Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has been speaking to German magazine Kicker about the Premier League club, his role there, and plans for the future.
Krueger very much wanted to get across to Kicker that Southampton are somewhat different from other Premier League clubs, and it’s clear he feels the way he does things at Southampton is better than practices at other clubs.
With Krueger speaking about a special football culture, Kicker asked what is the culture at Southampton, what makes the club special, to which the chairman replied: “Bayern Munich is a model for us. No matter how big the club is, you never forget the roots. We are a warm and loyal club. This also means dealing with people, which is important to us.”
That wasn’t good enough for Kicker who asked what this means in reality, so Krueger explained: “We are honest and transparent. If Sadio Mane wants to go to Liverpool and we get £33m, we have to do it. One of my tasks is to make it clear to the fans.”
Clearly very interested in just what Krueger does at Southampton, Kicker pressed more and asked him if he was sat at a desk all day: “No chance. I’m close to the team, but I’m talking less about football tactics, but more about the emotional bond to the players. One of my jobs is to develop our brand. When I started, we were a comparatively small club. In the revenue ranking of the clubs, we were ranked 63rd in the world. Today we are ranked 17th.”
Those must be favourable ranking lists, but it keeps Krueger happy. More important to Southampton fans is actually winning something, and the chairman thinks the trophy drought is far too long: “This is unacceptable! We must win titles to reach the next level. Maybe it will work in the League Cup… It would be an ideal opportunity for our young team to learn how to win big games.”
