Rupert Lowe has labelled criticism from Southampton fans as ‘extraordinary’, claiming that he feels he did a ‘pretty good job’ as the club’s chairman.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Lowe discussed a range of topics and touched on his previous ventures in football with Saints.
Lowe is currently an MEP for The Brexit Party but had been previously renowned for a controversial stint at the helm of Southampton when the club were left in a dismal state, both on and off the pitch.
He has been a vilified figure amongst the Saints supporter-base since his two tenures at St Mary’s but told The Athletic that he still fails to understand just why there is such hatred.
Lowe said:
It is extraordinary how — and I’ve never quite understood it, I tended not to say too much — it is extraordinary how there did seem to be… If you look at what I did for Southampton, I delivered the stadium on time and on budget, I built up the youth academy, and again, they’ve had lots of money from players… I felt I did a pretty good job.
Some people like to blame me for the fact they became insolvent but the truth is I left them in a very solvent way and I went back to Southampton to save them.
But again, a lot of the fans either don’t want to or aren’t intelligent enough to know the difference between when I left [in 2006], when it was very solvent, with no debt, and when I went back [in 2008] and it was very indebted.
Read Southampton’s verdict
Well, these comments from Lowe certainly won’t go down too well with the club’s supporters… If he wasn’t already Public Enemy No. 1, he certainly is now.
Lowe played his part in Southampton’s drop to the very brink, and yet, he continues to overlook the damaging role that he played. It’s no real surprise, but it’s certainly a source of frustration.
He oversaw a catalogue of errors during a dark period with Saints, and it speaks volumes that, well over a decade after his exit, he is still trying to save face.
