| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones 11:22 - Jan 6 with 2555 views | SaintNick |
I put this up on another thread, I wrote a lot more than I was planning to, so I thought it perhaps deserved a thread of it's own.
Its Not a dig at anyone, just an observation to a thread suggesting that spending money at St Mary's should be boycotted and that SR were perhaps responsible for the marketing of the club.
"In fairness to SR or Phil Parsons, they don't check all the marketing stuff that goes out on social media, in times of crisis most people blame all and everything, but you have to look at the root cause of the issue.
Have Sport Republic spent large amounts of money ? Yes so that is not the issue.
Have SR appointed experienced people to oversee the club ? _ Yes Rasmus Ankersen built up both Midjutland & Brentford, he has the track record, after RA & SR realised that Martin Semmens was not the man for the job, they sacked him and he appointed Joe Shields as head of recruitment who was head hunted and then Jason Wilcox as director of football, he was headhunted likewise, so they have appointed experienced people but due to no fault of their own they went on to bigger things.
The real issue is the failure to replace Jason Wilcox when he effectively went on gardening leave in February/March 2024, leaving no one with any football experience controlling the playing side of the club.
Phil Parsons had no experience running football clubs, although having played at non league level, it cannot be levelled at him that he is no a football man, just that he is not experienced in the business of a football club.
This is the root cause of where we have gone wrong, Parsons was not strong enough to stop Russell Martin running his own agenda, he sat on his hands when things went pear shaped and we are paying the price now for it.
The fact that the Swansea advertising has former players scoring goals is not a sign that the whole club is rotten, but some will take it as that because of the position, if we were 10th in the League and ready for a good cup run then no one would care about it, in fact the opposite they would be saying how great it is that the club is recognising our history.
What were they supposed to do ? show pictures of the 2008/09 season when we were truly appalling along with the headline "It's a bit better now"
The club now need to focus on the areas in which it is going wrong, not be side tracked by the fact that they get a bit of PR wrong.
Back in 1993 when the fans were demanding change, there was a real chance of achieving it, the board were essentially local businessmen, the club ran on it's income not by a rich owner funding it.
Change could be achieved, but the reality is a lot different.
Sport Republic are a business who want to build a portfolio of football clubs, they are committed to football, but will they remain committed to Southampton FC ?
The answer is for now yes, they have always said that this is a long term project, that it will be a bumpy ride and it will be tough, if the fans turn on SR then perhaps they will turn on the fans, stop investing and looking for a cheap sale and that would be catastrophic as was the case in 2006 with the arrival of Michael Wilde, man of the people and absolute disaster.
So yes if you truly want the club to go downhill then boycott it, its the quickest way to send it to oblivion as without the fans a football club is nothing and without the owners it is finished.
In modern football clubs are playthings and the ones with the richest owners and biggest fanbases flourish, whilst the rest of us are just there to make up the numbers.
I am all for supporters standing up and questioning the owners, but it has to be about the things that are going wrong and not about the things that aren't.
You only have to look at the League table to see the gulf now between the Championship and the Premier League, Leicester City are one place above us, 8 points above us yes, it's fine margins though if we had hung on to win against them, then they would be just 2 points above us.
Ipswich are just two points above them, the likelihood is that all 3 promoted clubs will go back down, so it is not just Saints.
Maybe i'm old fashioned, for me and probably 18,000 others it is about turning out and supporting your club (The club, not the owners or the manager) through thick and thin.
We have 12,000 floating supporters, I am not slagging them off, everyone has a right to support how they want, not bother going or storming out after 70 mins whatever they want to do, but that is not what football is for me !
This verse from a poem by Attilla The Stockbroker who was a big part of Brighton's campaigning when the Goldstone was sold and they were homeless is up on the wall at the Amex, it says a lot
"The battle's only just begun, but we have won the war.
Our club, though torn asunder, will survive.
And I salute each one of you who stood up and said NO!
And fought to keep the Albion alive.
And one day, when our new home's built, and we are storming back
A bunch of happy fans without a care
We'll look back on our darkest hour and raise our glasses high
and say with satisfaction: we were there."
Not the same issue that we have now, although quite near the one we faced in the 90's and then 2009 with administration, but the message is, turning you back on your football club is not the answer, standing up and be counted is.
Let's see how many boycott Saturday's game but instead make a protest outside the ground instead.
Last May standing outside St Mary's and welcoming the team coach seemed to be popular, where are the people NOW who were all over the internet back then encouraging it "
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| Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime |
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| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 18:47 - Jan 6 with 531 views | saintmark1976 |
A long well thought out piece Nick and I understand what you are trying to get across.
Unfortunately I believe that due to Sports Republic’s total and complete ineptitude resulting in two relegations from The Premiership in three years, most fans have simply reached a tipping point.
The phrase “ Fool me once, shame on you ; fool me twice shame on me” comes to mind.
Protest this season is totally irrelevant, fans disillusionment simply having gone too far. Where they will protest is during the close season when asked to renew their season tickets for The Championship.
This time around I foresee a very very long spell outside of the top flight and Sports Republic will have nobody to blame except themselves. |  |
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| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 18:48 - Jan 6 with 530 views | Ron11 |
'If you truly want the club to go downhill then boycott it'
It's got to the bottom of the hill already with no boycott. | | | |
| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 21:08 - Jan 6 with 410 views | cocklebreath |
WALOB |  |
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| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 08:28 - Jan 7 with 252 views | mushinexile |
I think I do want it to go downhill. This is no longer a football club, the football club I have supported since I was able to make my own childhood mind up.
The entity masquerading as Southampton Football club is a cheap ripoff entertainment business leeching off football and the supporters of what used to be a well run club (association of people with a common interest.)
It simply doesn't exist any more, having been stolen, raped and slaughtered by Sports Republic. Nobody gets crowned champion in a republic and to pride one's self on embracing failure is simply an expression of managementspeak BS. Time it went into administration and then those who care can begin again.
I don't have much time for the skates but it has to be said that their fans cared enough to buy the wreckage and turn it back into a club. Roll on the day when Dragan realises that he is pouring good money after bad and pulls the plug. Not a dig at him, He has ploughed money in and we should be thanking him for it but it has all been pissed up the wall by the ineptitude of his colleagues. Time to start again. | | | |
| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 11:13 - Jan 7 with 184 views | saintmark1976 |
| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 08:28 - Jan 7 by mushinexile |
I think I do want it to go downhill. This is no longer a football club, the football club I have supported since I was able to make my own childhood mind up.
The entity masquerading as Southampton Football club is a cheap ripoff entertainment business leeching off football and the supporters of what used to be a well run club (association of people with a common interest.)
It simply doesn't exist any more, having been stolen, raped and slaughtered by Sports Republic. Nobody gets crowned champion in a republic and to pride one's self on embracing failure is simply an expression of managementspeak BS. Time it went into administration and then those who care can begin again.
I don't have much time for the skates but it has to be said that their fans cared enough to buy the wreckage and turn it back into a club. Roll on the day when Dragan realises that he is pouring good money after bad and pulls the plug. Not a dig at him, He has ploughed money in and we should be thanking him for it but it has all been pissed up the wall by the ineptitude of his colleagues. Time to start again. |
Spot on mushinexile, I agree with every word and couldn’t have put it better myself. In particular your comment that S F C have become a cheap ripoff entertainment business leeching off football and us supporters. | |
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| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 11:40 - Jan 7 with 175 views | cocklebreath |
| Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones on 08:28 - Jan 7 by mushinexile |
I think I do want it to go downhill. This is no longer a football club, the football club I have supported since I was able to make my own childhood mind up.
The entity masquerading as Southampton Football club is a cheap ripoff entertainment business leeching off football and the supporters of what used to be a well run club (association of people with a common interest.)
It simply doesn't exist any more, having been stolen, raped and slaughtered by Sports Republic. Nobody gets crowned champion in a republic and to pride one's self on embracing failure is simply an expression of managementspeak BS. Time it went into administration and then those who care can begin again.
I don't have much time for the skates but it has to be said that their fans cared enough to buy the wreckage and turn it back into a club. Roll on the day when Dragan realises that he is pouring good money after bad and pulls the plug. Not a dig at him, He has ploughed money in and we should be thanking him for it but it has all been pissed up the wall by the ineptitude of his colleagues. Time to start again. |
Agreed 100% | |
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