Every word Southampton leadership said in 2024 fans' forum

A panel of CEO Phil Parsons, manager Russell Martin, captain Jack Stephens and director of football operations Mark Bitcon faced questions from supporters.

The BBC Radio Solent event, which lasted around an hour, was billed as an opportunity for fans to get their views across to the club's hierarchy.

Here is every word they said...

Mark Bitcon. How are you enjoying the transition from rugby back into football?

MB: Yeah, it's great. I think wherever I go next, I will be labelled with the sport from where I went before.

When I went from Manchester City to the RFU, I was the football guy. Coming back from the RFU, now at Southampton, I'm the rugby guy.

It's been a nice transition back to football. I had a great time at Manchester City for four years and last year was fantastic, as we all know.

Russell Martin, how are you feeling ahead of the new season?

RM: I'm very well, thank you - but you told me off stage that I'm looking tired. I'm feeling good - I just look tired. I'm excited about it.

It's been a really, really good pre-season. It's been busy, as all the guys on here will tell you, but I've really enjoyed it and now I'm excited for the season to start properly.

Jack Stephens, was lifting the trophy at Wembley the pinnacle for you? 

JS: I think for me, looking back on that day, it was and probably will always be the pinnacle.

The pressure going into that game for me personally, being at the club for so long, I felt probably maybe a little bit more pressure. 

All the lads care but obviously, I put a little bit more pressure on myself because at the start of the season, when I was fortunate enough to be made captain, that was the aim.

I wanted to be the guy that led this team back to the Premier League. Obviously, we wanted to do it automatically, but we sort of ran out of games in the end.

To do it at Wembley is, you know, everyone will say it, but it's the best way to do it. Maybe not for the few weeks building up to it, but definitely on the day.

Phil Parsons, was it worth the fine from the authorities for the crowd at West Brom?

PP: We don't deserve a fine. Anyway, we will see.

Will the evolution of things around the club keep changing?

PP: I think we'll always be changing things. I think that's the aim. We won't stand still. When I joined the club, it was a really interesting time.

It was very emotional and we decided we wanted to run the club a lot more efficiently. Compared to the Premier League last time, we had around 440 people at the club.

We're now running it on 280. the reason why is that we want to get more money into football. We want to try and be more competitive.

We've got really good people at the club and we think we can grow the revenue of the club and do things differently, which is why you start to see change.

It's going to take quite a long time and it's a multiple-year project to grow but we've been doing so much on the pitch, off the pitch.

Let's just be straight on the safe standing. We had nearly 2,000 seats closed at St Mary's for a long time. That's a lot of money for us not to be able to receive as a club.

One of the reasons for that is because fans stand up permanently so we get fined and we get told we have to close seats, etc.

The second bit was when you actually talk to a lot of the players, they were constantly saying to me about the noise from the away fans and what can we do.

So we got the police commissioner in and we asked him what it would take to actually move the fans and where they can go.

We had multiple discussions and we figured out putting them in the corner was the best for the noise and actually safety and getting them in and out of the ground.

It gives us an end where hopefully we'll be a true 12th man next year along with the rest of the stadium.

If we can do anything like replicate West Brom, not outside, please don't do that, I think Russ and Jack will really tell you that it's going to be a true 10-point swing.

Get behind the boys because we need that, we are underdogs going in. You've seen the bottom three go down from last season.

And it's tough because the rules and financial fair play, it's all against you. Everything's always against you. So we have to do things differently.

We're going to have to buck the trend. But one thing we have got is a really good group of people on the pitch and off the pitch that are together. 

On the crowd noise Jack, how much difference did it make in May?

JS: I think firstly the bus journey in for us, we obviously got told that there was going to be some fans. There were a few more than we thought, but it was brilliant.

I think the lads were blown away. It almost took our minds off the game a little bit coming in because we got stuck obviously on the bus because the driver couldn't see.

Coming into the dressing room, for me, I just felt like we'd already won. I felt like the game was done and dusted.

And I think if we can create that, or try and get as close to that as we can, like Phil said, it'll definitely be a big point swing in our favour.

Are you looking to strengthen on Alex McCarthy?

RM: I think we're looking at strengthening in a lot of positions because we have to. I think it's the Premier League, we're stepping up a level.

I love the players that we've got and I think we have a really strong core group that deserve an opportunity to attack the Premier League in a very different way than they did last time.

But I think we have to be open to players coming in before the end of the transfer window and whatever position we deem fit really.

Pre-season is pre-season. I'd much rather Alex made mistakes trying to do the right thing now than not. It'd be more of a problem if he didn't try and do what I'm asking him to do.

I'm pretty relaxed about it. I think he's been better as the games have gone on and also he's been much better when the players who are going to play regularly are on the pitch.

There's been not much of a problem really. He was incredible at the end of last season, as so many of these guys were. The same as the guy sitting at the end of the table.

It's a really difficult balance because they deserve the opportunity to go to the Premier League - but we do need a bit of help. I think everyone's really clear on that.

Hopefully, Phil will answer more than I do on recruitment and spending money and all that stuff. Honestly, I can be relaxed about it because I love the group that we work with.

I know how hard they work - but yeah, of course, it's natural. We want to add and we will add before the end of the window.

It's just when you want good players and you're not willing to just settle for certain people in certain positions, then it just takes a bit of time.

We spent a lot of money on two guys to make them our players that were here last year. So the thing is, it looks like we haven't spent any money.

We have, but I understand they haven't made us better. We are just the same as last year by keeping them, too.

They are huge bits of business for us as a football club with a big, big investment financially. So I don't think that can be underestimated or underappreciated, really.

So I can sit here and genuinely be relaxed about it because I'm excited about what the group can do.

I really believe in them and also that we are going to have some new players before the end of the transfer window. They'll be the ones that we actually want.

And if a goalkeeper is one of them by the end of the window, it's because we've deemed that someone is good enough or better than what we have and we need that.

Russell, what opposition are you looking forward to playing against next season? And what manager are you looking forward to competing against?

RM: I'm looking forward to it all. I really am. I'm excited, mate. I think Man City will be a good one.

They're managers someone I admire and respect a huge amount. I'm looking forward to that as well. It'll be good. 

We've seen a few more technical fouls to slow the play down, is there anything else being done to push aggression forward? 

RM: Jack's an animal, so that helps. We're a young group and we haven't got a naturally nasty, aggressive group. It's not the culture we have.

On the pitch, it's going to be really important that we are. I think the biggest message to the players has been from day one of pre-season is to do with the style of play.

People that don't watch us will take the lazy assumption will be that we're nice and we're soft, a bit fluffy and all that stuff. Actually, we weren't last season and we're not

I just don't ever want that to be the perception of one of my teams, of our team and our club that we are just going to play nice football and be nice.

So maybe it's been a bit borderline at times in pre-season, but I'd much rather we went over the line and be nowhere near it.

I think we might have to accept that then sometimes it's going to be a bit scary but I think we need to be clever. We have guys that are experienced that will help the lads manage games.

It's our job as coaches to help them manage games and develop a personality and a pitch that reflects us and the team. I've loved watching them in pre-season.

JS: Yeah, I think first and foremost, when you're in pre-season, you're playing teams from Spain and Italy. It's always niggly.

It's such a contrast of styles. In England, you do get away with a little bit more so when we play these types of teams in pre-season, they don't tend to like it.

It will not always boil over as much as last Wednesday but I agree with what the gaffer said with what happened with Charly Alcaraz.

I think we'd always prefer him to go too far that way than not back his mate up or just walk away or pull out of tackles.

That's not how we can go into the Premier League. We need to be all in together. If one of us is having a fight, then we're all in. 

Do we have the money to be competing and paying £20-30million for players? And if not, what's the long-term strategy to be competing financially in this league? 

PP: Let's break it down a bit because one of the important parts is, are we competitive? I think so far we're around the six highest net spenders in the league.

It's really easy to forget because we've brought in a few loans back. It's really tough to be competitive straight away because you need to get your squad to a certain standard.

We're looking across all targets. That will include loans and that will include permanents. When you buy a player, I've learned it's not as simple as Championship Manager.

There are so many factors in between, including will a club accept? Is there a price tag on the player in the first place? Will they sell him? Does the agent want it to happen?

Do the parents want it to happen? You've got so many points that it's quite complicated. We said a year ago at a fans forum that we need to be quite responsible at Southampton.

It's not just about this year. The club needs to continue. I don't want to talk to you about the complications if we didn't come up.

It was probably one of the biggest goals in the history of the club at Wembley because being in the Championship is so, so difficult with all of the financial rules and the gap.

The gap is so big, but equally, when you go up, your contracts all jump. You don't just get £100 million in the bank. It doesn't happen like that.

You get small chunks throughout the year. So it's about cash flow as well. When money goes in and out of the club, it's really, really complex about where that happens.

Sport Republic have put in over £200 million into this club over the last couple of years. That's the first bit of money for over 10 years, by the way.

So that's why we've had to become more efficient. The owners are very, very bought in but then we have financial fair play as well.

we do have to watch the rules and sometimes we need some outs before we can do some ins at the same time. We're balancing all of that.

Russell and I talk every single day about moving transfers with the owners. Everybody's very well aligned. We've got a huge scouting network awe'll do the best we can.

But we're not going to do that at the same time as putting the club in a really, really bad financial situation and Southampton not being here in five years.

Mark Bitcon, what are the advantages of being in a multi-club model?

MB: There are huge advantages. The expertise is the main one - we share scouting networks and recruitment across the world.

You'll have seen we have signed two players from South America and two players from Japan, and that's our bigger network of scouts that reaches across the globe.

It's very difficult to do that without the expertise that we have. We also share insights in performance services as well as data science, which is a big buzzword at the minute.

All these top teams have data science teams with six or seven, and we've got the same, and we share that across clubs.

I speak to the sporting directors and the coaches, and so does Russell, from our partner clubs every single week.

We've got a fantastic coach in Stanimir Stoilov in Goztepe, who's got loads of experience. Ahmed Kantari in Valenciennes - another fantastic coach.

It's the ability to share and collaborate that is our real strength and I think we do that better than other multi-club models, if I'm being honest.

Having that experience in the past, think there's a humbleness across the group to share and openness.

We've got coaches coming in. Me and Russell have visited the other clubs. This is a weekly touchpoint and sharing the expertise.

We've also got Rasmus Ankersen, who's been highly successful in what he does, working with us all on a daily or weekly basis.

This multi-club model means we do get the fruits of the sort of multi-club model on a daily basis as well as a weekly basis.

Just going back to your question around the longer term, we have heavily invested in youth and we'll continue to do that.

When Tyler (Dibling) and Sam (Amo-Ameyaw) come through like they have this pre-season, it's like signing two new players of asset value.

I know Russell's been really happy with those guys in the pre-season. Hopefully we can develop them. Russell's done a fantastic job over his career developing young talent.

What does success look like for the academy in the new landscape?

MB: It's continuing to get youth team players minutes like Russell's done this pre-season. We've got Andy Goldie, who's fantastic in terms of what he does.

It is a tough market when you're competing against Man City and Chelsea, but we believe in our process and we know Russ is a big believer in talent development and youth.

Not every coach in the Premier League is. Russ has given those chances and debuts last season and I'm sure that'll continue if the talent's where it needs to be.

It's great to hear you're going to be up for the fight - do you practice with 10 men in training?

RM: They play against 12 a lot in training and it takes them about 10 minutes to realise. No, we work on different scenarios all the time.

We actually did for the playoffs, we worked on a few different things and hopefully, it won't come to that too much, but it's a good idea. Maybe we should start.

Is there any chance of Kyle Walker-Peters signing a new contract?

RM: He's a top player, I think you all know that. I don't need to say that. He was brilliant for us last season. Some of the stuff he can do with the ball, I can only dream of.

I'm sure Jack will tell you, I don't want to put words in his mouth, but he'd be one of the best players that he would have trained with for sure, what he can do.

We're in discussions with him and he will make a decision based on his career. It won't be the fact that we don't want to keep him, or we haven't tried to keep him.

We are trying to keep him here for longer term. Short term, I hope he's here for the season, whatever happens. It's not ideal for someone to be in the last year of their contract.

But I think last year, as Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams showed, if they're all in and they're committed, they can contribute hugely.

So if Kyle ends up staying, which I hope he does, the best case scenario is he signs a new contract and everyone's really happy.

The worst case for me right now is that he stays and is then on a free next summer, which helps us stay in the Premier League. So it's a win-win in the short term.

Hopefully, we get the long-term win as well. If he ends up leaving before the end of this window, that means that the club can reinvest in someone else that's going to really help us.

Are we trying to keep him? Yes. Is he desperate to leave and kicking up a fuss? Not at all. He's a brilliant professional and he played on Saturday and played really well.

And if he's here next Saturday, he will be in contention to play in the team. And then the rest after that is sort of beyond our control, really. We've done everything we can.

I'll say that Phil and the ownership group have made a big effort to keep him and we've made a big effort in the way that we treat him, hopefully in the way how important he is to us.

Then it's his decision and we'll respect that. I don't begrudge that and it's not personal, it's about his life and his career. But whilst he's here, there is only one thing I can judge him on.

Phil, anything to add on Kyle? 

PP: We're not sitting here waiting for bits. I think Russell spoke very well then. Kyle's got a decision to make, what he wants to do.

I think Kyle is a great, great young guy who's given all of his commitment to the club and I think he's also been really professional the way that he's conducted himself.

We'll try and do the right thing for the club and for Kyle at the same time. We've been very open with him, we'd love him to stay and I think he knows all the fans want him to stay.

He's ambitious as well.  He's an ambitious guy, which I have no issue with at all. We've got no issue with players when they're open with us about what they want to do.

As long as they do it in the right way - but we'll always put the club first.

Jack, what is it like in the dressing room as a player in August? 

JS: I think there is that sort of joking banter part of it but, you know, serious conversations are going on as well.

I think the gaffer and Phil have said everything you need to know about Kyle. I think you all see how good of a footballer he is, but also how professional he's been as well.

I think last summer he had a lot of interest. I don't know what that feels like to have all that interest but it must be quite difficult to concentrate.

I don't think anyone would have stood in his way and begrudged him a move back to the Premier League this time last year.

So fair play to him for staying and being as good as he was last year. From a player's point of view, in the dressing room all you can ask is someone to train well, turn up on time.

It sounds so basic, but you just want them to be a good person and when they stop doing that, that's when you've got a problem. That's when the lads will turn.

That's where we're in such a good place in the dressing room. The group is so strong that anyone who moves out of that strong group is pushed aside.

We know how important that was last year and it's going to be important this year. For Kyle, I think he's been outstanding.

Obviously, I selfishly want him to stay and hopefully sign a new contract but if Kyle decides his future lies elsewhere, then I'll shake his hand and say good luck.

He's been excellent. Even this summer he hasn't played that many games. Then he played Saturday and was out of this world, which is just ridiculous.

I'll shake his hand and say good luck to him. Because like Phil says, he's very ambitious like we all are. Hopefully, he can reach all his goals and ambitions here.

Is it quite secretive in the dressing room with wages and new deals?

MB: I think it's probably a bit of both. Probably 10, 15 years ago, it was quite secretive, but now guys are a little bit more open.

This next generation of talent coming through, a lot more open with their thoughts, feelings, and some of the things that happened in their private life.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing but transparency is certainly what we see more in dressing rooms these days. I think it helps the dressing room bond more.

Jack, are you looking forward to catching up with Bruno Fernandes?

JS: I've got to be very careful because we've got a captain's meeting tomorrow, so I'll be seeing him on Zoom. He's a top footballer and, yeah, he's a top footballer...

Can we get app-only features on the website for people who don't want the app?

PP: I don't think we want to leave people behind but I also I don't think having the app is a technophobe piece. 

I think it's actually quite simple compared to the website, but we can have a look at voting on the website if that's what the feedback is.

We've always tried to take feedback from the fans all through last season, I think I spoke to probably over 500 fans directly on different topics around the stadium.

We've got 70,000 plus users now on the app so it's a really key point to actually talk to fans and try to be transparent and give them more content.

We'll have a look at it but the app is a really easy way for us to communicate with everybody around the club, and there's a lot more on there as well.

What contact have you had with Southampton City Council?

PP: I'm quite new to Southampton, you know, in general. I didn't live in central Southampton. I think the city has so much to offer.

I think working with St Mary's is such a key part, and there could be a lot more investment on this side of the city as well.

I do sit on a working group with the city council and with the local leaders to see what we can do. 

I am asking for a train station to be put back in over here because they just wind us up and park the trains there instead at the moment.

We're talking to them about a lot of investments we'd like to make because we feel this part of the city has so much to offer, especially with a waterfront as well.

We can't share everything that we've got in mind but the owners are very interested in investing in a lot more that makes Southampton Football Club a lot more sustainable.

We want to be financially a club in the top 10 of the Premier League, not sitting, you know, in the bottom five all the time. We've got a lot of work to do.

Is there a way for disabled supporters to book disabled seats on the app, as it's hard to reach supporter services ? 

PP: These evenings are really important to get feedback. We work with a fan advisory board and with different groups as well, especially around disabled fans and access.

So we've met with Paul as well, who runs a lot of the groups. So we'll take that feedback and we'll deal with it offline, but it's fair feedback. 

What's your message to the fans and fan base this season?

RM: I think last season was so different, so dramatic, so topsy-turvy at times.

When we left the Stoke game here, I think the guys did their lap of appreciation and most people had left because we were crap that day and it was raining.

I think the message was the same after that game. We had three games to still achieve what we wanted to achieve. Well, four, we had to play Leeds still. 

This season is going to be exactly the same. We're going to need you and like the West Brom game, honestly, it was incredible. 

It was one of the best I've ever experienced. We were emotional on the bus in when we saw everyone. It was one of the greatest experiences I've had in the game. 

It was really, really unique and really special. And we want to be in the Premier League and do it in our way.

Hopefully, you guys have come to understand a little bit and to hopefully enjoy and be proud of the identity of the team. 

And they will fight for each other. We'll fight for everything this season and we will try and do it in our way. I will be called naive a million times and I probably already have done.

We've been written off by everyone before the season started. I've seen all these predictions stuff. My brother sends me most of them about, you know, I think we're 20th. 

I think we're going to be everyone's team that they think is just going to be here to be here. So we are going to need to surprise everyone and to be us more than ever. 

And there will be some tough moments, I'm not naive to that. But I was promoted with a team whose identity was purely on working hard and being all in a certain way. 

We had the first game of the season to the last very few Premier League appearances in that team. We ended up finishing 11th based on unity, togetherness and fight and spirit.

And the fans being so behind the team that when teams came to our place, it was really, really tough. I want that same feeling again now. 

Last year in September, we lost four games in a row and we came here against Leeds and you guys were incredible. 

The atmosphere was amazing. It would have been so easy that day for it to not be. I think everyone thought I was gonna get sacked to that point. 

So you guys turned up and then the team turned up. It's just not like it's coincidence. The energy was there. 

I think my message is that you have your team, your club is part of you from very early age on the whole. We're now here as the custodians of it. 

The owners have chosen me to be in charge of the team. I then choose the players that go on the pitch and I think what we can ever ask from anyone is that they give everything. 

And hopefully, if we give everything and you give everything, I really believe it will be enough. I really do. Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing it.

We're going to work in that way harder than ever. The guys are in such a good place. They believe so much in what they're doing. 

Is it disappointing being in football with overreactions and criticism to things? 

RM: I think one of the things I'm most grateful for in my career is spending 10 years somewhere in my last game getting booed off the pitch after playing 300 games.

Because then it gives you an understanding. Then I went back at the end of that season and played in front of 20,000 fans in my testimonial game where it was a completely different.

I understand that actually you just want to see your team win as a supporter, and if you feel that a player or manager not doing it, no matter what they've done.

I understand that last season winning at Wembley and getting promoted, it won't last long if we're not winning games. Maybe it gives you a bit longer.

You can't control that so I will not lose time worrying about it. What I do hope is that people understand when we are having a tough moment, that doesn't help your team one bit. 

It doesn't help the people on the pitch. If Al McCarthy's lost a couple of balls in pre-season or whatever, that happens in a game once, it doesn't help your team to start booing that.

It's counterproductive to do something all week to really believe in a plan, to then have one moment of anxiety, to then change everything.

Then we might as well not plan. We are going to need everyone on board. I'm not saying just clap and be happy and all this stuff if it's not going well. 

It's our job to do better and be better all the time. But it's just not productive. And I feel like being a fan myself as a kid, you support your team, no matter what. 

And I think we're going to need that. That's the point. But I do understand when people get unhappy, just write to me and tell me. 

I had loads of them last season, some of them were used as fuel and some of them were, yeah, yeah, were enjoyable to read.

We've got a few nice ones as well towards the end, but in September, yeah, I got loads of letters and that's the best way. I'll always respond.

So if you're really unhappy, write to me and leave the players alone and just give me some stick. Yeah, it's just life, isn't it? I'm afraid.

Jack, you've been at the club 13 years, are you going to have a testimonial? 

PP: We've had a discussion...

JS: Phil asked me at the end of the season, to start thinking about it but it's not something that I want to, I want to happen just yet.

RM: Obviously, we'll play sent half together in that case. Please, please, please.

Why have you taken away the 10 per cent discount in the store all year round?

PP: At the moment that's where we are but we plan on putting offers throughout the season throughout different games. 

I don't plan on doing one rule and sticking with it for the next 20 years. I think we need to trial and test and see how things go, get the feedback or fans.

On the stadium, we have a long-term contract with Kingfisher, by the way so that's been at the stadium for a while. We've introduced new drinks and new offerings.

Everybody's told me how poor some of the food is so we've ripped some of that up and we've made more changes to try to be adaptable.

We're very open to taking feedback on what's not very good and what needs changing and we'll always try to adapt - but there's questions around signing a 30 million pound player.

At the same time, our ticket revenue has been flat for nearly 10 years because we haven't put, we haven't put money through with inflation and things like that. 

We tried to be really fair. We've had an average increase of about 6 per cent across the stadium this year for, you know, which isn't that unreasonable. I think it's quite fair.

I think that's what we're trying to do as a club. We'll pick things up with fan advisory groups and all of that and we're really happy to take feedback all the time and adapt as we go. 

I wouldn't get fixated on what you see today is what you'll have on an ongoing basis. And we also have a lot cheaper drinks, by the way, before the game leading up.

We want people to come earlier so we will have options that are competing against pubs in the city centre as well. 

Last question, are you looking to sign a striker? 

RM: We're really flexible in terms of the formation and the type of player we need in certain positions so I think that will change game to game.

I don't think we need like a set, set type in that position. Che Adams ended up playing a lot of the season there, but actually we played Charly there as a false nine.

We played Stuey there as a false nine. Adam Armstrong played there a bit. Sekou Mara had a spell in the team there.

Che made himself the number one choice just out of performance and we made Che a fantastic offer of a contract. He chose to leave. 

That's again, his prerogative and I wish him nothing but the best. I mean, it's great. He's gone over there and tried something different. 

Ross Stewart is on his way back and I really believe Ross is at the level he needs to be. We just need to get him in a place where he can contribute consistently and regularly. 

We're working hard with Mark and the sports science, and with external people as well, to make sure that he is in a good place to compete for us.

Paul Onuachu got on on Saturday because he's our player and he had a great season last season, and amidst a lot of like rumours and noise this summer, he's trained really well.

He is an option for us. If we are looking for a certain type of player, Paul might be really useful against one opposition and maybe we need another profile against someone else.

So if they are both here, then we will try and utilise them - and then we have Arma and Ben who can play number nine as well. 

We still have Sekou here who can play number nine so I'm quite easy about it. If we see someone we like and it's a different profile to the players we have, and we deem good enough or better than the players we have then we will try to sign them.

That is whether that's a number nine or as a goalkeeper, as we discussed earlier. We had a recruitment meeting just before we came in here.

There are a lot of plates spinning because it's that time of year. And at some point, yeah, hopefully we will land one or two of the players that we want. 

Very finally, Jack - is 17th the target?

JS: It's such a tough league to come back up into so 17th, it would be a success, but that's certainly not what we're aiming for. 

We're certainly aiming higher. This group of players is not a group that are just going to aim for 17th and just try and survive with the way that the manager wants us to play.

We're going to be brave. We're not just going to try and hang on in games and try and get points. Tat's just not going to happen.

We're going to play the way we want to play because that's the way that the manager believes we've got the best chance of winning games. 

And we all believe that as well. So I'm not going to give you a big headline, but we're certainly aiming higher than 17th.