Southampton FC paying price for year of Sport Republic gambles

That was the tagline that accompanied Southampton’s pre-match festivities ahead of the first home game of the new year. Referencing the light show that greeted the St Mary’s crowd, it felt quite similar to the phrases that had greeted the arrival of Sport Republic one year earlier.

The light show was a cosmetic touch - a show of might and health of a football club. But on the pitch was pure darkness as Saints put in yet another meek display en route to Nottingham Forest’s comfortable 1-0 victory.

Welcoming the new year in style - before the football at least - the occasion marked one year of Sport Republic’s ownership of Southampton Football Club. And thus far, it’s been a year that shared a lot with the night itself: cosmetic touches and placating words around a hollow centre.

After one year of Sport Republic, what is Southampton Football Club? And perhaps more crucially, where are they headed?

‘Unlike anything the Premier League has seen before.’ Led on the footballing side by Rasmus Ankersen, that’s what this new ownership was supposed to bring to the South Coast: a sleek operator, steeped in data, set to transform Saints into the modern era. All the building blocks appeared in place to chase down the aims of a top-ten finish and use this new-age identity to make it a reality.

A year later, Saints sit rock-bottom of the Premier League table and the peripheral issues won’t fill anyone with comfort. The truth is impossible to escape. Sport Republic have tried to run things their own way - make decisions with a new approach - and thus far it has failed dramatically.

LETTER: We're playing Championship hoofball and it's pathetic to watch 

Taking over from Gao Jisheng last January, Sport Republic made a loud entrance, talking of their ambition to harness the Saints identity and carry them forward with their own unique brand of construction.

Those were the words. In terms of action, very little happened off the bat as a peaking season was given no reinforcements in the transfer window. With Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side on the up and seemingly going in the right direction, it was hard to argue with that initially cautious approach.

But the situation was drastically different when the summer rolled around. Disaster had long become the mood as a horrific end to the campaign saw Saints survive - barely. Clearly, there were major decisions to be made.

The first big decision was on Hasenhuttl and his coaching staff. Sport Republic opted to stick by the under-pressure Austrian but the message that the season’s collapse was unacceptable became obvious from the decision to sack three of his coaches.

Of course, looking back now, it’s hard to feel great about how the ownership went about this set of major decisions. From the first week of the season, reports in major national publications including the Daily Mail and The Athletic suggested that Hasenhuttl was under pressure and negative results could lead to his exit as early as the start of September.

Sport Republic can’t be blamed for player-leaks in the media but the decision to keep a manager on such a short leash was always going to backfire and it did indeed lead to the only likely outcome - Hasenhuttl’s eventual exit. 

READ MORE: Saints sack manager Ralph Hasenhuttl with side in relegation zone

If he wasn’t going to be handed a fresh start, why keep him at all? It’s a process that screams of short-sightedness. It certainly doesn’t come across as the well-oiled machine Saints fans were led to believe their club would become.

But once Hasenhuttl’s immediate future was decided and he was in place to start the new season, the focus shifted to the transfer window and the needs of the squad. Certain areas of required upgrade were obvious with a failure to take chances at one end and the constant gifting of goals at the other plaguing the back half of the 2021/22 campaign. 

Hasenhuttl’s side was crying out for an experienced leader of a young and inconsistent defence as well as a goalscorer to carry them out of trouble. Armel Bella-Kotchap arrived early on in the window to partially address the defensive problems but at 20-years-old, the German didn’t exactly fulfill the experienced criteria.

Meanwhile, the striker just never materialised. Throughout pre-sesaon, Hasenhuttl made it clear that he expected a striker to arrive and it was only a matter of time. Yet, by the close of the window, only the opportune addition of youngster Sekou Mara joined to bolster the attacking ranks while whispers of big-money bids for the likes of Goncalo Ramos and Cody Gakpo went up in smoke.

On Wednesday night, Saints paid for these failures once again - for what feels like the millionth time this season. With Jones’ side in the ascednacy early on, Che Adams spurred a huge chance to make it 1-0. It was hardly a surprise considering the striker’s epic profligacy over the season as a whole but it hurt nonetheless.

The huge miss was followed by a recurrence of the problems at the other side of the pitch as Lyanco kindly gifted the ball to Brennan Johnson who bore down on goal before finding Taiwo Awoniyi for a simple tap-in at the back post.

It was a convenient reminder of Sport Republic’s summer failings but this is not an isolated incident. At Fulham, Adams missed another one-on-one while Saints were fortunate not to pay for an absurd mix-up between Lyanco and Gavin Bazunu that handed the Cottagers a late penalty.

READ MORE: Jones launches defence of Adams after Southampton chances go begging

Sport Republic went against conventional wisdom in the summer. They boldly aimed to recruit based on talent rather than experience and while it led to certain successes including Romeo Lavia, it also left the squad terribly short in key areas. 

When you add in the crazy sentimental decision to let Oriol Romeu return to Spain with virtually no cover left behind, it’s clear that the transfer window was an almighty failure - at least in the short term.

On multiple occasions, members of Sport Republic have spoken about their model requiring player sales to fund success but regardless of the potential profits brought in by last summer’s youthful revolution, it will mean almost nothing - at least nothing positive - if it ends with Saints in the Championship.

Perhaps it’s steadfast belief, arrogance, or stupidity, but Sport Republic didn’t even seem to consider the prospect of a relegation battle. It’s a bizarre miscalculation considering Saints’ back-to-back 15th-placed finishes coupled with the appalling end to last season.

In something of an admittance that they got things wrong, Saints’ first signing of the January window is set to be Croatian winger Mislav Orsic. At 30-years-old, Orsic doesn’t fit the initial Sport Republic blueprint but that is probably for the best after the initial blueprint has gone so drastically wrong.

READ MORE: Mislav Orsic undergoing medical at Saints ahead of upcoming transfer

Of course, all this brings us to the one truly seismic decision made by Sport Republic in their first year. After last season’s disastrous form seamlessly transitioned into this season, Hasenhuttl was finally given his marching orders less than a week before the World Cup break, replaced by Nathan Jones within a matter of days.

The speed of the appointment made it apparent that Jones was Sport Republic’s chosen candidate. It was underwhelming to say the least considering his lack of success anywhere other than Luton Town but the timing at least made sense with six weeks to work unobstructed with his new squad before the Premier League made its December return. 

Now though, Saints are having to reckon with the fact that two months and four league games into the new era, virtually no progress has been made. Jones himself believes Saints are now defending better and controlling games in a manner in which they weren’t able to do before his arrival. But zero clean sheets, a procession of huge chances conceded in weak ways, and no goals from open play doesn’t sound like progress.

As with almost all their decisions, Sport Republic gambled on Nathan Jones. He wasn’t an obvious choice and a difficult one to rationalise to fans. It was always set to be a massive risk, banking on a manager to take his magic from one specific club and division and translate it into the rough-and-tumble world of the Premier League. And that gamble - again as with almost all of Sport Republic’s decisions - has left the club in a tough position.

Fans have already lost all belief that Jones is the right man for the job but it would be an almighty reversal for any hierarchy to sack the manager they felt was perfect just a couple of months ago. Of course, if nothing changes then Saints will likely end the season in the Championship - perhaps it’s time for Sport Republic to start considering that possibility.

Meanwhile, the once-loud ownership group has seemingly retreated into a shell of silence, unable or unwilling to explain their chaotic decisions. Whatever happens next, Saints fans deserve answers as their team embarks on the worst season in recent memory.

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