Tuesday 4th January 2022 was an eventful day in the history of Southampton Football Club, an event that some had been clamouring for over the past 3 years, now it has happened the past is over it is only the future that counts.

The last 3 years have seen sections of the Saints fanbase clamouring to then owner Jisheng Gao to leave the club, for some it didn't matter how it was done or who took over they just wanted Gao out.

This happened yesterday when Sport Republic bought out Gao's 80% stake in the club with Katharina Liebherr retaining her 20% holding.

But some on social media could not let Gao leave with dignity, they could not let him go without disparaging his time at the club.

I am not going to go too deeply into his time at the club, all I am going to do is state what the history books will tell future generations, that the club finished 17th in the season he took control, in his 3 full seasons it finished 16th, 11th & 15th and when he left at exactly the half way point of this season it was sat in 14th.

It may also say that during that time the club also reached two FA Cup semi finals, something that it done only one other time since 1986.

What it probably won't say is that Gao was unable to invest because of the situation with China or that he took no money out of the club or that he did not sell to the first chancer that came along, what it might say is that he lost around £100 million on the deal.

But what the records will show is that during his 3 and a bit seasons the club was not relegated from the Premier League and that he left the club in roughly the same position it was in when he arrived.

It is only the last stats that should really concern Saints supporter's that the club is still in the Premier League and money that had to be borrowed because of loss of revenue due to Covid 19 restrictions, something that has affected all clubs, is the only deficit.

Now we have a clean slate in front of us in Sport Republic, we should not stop questioning them and their intentions, but having said that we should also give them the chance to show what they can do for the club.

But we should not expect miracles, they have said that they intend to change little in the way the club is run, one of the attractions for them was the stability the club has in the shape of it's management structure.

But what they will bring to the table is the ability to get things done quicker, we have been heavily burdened throughout Gao's reign with expensive poor signings still on the books, Gao could do nothing to alleviate that financial burden, perhaps SR will be able to inject cash when needed, let's hope so.

So what we have now is a new owner, a chance for a new beginning and the club sat 14th in the Premier League and as near to the top 7 in terms of points as they are to the bottom 3.

It is now time to put the past behind us and move forward backing the club, for it to succeed it needs it's supporters, if a Premier league club did not need supporters then Rasmus Ankersen who until a few weeks ago was Director Of Football at Brentford would have stayed at that club and Sport Republic would have purchased it.

Southampton FC have a far bigger supporter base than Brentford and therefore far more potential, but supporters are no good to a club if they are sat at home and not at games, the team can't hear them and just as importantly their money isn't coming into the coffers.

Something had to happen to get fans back on board and surely a change in ownership is that catalyst that brings the fanbase together again.

If we are to move forward then the past has to be put behind us and not brought up at every opportunity, Southampton Football Club is where it is in the football pecking order, there are at least 11 clubs with bigger stadiums, bigger support, more money and more history.

Then you have those who are around the same level as us in all of those terms, Leicester might claim they are in the top echelon but in reality they are at the same tier as us and Wolves, Brighton & Crystal Palace, part of a group of 5 who should finish anywhere between 12th and 17th all things being equal, any higher and we are overperforming and any lower and we are underperforming.

The Premier League has changed in the past 5 years, the rich are getting richer and the rest are getting left behind.

We have to get behind our team and the new owners who are not going to turn us into the new Newcastle United with £430 billion in hand, they won't even turn us into Chelsea with a mere £15 billion, but they could turn us into Leicester City and get us into Europe and even a trophy and they could even turn us into the Southampton of 2014-2017 when we competed for top 8 place and a Wembley final.

But all that won't happen if we keep looking back to the past, we need to all kick in the same direction turn St Mary's into a cauldron and hopefully see Sport Direct and Rasmus Ankersen do what they intend to do, build a club and indeed a network that will unable to compete, they are not promising billions of investment, nor Premier League titles and top four finishes, in fact they are promising nothing, but they are offering the opportunity for us to build on what they see as solid foundations and make the club better than it is and in doing so be competitive.

Whether they keep good on their stated intentions no one will find out until the future, but that is unwritten so until then we have to trust in them as we have no choice, but they might well be the saviours of the club, who knows, but the past is gone, it is written in the history books and can't be changed, but the future is still there to be changed and ours perhaps did on Tuesday January 4th 2022.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 15:31 - Jan 6 I echo comments in support of Nick. I do feel that some are a bit over the top in their criticisms and use of language. That said, even Nick isn't always right. I can find no evidence that there are any problems concerning Chinese investment in the UK. I can find nothing that would have stopped Gao (sorry PaleRider) putting money in - I suspect he didn't have the cash or the desire to do so. Hardly an enormous failing but indicative of the fact we needed a change. The old 'be careful of what you wish for' saying may, or hopefully may not, come to haunt us in the times ahead. Gao (sorry PaleRider, that's twice) did bring stability of a kind and I see no reason for not saying a mild 'thanks and goodbye'. I am not going to get too excited about the new lot because I have been a Saints fan for nearly 60 years and getting too optimistic usually leads to disappointment. Although, thinking about it, that's probably the same for 99.9 per cent of clubs in the whole world!! As someone above said - look at Everton...

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pintsizedsaint added 23:31 - Jan 6 Hi SanMarco, there’s quite a lot of reporting on the u-turn of Chinese investment in football. Here’s one to be going on with: https://www.sportico.com/leagues/soccer/2021/chinese-investors-exit-european-foo
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