Talking to the German press Saints Chairman Ralph Krueger has emphasised what Saints are trying to do going forward.

Krueger was speaking to German Magazine Kicker about what he is trying to achieve at St Mary's and emphasised that Southampton are different than most club's in the way they go about things and also different with a special football culture.

“Bayern Munich is a model for us. No matter how big the club is, you never forget the roots. We are a warm and loyal club. This also means dealing with people, which is important to us.”

“We are honest and transparent. If Sadio Mane wants to go to Liverpool and we get £33m, we have to do it. One of my tasks is to make it clear to the fans.”

Krueger also said that his role is not just about the running of the club but that he remained close to the squad itself although he did not meddle in tactics.

"I’m close to the team, but I’m talking less about football tactics, but more about the emotional bond to the players. One of my jobs is to develop our brand. When I started, we were a comparatively small club. In the revenue ranking of the clubs, we were ranked 63rd in the world. Today we are ranked 17th.”

He was also keen to dispel rumours that the club has no ambition and was not interested in winning trophies.

“This is unacceptable! We must win titles to reach the next level. Maybe it will work in the League Cup… It would be an ideal opportunity for our young team to learn how to win big games.”

Interesting words from our Chairman and there have been many who are already trying to twist them around and use them as a stick to beat him with.

Personally I cannot understand why so many are so quick to condemn Krueger and the club's way of operating.

I have followed the club now for 45 years and a day after seeing my first match on 15th January 1972 against Manchester United in the FA Cup, in all those years prior to the arrival of Krueger three years ago, I have never seen a more focused and structured approach at the club, for perhaps the first time in the club's history there is a plan in place and not only that but the structure to achieve it.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and if 3 straight top 10 finishes in a row, equalling the clubs best ever run and only our second semi final in 30 years is unambitious and failing, then god knows how the last 45 years could be described all bar a 10 year spell from 1976-86.

Yes the fans don't like to be told that players are leaving, but that is the reality of today's game, only a handful of club's are not feeder clubs to someone higher up the footballing food chain.

Saints now have a way forward, they know they cannot compete financially with the big six who get richer each season, with sponsorship deals that the rest of the league can only dream about, so we are taking them on on our own terms.

Does anyone honestly believe that Sadio Mane was sold against his will and that we took the first big offer that came along ? Krueger knows that once a player has been tempted with a salary that is two or three times bigger than he can get here, not to mention the little matter of a guaranteed tilt at an honour or two, then it is going to hard to hang on to him.

That means we have to find players, develop them and slowly build up our squad, its not good to see them go, but over the past four seasons I would rather have had Lovren for one year, Alderweireld for the next and then two years of Virgil Van Dijk than four years of Yoshida with all due respect to the loyal servant that the Japanese International is.

There is a good reason that Yoshida is completing his fifth season and the aforementioned three didnt and in the case of VVD wont last that long and that is quality and demand.

We have to implement our structure knowing that it is our best chance of staying where we want to be, as we certainly can't afford to spend £40 million on a player and pay him £15ok a week.

We should remember our past and what an improvement even the current season that some see as a disaster actually is, sometimes you have to take a step back to keep moving forward.

Photo: Action Images

DellHero added 16:17 - Jan 16 TRY COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE BRITISH PRESS DICKHEAD
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stmichael added 16:27 - Jan 16 Why do we need to read this in a German sports magazine? That is a lack of respect for us. Not impressed at all.
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JGH added 16:28 - Jan 16 Completely agree with the above article. As for 'DellHero' - what a moronic, simple minded response. Not to mention irrelevant as Kruger has made countless UK interviews.
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law101 added 16:41 - Jan 16 There is a smugness in the way we operate 'differently' from our rivals. Openly suggesting the club will sell anyone who wishes to leave invites it's own instability as we see now. We have always replaced outgoing players and bought well, however this season has been a step too far for most of us. The majority of supporters began ringing the alarm bells in the summer re our attacking talent. Our midfield are neat, tidy and can competently move the ball sideways and backwards but lack the ability to make key passes or drive forward with the ball. It was evident before a ball was kicked that Shane Long and J Rod would struggle to break double figures (statistics would of course agree). Austin is a championship goal scorer who would conceivably miss 10-15 games per season, and even when fit would only manage one game a week at best. Those hoping for a second half of the season similar to last year, be prepared for disappointment. Last year we under performed, this year our results and performances I believe are to be expected given the personnel and quality of our squad. January is notoriously difficult to buy players and I am not expecting us to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Thankfully the club will not panic buy, however I think this could leave us wishing the season away.

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highfield49 added 16:41 - Jan 16 Perhaps if we had a British media base than wasn't obsessed by London, Manchester and Liverpool teams we could actually get some positive publicity instead of the usual feeder club mania. Well done to the Chairman, if you can't get the UK press to print anything positive then go to someone who is interested enough to publish something other than negativity.
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SaintNick added 16:42 - Jan 16 I guess if the UK press wanted to interview him then they only have to ask, contrast Krueger with any of the previous Chairman of this club in the last 40 years and he would be very high on the list or would you rather have the likes of Lowe/Wilde/Askham etc Be careful what you wish for !!!!
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the_saint added 16:50 - Jan 16 So that's it then we are officially a stepping stone even though it's something we all knew why oh why is our chairman stating it in the press. That is in my opinion very unprofessional or am I missing something? Anyway good article nick could not agree with you more
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BathSaint added 16:54 - Jan 16 I'm so fed up of reading both Les Reed and on here the phrase "We cant compete with the top 6 clubs" as if the fans are asking for something unreasonable. Pretty much every fan knows and accepts we cant financially compete with the top 6 clubs, or even Everton in 7th, what we are asking is for us to compete with the group below this - Crystal Palace, Stoke, West Brom, West Ham, Newcastle, (soon it seems even Bournemouth). Since we have built up our revenues so well and also are raking in enourmous transfer profits each window (still the only team in the entire league pyramid to make profit without reinvesting 3 years in a row on player sales) we should be able to more than compete with these clubs. Not to mention the extra TV money and prize money from the cups and europa league that, while small, will still amount to something that these other clubs wont get, along with the bumper under armour and virgin media sponsorship deals.

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mattlegod added 17:21 - Jan 16 Completely agree with your points, we all to quickly forget the achievements in recent years and in particular on the back of nearly disappearing altogether - just look at the likes of Leeds and forest who have languished in the championship for years.. that could have been us if we weren't managed properly but instead we have seen ourselves perform beyond expectations in the premiership in the last three years. As for this season's current 'dip' - just look at some of the teams last season, particularly those 'big' six' who needed a season to steady the ship and rebuild - it doesn't happen immediately. Keep the faith.

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BoondockSaint added 17:38 - Jan 16 Thanks Nick! I was wondering what happened to the "Les Reed Lets Rip With A Fart" picture! Those poor women behind him seem to have gotten the brunt of it! And don't think this is off topic: It's just more hot air coming out of the club!
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Bettwsresident added 17:47 - Jan 16 If we sell £50m and spend £30m the balance can go on players salaries and make sure we have more control over the situation. This is what the club tried to do last year with the spate of new deals offered to the key members of the squad over summer. Fonte refused his, but VVD and co did sign theirs. £150k a week is £8.5m p/a once you add in ENI, so even with this model we can't match someone coming in with a stupid money offer. Saints FC turnover was £114m in 2015 and we spent £80m of that on wages.

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saintsnutcase added 18:29 - Jan 16 I completely agree with you on this Nick. Of course it is depressing to see players like Mane and Wanyama leave every summer, but what alternative do we have? If we force them to run down their contracts, we have unhappy players - like Fonte is now - and no money to replace them with at the end of their contracts. The only way to compete with the top 6 is to continue to find players for low prices or from the academy and then sell them for higher prices. That way the value and quality of the squad can improve through time. Fans who want us to "show ambition" need to explain two things. 1) where do we get the money? And 2) how do we make this strategy compatible wit FFP, even if Kat does want to spend the money. I wish it could somehow be different, but it can't. Let's live in the real world and enjoy what we have got because it is pretty remarkable when you look at other clubs of our size.

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dixiefrog added 18:42 - Jan 16 For me I can't see that we'll ever compete with the current top six, unless we have serious investment from a diffent owner. Don't get m wrong, I think the Liebherr family and Krueger's direction have been very good for Southampton, they took us from near disaster in 2009 to where we are today. However with the top club having a revenue of £400m compared to our £114m we'll never compete on signings and player wages. Indeed, the sixth placed team is turning over £200m which is nearly double what we can achieve. Imagine what we could do, if we found an owner with greater wealth which might mean that overnight we could attract a new player on wages twice those of at present. It's not a popular view, but maybe we've achieved as much as we can and seventh is the best position any team can achieve without a major, serious financial backer. Let's see what happens with discussions in the Far East, but maybe it's time to reflect on our recent great times under the stewardship of the Liebherr's but start looking forward to an even greater future.

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the_saint added 19:32 - Jan 16 All I want to be is entertained this season has been very boring negative football I know we can't compete with the big boys but that doesn't stop us giving them a kick up the arse now and again like last season and the good old dell days.
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WanderingSaint added 20:52 - Jan 16 I agree with this, apart from a small (but massive) part. That bit is that a move to Liverpool is "a guaranteed tilt at an honour or two." A move to Liverpool is about money alone. They may have the odd chance of the League Cup, but that's it, and it's been that way for over 20 years. Forget about the fluke in 2005, it was just that. If our players were going to top clubs I could understand it, but when they go to Liverpool, they're not. And that's why it's so disappointing.

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LordDZLucan added 22:17 - Jan 16 No other club outside the so called 'Top 6' sells its best players every year. Therefore it doesn't have to be this way. Every club has now got rich owners so if we keep on taking money out of the the team we are inevitably going to get overtaken.
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bstokesaint added 00:03 - Jan 17 I've got a lot of time for Ralph. Like you Nick I believe he's done a great job moving us forward as a club. And maybe as others have stated he's spoken to the German media just because they were interested when the British media weren't. That said on the issue of "transparency" I would like to see more with the fans. It's good to know Ralph still sees a longer term vision, but I'd also like the club to admit when mistakes have been made and reassure fans money is being appropriately reinvented or that there are plans too. This season it feels like we've spent little and got our just desserts. Our position now is looking a little precarious and without full scale panic a couple of quality signings in the right areas would settle the nerves!

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TeamCortese added 05:18 - Jan 17 What has Ralph actually done for this club?!
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SanMarco added 10:04 - Jan 17 Have just read the two Echo leaders - they have turned on Puel big time. He will be opening the TUI anxiously this morning to see if the editorial line here has changed! I couldn't find anything about Puel in my quick scan of Kreuger's uninteresting comments. I will be interested to see if the Echo articles are just a one off 'warning shot' - if not could it be that the politbureau are preparing us for a change? Of course I am reading too much in to things but that tends to be our main role as football consumers in the age of Sky and the "Premier League Years". As for 'transparency' it is yet another empty concept thought up in corporate empty concept departments. Think 'sustainability', 'inclusivity', 'accountability', 'due diligence' etc etc etc. All concepts totally stripped of meaning with Uncle Rupert and all the other dark forces in charge of football and the world. And of course 'fair play'....

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thornhill1976 added 17:42 - Jan 17 Ralph knows next to nothing about football and Les Reed once described JWP as "brilliant". Nuff said. Morons at the helm.
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