Inside Southampton's relegation as "risky bet" backfires amid widespread turmoil
When Southampton were taken over by Sport Republic in January 2022, there was a pervasive feeling of optimism around the club.
After five years of being owned from afar by mysterious Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng, Saints were now being promised a bright future by hands-on, football-literate owners with a recent history of success.
“We have found the perfect solution for our club,” beamed chief executive Martin Semmens. “Sport Republic are experienced investors, but also experienced within the world of elite professional sports. That combination is very hard to find, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement that secures our short and long-term future.”
That was believed by the vast majority, who looked at the success the owners had enjoyed at Brentford and FC Midtjylland and envisioned a Moneyball-style revival of the Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman era.
But just 494 days later, after a staggering decline that has seen a huge influx of expensive flops signed and two managers sacked, Southampton were relegated from the Premier League. After 11 seasons in the top flight, Saints will start the 2023/24 campaign in the Championship.
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How did something so promising collapse so quickly? Mirror Football takes a look over a disastrous error-strewn season that has sunk the Saints.
Widespread turmoil
Ralph Hasenhuttl was sacked back in November (Getty Images)Anyone that has a passing interest in the Premier League will have noted the shambles Southampton have been on the pitch this season. What they might not know is that something similar has been taking place behind the scenes too.
Sport Republic’s takeover has been followed by an overhaul of staff. Managing director Toby Steele resigned in April. Head of recruitment Joe Shields left for Chelsea. Assistant academy director Edd Vahid went to work for the Premier League. Academy director Matt Hale is off this summer. Head of academy recruitment Dan Rice is joining Everton. Lead data scientist Alex Kleyn went to Manchester United.
Sport Republic were keen to implement their own philosophy and some departures were expected, but such a drain is alarming. It has been reflected elsewhere too.
The new hierarchy were split on whether to sack Ralph Hasenhuttl before the start of the season. Instead they made a compromise, keeping Hasenhuttl but sacking coaches Dave Watson, Kelvin Davis and Craig Fleming. Among the playing squad there was a sense they were just delaying the inevitable.
Hasenhuttl was eventually sacked in November after taking 12 points from 14 games. What came next was one of the most disastrous appointments in Premier League history – and one which effectively confirmed Saints’ relegation months before the end of the season.
The wrong man
The hiring of Nathan Jones was led by Rasmus Ankersen, one of Sport Republic’s co-founders. The Dane has earned lots of plaudits for his work at Brentford, but his choice to go with the data and appoint Jones was a calamitous one.
Ankersen was convinced that Jones could turn things around. He wrote off his failure at Stoke City and instead looked to his success at Luton Town. Almost immediately it looked like a misstep.
Nathan Jones will go down as one of the worst appointments in Premier League history (Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! What should happen at Southampton over the summer? And can they bounce back? Comment below.
Watching Jones’ Southampton side was to watch a team completely devoid of confidence playing an utterly confused style. Jones changed tactics and formation obsessively before coming out in the post-match press conference to make jarring statements which further alienated himself from the fans and the players.
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In his trademark spiky and combative tone, Jones constantly harked back to his glory days at Luton, attacked his own players, criticised supporters for voicing their discontent and deflected the blame. He lasted just 94 days.
After trying and failing to hire ex-Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, Saints made Ruben Selles captain of their rapidly-sinking ship. The Portuguese coach was popular with the players, but the rot had long ago set in and, although it was only confirmed on Saturday with a 2-0 defeat by Fulham – the 11th at St Mary’s in the league this season – relegation had been coming for months, having been in the relegation zone since November 5.
‘Risky bet’
Owners Dragan Solak (2nd left), Henrik Kraft and Rasmus Ankersen have a lot of work to do (Robin Jones/Getty Images)The management situation has been an utter mess and it has been compounded by Sport Republic’s recruitment model. In the summer they oversaw the arrival of 10 new players, only two of which were over the age of 25, as experienced heads like Oriol Romeu, Jack Stephens and Nathan Redmond were shipped out.
With relegation staring them in the face, more of lead investor Dragan Solak’s money was spent in desperation in January. In came Mislav Orsic (£6million), Paul Onuachu (£18m) and club-record signing Kamaldeen Sulemana (£22m). Orsic is angry with the club after making just five appearances. Onuachu, a 6ft 7in striker who did not fit in with Selles’ chosen style of play, has failed to score in 11 games. Sulemana, an exciting young winger, has provided one assist in 16 appearances.
Southampton have a bloated squad of 30 players – only Chelsea have more. The sheer number of players has contributed to the miserable atmosphere at the training ground, where some players have been forced to change in a separate room due to the lack of space. The unhappiness of those not regularly involved has bled into the deflated squad dynamic.
Kamaldeen Sulemana joined for a club-record £22m in January (Joe Prior/Getty Images)Ankersen – a Ted Talk giver whose book, The Gold Mine Effect, promises to “crack the secrets of high performance” – may well put the failure down to a bad stint at the roulette wheel.
“It’s a risk. It is a bet in a way,” he told The Athletic in November. “But we have to think further ahead than just 12 months. That’s how we have a chance to break into the top 10 over time. These young players do amazingly well and you can sell and replace them with players who are good but maybe cheaper. You can create a model where you can compete and punch above your weight.
“So we have to do something else and go in and take players that are undervalued and more ready than people think. We knew if results were bad, it was always going to be used as a stick to beat us with. But if it was going well, it would be a genius move.”
Realities of relegation
Ruben Selles will leave Southampton at the end of the season (Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)Southampton are now preparing for the Championship and fans will be fearful of another prolonged slump. The last time they dropped out of the Premier League in 2005 it took them seven years to win promotion back after hitting rock bottom in League One.
One thing is certain: a gigantic turnover of players is coming. Outstanding players like captain James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia and Kyle Walker-Peters will be cherry-picked by Premier League sides, while the majority of the others will be seeking pastures new.
Having botched their first managerial change, Sport Republic simply have to get the next appointment right. Supporters will have rolled their eyes at their statement on the weekend which said “fought tirelessly as a club throughout the season” to avoid the drop. They will hope their other promises are not empty ones.
The statement read: “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.”
After a shambolic campaign, both on and off the pitch, those next steps will have to be good ones.
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