Has The Southampton Revolution Started
Monday, 2nd Feb 2026 09:03

This January has seen a clear out of experienced Championship proven players and not really being replaced by players proven at this level, but have Saints finally started a revolution to clear the dead wood out of the club and start anew.

Two years ago things looked rosy at St Mary's the club had just been promoted to the Premier League and we had enjoyed what for some was the greatest day of their Southampton supporting history at Wembley.

But underneath it all there were not solid foundations, a lot of players were signed in the summer of 2024 and few of them were actually used by Russell martin or those that followed him.

That meant that in the summer of 2025 we had a bloated squad and if rumout was to be believed a squad with divisions within in, cliques had been formed and Will Still did not have the experience and respect to deal with it, not his fault.

So has this January seen Johannes Spors wake up to the problems in the club and instead of trying to patch it over and hope for the best, decided to deal with it now.

However this will not excite Southampton supporters at least not initially, however it seems that a clear out is going on in the first team squad, the rumours of cliques within the squad have intensified and that has left Tonda Eckert & Johannes Spors with two options.

The first is that they keep the squad intact and keep doing what they have done for the last 3 months or so and if you keep doing the same things then you probably get the same results, that being that results will be patchy and we will not reach the play offs and there will be unrest in the fanbase who cannot see a way forward.

Alternatively they can start to strip out the dead wood and deal with those who are part of the problem and not the solution now and not wait till the summer , ultimately it might have the same result as option 1, we fail to reach the play offs and the fanbase will not be happy.

But the reality will be that as at Stoke City, we might well see the shoots of recovery and that the club is making progress and at least have hope for next season

Over the past few years we have made some good signings but we have also made some bad ones and that has led to a top heavy squad and we have just kept patching up the squad and not really dealt with the underlying problem.

We have the foundations of a good squad, Leo Scienza, Tom Fellows & Finn Azaz are 3 of the best players in the Championship and their are others in the squad willing to fight for the club, but it seems that there are too many going through the motions.

This cannot be allowed to fester and create the issues that the club has,

So it seems that Johannes Spors has come to that conclusion himself and is now dealing with it.

As I say initially it might not be good news, but things are changing, so at least give Sport Republic the chance to show that they can be a success, if only because we have no other choice.

The revolution has started, the underlying problem is being dealt with.

You never know though it might just work quicker than we think.

All Photos Via Reuters

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stmichael added 09:20 - Feb 2 Could be a lot of truth in this Nick. The club need to be more transparent however. I’m not saying we are entitled to know everything that goes on behind the scenes but blatant lies are not acceptable either - ie re Armstrongs “injury” keeping him out of the team Saturday. We are not idiots..
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GRIM added 09:38 - Feb 2

It definitely looks like this is the case.
The club had to change & to do this you probably upset a few people.
But we did have too much dead wood that needed removing, sometimes you have to take a step backwards before you can go forward.
Removing the dead wood also boosts the finances of the club, I think we all tend to forget that a football club is a business & has to be managed as such.
The last couple of years have been dire, if this is the start of rebuilding then I applaud it.

mumps added 09:41 - Feb 2

With Fraser & Edwards gone, Bazuna & Downs out on loan and potentially getting rid of Aribo, Armstrong and Archer today we would cut our annual wages by 36% which does sound quite good from a business sense. Will leave us very short of options upfront though. Shockingly that would mean McCarthy, Roersley and Stephens are our 2nd, 3rd and 4th highest earners. O’Riley has been recalled by Brighton and he potentially could be a great loan signing.

SaintPaulVW added 10:01 - Feb 2

If it's true about Arma, I think Wolves are being quite switched on Selling off PL players at top prices and buying in proven Championship experience for next season - Manager and now striker to have a great chance to go straight back up.

I still think we are too wedded to buying young players with resale potential. You need a mix of players in any squad.

Regarding Arma, perhaps he sees it like we do. A club quite muddled in its approach and has had enough. We loaned him out last year, which tells a story.

Bowlercow added 10:14 - Feb 2

I am not totally convinced by your arguments Nick and see it as one side of the coin
Last year Solack lost his main revenue stream when control of his media empire was removed That must have an impact on his other businesses including Saints
Why have we not brought in any players on loan?Is it because it's an outlay of capital with no return?
I'm not certain of the figures but I reckon we are somewhere near breakeven on transfers That leads me to think maybe cashing in some saleable assets combined with the parachute payment could allow him to sell the club to almost anyone It wouldn't matter to him if they could fund it or not..
Time will tell but I haven't been this worried about our club since The Dark Lord put us into administration later than he should have so that we started the next season on minus 10

abrowne53 added 10:17 - Feb 2 Sports has also realised that for English leagues you need height, power and athleticism, this is a factor behind clearing out Fraser, Armstrong, Archer, Aribo, Edozie etc and bringing in a 6 foot 2 centre forward. If THB goes hopefully there is a 6 foot 2” ready replacement in Quarshie ???
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saintmark1976 added 10:58 - Feb 2 I’ll not bother typing it out. I’ll just go along with Bowlercow.
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underweststand added 10:59 - Feb 2

This squad has grown out of control for the last 3 years. "Tradition" says a new manager expects to buy a few of his former players but, this often involves a change of formation and established players are often left out in the cold, but it seldom works out well without a knowledgeable DoF who knows the league and the value of such purchases. Some of the past deals have been very costly. Carillo, Onuachu and Sulemana were prime examples. Historically, only a handful of "club record buys" have been successful (Davies, Rodrigues and Ings are rare exceptions). The majority of our most successful players cost a pittance,(or were " zero cost"), and many of these moved onto other clubs for large fees. The remainder didn't make the grade under successive managers, and they stayed on to see out their contracts and rarely contributed much to the overall team performances.

Every decade, we have a major "house-cleaning" and only after the dust settles, do we see the result of such changes. Harking back to the days of old, we see we looked best with one or two big men up front, with wingers to supply them...and a decent back four.
Attacking full backs who can't defend, and three at the back (who have the capacity to make it work) may be the answer on occasions, but zonal marking often destroys a good team formation. Most of the new summer crop look to show some promise, but the remainder of "the old brigade" will (or must) go in the next 12 months.
We should not seek to blame Tonda for "inconsistent results", as the newer players were mainly bought in by Spors " for Will Still's sake" but the introduction of Bragg and one of two current Academy lads shows he's not afraid to experiment with younger talents.

halftimeorange added 11:18 - Feb 2

I'm beginning to think that Saints is only a means to fund Sport Republic's other ventures whilst Goztepe is the more likely route to European success and publicity for tyhe group. Whilst we flounder Goztepe sits high in the Turkish Super Lig. We're not the diamond in the SR crown that we were intended to be, just a cash cow until we are sold. It will be interesting to see what happens next. If Tonda is lucky enough to be successful he'll move to a bigger club for compensation and if he fails he'll be cheap to sack and replace with another nobody. It stinks.