Southampton owner suggests VAR cost Martin his job as manager

Dragan Solak says he has no intention of selling his majority stake in Southampton During Dragan Solak's reign as Southampton owner he has so far witnessed two relegations, one promotion and now five different permanent managers. But while the downs might have outweighed the ups, Solak, in a wide-ranging interview, said he had "no plans" to sell the club and also suggested that Russell Martin "would definitely" still be the manager had the video assistant referee (VAR) not taken "eight points" off the team. The 60-year-old Serbian's company Sport Republic acquired a majority stake of the Saints in early 2022. Yet, only now, three and a half years on, has he spoken publicly to BBC Sport for the first time in one of the very few media interviews Solak has given. Rewind the clock a year and Southampton were still celebrating after a thrilling Championship play-off final win overLeeds United at Wembleyto secure promotion to the Premier League. But the campaign to follow was a damaging one for the club's reputation as they were relegated back to the second tier after a record number of defeats in a season. "We have had some really great highs and enjoyable moments but we have also had devastating and sad periods - but I guess that's the sport,"Solak told BBC Radio Solent. "But the good thing is that my love, respect and loyalty for Southampton is just growing through all of this." Will Still'sappointmentmakes him the fifth permanent head coach of Solak's tenure after Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nathan Jones, Russell Martin and Ivan Juric. Last season, Saints struggled to adjust from the Championship to England's top tier, not helped by director of football Jason Wilcoxleaving for Manchester Unitedeven before they had been promoted. Solak said Saints had "reluctantly" allowed Wilcox to depart after just six months in the role. "I really liked working with Jason during his time here but I understand it, if you get the call from Manchester United, you go," Solak added. "We suddenly lost a man who [had] started building something, we didn't replace him fast enough so we went into the challenge of the Premier League without a leading figure in our football department and that was very, very costly." Solak is the lead investor for Sport Republic - a British sports investment firm founded by Rasmus Ankersen and Henrik Kraft. Theyare also involved with,externalTurkish side Goztepe, Valenciennes in France and African team FC Mali Coura. Some recent reports suggested Solak could be looking to sell Southampton but he denied these claims. "I have never had any plans of selling the club," Solak said. "We have quite a few very exciting projects. "I might invite some partners to join me if and when we are promoted to the Premier League, because I think we'll need maybe more [investment]. "But selling was never on my mind, I was thinking much more about this 10-year project of how to develop the club commercially and financially so it is more robust and less dependent on TV rights deals." This video can not be played Southampton owner Dragan Solak speaks to the BBC for the first time In his wide-ranging interview, Solak said previous head coach Russell Martin was "unlucky" to be sacked despite Southampton being rooted to the bottom of the table at the time. The Scot had led Saints into the top flight but was unable to mix it in the Premier League, winning just one game and suffering 13 defeats. Martin, 39, has now beenappointed as head coach of Rangersafter six months out of management. But Solak thinks he could have still been in charge at St Mary's if not for bad luck. "I really believe he was absolutely, fundamentally behind his idea of football and that is not easy in an environment like the Premier League that is so competitive," Solak said. "But to give him credit we were quite unlucky, I don't even know how to characterise some of the VAR decisions that we had - but in my opinion VAR took eight points off Russell's team. "If he had those eight points more in December I think he would probably manage the team through the whole season. "I'm not saying we would stay in the league but we would have [had] a much more competitive run and Russell would definitely still be leading the team." Pre and post-match interviews and discussion Listen and subscribe for the episode of Southampton FC All three clubs that came up last season - Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton - went straight back down and failed to put up much of a fight in the process. The gap between 17th and 18th positions was 13 points and bottom side Saints ultimately finished 26 points adrift of safety. "The truth is that the difference is too big that's for sure," Solak said. "The gap has to be narrowed somehow or it will create problems for both the Championship and for the Premier League in the future. "I think they should redistribute wealth and I don't think the quality of football would go down, this would allow the Championship to catch up and it will be much more meaningful competition between the teams." Will Still has signed a three-year deal at Southampton Former Lens boss Will Still became Saints' latest head coach in May, leaving Ligue 1 for his first taste of management in English football. He became the youngest coach in Europe's top five leagues when appointed by Ligue 1 club Reims, aged 30, in October 2022. "I spent some time with him and I have to say he's definitely a very smart guy," Solak said. "He went from a first-tier team in France to come to the Championship, he thinks it's a right move for him because I think he believes his place is in British football. "For him to be willing to basically take the challenge and to try to prove that it is his place, I think it's great so I'm very positive." It was early in 2022 when Solak and Sport Republic purchased previous ownerGao Jisheng's stakein the south coast club, then managed by Hasenhuttl. They were mid-table in the Premier League and despite a disappointing end to that campaign with four straight defeats, Saints finished comfortably safe in 15th position with 40 points. But, the following campaign after taking just 12 points from 14 games, in November, Solak's board opted topart ways with the long-term coachwho had been at St Mary's for nearly four years. After Selles' brief caretaker stint, they welcomed Luton bossNathan Jones on a three-and-a-half-year contract. Jones ended up being the club's shortest-serving manager as he wassacked after just 95 days in charge, losing nine of 14 matches. Saints were almost doomed to relegation to the Championship by then and their fate was ultimately sealedin May with a defeat at home by Fulham. Despite losing some key players in the early stages of the following season, new boss Martin's team quickly established themselves as a top Championship side. Becoming known for Martin's possession-based football, Saints secured a play-off spot and navigated their way to the final where they edged out Leeds at Wembley. But Saints struggled at the higher level, sacking Martin in December after a 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham left them nine points off safety. Juric came in on an 18-month deal but results failed to improve and he left in April, once Saints' relegation had been confirmed - with Still sincesigning a three-year-dealas his successor.