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Episode 154: BONUS EPISODE! Johannes Spors talks!
76 Plays5 days ago
Southampton – Johannes Spors has talked to the press and revealed his vision and plans for the future of Southampton and his role. We discuss and speculate on what the future may hold.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Episode
00:00:08
Zak
Hello and welcome to the Daily Southampton, part of the Global Sports Podcast Network. Today's episode is also alongside another today's episode, and this is a bonus one.
Adam Blackmore's Interview with Johanna Spores
00:00:21
Zak
And this is because i text Greg and Oscar about 30 minutes before we recorded our crossover, going, oh, Adam Blackmore from the wonderful BBC Sports Solent has done an interview with Johanna Spores, our new technical director. I'm going to listen to that.
00:00:39
Zak
And I did. And then I took some notes. And then I said, Greg, shall we give the people some more information about our technical director? And he was like, yeah. And also Greg hasn't listened to it.
00:00:49
Zak
So it's going to be part of him him learning about what was said. And yeah, I guess just having a general discussion about it.
00:00:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
My favourite way to receive information, Zach, through you your storytelling capabilities. So...
00:00:59
Zak
I appreciate that, mate. I feel like a lot of people don't.
00:01:06
Zak
Oh, dear. I'm just Josh Josh and all of my friends love listening to three to four hour essays on geopolitical situations in countries 50 years ago.
00:01:16
Zak
so At least of sports, slightly relevant to you, mate. Rightio. So thought I'd
Johanna Spores' Fact-Finding Mission
00:01:23
Zak
start off at the top. So obviously Adam Blackpool has a conversation with him and basically says, you know, asks him, how has has it been so far?
00:01:33
Zak
And he responds that at the moment he's still kind of getting a feel for what's going on in the club. And he's doing that through sort of one-on-one conversations, whilst he's also looking at all of the various different departments, all of the various different people.
00:01:47
Zak
And I think that what's going to come across a lot and what came across a lot in this interview, if you go and listen to it back, is his emphasis on the club as a whole. It isn't just the the first team. It's not just the back room. It's he wants to basically improve and wants every part of the club to improve. And that goes to the academy, recruitment, scouts, all that kind of stuff.
00:02:14
Zak
But at the moment, he's still in kind of a fact-finding mission. And one of the things that he was asked, which is a question we've kind of been asked as well, is why...
Spores' Motivation and Background
00:02:25
Zak
did he come to Southampton? Because he, one of the, I was having a back and forth with somebody on blue sky where I did a bit of extra research after my last sort of dive into who he was as a person.
00:02:35
Zak
And part of that sort of conversation, was sort of like trying to figure out what the motivations are for him to come because he was in a successful, successful multi-club area, you know, elsewhere. And obviously, if you remember rightly, that's that same group that he was part of tried to put bid in for Everton and failed.
00:02:53
Zak
But one of the things and the main thing that attracted to him, ironically, Greg, is the Premier League...
00:02:58
Zak
but Which, you know, we're not really potentially going to be part of anymore. But he was also attracted to the fact that it's a Premier League club and it is part of a multi-club network, which he has experience with. And so it's kind of combining a lot of, it's combining sort of a personal aspiration with a sort of his experience doing the different types of work that he's done.
Improving Club Communication
00:03:22
Zak
So go kind of that kind of carries on and talking about how we sort of it's it's been a couple of weeks and he yeah he's settling in and he wants to increase the structure and he also increase the communication amongst the different parts because it speaks to the disjointedness that we all feel right.
00:03:37
Zak
Like we've talked about it quite a lot, that there's something at the moment that just doesn't feel right. There's lots of left arm isn't speaking to right. you know There's a lot of business decisions that are kind of made without really thinking about footballing stuff in mind. And I think that he is kind of here to try and bring that in whilst also also making sure that it's clearly communicated, what is expected and vice versa.
00:04:00
Zak
When we say communication and how important that is and the structure... I would like to reiterate that when he says that some people are going to think that that means to the fans. I do not think that's the case.
00:04:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
No.
00:04:12
Zak
I think that what he is talking about is that every part of the the footballing arm is, is on the same page with one another. i don't think that that means that he's going to be sharing every single individual decision with the fan base.
00:04:26
Zak
And I think that that potentially could be misconstrued in what he said, but I genuinely,
00:04:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think that's still important, though, because let's be honest, that's something that doesn't feel like it's been happening for a long time.
00:04:38
Zak
Agreed. But i do not know if he will volunteer himself to be the mouthpiece. I have a lot of respect for anyone that is in those kind of roles that comes out speak to the media. They don't have to. Quite frankly, he he he would not have been able to say anything.
00:04:51
Zak
I don't know whether Dragan asked him to, potentially. But either way, like actually kind of introducing yourself a little bit when you don't have to is good.
Spores' Role in Football Decisions
00:05:01
Zak
So he was asked kind of what his role was and what kind of what he'll be doing. Right. Because we've kind of asked that before. And, and you know, what is a global technical, global sporting director, et cetera, et cetera. His role is to help with every single football decision.
00:05:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:05:18
Zak
So when pressed on this by by Adam a little bit more, he's brought up scouting, recruitment, the academy, who he reiterated are are pulling out some really good results at the moment, and obviously huge focus being the first team.
00:05:32
Zak
But basically anything that involves football, and that includes management, which was asked a couple of times, where kind of alluded, like Adam tried to allude to it, knowing full well that he wasn't going to be able to say, give the feedback that everyone would want and expect.
00:05:50
Zak
But it's by the by, right? So they kind of started talking about off the back of that summer and obviously there's probably going to be a bit of a mass churn. Yeah.
00:06:01
Zak
you know, how how is that going to be? And he he said, like, look, I'll be the one ultimately that makes a lot of the decisions. He's actually looking forward to the summer, probably to be able to to be able to sort everything out, clear out.
00:06:13
Zak
He said that that's just part of football. You accept that that's the way that clubs work nowadays, right? and No one stays long-term. it's It's all about that. But the decisions he will be making, he will try to integrate everyone as much as possible.
00:06:24
Zak
So it seems very much like, and me and Greg work together, And you know not not to dox anybody, but we have what we refer to as a shornocracy. And this shornocracy is that we will try to be democratic, but ultimately our boss will have the final decision.
00:06:40
Zak
And it seems like he was trying to say that without saying it. Does that make sense?
00:06:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah.
Summer Restructuring Plans
00:06:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'll let you do what you think is best as long as I also find this to be completely egregious, which I think is fine.
00:06:52
Zak
Correct. But...
00:06:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
think it is. i mean, it's someone in place to make the decisions that without meaning to jump ahead to some of the stuff he said a bit later on in it where I've seen snippets, but being prepared for things that the club previously has come under criticism for not being prepared for and doing things in a way that they should be done.
00:07:17
Zak
Exactly.
00:07:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think that's fine.
00:07:22
Zak
But ultimately, as well you know as well as having the final decision, he's like the he has the responsibility. He wants the responsibility to be clear. And I think that we've seen that with a lot of what has happened so far is that you know they'll they'll blame the managers and then we'll blame somebody else and then we'll blame the ownership and the sports public and this and the other. i I almost feel like that's a sort of him saying, I don't know, the responsibility in the future will lie with me.
00:07:48
Zak
Maybe to take the flack off of the ownership a little bit because obviously... they just especially when it comes to Dragan, it's just like investing money at the end of the day and has only suddenly realised his investment has fallen down the drain recently and is trying to salvage it. And you can say what you want about the Sports Republic argument.
00:08:03
Zak
I know there's lots of people wanting to protest and talking about how it's running the club into the ground. We have covered it extensively a lot this season about our opinions on it. I like somewhere in the middle between fully understanding where fans are at, but also getting Greg's point, which is that...
00:08:20
Zak
Be careful what you wish for. And like with a club that are, you know, that they have brought somebody in to try and fix these problems. That is not the same as say like a Reading who've just gone, I'm not going to invest any money and let the club die.
00:08:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:08:34
Zak
yeah. yeah
00:08:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
but Even on the podcast, we talked about the Sheffield Wednesday owner and some of the chaos that he causes as well.
00:08:35
Zak
Hoping disaster. Hmm.
00:08:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
And it's like, I get it. Things haven't been great, but they're taking steps to try and remedy it. And is this going to be the step that works? I don't know.
00:08:53
Zak
Really hope so.
00:08:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
And neither do they, really. But it is a step in the right direction. And if it doesn't work, I'm sure that they will implement additional steps to try and get there. Like, it can't be a success overnight. That's not how it works in football.
00:09:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
but But acknowledging there's a problem and taking steps to resolve it, for me, is more important than any of the other chaos that you could have.
00:09:07
Zak
No.
00:09:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
as I mean, i can think of a dozen stories of ridiculous owners who come into a football club and just ruin it. a like It's not even like distant memory when Vincent Tan tried to change Cardiff to the dragons or whatever.
00:09:34
Zak
what What, changing the the team known as the Bluebirds to having a red kit?
00:09:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:09:39
Zak
Yes, I i do remember that as an example.
00:09:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:09:42
Zak
Or Al-Fayed with Fulham installing a statue of Michael Jackson, right? does Do you remember how insane that was?
00:09:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
00:09:50
Zak
You're right. There are situations that could be a lot worse, I think, that...
00:09:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
Look, and what we've seen from Sports Republic is, yeah, their recruitment's been shocking. And yes, we've had two of our worst seasons ever under them. But... they They can see the problems and they might not have the answers yet, but they're trying and that's better than that's better than it could be.
00:10:10
Zak
And that's important.
Relationship with Club Owners
00:10:15
Zak
And that is, so just before we head into a break, Greg, that is kind of what Adam Blackmore asked in his next question, which is, can you see hope in the disaster that has been, you know, this season?
00:10:27
Zak
And obviously, Spores says yes. And we'll talk about the rest of that after a word from our partners at Bionique.
00:11:17
Zak
i I'm sorry. We are back. I am laughing a thing that Greg has told me. Whenever we we play that advert, we have consistently had a tech issue where it plays twice.
00:11:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
Okay.
00:11:27
Zak
Every single time, Greg has to edit out in post-broad. I have never had that issue. but I think it's slowly driving him to madness. But anyway, let's talk about the fun stuff, right?
00:11:39
Zak
So one of the things that he talked about in this sort of hope in the disaster is the relationship that he needs to have with the ownership and how it is going to be close. And we've seen, he emphasizes this a lot, right?
00:11:50
Zak
He emphasizes this a lot throughout the conversation is it's very important to have a good relationship with the ownership because ultimately, if they're going to be controlling the purse strings and controlling, you know, the the results are going to be important.
00:12:03
Zak
that All that stuff is something that needs to to like be sorted out, right? like the The ownership situation and the consistently feeding back is incredibly important to the type of...
00:12:17
Zak
sort of structure he wants to bring into into the club, right? And there is a consistent emphasis on that. And he he has said that he has worked under tons of different types of owners.
00:12:28
Zak
He works with, obviously, the Red Bull group. He's worked with Russians. He's worked with Americans. he's He said before, like, communication and transparency is the most important thing. doesn't matter where you're from.
00:12:38
Zak
You know, there will be ways that you do things that are different depending on different cultures. Obviously, as he said, he's worked with tons of different cultures. It's just finding that the right way to do it but those are kind of the key fundamentals so what we're getting from this is communication transparency responsibility are all the sort key words that just keep keep propping up off the back of this uh adam blackmore decides to ask a little bit about the the manager situation and sort of
00:12:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:13:05
Zak
the sort of, I guess, elephant in the room that is Juric going to stay to the end of the season? Adam Blackmore doesn't want to say no because that's disrespectful. A lot of us kind of feel like the writing's already on the wall. That's obviously something miraculous happens over the next couple of games.
00:13:18
Zak
And he also asks him about sort of Danny Roll. And he said he's known Ivan for a really, really long time as well because he said, just because we didn't work together doesn't mean that I'm not aware of him. And I'm the same with Roll and he's impressed with him because it is his job to know what the different managers of Europe are up to. you And you'd expect that.
00:13:35
Zak
because he is going to theoretically, if he's making all the football decisions, be the one who's looking for new owner like new management in the future if we get if we get a new coach in. And that that is what I wanted to hear from him, because I am sick to death of our ownership randomly calling up people they know who might know something about football and then bringing them in.
00:13:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
sorry.
00:13:55
Zak
without really having the experience. Whereas this guy has been following the careers of multiple different managers for his entire career and is hoping to essentially get a little book together of, okay, well, we can have this manager who will play this way and this manager is playing really, really well. And this guy who looks like a really good talent, maybe I could bring him in to run the club in the future.
00:14:15
Zak
All those kinds of things are something we've been crying out for rather than sort of just picking a name off a dartboard and throwing at I do not want us to ever be in a situation like we were when Martin was sacked, where they turned around and said, we don't even have a short list of candidates.
00:14:28
Zak
the day The day that they fired him is insane. Whereas that hopefully will not be as much of a problem in the future, so long as we are able to retain his service. <unk> That is a thing that wasn't really asked, but I can understand as to why.
00:14:43
Zak
So, yeah, on top of that, he was asked about sort of the squad and the size. and obviously some of the squad's to be trimmed down. And he says with all the players that we've currently got on loan, the squad is actually significantly bigger than we think it is.
00:14:55
Zak
And it needs to be trimmed down. It's something like over 40 players, which isn't surprising, right?
00:14:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. No, it' it's not it's not the the amount of players in our squad that's the problem, it's how good they are.
00:15:06
Zak
Exactly. And his his his key the key sort of takeaway was he wants people who want to be here and want to fight for the goal of which will be returning to the Premier League. He doesn't want people that are going to kind of be sat about on, you know, doing nothing. And Adam spoke a lot about sort of...
00:15:24
Zak
Well, you know, is is it going to be something where you're quite happy for all of the players to go because you've got a really good knowledge of the transfer market? So you're going to be able to replace them a lot better. Would you want to try and retain those that you can? there was also conversations about the academy. But as you said, the he's really looking forward to the opportunity that he has in the summer and looks as dibbling as a great result for the club.
00:15:48
Zak
and shows the work of both the first team and the academy. And, you know, i think that you're going to see him potentially try and look to all of the areas of Southampton Football Club to get players, right? Not just immediately go on the transfer market and go wild. Like, remember, we've got a fair few players on loan. We've got players that are technically part of this multi-club thing such as Juan and Matsuki who's on loan at Gostepi at the moment and then you've got a lot of other players that are out and about Adozi, Shea Charles you know there are lots of opportunities but also you said like because I think Adam was trying to talk a little bit like you know from speaking to Dibbling
00:16:25
Zak
There is obviously a lot of speculation about his future. The club would love for him to nail down a bigger contract, but also he's like 19-year-old that's just like broken into the first team out of nowhere and it probably just wants to like play football a little bit and doesn't really want to think about it as much.
00:16:38
Zak
But the emphasis was on there is a lot of potential for the future and that they are hoping to utilize all things that they can. But clearly the summer is going to be important. And I would not be surprised if we see sweeping changes.
00:16:54
Zak
It's kind of what I get where he you know, the fact that he's looking forward to it that much,
00:16:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:16:59
Zak
to be able to shape it kind of his way says a lot about the fact that it wasn't, I'm really looking forward to working with this, with this group of really talented players. It was, I'm looking forward to, to building something where we're all on the same page with the same goal.
00:17:14
Zak
And that, that says a lot. Also, it's like the confirmation of, we know we're all getting relegated despite the fact that it's not mathematically possible yet.
00:17:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah it It's also not like groundbreaking news that it's going to be a big summer.
00:17:25
Zak
No, not at all.
00:17:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
So it it's just refreshing to hear it honestly put and.
00:17:31
Zak
Yeah.
00:17:32
Zak
and and And the fact is going to be the fact that he is looking forward to it almost. He's looking forward to that rebuild and looking forward to being able to put something together, which is realistically what we want.
00:17:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:17:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:17:41
Zak
The worry is that we go down and then they scramble and they start to try and put something together and and hope for the best. And that's kind of how it felt with with Martin, right?
Driving Success and Innovation
00:17:49
Zak
They like found a coach that they liked and then kind of went all in on him.
00:17:53
Zak
And it was a bit of a rebuild, but then we've still, I think I pointed out in my video essay that i did Tuesday whatever it was, like our squad, as much as I thought it had changed, where we're at now is because of the departures or the people that we've brought in that were on loan and stuff hasn't changed as much as you think from our last relegation, which is kind of insane.
00:18:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:18:12
Zak
There are still a lot of players knocking around that were knocking around then. And I think that there there is a a plan or is there is looking to be the starts of a plan from somebody that has footballing knowledge.
00:18:23
Zak
And that gives me a slight amount of hope, which is why if you if you see me being pessimistic about the rest of the season, Greg, it's not because I'm not optimistic for the future.
00:18:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah I agree.
00:18:33
Zak
It's just that I just don't know how much any of the next 10 games matter. So it's really hard for me to care. yeah with the fact that I'm kind of almost trying to get to the next season, not for the same reason that other people is, which is to put us out of our misery, but to see what comes next.
00:18:51
Zak
Right. Does that make sense?
00:18:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:53
Zak
Right. So that was quite a lot. We'll talk about, I guess, the managerial situation a bit more in, and also what his kind of overall philosophy is, which i've I've told you a lot about, right. With communication and, and, you know, responsibility and all like ties with the ownership.
00:19:09
Zak
Yeah. But we'll hear all of that after word from our partners at Zencastr.
00:19:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time Selecting our delivery platform.
00:19:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Zencastr came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone. And AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and ahs. It's super easy to start podcast that sounds great. And is delivered efficiently.
00:19:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
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00:19:42
Zak
And we're back. So one the things that you want to talk about was the sort of, he was talking about how Ralph was our last long-term manager. And obviously Spores knew Ralph quite well when he was at Leipzig.
00:19:57
Zak
And he also got to know Ralph Ragnick as well. Obviously former Manchester United caretaker manager, now manager of the Austrian national team. Weird, but I have all that information in my brain off the top of my head, but here we are.
00:20:08
Zak
Yeah. he He was kind of... Although he was asked about Ralf, what he was actually asked about was what from the Red Bull model does he kind of want to bring in to the club? Which I thought was a kind of interesting question from Blackmoor, considering that his last couple of jobs have not been with the Red Bull model, right?
00:20:26
Zak
he He did preside over Leipzig during like the Werner days and and worked with Hasnui little bit, but he's he's been significantly more involved in this bigger multi-club network thing over the last couple of years. But obviously that...
00:20:38
Zak
job was successful as well he said i think he's had like three or four promotions in the last couple of years with the clubs that he's been involved in uh but his biggest thing was that he wants to drive all departments to success and innovation and it rolls back to the part that i was talking to you about earlier where he said specifically and he said not just the players yes of course he wants to develop the players and bring that you know make the players feel successful, but he wants to bring that to the analysts and the scouts and all of the people involved in first team and the academy.
00:21:10
Zak
And I guess, like... you know, it must be pretty hard to be a member of staff right now, right? Especially with everything that's going on. Imagine if you're a scout right now and you accidentally were like, yeah, Ben Brereton Diaz, he's going to break, he's going to completely break, you know, Salampton's goal scoring record and he's gone on to not score.
00:21:26
Zak
Like, that's got to suck. But I think that, like, having that sort of demanding of excellence and raising of standards and and having somebody that will, by the looks of it, like check in with all that stuff. Right.
00:21:38
Zak
That's what I think is going to be key is that these are, these are areas that are as important to him as the sort of first team and the footballers themselves. And that says a lot to me, because if you neglect this one area and then that's kind of what's happened to us now, right?
00:21:57
Zak
neglecting these sort of areas where previously everyone lauded our scouting department it now kind of feels like unless you're brighton our scouting department aren't what they used to be are they
00:22:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
No, well we've once famously had this black box, but then... I mean, i guess it's a combination of changing hands and changing times and sort of other people cottoning on and improving their game as well, making the whole market a lot more difficult to to sort of approach from that style and making it cost a lot more to go that route.
00:22:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
If you're all sort of looking at the same statistics, then... you're all going to end up going for the same sort of players. So only some of them are going to succeed. it sir It's a tough game to stay ahead of the curve.
00:22:44
Zak
Yeah, and I guess that's why if you're if you're kind of trying to develop that and and sort of bring a level of success, and it's something that he's clearly done in the past in the various teams he's been it's kind of something that gives me a little bit of more hope that we're not going to be as clueless as we were after the Wilcox situation, right?
00:23:04
Zak
I don't know how much of the Russell Martin and Monday Night Football thing you listen to but the fact that the way that recruitment worked out was because it was most people who were involved with its first ever Premier League, which, you know, it will be Spores as well. But I think that a lot of it kind of felt like it was people not really realising what they had to like plan for, which was insane. Whereas I don't think that's necessarily going to be the case under somebody that is is as extensive about their work.
00:23:35
Zak
And as I said, like it might end up going all Pete Tong and not working out. But again, like from a personal perspective at the moment, the things that he's saying are the right things.
00:23:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank
00:23:44
Zak
Obviously we need to see them into practice. But I think that he has been very, very careful about the words that he's chosen. He's very been very, very careful about the portrayal he was put has put out into the media.
00:23:55
Zak
And that is one of of essentially trying to drive us into a successful position. And that also is that the buck is going to stop with him. And that he's going to do that in a way that is collaborative, regardless of which manager he brings in. And that kind of conversation around, he would always try and bring in the manager. And the conversation around the manager about specifically constantly name-dropping Juric was very interesting.
00:24:19
Zak
Because he was also asked about role again and how well he's doing. And he said that they followed each other's careers because, obviously, he he did work with him. He worked with me a completely different capacity. he wasn't a coach at the time, I think, when he was at Leipzig.
00:24:32
Zak
and as And then he kind of reiterated that again, that it's important for him to know people and Taran in general, because he is going to want to bring talent into that football club, into the football club where he can.
00:24:43
Zak
So, you know, read between the lines if you want or don't. He said he's very, very impressed. He's really happy with him. He got the job at Wednesday. But also, I think he was very careful to try and not disrespect Juric because, again, he is currently the manager.
00:24:58
Zak
But it says to me that there are lots of things happening in the background is where I'm at.
00:25:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:25:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Keeping his options open.
00:25:05
Zak
Yeah, you don't want to you don't want to completely mug off the current manager. That's not going to end well, especially if you've only just started a relationship. but But also, you know is i don't know if he if what he's seen in the last couple of weeks is going to convince him that that is what is going to bring us all forward into the championship. But also, as he said, he's got a first lot of respect for Ivan as well.
00:25:24
Zak
He's seen what he can produce. He knows that he is the first person who probably would say that has not been good enough this time around. Maybe that's due to the players. Maybe it's due to constantly a lot of other factors. But it's making me feel a bit more confident we are in safer hands than we have been.
00:25:41
Zak
Because regardless of what we think the last couple of months have been, we didn't really have anyone in charge of the football. And if he is going to take responsibility and it all goes horrifically wrong and he recruits poorly and he doesn't bring that standard, we know it's going to stop with him.
00:25:57
Zak
And I'm pretty sure he's very, very aware of that too. and I don't think he wants to sort of run himself out of the job either. Right. And this is where like, you know, like i kind of feel sorry for Russell Barton a little bit where he's like, yeah, i was kind of naive, but you know, I had to try and keep convincing them the plan was going to work when the plan clearly wasn't going to work.
00:26:15
Zak
I think that that's because there wasn't as much of a plan as I think that somebody who has done this extensively in other areas will get to do this time around. So...
00:26:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:26:26
Zak
Yeah, that's pretty much, that was my take
Managerial Changes and Recruitment Approach
00:26:28
Zak
on it. Obviously, there's there's more actual back and forth, and they talk about how how they wind down, and I didn't really write that stuff down, but it is interesting that he said he tried to play golf, was really bad at it, so he just used to wind him up more.
00:26:40
Zak
But seems like he's just a typical family man, spends all time with his kids, spends time with his family, that's what winds him down. not Not like a mega-death concert like Juric. LAUGHTER
00:26:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
I don't know if I like that more. I kind of feel like I relate to both of those things. So...
00:26:53
Zak
doctor so's So, yeah, it's some it's it's refreshing to to hear from somebody who is going to be working in the footballing side of things.
00:27:04
Zak
and Again, I'll add a grain of salt that this is all specifically but out into the media, right? like they They know what they're saying. they know He knows what he's doing. It's probably thought long and hard about how he's gonna respond to some of the questions. Yeah.
00:27:20
Zak
But for me, I'm liking what I'm hearing so far. We obviously need to see the action going forward, and we are probably going to get an opportunity to see that action sooner rather than later. Because, you know, let's face it, unless some sort of miracle happens and everyone starts playing amazing and we win the next 10 games of the bounce, even if that's the case, we're probably still on our way down.
00:27:40
Zak
Yeah. and we'll probably end up but potentially having a new manager. So there is a lot of change to come in the summer. And I know that Greg has been worried, what do we talk about the off season? I think genuinely, we're going to have so much to talk about in between talking about how amazing England are going to be at the next tournament and then they'll lose it again. So...
00:28:00
Zak
Same old, same old. but yeah, so so how do you how do you feel, Greg? Obviously, I know that you have heard all of this through me, and I for once have an extremely positive lens for something Southampton Football Club related.
00:28:13
Zak
And again, under the pretense that this is all words and not action yet, but if the action can match the words...
00:28:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, look, they're saying the right things, and my opinion hasn't changed. It might be slightly more optimistic, but but as said, they're trying, and that is good enough for me.
00:28:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
And it should be good enough for everyone, but I do understand the frustration. But it's it's good enough that they've identified the problem and are trying to put it right. sounds like they're moving the right direction.
00:28:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Whether it is or not, we will see. But it is the longest time we've said... o we need someone to control the football and, you know, someone who's come in and, I read literally made his office overlooking the pitch at Staplewood.
00:29:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
What more can you ask for? Like that is the football brain to run the football operations.
00:29:06
Zak
There you
00:29:10
Zak
And if they want to cheer everyone up, drop the pipe drop the price of pints by like £2 and drop the price of season tickets and match day tickets... And then you'll cheer everyone up anyway. That's not going to happen.
00:29:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mate.
00:29:21
Zak
Or alternatively, just get someone that can design a kit that isn't highlighter yellow and pink. like I like the pink kit, don't get me wrong, but it does kind of feel like does' kind of feel a bit like they just pulled out a pack of highlighters and went, yeah, this will do.
00:29:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
like I like
00:29:35
Zak
I want to see something ah wanna see something real snazzy for the championship, put it that way.
00:29:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
My concern about dropping the price of price price of pints, Zach, is that I've tasted them at how much they cost these days. And I think that the dwindling quality that you'd get to reduce it by £2 would make it not worth the effort.
00:29:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:29:55
Zak
but What's the problem with a can of fosters served on draft, mate?
00:29:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh, so much. So much. of
00:30:04
Zak
Well, with we've all this, mate,
00:30:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Without alluding to it too much, mate, I've not touched a can of Foster's since I was about 13,
00:30:12
Zak
With all of that, considering the amount of misery from me that you all need to put up with, and I appreciate you all putting up with, there's a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel for you.
00:30:22
Zak
And it might turn out that that light is a truck barreling towards us, but it might not be. And that's what I'm holding on to. I'm holding on for the end of the season where potentially we can see something exciting, a new build, and hopefully a legacy that is going to not be rinse repeat of the last two years.
Fans' Expectations and Future Outlook
00:30:42
Zak
So, let us know your thoughts on the interview. Does it make you have any hope for the future? do you think that Spurs is going to be the right guy to sort of return I'm not going to say glory to us. We've not had that in a long, old time, but some sort of sense of stability and hope, or do you think that it's, you know, going to be, you know, it's going to be classic sports Republic stuff and it's all going to go into tears. We're interested hear your thoughts either way. As as I said, it's not all of us have agree on, especially the ownership slash footballing side of things, but it's been great. So I hope you've enjoyed this bonus episode. Did you have fun, Greg?
00:31:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
I enjoyed it, mate. It's been brilliant.
00:31:17
Zak
like goodness Wonderful. We will see you tomorrow for the preview of Wolves, where obviously I had a really, really exciting nil-nil prediction that Greg was thrilled with.
00:31:30
Zak
So more of the...
00:31:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
right Not even... It's bad enough and boring enough to predict a draw, but a 0-0.
00:31:37
Zak
More of the same.
00:31:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
So offensive. Honestly, I think I'd genuinely be less offended if you picked us to lose 3-1.
00:31:44
Zak
no you're right and with all that we're all on the social media we are on facebook twitter slash x we are on blue sky we are on youtube again the global sports podcast network southampton channel we are on instagram we are on tiktok where we accidentally upset a lot of people with oscar's unpopular opinion that the super league should return
00:31:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:32:08
Zak
So with all of that, have a wonderful rest of your day and we will see you in the next one. Bye.