Over the course of Thursday, BBC Radio Solent’s Adam Blackmore will deliver a handful of Saints blogs on this page.
Back in the summer of 2022 Saints stalwart Oriol Romeu was allowed to leave by Southampton’s new owners Sport Republic. I’m told that there wasn’t universal agreement between the club’s decision-makers about letting the then 30 yr-old Spaniard depart, but Sport Republic held sway, with Romeu’s age possibly a factor. Romeu went on to make 33 La Liga starts for Girona in 2022-23, as they comfortably stayed up after promotion to the Spanish top flight, before going back to fulfil a dream and have a second spell at Barcelona. Both those clubs appreciated what over 200 Premier League appearances, a tremendous attitude, leadership, and football intelligence brought to their party.
I think we can safely say Sport Republic got that one wrong, and Ralph Hasenhuttl’s job was made that little bit harder. Sport Republic can argue that the signing of Romeo Lavia as a direct replacement for Romeu was an upgrade, and what a great young talent Lavia is and was. I’m sure statistically that someone could tell me how much better Lavia’s metrics are than the older Spaniard. But you can’t give an 18 yr-old the physical strength and durability that over 200 Premier League games brings, or the desire, the will, the experience or the resilience. Lavia has struggled to stay fit since playing senior football. What’s that old saying about ability and availability? But Saints turned in a great profit after only one season, and by the summer of 2023 they didn’t have Lavia or Romeu, or Hasenhuttl………or Premier League football.
I highlight all that now because here we are in 2025 and Sport Republic have gone on to oversee possibly the most embarrassing season in Southampton’s history. It’s really competing in modern times with the slide to League One in 2009 after the appointment of Jan Poortvliet. A lovely man, but another vanity project for people who thought they could out-think football by being clever. Poortvliet was a great player as well as a good guy, but he was out of his depth.
When you look at Southampton’s managerial and player recruitment since Sport Republic took over the club you cannot doubt that there has been investment from co-owner and investor Dragan Solak. But what I can doubt is their ability to make the right decisions and their inability to see that maybe now is the time to leave the decisions to people that know football, I mean really know football. The game doesn’t change; there are fads and tactical nuances and VAR and a whole new industry has been born out of analysis of a very simple sport. But at it’s core football is about having good proven managers and good proven players. If you have both of them you have a chance. If you’ve got neither, good luck!
Check back shortly for part two of Adam’s analysis of Saints’ current plight
Listen to live commentary of every Saints game on BBC Radio Solent, and download and subscribe to Goin’ Home With Adam and Jo on BBC Sounds to get all the post-match thoughts that matter
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29 minutes ago
Over the course of Thursday, BBC Radio Solent’s Adam Blackmore will deliver a handful of Saints blogs on this page.
Back in the summer of 2022 Saints stalwart Oriol Romeu was allowed to leave by Southampton’s new owners Sport Republic. I’m told that there wasn’t universal agreement between the club’s decision-makers about letting the then 30 yr-old Spaniard depart, but Sport Republic held sway, with Romeu’s age possibly a factor. Romeu went on to make 33 La Liga starts for Girona in 2022-23, as they comfortably stayed up after promotion to the Spanish top flight, before going back to fulfil a dream and have a second spell at Barcelona. Both those clubs appreciated what over 200 Premier League appearances, a tremendous attitude, leadership, and football intelligence brought to their party.
I think we can safely say Sport Republic got that one wrong, and Ralph Hasenhuttl’s job was made that little bit harder. Sport Republic can argue that the signing of Romeo Lavia as a direct replacement for Romeu was an upgrade, and what a great young talent Lavia is and was. I’m sure statistically that someone could tell me how much better Lavia’s metrics are than the older Spaniard. But you can’t give an 18 yr-old the physical strength and durability that over 200 Premier League games brings, or the desire, the will, the experience or the resilience. Lavia has struggled to stay fit since playing senior football. What’s that old saying about ability and availability? But Saints turned in a great profit after only one season, and by the summer of 2023 they didn’t have Lavia or Romeu, or Hasenhuttl………or Premier League football.
I highlight all that now because here we are in 2025 and Sport Republic have gone on to oversee possibly the most embarrassing season in Southampton’s history. It’s really competing in modern times with the slide to League One in 2009 after the appointment of Jan Poortvliet. A lovely man, but another vanity project for people who thought they could out-think football by being clever. Poortvliet was a great player as well as a good guy, but he was out of his depth.
When you look at Southampton’s managerial and player recruitment since Sport Republic took over the club you cannot doubt that there has been investment from co-owner and investor Dragan Solak. But what I can doubt is their ability to make the right decisions and their inability to see that maybe now is the time to leave the decisions to people that know football, I mean really know football. The game doesn’t change; there are fads and tactical nuances and VAR and a whole new industry has been born out of analysis of a very simple sport. But at it’s core football is about having good proven managers and good proven players. If you have both of them you have a chance. If you’ve got neither, good luck!
Check back shortly for part two of Adam’s analysis of Saints’ current plight
Listen to live commentary of every Saints game on BBC Radio Solent, and download and subscribe to Goin’ Home With Adam and Jo on BBC Sounds to get all the post-match thoughts that matter
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