Sport Republic

[Long Shot]

When you have owners that have no previous connection to the club you are always going to have a gap between the priorities of the average supporter and the owners. Saints Fans want to see stylish, exciting football alongside accumulating enough points to either get promotion or qualify for Europe. Owners meanwhile buy football clubs for one major reason. To make money. Sometimes how they do that ties in with the fan’s priorities but sometimes it doesn’t. SR are in this for themselves ultimately and while failure on the pitch hurts their pockets it’s a business first and foremost. Unless you are lucky and do a Brighton ie the owner is a fan you will always get an element of discord. Either that your owner is so rich they they just throw money at the problem a la City. 
Unfortunately our owners are neither super rich or fans and at the moment don’t even seem very intelligent going by their last three managerial appointments. Wilcox was hailed as the new Mesiah but selecting a manager that seems so inflexible and tactically inept doesn’t give me confidence in his abilities or the people who put him there. 

[ally_uk]

Some of the decision making is baffling. All that talent sold and we bring in a couple of loans and a sprinkling of youth..... 

We get rid of Perraud, I'm sorry but he is a way better player than Manning.. 

We are relying on the likes of Smallbone and even offered him a 3 year deal.... Watch how many times he is bypassed in a game it's ridiculous.

For a laugh before games I try and select a team and I'm like well where is the height? Where is the tough tackling midfielders?  This has been the same story for a couple of seasons now... 

All we have is a team of lightweight midgets.... 

The over reliance on youth is killing us it's insanity. 

Get the chequeook out ASAP and bring in two experienced destroy / leader type players 

You know sort old skool no messing about straight in and whack! 

A couple of Romeus is what we need desperately... 

Edited 17 September, 2023 by ally_uk
Spell

[Toussaint]

12 hours ago, Long Shot said:

When you have owners that have no previous connection to the club you are always going to have a gap between the priorities of the average supporter and the owners. Saints Fans want to see stylish, exciting football alongside accumulating enough points to either get promotion or qualify for Europe. Owners meanwhile buy football clubs for one major reason. To make money. Sometimes how they do that ties in with the fan’s priorities but sometimes it doesn’t. SR are in this for themselves ultimately and while failure on the pitch hurts their pockets it’s a business first and foremost. Unless you are lucky and do a Brighton ie the owner is a fan you will always get an element of discord. Either that your owner is so rich they they just throw money at the problem a la City. 
Unfortunately our owners are neither super rich or fans and at the moment don’t even seem very intelligent going by their last three managerial appointments. Wilcox was hailed as the new Mesiah but selecting a manager that seems so inflexible and tactically inept doesn’t give me confidence in his abilities or the people who put him there. 

Acquisitions of football clubs can also be motivated by ego, and I think that is true in the case of SR, evidenced by the multi club model and the blind insistence on pressing ahead with “radical”footballing strategies which are unlikely to succeed.

Edited 17 September, 2023 by Toussaint

[Challenger]

23 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Equally if we’d won 1-0 tonight no one would be complaining and the appointment of RM would be seen as a stroke of genius. 😂

If things aren’t improved I reckon he’ll be gone come January.

SR will wait until February so the departing manager will get the chance to waste more money on dross in the January transfer window. It's what they like to do.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, ally_uk said:

Some of the decision making is baffling. All that talent sold and we bring in a couple of loans and a sprinkling of youth..... 

We get rid of Perraud, I'm sorry but he is a way better player than Manning.. 

We are relying on the likes of Smallbone and even offered him a 3 year deal.... Watch how many times he is bypassed in a game it's ridiculous.

For a laugh before games I try and select a team and I'm like well where is the height? Where is the tough tackling midfielders?  This has been the same story for a couple of seasons now... 

All we have is a team of lightweight midgets.... 

The over reliance on youth is killing us it's insanity. 

Get the chequeook out ASAP and bring in two experienced destroy / leader type players 

You know sort old skool no messing about straight in and whack! 

A couple of Romeus is what we need desperately... 

Lots to agree with here. Perraud is a much better fullback than Manning who has been awful in every game so far. I'd give Bree a go on the right and play KWP left back with none of this inverted nonsense. If one gets forward down one wing then the other stays back and both concentrate more on defensive duties than attacking.

We never address the lack of height and power in the side. Its an essential part of the make-up of any team yet we continue to field too many weaklings who are not up to the physicality of professional football.

Cut out the tip-tap walking football from the back, beef up the midfiled (though we probably don't have the players for this), get two wide players hugging the touchlines and Stewart, when fit, through the middle. Ping balls down the flanks or channels with midfielders bursting forward in support. Much more movement off the ball and getting between the lines. We'll create more chances, score more goals and be much more solid at the back. Carry on the RM way and the only direction for us is down because we'll leak goals by the bucket load.

[egg]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

Lots to agree with here. Perraud is a much better fullback than Manning who has been awful in every game so far. I'd give Bree a go on the right and play KWP left back with none of this inverted nonsense. If one gets forward down one wing then the other stays back and both concentrate more on defensive duties than attacking.

We never address the lack of height and power in the side. Its an essential part of the make-up of any team yet we continue to field too many weaklings who are not up to the physicality of professional football.

Cut out the tip-tap walking football from the back, beef up the midfiled (though we probably don't have the players for this), get two wide players hugging the touchlines and Stewart, when fit, through the middle. Ping balls down the flanks or channels with midfielders bursting forward in support. Much more movement off the ball and getting between the lines. We'll create more chances, score more goals and be much more solid at the back. Carry on the RM way and the only direction for us is down because we'll leak goals by the bucket load.

Lots to agree with there. The inverted full back concept just isn't working. The logical thing, as you say, is surely to have one full going while the other one sits. If we play that way I can see a role for Bree, and if happily see KWP shift to the other side. I wouldn't ditch Manning though - I think he'd add something in the midfield where he's played most of his pro games. 

[saintant]

4 minutes ago, egg said:

Lots to agree with there. The inverted full back concept just isn't working. The logical thing, as you say, is surely to have one full going while the other one sits. If we play that way I can see a role for Bree, and if happily see KWP shift to the other side. I wouldn't ditch Manning though - I think he'd add something in the midfield where he's played most of his pro games. 

Wouldn't be against trying Manning in midfield - my only reservation being that he's another short arse.

[HarvSFC]

4 hours ago, Toussaint said:

Acquisitions of football clubs can also be motivated by ego, and I think that is true in the case of SR, evidenced by the multi club model and the blind insistence on pressing ahead with radical footballing strategies which are unlikely to succeed.

100%. Valenciennes in the summer was another ego move when they haven’t got their houses in order here, or at Goztepe. Not that I care about what happens in Turkey.

The £20m+ used to purchase Valenciennes would have been better served going towards our summer transfer budget and giving us a better chance of getting promotion at the first attempt. What’s going to bring in more money in the long run, the Premier League, or French football? But, it was purely an ego move, as you say, to add another club to the portfolio.

[Convict Colony]

4 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

100%. Valenciennes in the summer was another ego move when they haven’t got their houses in order here, or at Goztepe. Not that I care about what happens in Turkey.

The £20m+ used to purchase Valenciennes would have been better served going towards our summer transfer budget and giving us a better chance of getting promotion at the first attempt. What’s going to bring in more money in the long run, the Premier League, or French football? But, it was purely an ego move, as you say, to add another club to the portfolio.

[Convict Colony]

Gozteppe score 1-0 so far

[Weston Super Saint]

10 hours ago, Toussaint said:

Acquisitions of football clubs can also be motivated by ego, and I think that is true in the case of SR, evidenced by the multi club model and the blind insistence on pressing ahead with radical footballing strategies which are unlikely to succeed.

I must have missed our "radical footballing strategies" - unless you include playing like 7 year olds 🤷

[Toussaint]

36 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

I must have missed our "radical footballing strategies" - unless you include playing like 7 year olds 🤷

It was meant to be ironic, I’ll add the inverted “full back” commas for the avoidance of doubt. 
 

Funny you mention 7 year olds, I watched my grandson play this morning (under 12s) and even they left two defenders back for corners!

[Saint86]

This lot are going to do so much damage to saints its unreal. Tragic really 😭. 

[Block 5]

Dragan was at the game today, sat next to Henrik Kraft.

Rasmus was sat with Jason Wilcox. 

Edited 19 September, 2023 by Block 5
Seating arrangement info.

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, Block 5 said:

Dragan was at the game today, sat next to Henrik Kraft.

Rasmus was sat with Jason Wilcox. 

And I thought Gao was a terrible owner.....

[Block 5]

Did Gao even go to a game? 

 

[Master Bates]

1 hour ago, Block 5 said:

Did Gao even go to a game? 

 

Yes and pictured at games.

[Dman]

I can't help but think that Martin is a SR (Rassmus) masterclass, rather than Wilcox. 

I suspect SR want to replicate City and as part of that want to replicate their style and I have no doubt Wilcox would have had an input into defining that style but I've absolutely no doubt that we've looked at a spreadsheet and have seen his (Martin's) stats for possession are the highest... completely ignoring that he's achieved the square root of fuck all with it. 

If that is the case, I have to wonder if Wilcox will be as supportive..

On a side note, how many games did Jones last? Martin must be closing towards it..

[Toussaint]

57 minutes ago, Dman said:

I can't help but think that Martin is a SR (Rassmus) masterclass, rather than Wilcox. 

I suspect SR want to replicate City and as part of that want to replicate their style and I have no doubt Wilcox would have had an input into defining that style but I've absolutely no doubt that we've looked at a spreadsheet and have seen his (Martin's) stats for possession are the highest... completely ignoring that he's achieved the square root of fuck all with it. 

If that is the case, I have to wonder if Wilcox will be as supportive..

On a side note, how many games did Jones last? Martin must be closing towards it..

All roads lead to Rasmus in our catastrophic decline over last season and where we find ourselves now.

[Weston Super Saint]

Dragan has said his biggest mistake last year was not getting involved enough.

Time for him to show us what happens when he does get involved - although I suspect it will be more of the same.

[S-Clarke]

6 hours ago, Dman said:

I can't help but think that Martin is a SR (Rassmus) masterclass, rather than Wilcox. 

I suspect SR want to replicate City and as part of that want to replicate their style and I have no doubt Wilcox would have had an input into defining that style but I've absolutely no doubt that we've looked at a spreadsheet and have seen his (Martin's) stats for possession are the highest... completely ignoring that he's achieved the square root of fuck all with it. 

If that is the case, I have to wonder if Wilcox will be as supportive..

On a side note, how many games did Jones last? Martin must be closing towards it..

If they truly want us to be Man City-lite, then they've also got that all wrong and we don't have the players for that.

Strong midfielder in the middle, top centre forward up front, flexible 10's in a 3 behind the forward.

We had Joe Aribo and Will Smallbone anchoring our midfield last night, with Adam Armstrong as our flexible 10. 

[benjii]

It's not as though Man City have stayed the same though. Guardiola has changed things during his time there. The idea that we need to copy some sort of blueprint in the Championship is silly.

Most Champ teams would love to have Adams, Stewart, Armstrong, Fraser, Alcaraz, Sulemana and Edozie. 

Most Champ teams would probably like to have Bednarek, Stephens, HTB and KWP. 

Apparently Manning and Bree are good full backs at this level.

I expect most teams would like to have Charles too.

We don't need to be clever. Just get a decent structure in defence and get the attacking players in a positive mindset. Job done.

[aintforever]

Man City are successful because they have spent billions on the best players, not because of their style of play.

[Miltonaggro]

6 hours ago, Dman said:

I can't help but think that Martin is a SR (Rassmus) masterclass, rather than Wilcox. 

I suspect SR want to replicate City and as part of that want to replicate their style and I have no doubt Wilcox would have had an input into defining that style but I've absolutely no doubt that we've looked at a spreadsheet and have seen his (Martin's) stats for possession are the highest... completely ignoring that he's achieved the square root of fuck all with it. 

If that is the case, I have to wonder if Wilcox will be as supportive..

On a side note, how many games did Jones last? Martin must be closing towards it..

Jones 14, Selles 17. They’ll give RM a good few more than that I reckon as they’ve invested more in this one. 

[Dark Munster]

3 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

Jones 14, Selles 17. They’ll give RM a good few more than that I reckon as they’ve invested more in this one. 

Unfortunately I think that’s true. They are clueless about football and so do not understand we have an incompetent manager. 

[SaintTex]

since SR purchased the club in Jan 2022, Saints have mustered 14 league wins out of 62 matches.

2022 : 5 wins | 22-23 : 6 wins | 23-present : 3 wins

 

it's been an unmitigated disaster.

 

[saintant]

33 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

since SR purchased the club in Jan 2022, Saints have mustered 14 league wins out of 62 matches.

2022 : 5 wins | 22-23 : 6 wins | 23-present : 3 wins

 

it's been an unmitigated disaster.

 

That's a disgrace.

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, SaintTex said:

since SR purchased the club in Jan 2022, Saints have mustered 14 league wins out of 62 matches.

2022 : 5 wins | 22-23 : 6 wins | 23-present : 3 wins

 

it's been an unmitigated disaster.

 

There’s one for the next fans forum! 

[Challenger]

SR nothing but a cork in the arse of progress.

[Block41 Saint]

They've served up an absolute shit show. Terrible, terrible owners. 

[Dark Munster]

4 hours ago, SaintTex said:

since SR purchased the club in Jan 2022, Saints have mustered 14 league wins out of 62 matches.

2022 : 5 wins | 22-23 : 6 wins | 23-present : 3 wins

 

it's been an unmitigated disaster.

 

Shocking. So the question is, how long is Dragan going to put up with this? It's his money they are pissing down the drain for unmitigated disastrous results.

[Weston Super Saint]

5 hours ago, SaintTex said:

since SR purchased the club in Jan 2022, Saints have mustered 14 league wins out of 62 matches.

2022 : 5 wins | 22-23 : 6 wins | 23-present : 3 wins

 

it's been an unmitigated disaster.

 

Yeah, but xG and potential and spreadsheets and something.

[AlexLaw76]

Yes, but are you not proud of our multi-club set up?

Ipswich may have beaten us, but to they have a tin-pot French and Turkish club within their portfolio?

Edited 20 September, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[Badger]

Noticed this bloke is available, and is aptly named to join Rasmus here should RM leave:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66867292

 

[Wade Garrett]

Dragan is a billionaire.  He should be able to smell bullshit from a mile away.  Not much sign of that at the moment.  Rasmus and his mate are taking him for a ride.

Embarrassing.

Edited 20 September, 2023 by Wade Garrett

[saint lard]

Seems quite appropriate ‘Take That’ are scheduled to play St Marys in 2024. 
With titles such as ‘The Circus’ and I’m running out of ‘Patience’ 

[Miltonaggro]

On 17/09/2023 at 19:18, Weston Super Saint said:

I must have missed our "radical footballing strategies" - unless you include playing like 7 year olds 🤷

The radicalism with 66.66% of SR is thinking that they'll get away with it.  They won't but it's going to be a painful watch! 

[Toussaint]

I know things can change very quickly with a few good results, but if things continue as they are, I can see us feeling the same way about SR as Newcastle fans felt about Ashley, and Blackpool fans felt towards their owners, and many others to boot . 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

18 hours ago, SaintTex said:

since SR purchased the club in Jan 2022, Saints have mustered 14 league wins out of 62 matches.

2022 : 5 wins | 22-23 : 6 wins | 23-present : 3 wins

 

it's been an unmitigated disaster.

 

An embarrassing stat. I wonder how many of them have been home wins? 

[FarehamSaintJames]

They had the choice to stick or twist with Ralph and changing the coaching team.
They screwed that up.

They had to get his replacement right. They hired Nathan Jones.
They screwed that up.

They had to pay out and get an experienced manager in to have any hope of keeping us up (when it was well within our reach); I’m sure relation wasn’t part of the SR plan?
They hired Ruben Selles on the back of an attack v defence win at Chelsea, at a period where everyone was beating Chelsea.
They screwed that up monumentally.

As for this latest hire, thoughts? 😢

 

Sport Republic masterclass.

[Elmore Saint]

3 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

They had the choice to stick or twist with Ralph and changing the coaching team.
They screwed that up.

They had to get his replacement right. They hired Nathan Jones.
They screwed that up.

They had to pay out and get an experienced manager in to have any hope of keeping us up (when it was well within our reach); I’m sure relation wasn’t part of the SR plan?
They hired Ruben Selles on the back of an attack v defence win at Chelsea, at a period where everyone was beating Chelsea.
They screwed that up monumentally.

As for this latest hire, thoughts? 😢

 

Sport Republic masterclass.

And the common denominator. Wish they had never set foot in our club. 

[trousers]

Jones is just a SR puppet... we need these woeful owners out of the club.... #rootcause

[Block41 Saint]

Painfully out of their depth. They need to do one or we'll end up in League One. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

People give Semmens a hard time and he did relatively little wrong, he ran it as a business and we didn’t spend above our means.
Gao wasn’t a bad owner. The Chinese government instructed all overseas investment in business be withdrawn. He didn’t take any money out the club.

Sport Republic are just the child equivalent of Todd Boehly. Spend a shit load of money on untried and inexperienced players and hope it sticks, and if it goes wrong, throw more money at it.

Only difference is Chelsea we’re too high up the table after their start to last season to get relegated.

[RedWillie]

Incompetent and out of their depth. 

[Pilchards]

I’m sorry but I don’t trust whatever they have planned next.

Martin is not going to get better as we are getting worse.

Leeds next week and Piroe will score an hat-rick and finally put his ex manager out of his misery.

Time to get these cunts out of the club as they have no idea how to run this football club. Honestly fucking Boro dicked us this afternoon and Russell’s is going to waffle some shit in the press conference.

 

Ha ha ha 4 games lost in a row.

 

 

[FarehamSaintJames]

Russell Martin won’t be sacked anytime soon.

SR aren’t that pragmatic.

[danjosaint]

Spineless rudderless chancers with no football savvy what so ever going to fuck the club over even more than last regime, fucking atrocious appointments and stubboness will cost us until they sell us on for peanuts  

[Sussex_saint]

We need a total reset. I thought Martin had given us this, but it is apparent problems run deep that have remained for the last few seasons. I don’t care whose I’m charge, just get us some fucking wins!

[Graffito]

The most important appointment at any club and SR has ballsed it up every time.