Yes the new owners have been with us for the last four months, but it is only now with the season over they can start to implement their plans for the club, it is a case now of Saints fans sitting back and giving them a chance to show what they can do.

Before I start this article I am going to say one thing, before we start shouting about lack of ambition etc, lets give the new people the chance to show what they have in mind first, back in 2014 there was meltdown after the departure of Nicola Cortese, social media was full of those screaming that the club was finished and certainties for relegation etc, yet the following three years were just about the most successful period since Lawrie McMenemy left in 1985.

The past is in the past it is all about moving forward, over the past 3-4 years the club has been hampered by not only the previous owner Gao unable to get money out of China due to that countries falling out with the West, but also a number of players who had been signed for reasonable transfer fees and were on high wages, but weren't even playing for us, yet we were still paying a fair chunk of their wages.

Now the financial restrictions are lifting, the departure of Fraser Forster sees around £90k a week off the wage bill, add to that Alex McCarthy's contract ending and Harry Lewis leaving and we have got around £150,000 a week off the books in the goalkeeping department, around £7.5 million a year in total not including annual bonus's.

In just the goalkeeping department we have struggled over the past three years, all three were going nowhere due to high wages, so we were stuck with them and had no money to sign a new keeper in terms of wages.

The goalkeeping department will now be revamped, it looks like Alex McCarthy signed a new deal back in the Autumn, God only knows why the club are yet to announce it although it shows up on the list of deals we have paid agents for.

McCarthy will be back on a greatly reduced contract and it is likely that he will be the number two keeper next season with a new man coming into the number one spot.

In defence we are well served for full backs, but it is in the centre that a revamp is needed, Jack Stephens is another like McCarthy who was on a long contract with higher wages than his worth to the club, he too is out of contract this summer and there has been no sign of a new one being offered, he was rumoured back in the Autumn to have signed a new deal but unlike McCarthy it didn't show up on payments made to agents, so we have to assume that one didn't happen.

So what's next for Jack ? this season he started just 9 games for the club in the Premier League, plus another 2 off the bench, the season before it was 17(1) he is a fringe player now, but perhaps he is worth a new deal on far reduced wages as a back up, although I have never thought that he was of Premier league standard, he is a good squad player.

I suspect though that at 28 he is more likely to go to a Championship club.

Jan Bednarek's career at the club looks to be over, seemingly there is an attitude problem judging by Ralph Hasenhuttl's comments after the Manchester City cup tie.

So the first job for the new owners is to back the manager in the transfer market, we need a quality goalkeeper and a quality experienced leader at the back, this doesn't fall in with the club's previous transfer strategy that seemingly was never sign anyone over 27, but Rasmus Ankersen is now calling the shots, he signed Pontius Jansson for Brentford six months short of the central defenders 29th birthday, so there could now be a change of policy.

In midfield it is clear out time, there are at least four players that we need to get off the books, although doing so might be difficult, the likes of Moi Elyounoussi and Moussa Djenepo are not likely to get anything near what we are paying them by leaving so a loan deal might be the best we can do.

Up front we need a new striker, Broja is not the man, six goals was not good enough to look to sign him permanently, a new man in and I would not be too disappointed if Shane Long got a 1 year deal, he is not a player who gives you a lot of minutes on the pitch, but it is a squad game and there isn't a better player to close out the final 10 minutes of a game.

So the new era starts with a clear out, I would see around 6-8 players leaving and a lot of money freed up for wages.

Then it is about what happens next in bringing new blood in, hopefully we are advanced on that, we have been successful in recent years in the transfer market and we now have the benefit of Rasmus Ankerssen's knowledge at Brentford.

Next is the manager, I still back Ralph, I think the issue lies with the coaching staff and not the manager, the Austrian has done a difficult job in difficult circumstances and in the last 12 games has had to deal with a squad with certain players suddenly dipping in form at the same time, perhaps the reason why will emerge in time.

But we still finished 16th with ease, we didn't fight a relegation battle at any stage and if we had just had a point a game average in the last 12 games we would be touching the top 10 .

I believe the issue that Ralph has had is that he has a coaching staff with no experience and to be blunt would not get a job at any other premier League club, this needs to be addressed and men brought in who can compliment Ralph, watch any other team and the manager is consulting his coaching staff during games, Ralph appears to not trust the likes of Kelvin Davis, Dave Watson and Craig Fleming, none of whom have outfield coaching experience in any of the top 5 divisions.

So not a lot to do for Rasmus Ankerssen and Sport Republic !!!!!

But we as supporters have to give the club a chance to show that they know what is needed and how to deal with it, as I said back in 2014, 2015, 2016 the knives were out on social media, the same old suspects are back in action now, a month ago they were saying we were in a relegation fight, it never happened.

In football the best clubs and managers say very little about what they are going to do next, they only talk about what they have done.

I am not towing the club line here, nor am I blind to the situation, I am just giving a new regime a chance to show what they can do.

It is a case of wait and see this summer, but let us do that, if things do go wrong then we will have plenty of time to moan about it next season, but let us not go into meltdown until we have to, let's see what happens next first.

Photo: Action Images

wrathoftazz added 18:12 - May 24 ANOTHER bs article, written by a Raplh lover, now asking for more time etc etc. No new excuses, just recycling old ones used for the past several seasons. How about writing an article that isn't Ralph bias? How about admitting he is crap? Didn't think so
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BornAsaint added 00:22 - May 25 Too younger promising CB I would not mind see come to saints this season Sven Botman (LOSC Lille) Micky van de Ven (VfL Wolfsburg)
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BornAsaint added 00:22 - May 25 Too younger promising CB I would not mind see come to saints this season Sven Botman (LOSC Lille) Micky van de Ven (VfL Wolfsburg)
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redwight added 11:00 - May 25 Nick, you've often commented about how the squad has much greater depth than previously and implied that that is obviously a 'good thing', with cover in all positions. On the face of it, that is self-evidently true, but there is an alternative way of looking at it. Every club has limited funds and some, like Saints, are more limited than others. Given that, you could make a case for having, say, 15 players of a higher quality with the balance of the squad made up of academy products plus a few old pros who know the ropes, but whose best days are behind them. We would then stand a far better chance of seriously challenging the better funded teams as well as playing a better brand of football. Of course, this would leave us open to problems caused by injuries and suspensions, meaning there is an element of risk involved. However, IMO opinion it would be preferable to having a squad packed with mediocrity, which is what we have now.

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