Talking to the German press Saints Chairman Ralph Krueger has emphasised what Saints are trying to do going forward.
Krueger was speaking to German Magazine Kicker about what he is trying to achieve at St Mary's and emphasised that Southampton are different than most club's in the way they go about things and also different with a special football culture.
"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.”
"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.”
Krueger also said that his role is not just about the running of the club but that he remained close to the squad itself although he did not meddle in tactics.
"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.”
He was also keen to dispel rumours that the club has no ambition and was not interested in winning trophies.
"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.”
Interesting words from our Chairman and there have been many who are already trying to twist them around and use them as a stick to beat him with.
Personally I cannot understand why so many are so quick to condemn Krueger and the club's way of operating.
I have followed the club now for 45 years and a day after seeing my first match on 15th January 1972 against Manchester United in the FA Cup, in all those years prior to the arrival of Krueger three years ago, I have never seen a more focused and structured approach at the club, for perhaps the first time in the club's history there is a plan in place and not only that but the structure to achieve it.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating and if 3 straight top 10 finishes in a row, equalling the clubs best ever run and only our second semi final in 30 years is unambitious and failing, then god knows how the last 45 years could be described all bar a 10 year spell from 1976-86.
Yes the fans don't like to be told that players are leaving, but that is the reality of today's game, only a handful of club's are not feeder clubs to someone higher up the footballing food chain.
Saints now have a way forward, they know they cannot compete financially with the big six who get richer each season, with sponsorship deals that the rest of the league can only dream about, so we are taking them on on our own terms.
Does anyone honestly believe that Sadio Mane was sold against his will and that we took the first big offer that came along ? Krueger knows that once a player has been tempted with a salary that is two or three times bigger than he can get here, not to mention the little matter of a guaranteed tilt at an honour or two, then it is going to hard to hang on to him.
That means we have to find players, develop them and slowly build up our squad, its not good to see them go, but over the past four seasons I would rather have had Lovren for one year, Alderweireld for the next and then two years of Virgil Van Dijk than four years of Yoshida with all due respect to the loyal servant that the Japanese International is.
There is a good reason that Yoshida is completing his fifth season and the aforementioned three didnt and in the case of VVD wont last that long and that is quality and demand.
We have to implement our structure knowing that it is our best chance of staying where we want to be, as we certainly can't afford to spend £40 million on a player and pay him £15ok a week.
We should remember our past and what an improvement even the current season that some see as a disaster actually is, sometimes you have to take a step back to keep moving forward.