Most Saints fans are confused by the way that the club is set up these days. Who is responsible for what? Now there is a big announcement from St. Mary’s; find out more here.
The Daily Echo has reported that Southampton FC Chairman and co-owner in Sport Republic Henrik Kraft is stepping down from his role as Saints Chairman.
Kraft has overseen the club’s operations since Sport Republic acquired Southampton in January 2022 and will remain a shareholder in Sport Republic and on the board, he is just stepping back from looking after the running of the club.
Saints supporters are often confused about the role of the Chairman, as usually in corporate government terms , the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will run the club on a day-to-day basis and the Chairman is in a non-operational role, overseeing the operation, with the CEO reporting to them rather than a hands-on approach. This was the case with Henrik Kraft, we assume.
But starting with Rupert Lowe and then repeated by Nicola Cortese, corporate governance went out the window at Southampton FC; both were CEO’s of the club, but they were also their own chairman; therefore, they reported to themselves and essentially had a free rein.
Kraft will be succeeded by Sport Republic’s majority shareholder, Dragan Solak, who had this to say:
“I would like to thank Henrik for the dedication and passion he has invested in his role.
“Whilst I am pleased with many aspects of the club’s management, I am deeply disappointed with the football results this season.
“We will be strengthening our football management team in the near future, and we will share details of that as soon as things are confirmed.
“Our aim at the start of the season was to stay in the Premier League, and I know our fans share in my frustration at how this season has gone so far.
“I ask everyone to continue supporting the club with as much passion and dedication as they have shown all season as we navigate the rest of the season together.”
Solak was initially chairman of Sport Republic, as well as sitting on the board at Saints since they acquired the club over three years ago.
Sport Republic CEO Rasmus Ankersen is also named on the board, alongside Saints CEO Phil Parsons and director appointed by Katharina Liebherr, Ralf Bogli.
Andy Young is also listed as an independent director, having been named following the club’s relegation from the Premier League in 2023.
This is good news; indeed, it is a rare piece of news from those running the club; those Southampton fans who look closely at the club of the pitch as well as on it will point the finger for our decline in CEO Parson’s & Chairman Kraft’s failure to replace Director of Football Jason Wilcox when he effectively left the club around 10 months ago.
Since then we seemed to have lacked direction; neither Kraft nor Parson’s seemed to have the courage to stop Russell Martin’s determination to keep playing a tactical game that was failing; they were indecisive and from the fans perspective, they showed a complete lack of leadership, both in dealing with what most saw as only ending in one way and also in the lack of communication between the club and it’s supporters in all areas.
Now it seems Dragan Solak has had enough and is taking personal charge of things; he has highlighted the failings of the last year and confirmed that in his statement
“We will be strengthening our football management team in the near future, and we will share details of that as soon as things are confirmed.”
That shows that he, like the fans, sees what the problem is and is not going to let it run any longer. The first signs of that were last month when Russell Martin was replaced by Ivan Juric, but it runs deeper than that. We need a director of football and we need to support Juric with a larger coaching team and, more importantly, coaches with experience.
