With relegation confirmed after the defeat to Fulham on Saturday, Saints oweners Sports Republic have wasted little time in issuing a statement confirming their intentions going forward.

Saints supporters have been expressing their dissatisfaction with all that has happened at St Mary's this season and on Saturday the team went down with a whimper and not a fight.

There are those that say the club is rotten to the core, I am not one of them and I reiterate that the past is now done, it cannot be changed, but the future can be and it is good to see that Sports Republic acted swiftly to put down their intentions for next season.

This is good news and hopefully indicates that they have learned some vital lessons and can make sure that they don't make them again.

Fine words are easy to say, but a lot harder to do, my opinion is that we can pinpoint just where we went wrong and are in a strong position to put right what went wrong.

The first thing is leadership and direction at board level and that is already about to change with the arrival of Jason Wilcox as Director of Football, he will oversee and exodus of players that will bring in around £150-200 million in transfer fees.

He will also be left with a squad that will have a good core of up and coming youngsters, both those brought in and also those that have developed within the club since they were at school.

Add to that some of the experienced players who will still be there and do not need to spend much of those transfer fees, the situation is very much like was last summer, we need experienced leaders through the spint of the team, in the centre of defence, in the centre of midfield and a proven striker.

Here is the statement from the club.

"Today is a hugely disappointing day for everyone associated with Southampton Football Club. We have fought tirelessly as a club throughout the season, but the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and our results were simply not good enough to stay there.

'"We are particularly saddened and frustrated that our first season as controlling shareholders in Southampton Football Club has ended in relegation. While this outcome is distressing for all of us, now is the time to demonstrate unity. We are grateful to our managers, our players, our staff and above all our fans for battling to the end to keep the Saints in the top tier.

"Our work begins today to return Southampton Football Club — an inaugural member of the Premier League with a rich history — to where it belongs. We want to reassure our supporters, our partners and our staff that we remain fully committed to achieving long-term success for the club at the top level.

"We must now reflect on the lessons to be learned from this season and start preparing for the challenges ahead of us in the Championship. Our goal is to return to the Premier League as soon as possible and ensure that we stay there.

"At the same time, we will continue to focus on the long-term development of the club, both on and off the pitch, to ensure its sustainability at the highest level. We understand that significant improvement is required, and at the end of the season we will announce our immediate next steps and provide details of how the club will operate moving forward.

"We cannot thank our fans enough for the fantastic support they have given the team throughout the season. Your commitment to the club is an inspiration and one of the foundations that will support Southampton’s return to the top flight. Dragan, Henrik & Rasmus"

Photo: Action Images

Boris1977 added 08:45 - May 15 PR BS
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SanMarco added 09:10 - May 15 I am sure that Nick will offer us some 'where it all went wrong' articles for us to all say our piece but for now, if Boris's comment isn't to be proved true, we need quick action - words are fine but I want to see hard evidence that they have learned from their catastrophic mistakes. A proper manager now would be a start...
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SaintNick added 09:15 - May 15 I have not praised this statement for any other reason than the rebuild has to start somewhere, we are on a slippery slope and we need to halt the slide, if we as fans just dismiss everything the club say or do out of hand and keep doing that then we can never recover. Mistakes have been made, we can't change them, of course we all have our opinions as to why it all went wrong, the next couple of weeks will reflect that, there needs to be a grieving process to get it out of our systems, but having done that we have to move forward, we have to put the past behind us rather than let it drag us down

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Boris1977 added 09:47 - May 15 Nick, as ever appreciate the dedication you put into running the Ugly Inside and the website will always be the first place I go when reading about the club. In my mind a mistake in football is a weak back pass or a keeper letting the ball through his legs. However, the issue here is not isolated mistakes but the owner's policy. That is unlikely to change as it's their USP. It would be like expecting Harry Kane to stop scoring goals and revert to right back. As their recruitment policy is not likely to change, I really hope they introduce a human element to their analysis to give it context and identify the right players or manager to suit or circumstances. The season has gone but there were plenty of fans who care about the club who anticipated that relegation was almost inevitable as it's been on the cards for the past few seasons where the bet has been at least 3 worse teams will save us. This season the chickens came home to roost and die on their perches. Letting Romeu leave the club and not replacing Ings were the final nails in the coffin after the previous failure to recruit an experienced CB. Again, I don't think these occurrences can be considered mistakes - they are fundamental failures bought about by either complacency or pure incompetence by the owners based on their recruitment methods. I'm not bothered about relegation as it's been on the cards for several seasons but what is disappointing is that it was eminently avoidable. If the owners are able to change their mode of operation and prove to be pragmatic about their methods, we could enjoy a successful season next year but if they persist down the flawed model they've employed since they took over then we are in for a rough few seasons of frustration and missed opportunity. Let's see what discussions we are having on this site in 300 days' time. COYR's.

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Frank_Xerox added 10:47 - May 15 That is just a holding statement asking for calm before SR releases something of substance at the end of the season. When they publish that, the first thing they must do is show some humility and apologise for their obvious mistakes. The second is to set out their plan - not just state the obvious ambition of returning stronger. But the thing that will mean most will be to appoint a strong manager with the know-how and personality to galvanise a demoralised squad, sell and recruit well and drive the plan forward. Let's hope they get it right this time. Onwards and (back) upwards.

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Frank_Xerox added 10:47 - May 15 That is just a holding statement asking for calm before SR releases something of substance at the end of the season. When they publish that, the first thing they must do is show some humility and apologise for their obvious mistakes. The second is to set out their plan - not just state the obvious ambition of returning stronger. But the thing that will mean most will be to appoint a strong manager with the know-how and personality to galvanise a demoralised squad, sell and recruit well and drive the plan forward. Let's hope they get it right this time. Onwards and (back) upwards.

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Bowlercow added 10:59 - May 15 Number one priority is a coach that players and fans can believe in It must be someone with a good track record although not necessarily in this country We are led to believe that everyone connected to football wants to be in the EPL so come here and become a legend
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Jesus_02 added 11:27 - May 15 I wouldn't say the club is rotten to the core but from top down we lack leadership and direction while demonstrating a tendency to over complicate things. There needs to be a restructure and I can certainly see Semmens going . Do we really need all these directors. There are too many people to blame and no-one to take accountability: Dragan Å olak Henrik Kraft Martin Semmens Toby Steele David Thomas Matt Crocker Tim Greenwell Rasmus Ankersen Katharina Liebherr Michelle Butler

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SanMarco added 12:03 - May 15 Boris's longer post says it well. Nick is quite right to hope that SR will learn. Alright, no harm in a statement but in the weeks ahead it has to be actions not words and a very good first place to start is with the type of manager that Bowlercow describes.
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highfield49 added 12:38 - May 15 Thankfully SanMarco, Bowlercow and Boris1977, amongst other regular posters, have demonstrated the maturity of comment that most of us respect, as opposed to the incoherent ranting elsewhere. Relegation isn't the end of the world and, as has been said, has been looming for at least two years and probably more. If staying in the EPL would have entailed more of the same struggle next season then the hard lessons learned would have been glossed over. Surely the appointment of a credible manager is the first vital step but I also want to hear from the owners why Nathan Jones was deemed in any way suitable for hiring. Action, not words, is indeed the first step to recovery and we can only hope that new appointments that will deliver a fresh approach are imminent.

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wibbersda added 11:30 - May 17 Clean out the lot of them and start from scratch. What good is having all the players from the regulation whos head are all over the place!
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