Southampton Owners Admit Mistakes Were Made Wednesday, 31st May 2023 08:28 Sport Republic have been speaking to the media and have been surprisingly open and honest about were the failures of the season lie, now they ask the fans to have a little faith as they now try to put things right. Sport Republic have been talking to various media outlets including The Times and they have been surprisingly candid about where they have gone wrong since taking over at St Mary's, here we look at what they have been saying. The group who took over at St Mary's in January 2022 were the brainchild of Rasmus Ankersen who had been successful in Denmark with Midjytland and then England with Brentford and Henrik Kraft, who then brought in Dragan Solak as the financial backer.
The first conclusion that they have drawn is that they were not close enough to the club, when they arrived they stated that they had bought the club because they felt that much of the infra structure was already in place. They might have been right, but they failed to see that some of those in charge had little real experience in the football industry and in my opinion did not make key appointments quickly enough. Rasmus Ankersen had this to say to the Times. “We were not close enough to understand what was really going on, that’s a major lesson for us. We acted like a parent who is sending money to their kid but not sending their love and attention,” Solak added. “It never works and it didn’t work in our case as well. That’s why we are going to be close, to show support, to know what is going on, and knowing exactly what the club needs. We thought a huge amount of financial support would resolve a lot but it didn’t really.” It has to be said that as they started to make key changes, there was a lot of things that there were beyond their control, the appointment of Joe Shields as head of recruitment looked to be working well with a series of good young signings, some more Premier League ready than others, but within weeks of his official arrival Shields was tapped up by Chelsea and his finger was off the pulse and we failed to sign key players in crucial positions, namely a striker and an experienced centre back.
Some would say that Shields experience was in youth and he had little of that in the game at the highest echelons, perhaps Chelsea fans would agree with that. Sport Republic have since made some key appointments, including Jason Wilcox as Director of Football, although this was too little too late to save Saints from relegation. But the one point they seemed keen to make was that there have also been changes within Sport Republic itself, they know they need to get hands on and Solak himself although initially a passive investor, is not taking an active role and is now Chairman of the group. After the end of the season he has been keen to show that things are changing and to keep supporters informed of their plans. “When we were relegated, I thought it was important we showed the people at the club and the supporters that we are going nowhere. If anything, we will be here more than before.” “We knew we had great players, but they don’t show that in the games, some answers we got from the club were, ‘Don’t worry, it will be better." “We would now like to know more about the life of the club and to be supportive to enable them to be the best possible. We were not failed by the people in the club, I failed them. I should have been closer to everything.” From now on he will be, as he puts it, “part of the family”. Solak was brutally honest about the managerial changes at the club. Speaking about Ralph Hasenhuttl he had this to say: “It became clear it wasn’t working and then there was the unique situation of the World Cup coming up and there was speculation and negativity, It wasn’t a foregone conclusion, we wanted him to be successful, why wouldn’t we?” “I personally like the guy, we played golf together, but he lost the confidence in being able to turn things around.”
Rasmus Ankersen addressed the Nathan Jones disaster. “When we appointed Nathan it was based on what we needed to improve to stay in the Premier League, we had stopped being aggressive, being on the front foot, we had problems with set pieces and Nathan had proven he had been able to instil that in a team that was in the Championship, which has now been promoted. It was not to do with his character, he’s a great guy, he’s hungry.” “We have to admit we didn’t see him not being able to handle the media pressure at Premier League level,” Solak added. “If he could have been more calm and calculated after the games he would have stayed longer." “Him being too honest and losing it a little bit in front of the cameras turned the fans against him. He definitely didn’t do what we wanted."
Next topic on the list was James Ward Prowse: “Of course, we would love to keep him, he is Mr Southampton, he’s done amazing things. He will be in demand. If there is something that comes up that satisfies the club financially and satisfies James then out of respect we will have to have that conversation." “It would be selfish to say, we have a contract, and not fair to him, If he can play Champions League football next season, then that would be great for him. We have to see who will approach us.” But the big question that most fans want to know is what happens next, the more cynical in the fanbase are saying that Sport Republic aren't interested, some have even gone as far to say they don't want to be promoted .
The Times asks the question, Will they try to blitz the Championship or work their way organically through the challenges? Solak jokes here saying “We would like to do it organically and then blitz,” “We are building an organisation that is fit for purpose and has all the capabilities to go straight back to the Premier League,” Henrik Kraft adds. “When you look at the infrastructure and the facilities then you can see this is a club that belongs in the Premier League. Our goal is unashamedly to win the Championship. We’re not doing a patch job, we’re doing it in the right way.” The last question though is about the replacement for Ruben Selles and given the fact that most in the media are convinced that Swansea City's Russell Martin is already signed sealed and delivered they were very coy.
They admitted that Jason Wilcox the new Director of Football will hold the most weight in the appointment, but would not be drawn further. In conclusion on this article, it is firstly good that they are out there and open about the whole situation, they have not passed the buck they have taken the blame and having done that they are now asking for the supporters to have faith in them to put things right. It is good that they have recognised the failings of the season just ended, they are not trying to hide or point fingers, they are trying to move forward and find the solutions. Personally I am heartened to see them do so, too many times in the past those in charge at the club have hidden behind a wall of silence, adopting the Royal Family mantra of don't complain, don't explain and that has created division. In short they have held their hands up and said "We have got this wrong, but we are not running away, have some faith in us" That is a big ask, there will as I say be many sceptics who will pick up on little things said and try to use it against them as happened to Martin Semmens with his comment about attending every game at a fans forum. Perhaps Sport Republic will go from bad to worse, but we have to give them the chance to rectify the situation, if only because we have no other choice, like Solak's comment on Ralph Hasenhuttl, we should want them to be successful, why wouldn't we ! The fine words are now being spoken, now is the time for them to be backed up by fine action, the next few weeks are going to be crucial, there will be many outgoings and some incoming. We will though have a decent transfer kitty after we have sold a number of players, some of whom delivered little over the past 8 months and will not be missed, we have the opportunity to clear the decks and reboot, we have enough problems to overcome without creating others. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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