I Transcribed Ralph Krueger’s interview with @bigadamsport

This is a transcript of the 17 minute interview.  I have taken the liberty of eliminating words that were verbal ticks, false steps, or just plain unnecessary.  This is particularly true of Krueger’s frequent need to unnecessarily say “I mean” and his tendency to say “and” rather than starting a new sentence. And, as you know, there is the ubiquitous “you know.”  I have omitted many of those words when they do not add clarity or meaning.

Here it goes:

RK:  When you take on international competition as an athlete and as a club there’s growth involved in that.  You’re challenged outside your normal, comfortable environment that you are used to playing in. There’s a lot of surprises on and off the pitch that you need to deal with to be successful.  But it’s a wonderful opportunity coming at the perfect time where we are always looking for ways to expand our knowledge and our foundation.  “Growth” is the word that jumps up more than anything and that is the opportunity.

BA: I think we see it, a lot of us see it, as a chance for some of the academy graduates to do to well and to get some invaluable experience, perhaps.  But a lot of people will be worried about the balance between the Premier League and the Europa League and managing to be competitive in both.  So that comes to me to the board to supply the manager with the resources needed to cope with the challenges.  How much of that is central to what you decided as a board as in how much you could back the squad, back the manager?

RK:  More than anything we’re developing our strategy together.  I mean, the conversations between Ronald and Les, Les to the board, the board back over to Les and Ronald and around is very open and we have a healthy dialogue permanently going on and it’s about building a squad that can deal with the challenge at the same time always living within our means.  So it’s a responsible business that we are running here but at the same time a very ambitious one and we see, you know, keeping the picture small will be important.  It is not about when young players play or don’t play.  It is part of our philosophy.  So whether its matches we had this year where we needed to go deep into our bench to pull out important wins mid-season or whether it’s in the Europa game or in the cups coming up, I think Ronald, on a given day, has shown that he wants to win every single day and he will go with the squad that gives us the chance to do that.  But yes, you need to be smart and we are taking this step-by-step.  We’re being responsible and we will come with a very competitive team.

BA:  So the board, in other words, are determined to make sure he can compete at both levels.

RK:  Oh, there is no question.  We are not just in this to be there and to have said we’ve been there and we realize and respect the challenge the Europa League gives.  How difficult it will be to just get on from round to round and we’re going to keep the picture small trying to get into the group phase and we respect that the competition will be strong where ever it is.  At the same time the Premier League kicks off a few days later and we need to be prepared to live up to the expectations that we have for ourselves in that and we’ll be fine at it.  It’s part of the psychological challenge of being in a multi-cup league Europe situation but we look forward to it.

BA:  Part of that growth is obviously growth of talent?

RK:  Yes

BA:  And last summer, despite how brilliant it all turned out, this time of the year was a challenge for everybody because of the public, not coming from you, but the public, leaking and constant flurry of stories surrounding your players.  Now already we have had Liverpool maybe them letting it be known that there is a 10 million pound bid going in for Nathaniel Clyne.  This club has remained silent again about everything.  Is that the right way to go?  Having got through what you did last summer, could you not come out and go, hey Liverpool and the rest of you we don’t need to sell players.  We know what we are doing and if you want them it’s going to cost you a heck of a lot of money.  Are you in a position where you would rather do that?  Or is the silence the best thing?  

RK:  Well for us, it is important that we continue on with the values that we put into place before all the struggles of last summer hit.  We were clear on our path.  We were clear on what our values were going to be; what kind of character we want to have as a club.  We just aren’t a gossip club.  We don’t play games whether it is in the public, through the media, or with other clubs.  We are very open in our communication and in our style and Les Reed is again leading this communication and he is doing an excellent job.  There is no need to play this out on the public stage.  I think for the club, the very best thing, and that is all we have in our interest, is what is best for the club, is to do our business professionally, do it openly, and if clubs don’t match or players don’t match our expectations as far as the character and the values that we want to have here in the club then we move on.  It could be players that are here where we have to move on or it can be players we are attempting as targets and then we move to the next target if he doesn’t fit.  So that’s happening in the background here,  Adam.  I don’t think it’s healthy in the football environment to play this out publically. 

BA:  I just want to expand sometimes. We’ve offered Nathaniel Clyne a great deal. If he doesn’t want it, we move on and I think that sort of thing could make fans going “hey. We are strong.  We are tough.  We don’t mess about.”  I think they love that and I understand why you do not want to do that because I think there are standards to be had but I think it is a positive message for supporters.  It is what they would love for this summer rather than see their club dragged through the tabloids. 

RK:  But if we have a message for Nathaniel Clyne, we will tell him that message directly.  We just don’t communicate that way and I think that needs to be respected.  It was one of our strengths last summer is that we kept our eye on the ball.  We never lost focus.  We held the path.  We stayed true to our values and didn’t compromise anywhere.  We ended up with a good, healthy financial structure.  We ended up with a good, healthy football squad and I think that has proven the way to go and we’ll plow through that path with hopefully much less ups and downs and storms on the way than we did last summer, but the values that you will feel through the summer will be the same because they are who we are and it’s what the Saints are all about. 

BA:  Last summer there was a huge effort to do the great business that was Sadio Mané and Toby Alderweireld right at the end of the summer.

RK:  Right

BA:  Because those things took a long time to sort out.  I get that.  Is there a determination from the board and from the manager to try—with the Europa League especially—get the squad in place earlier, rather than later, this summer?

RK:  Ideally you would like to speed up the process and have the squad together before we get into our friendlies and before we take our trip to Salzburg or play in Holland.  You would like to have that in place.  That is the ideal but that is not the way the football world works.  You just go deal by deal.  Every single deal last summer seemed to have its own plot and story and final byline.  There was no two the same and I think that’s what’s going to happen.  Expect the unexpected.  Be ready for that and if it takes until September 1, so be it.  We would like to finish earlier for sure and we will do everything possible to get the squad together as quick as possible. 

BA:  When we sat down, when you first arrived, part of the strategy would be to expand the market.  We talked about the growth of the club.  We know from the financial figures the club keeps growing.  Obviously, broadcast revenues help every club in the Premier League remarkably strong compared to teams in other countries.  How is the North American venture going?  Because that was one of your prime things and I have seen no signs.  I thought of it recently because Bournemouth named a tie against Philadelphia.  You’re going to Austria and Holland and stuff.  I was wondering has that been able to progress or is it difficult to progress in North America because of the dominance of the big clubs. 

RK:  We have had an amazingly successful season in North America.  The main carrier, NBC, put a special on “The Southampton Way” out there on January 1, which became a viral, passed around product for football fans  I have been back there just a few weeks ago to feel it out and we are so respected.  And our brand value where we have broken into one of the top twenty football brands in the world and that’s an amazing accomplishment for Southampton football club.  Part of that is our growth in North America—our popularity.  We are working on projects which we still can’t reveal that will show how we are spreading the value of the club into that market which is just so hungry for football, for them/soccer.  I have to say that I was very proud to be a part of this organization when I was over there in many different corporate situations.  If you mention Southampton now, everybody knows where it is, who it is.  Us being that high in the table for that long this year was a brand building opportunity for the club and now we need to respect the difficulties in staying there and get ready for that challenge. 

BA:  So the preseason tour is more of a cherry on the cake is it?  You’re saying that the league position and the nine months of Premier League attention is more important.

RK:  Much more, much more, I mean on Saturday morning it’s becoming a regular event in North America for people to come together to watch the Premier League.  I know it is spreading all over especially on the east coast.  It’s gone south a bit and a little bit west but on the east coast with the time change being only five hours, there is a huge following.  We jumped into a big window in North America and Southampton many many times was the lead match of the day where here in Europe it wasn’t even being televised in England, so it was quite interesting.  I was over there just before the Villa game and the Russians were playing the USA in a hockey match in the semi-finals of the world championship and they had to decide between that and the Southampton-Villa game and NBC stuck with the Southampton-Villa game as their lead sports match.  That is just a little example of what is happening out there.

BA:  And it wasn’t a bad game either.

RK:  No.

BA:  The Premier League, interestingly, I thought you would probably have a view on this, and might smile to yourself, have decided to drop their sponsor from their title name and of course it feels like they are coming into line with the North American sports. We have these great three letter acronyms: the NHL, the NFL, the NBA. I can’t help feeling that we need another letter for the Premier League.  How are they going to do it?  We need to do PL, PL English Premier. I don’t know.  Are you thinking from what you know about North American sports that has to be a good thing for the Premier League to actually just be strong enough to name itself as the Premier League and not worry about a sponsor? 

RK:  Well, there is a lot of different factors that have brought us as a league to that decision and I think that we need to jump into that opportunity.  It’s freed up some space for us too where we can go after different partners now and I see we are already working on those markets but I think that the Premier League brand on its own right now is growing so quickly around the planet and you can pretty well call it anything.  Outside of England, they really do say EPL a lot.  The English Premier League is the term that people use in North America.  I am watching the EPL, so it’s more that line because there are other Premier Leagues around the world which we know and I think that those three letters would do us just fine. 

BA:  As somebody who has worked as an administrator and as a coach and a player and somebody who is involved at the chairman’s level with things and has a vested interest in the image and the branding of the thing, the Premier League brand is very strong which is a good job because the FIFA brand is pretty bad at the moment.  When you look at it from a personal point of view, do you think that there is so much more they could do at FIFA that they don’t do?  How do you view what’s gone on as a football chairman?  Or do you, as a North American, go what are these guys playing at?

RK:  I prefer not to judge when I don’t have all the information.  It’s one of my attitudes in life and I don’t think any of us have all the information.  What we do know is something is wrong there and whenever you are in charge of a situation, then you have all the information so you are responsible for it and you can drive values and you can drive what is important for it to be truly successful which for me begins with treating people right.  Obviously, FIFA needs to do a rebuild on their values.  They need to do a rebuild on the character of what FIFA is and what it stands for.  I think football was secondary for many people who are working there and, again, I am not gonna judge individuals, but I will judge the whole.  I say that FIFA is there to have the game grow, to make sure grassroots football gets what it deserves, that this fantastic game continues to spread around the globe, and that everybody gets a chance to play football which is not a tough thing to make possible. I think that that got lost in all of the finances.  We can only hope that whoever comes in is a strong leader who is value driven. If you bring strong values to an organization, the people that don’t belong and that don’t speak that language will disappear.  Either you need to help them disappear or they will go on their own and I think that is what we need to hope happens with FIFA.

BA:  Ya. There is an opportunity for so much good to be done with FIFA around the world.

RK:  Yes. Oh boy.

BA: I imagine you…

RK: It’s a sad thing.

BA: It is a sad thing.  If you going to stop this job Ralph, that would be something you could go and do.  Teach people some values and say what Southampton have done. 

RK:  Having way to much fun here, so…

BA:  I want to finish with that, because you did talk about your future back in February and said you were see in the summer and sit down with Katharina and see where the wind was blowing and everything else.  So have you come to a conclusion about your short midterm future as of yet?

RK:  Well, it’s definitely far from over, the story, and from the beginning I said that I want to be here as long as I feel I am the right person to lead the club, that I can add value every day, that I can grow personally too with the challenges on my plate, and they are there every day.  The people that I love to work with here and that have been given responsibility.  It’s something I have said from the beginning:  to be a strong leader the most important thing is to find excellent people and then support them and let them work and give them responsibility and support them along that responsibility that they have.  And that is what we have done here and it is a lot of fun.  Every day you come in here to this stadium or you go to the training grounds, it’s loaded with energy.  It’s loaded with a lot of excellent, excellent people working for the most important thing outside of their personal family lives and that’s what’s best for Southampton football club.  Along that line and along that path, we are going to continue to grow and we are already very excited about next season as I am to be the chairman again. 

BA:  Just finally, finally, do you see if we sat down this time next summer we’d be reflecting on a similar season or do we accept the challenges of all the competitions might alter the Premier League table, might alter the cups domestically because the league cup was a huge opportunity missed this season for instance.  Do you see that that extra layer will make next summer, us go alright, 12th in the Premier League and a quarterfinal in the Europa League was ok.  I can’t see or imagine you settling for that. 

RK:  No.  The ambition we have is tremendous and it’s driving us forward.  I know that the minute we were done in Man City and we had our final meal together as a club, it was back to business.  I didn’t see anybody--really not even the coaches who are on holidays right now—are thinking every single day about how we can continue to improve.  What we do respect out of them is that it is going to be a difficult season.  It is going to be a hard season.  Everybody will be ready for us in all the competitions we play in.  So as we build our brand and as we build our strength as a football club we also build how good the competition will be against us and its going to be hard right off the bat.  We know we need to get better.  It’s one thing to get where you are.  It’s a lot more difficult in sports to stay there and you need to work that much harder in every facet of the club to be able to hold that position and grow from there which we are hungry to do.  We want to keep this curve going in the right direction in all competitions and not trying to compromise one position for another.  We’d like to be successful and play to our potential in all the competitions we enter and that’s the challenge.  We know it’s going to be hard but, you know, we will be ready.