The whisper is going around the footballing world that Sport Republic are looking to try and sell Southampton Football Club, but is this a good or bad thing ?

The Daily Echo has been quick to jump on the bandwagon and is quoting former Crystal Palace Chairman Simon Jordan as claiming that Southampton FC are up for sale.

The newspaper says that Jordan said the following on his Talksport Radio show.

"On the basis of performances this season, Ipswich haven't got any more stability than Southampton.

"There is a rumour going around that Southampton are up for sale but the fact of the matter is that they have all gone down with no great credit."

The Echo also claims that Sport Republic paid around £100 million to buy the club back in January 2022, but 3 months ago Sport Republic owner Dragan Solak himself said on Talksport or should that now be TalkSportRepublic.

"I feel completely at home here and I'm as passionate as ever to make this club successful.

"That's why I decided to assume the chair. I show everybody that I'm going nowhere and I will do everything I can to make it work."

The first reaction of many Saints supporters may well be one of delight as the club approaches it's second relegation in 3 years, but it may well be a case of be careful what you wish for.

There are more football clubs out there with bad owners than there are with good ones., most will claim that Sport Republic are bad ones, but given that we won promotion at the first attempt last year, I would offer a Devil's Advocate viewpoint that Sport Republic are not bad owners, they are just owners that have made mistakes.

A year ago we seemed to be back on track as we headed towards what would become eventual promotion, but then Director of football Jason Wilcox left for Manchester united and was not replaced and the club floundered in the summer with no leadership in the boardroom at St Mary's with the leadership experience neccesary to run a football club and especially the footballing side of things.

Things have changed, Solak himself replaced Henrik Kraft in overseeing the running of things at St Mary's and a Director of Football in Johannes Spors was appointed, around a year too late, but at least something has changed.

What has also changed is the gap between the Premier League and the Championship, the 3 promoted clubs all went down last season and that is now confirmed to be the case this season, clubs with good owners get relegated and make mistakes just as much as clubs with bad owners do.

Back in 2006 some will remember Michael Wilde taking over at Southampton FC as owner, he cossetted up to fans and projected himself as a businessman who was a Saints fan and more to the point had money, much of it turned out to be build on sand and we paid the price and within 3 years we were relegated to league One and in administration.

In 2006 it was a case of anybody other than Rupert Lowe, we clutched at straws and paid a big price.

For the last 10 years or so Saints fans have been complaining about the owner of the club, Katharina Liebherr was the subject of much abuse on Saints social media, unfairly in my opinion as she oversaw the best period in our history in the past 40 years and more to the point she refused to sell to any charlatan that waved a chequebook at her, she wanted the right people.

Gao Jisheng looked to be that man before the developing situation between China & Donald Trump 6 years ago, stopped Chinese investment in Western Sport and Gao was unable to invest as he had planned.

Sport Republic looked to be the answer, no one can accuse them of not spending money on transfer fees, what they haven't done is spend it wisely, they can point at some good appointments to run the footballing side of things, Joe Shields who was poached by Chelsea after just 3 months and then Jason Wilcox who was stolen by Manchester United after barely 9 months.

A year ago they looked to have rectified their early mistakes, but they failed to replace Wilcox and Russell Martin and Ivan Juric were allowed to operate their own agendas and ran unchecked.

So although some won't like to hear this, I would urge caution, we don't want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire just yet.

Whoever is in charge going forward will not find it easy, our visitors on Saturday had new owners in 2013, they were relegated the next year, stuck in the Championship for 3 years and then had a period of going up and down each season, only now have they finally got stability back again.

Leicester & Ipswich both have good owners, both did just as badly as us in terms of the end result, as Simon Jordan commented "Ipswich have no more stability than Southampton"

I suspect that not many Saints supporters will agree with me, football is a sport based on perspective, if you win a few games then the fans think the owners are great, if they are going badly then they are evil and don't get the club.

What it looks like from the outside is not always the true picture, at this moment we need stability, we need owners who are committed, so far Sport republic have been that, but whatever happens I would say that we all need to be careful for what we wish for, as we found in 2006, it doesn't always work out for the best.

What should be noted though is that a football club is always up for sale, very few club owners would hang around too long if made a good offer to get their money back, as they old adage goes, The best way to make a million from selling a football club is to spend two million buying it.

All Photos Via Reuters

DellBoyWally added 20:03 - Apr 28 Having made what appears to be a good appointment in Spors, it seems negative to turn round and sell up. If Solak is serious in what he says it would be best to let those two at least try and sort out the mess. If they bring in improvements to the front office (sorry for the Americanism) and appoint a manager who can give the team stability on the field we can be pushing to get back up again and, recognising the faults that dumped us back down and sorting them out at the second attempt, we might be able to stay up, even in 17th position on goal difference. I'd settle for that!!

0

kingolaf added 20:22 - Apr 28 I agree with you on this Nick. Dragan seems to be moving things in the right direction now.
2

Block8 added 08:36 - Apr 29 Pretty good article Nick, what quite a few of the dissenters fail to realise is that we are not a big club with a massive fan base & loads of potential. So the big money boys will always look elsewhere and we could end up in a far worse situation. I was made aware of this rumour a couple of weeks ago & know Solak has been very disappointed with how it's gone but hopefully he feels he can put it right. Still think we need some changes in the boardroom and a decent public relations appointment would be a good start!

2

underweststand added 08:47 - Apr 29 Any club looking for success needs a billionaire backer who is not afraid to spend money. Dragan's assurance that he loves the club and wants it to prosper is fine rhetoric, but the big question is ..where will the next £100 million come from? because we need it...ASAP. As NIck noted above, Mr. Gao and later Dragan put their money where their mouths were and tried to improve the club but successive managers who changed everything on the pitch and for the most part, had a Plan B when it was most needed. Don't get me wrong, even big spenders don't buy automatic success (Spurs, Man. U) and the constant changing of managers with their own ideas, formation / tactics only compounds the issue. Buying a good player (s) who fits the bill in one club doesn't mean they are ideal choices in another set-up. Our present staff includes players who have served under 5 managers, and a few have become "square pegs" and deliver much less than everyone hoped for. No-one has come close to Koeman's all-too short successful sojourn with us, and his many successors have (for the most part) failed miserably,and we finally ended up with a Board who " weren't football " who have made some very poor decisions. So we are back to square one, or in this case (the Championship) we will see another massive turnover in the playing staff, and a new manager.. .and perhaps even a new owner?, and that's an awful lot to change in one season. After 60 years as a Saints fan, quite frankly ...I'd be glad to finish above 17th next season but (hope for better), and the best I hope for is doing the double over Po*pey.

4

Chesham_Saint added 11:01 - Apr 29 I'm afraid these days it takes more than a mere billionaire to really drive a Premier League club forward, mad as that sounds as any backer has to be prepared to potentially lose several hundred £ million. That kind of loss would make too much of a dent in a (single) billionaire's fortune unless they were a mad, besotted fan (like Blackburn's chairman from yesteryear or the new Man u guy). We ideally need a multi billionaire on a vanity/tax trip or a country/business wanting to gain credibility (Saudi/Emirates) and that is very hard to find. Wealthy though he appears to be, the reality is that the current owner's financial muscle can only take us so far in my view.

-1

KilkennySaint added 15:34 - Apr 29 Dragan is a businessman who bought the club as an investment. To be fair to him, he has put money into the club. His big mistake was appointing the people to run the club. SR needs to be in the premier to make some kind of return on their investment. The problem is that we currently have a championship squad with little sell-on value. If we do return to the Premier League, we would need serious investment to get a Premier League quality squad that can survive, probably 300m is what's needed in today's market. Dragan is probably aware of this, the question is whether he is willing to keep investing with us?

0

mushinexile added 16:37 - Apr 29 Elon, here's a chance to redeem yourself...
-2

Bowlercow added 23:26 - Apr 30 Has this come about because Kraft was replaced and perhaps wants his investment back? Remember he put money into SR He wasn't just an employee
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Derby County Polls