one. Successful teams (and by that I mean staying the premiership) need to have a collective fighting spirit and something about fighting for the badge and community they serve.

I think that left the club last March and along with a few other failures has led to where we are.

That strategy and culture won't work for a championship team and certainly won't lead to promotion.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 May, 2023 by Dragon_man

[Pamplemousse]

1 hour ago, Archers Road Stand said:

Need to be giving this lot, the players and the management pelters on Saturday but we won't because the match going fans are soft as shit. 

Who cares, most of them won't be here next season, not worth my energy. Apathy is what they deserve.

[SambaMaverick]

It's going to be interesting to see what SR do in terms of rebuilding a connection with the fans.

They've obviously catered to the 'Premier League fan' since coming into the club and followed the money, but there's not likely to be any of that next season.

SR are going to have to do a complete 180 and try and get SMS packed. If we then go back up and they abandon all of that again, then that'll seriously water down my commitment. 

I think we deserve a couple of fan forums in the summer just to try and get all of this shit out in the open.

[FarehamSaintJames]

I don’t see SR building any sort of connection with the fans.

Too much would have to go right, and so far all they’ve shown is that they’re reckless and incompetent.

[Mr X]

Let's be honest SR are totally incompetent owners and have played a huge part in our demise to the championship.... They are so bad at communicating too 

[Convict Colony]

2 major issues that they didnt get right.

Striker - they explained the reasons in the summer - we were going for world class and missed - i can accept that and I can also accept in Jan its not a buyers market so we were screwed just trying to get any striker in.

Manager - Was obvs from the end of last season, new direction was needed - this is the major factor and then led to the chuckle brothers following ralph - this is on sports republic.

[FarehamSaintJames]

Personal opinion; Sport Republic need to do this to start winning fans back inside:

Get the new manager announced no later than two-three weeks after the final game.
Lay it out early. “This is your manager. Go away for three weeks and decide if you’re committed to working for this manager and the club” etc.

Announce season ticket reductions as a way of apology (because naturally they won’t apologise for our relegation and the catalogue of errors this past year).
Get bums on seats and get the place full of support again. Money will be made back through food and beverage and club shop.

Get the kit sorted. Back to stripes. This should be done over the next month. Again, remember the days that next seasons kit used to be worn on the final game of the season?

I’m assuming, Wilcox will have already started looking at targets that are above school age and that have a bit of leadership for the coming season.

 

Do the basics early and they’ll win fans back quickly.

[Wade Garrett]

24 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Personal opinion; Sport Republic need to do this to start winning fans back inside:

Get the new manager announced no later than two-three weeks after the final game.
Lay it out early. “This is your manager. Go away for three weeks and decide if you’re committed to working for this manager and the club” etc.

Announce season ticket reductions as a way of apology (because naturally they won’t apologise for our relegation and the catalogue of errors this past year).
Get bums on seats and get the place full of support again. Money will be made back through food and beverage and club shop.

Get the kit sorted. Back to stripes. This should be done over the next month. Again, remember the days that next seasons kit used to be worn on the final game of the season?

I’m assuming, Wilcox will have already started looking at targets that are above school age and that have a bit of leadership for the coming season.

 

Do the basics early and they’ll win fans back quickly.

I think a lot of fans (including me) won’t be renewing their season tickets until the new manager is announced.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

30 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Lay it out early. “This is your manager. Go away for three weeks and decide if you’re committed to working for this manager and the club” etc.

This is too passive. They need to set out a vision involving investment and promotion and sell it to the players. Inspire them and persuade them to stay

[The Curse of St Mary's]

The new manager won't know what he has to work with until that 31 man squad is trimmed considerably and new signings are made which will take quite some time. Hopefully SR can dangle the carrot of substantial investment in the squad and get bulk of dealings done early doors so new manager has enough time to stamp his authority but depends if Rasmus is at the wheel calling the shots. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

15 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

This is too passive. They need to set out a vision involving investment and promotion and sell it to the players. Inspire them and persuade them to stay

I wouldn’t be too keen in persuading many of them to stay. 🤣

[Daft Kerplunk]

12 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

This is too passive. They need to set out a vision involving investment and promotion and sell it to the players. Inspire them and persuade them to stay

Something like:

We are the biggest club in a region of over 1 million people. We are going back to representing our fans by delivering competitive football teams. Competitive players who want to succeed are welcomed. If you outperform expectations, a bigger club might approach us to sign you and we will listen to offers that value you correctly. If you perform to expectations, you’ll become an important player for this club, and likely a hero to fans. We won’t accept players who don’t want to win. You’ll be loaned out. Our mission as a football club is to win as many matches as possible. If we as a club do well, you’ll do well too. 

[verlaine1979]

1 minute ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

Something like:

We are the biggest club in a region of over 1 million people. We are going back to representing our fans by delivering competitive football teams. Competitive players who want to succeed are welcomed. If you outperform expectations, a bigger club might approach us to sign you and we will listen to offers that value you correctly. If you perform to expectations, you’ll become an important player for this club, and likely a hero to fans. We won’t accept players who don’t want to win. You’ll be loaned out. Our mission as a football club is to win as many matches as possible. If we as a club do well, you’ll do well too. 

🙄 literally anyone who thinks they're good enough to stay in a top league will either be sold willingly or agitate to leave. We'll be left with the crap, the youth, and hopefully Tino as he hasn't played for a season.

FFS, even Che Adams is going to think he's too good for us once we're relegated.

[Smirking_Saint]

9 minutes ago, verlaine1979 said:

🙄 literally anyone who thinks they're good enough to stay in a top league will either be sold willingly or agitate to leave. We'll be left with the crap, the youth, and hopefully Tino as he hasn't played for a season.

FFS, even Che Adams is going to think he's too good for us once we're relegated.

He is too good for us once we’re relegated

[verlaine1979]

2 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

He is too good for us once we’re relegated

He's shite, and his shiteness, along with that of many of our other attackers, is a huge contributing factor to us going down. He's managed five league goals this season. In terms of minutes per goal, it currently works out at about one every four-and-a-quarter games. The Championship is absolutely his level, but because he's played in the PL, someone will probably take a punt on him and find out how shit he is for themselves.