Southampton, meltdown beginning?

[drunkenmaster]

Southampton situation is pretty nuts, if you read up on Cortese most people there regard him as the reason everything has gone right. Similar to the Barca situation in which they improved by making tiny improvements everywhere, from training facilities to diet, physio, rest, everything, tiny improvements adding up to fundamental improvement.

It's why the manager has said there seems to be little reason to be there without him, though that is overstating it as without Cortese it's the same as most other clubs.

Also seems a bit odd to me that Cortese decides to resign just because the owner wants to sell. She's a widow afaik, her husband bought the club, made the right appointment but died suddenly. Expecting the widow to take on the same project and jumping ship the second she decides to sell is a little over the top. Surely someone who wants to buy the club will be told by everyone involved how good a job he's doing and a new owner would want the same level of improvement at the club?

Wouldn't you stay, see who buys, then leave if the new owner is a **** and wants to do things entirely differently.

His resignation could just be a threat, it all seems pretty daft to me though. If he's enjoying his job, why not stay and see what happens continuing to do the job you enjoy.

 

[gilchrd]

Southampton situation is pretty nuts, if you read up on Cortese most people there regard him as the reason everything has gone right. Similar to the Barca situation in which they improved by making tiny improvements everywhere, from training facilities to diet, physio, rest, everything, tiny improvements adding up to fundamental improvement.

It's why the manager has said there seems to be little reason to be there without him, though that is overstating it as without Cortese it's the same as most other clubs.

Also seems a bit odd to me that Cortese decides to resign just because the owner wants to sell. She's a widow afaik, her husband bought the club, made the right appointment but died suddenly. Expecting the widow to take on the same project and jumping ship the second she decides to sell is a little over the top. Surely someone who wants to buy the club will be told by everyone involved how good a job he's doing and a new owner would want the same level of improvement at the club?

Wouldn't you stay, see who buys, then leave if the new owner is a **** and wants to do things entirely differently.

His resignation could just be a threat, it all seems pretty daft to me though. If he's enjoying his job, why not stay and see what happens continuing to do the job you enjoy.

Odd situation. Cortese doesn't want interference and the owner wants to sell/have a bigger say.

Cortese has been great for us but it's not his money...local media report the owner has accepted his resignation.

Major fear is MP going now.

 

[No1newts]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25752833

Cortese who has done well by them and apparently very highly thought of had resigned citing differences with the club owners.

To top that off when the rumblings began Pochettino threatened to resign if Cortese left and so far has not promised to stay when reporters asked him. Senior coaches have also refused to commit heir future and to top it off players like Shaw and Schneiderlin said a large reason for them staying was Cortese. Oh and the owners are rumoured to want to sell.

Meltdown begins?

 

[gilchrd]

Meltdown begins?

Probably. MP is due to do the Sunderland match press conference tomorrow at 3pm, will be interesting to see what he says (if he turns up!)

Whether the owners are looking to sell or just want more involvement, who knows, but Cortese did wonders for us in the past few years, we'll miss him.

Hate being a fan sometimes, you never get told the truth and if MP decides to go (along with a few players) it'd be a massive kick in the teeth.

 

[FrankJH]

Nearest professional club to where I was born so will always have a soft spot for Southampton, but can only see this going from bad to worse from here

 

[BaZ87]

Whether the owners are looking to sell or just want more involvement, who knows, but Cortese did wonders for us in the past few years, we'll miss him.

Was any announcement made regarding the ownership of the club after Markus Liebherr died? I know the club was passed on to his daughter but does she have any genuine involvement?

 

[drunkenmaster]

Odd situation. Cortese doesn't want interference and the owner wants to sell/have a bigger say.

Cortese has been great for us but it's not his money...local media report the owner has accepted his resignation.

Major fear is MP going now.

I presume it's not so much interference as security, things like the training ground, where by a lot of special work went into different level pitches, terraces and different types of grass(artificial and different real grasses) to match other premier league pitches so they can train on all surfaces. This is long term thinking not day to day stuff, the problem I assume comes from if a new owner comes in they often have their own plans and their own guy.

But he should really be working with the owner to sell the current successfully improving package of the club + himself + the manager to a new owner. He's drastically increased the value of the club and a new owner should want that to continue. Of course she may accept an offer that is higher from an owner that has no intention of keeping him on.

But surely... stay on till that happens? Then again maybe like Dein did at Arsenal, he can leave and join up with a new guy to bid for the club, set himself up that way.

 

[drunkenmaster]

Was any announcement made regarding the ownership of the club after Markus Liebherr died? I know the club was passed on to his daughter but does she have any genuine involvement?

Not as yet, but it seems like she wants to sell, she's also taking over his job but I assume that is because he's handed in his resignation. Considering she wants to sell I would also assume she doesn't actually want the job or day to day running of the club.

It's a bit weird, I posted in the banter thread. He seems to come across like he wants some kind of assurance his long term plans will be stuck to and selling the club throws that in to question. However if I was a billionaire and bought a football club, I wouldn't expect my kids to instantly want the same job or stress of dealing with it if I died. It's unfair to expect her to keep the club if she doesn't want to deal with it. Unlike most businesses, football club owners usually expect a loss, which can sometimes be pretty catastrophic. Roman has pumped probably close to 2 billion into Chelsea by now, if his kids weren't in to football I wouldn't expect them to want to continue to lose that money and would look to sell.

But I just can't get past, why doesn't he wait and see who the new guys want in charge, he's maybe the main reason the club has increased in value so much, so a new owner shouldn't automatically want rid of him. Though a new guy might well want his own guy in charge, or may want to do it himself. But why not wait and find out, he may be doing a Dein/Quinn thing, quit to find an investor and put together a package to buy Southampton.

In terms of the manager leaving, what you say when your word may influence decisions and what you do after that guy is gone.

He's a manager, Cortese may be the best guy to work under, but if he's gone that doesn't mean he'll find a better situation or job elsewhere. I can't imagine the manager just walking out the day after Cortese leaves to be honest, makes very little sense.

Like players who say they are only at clubs because of current manager, manager gets fired, and the next day they are fully backing the new guy....

Who knows, very weird situation though.

 

[Snax]

MOTD did a wider spot on Cortese that is summarised by this article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25420261

He is an insanely competent chairman. His attention to detail and alterations that lead to measurable improvements in Southampton's progress is exceptional.

One example in that article was to notice that the players woke at different times if they played away or at home. So he decided to make sure that not only was that corrected but that the team bus also carried replicas of the players' home mattresses so that their sleep was of the same level of quality home or away.

 

[[ASSE]Hinchy]

But I just can't get past, why doesn't he wait and see who the new guys want in charge, he's maybe the main reason the club has increased in value so much, so a new owner shouldn't automatically want rid of him. Though a new guy might well want his own guy in charge, or may want to do it himself. But why not wait and find out, he may be doing a Dein/Quinn thing, quit to find an investor and put together a package to buy Southampton.

This is what I'm hoping to be the case and he has someone lined up ready...

 

[hawkhench]

One example in that article was to notice that the players woke at different times if they played away or at home. So he decided to make sure that not only was that corrected but that the team bus also carried replicas of the players' home mattresses so that their sleep was of the same level of quality home or away.

Sounds like he's taken a leaf out of the marginal gains used in British Cycling. Can't remember if they did that with mattresses but I know they did it with pillows (for the same reason).

 

[dannyjo22]

Odd situation. Cortese doesn't want interference and the owner wants to sell/have a bigger say.

Cortese has been great for us but it's not his money...local media report the owner has accepted his resignation.

Major fear is MP going now.

The difference a year makes hey?

Unbelieveable, back to back promotions and a promising recent run. We seem to be cursed with idiot chairmen who **** our chances of survival.

Lots of every angry fans, Cortese is in for a rough ride on Monday.

Disgrace.

People quickly forgot this thread...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18480143&highlight=adkins

Where Cortese was a nobbler and MP...

Mauricio Porchettino is his replacement *spits*

THREE years in management.

Fixed Espanyol for a season in 09-10 (bottom to 9th), 8th next year, then sacked for bottom 9 points from 13 games.

Basically this is our Steve Kean, a nonsense yes man coach

Removes tounge from cheek

 

[Newbie007]

Worth it to see Le Tissier crying into his mic come Saturday

 

[Newbie007]

stuff

Nearly as bad as the Everton fans on here monaing about Martinez

 

[dannyjo22]

Nearly as bad as the Everton fans on here monaing about Martinez

I didn't moan about him, I just said I didn't think he was a better manager winning the FA cup and taking Wigan down than Moyes because Moyes didn't win an FA cup. I still don't think we will finish any higher than we would under moyes, we are just playing much more positive football.

 

[[ASSE]Hinchy]

The difference a year makes hey?



People quickly forgot this thread...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18480143&highlight=adkins

Where Cortese was a nobbler and MP...



Removes tounge from cheek

I had a look back through that thread about 3 months ago Thankfully I didn't get too outraged as I read a bit about Pochettino on the day of his appointment and became intrigued..

 

[Robbo]

Looks pretty bad for Southampton at the moment, Pochettino is likely to go soon if he meant what he said earlier in the season.

 

[Gruber]

But I just can't get past, why doesn't he wait and see who the new guys want in charge, he's maybe the main reason the club has increased in value so much, so a new owner shouldn't automatically want rid of him. Though a new guy might well want his own guy in charge, or may want to do it himself. But why not wait and find out, he may be doing a Dein/Quinn thing, quit to find an investor and put together a package to buy Southampton.

In terms of the manager leaving, what you say when your word may influence decisions and what you do after that guy is gone.

Cortese was a an Italian banker, so he would have plenty of potential contacts with money. Supposedly, he has been working his notice period for the last three months. Who knows what he's been planning during that time. I very much doubt he's been idle.

As for Poch, there were reports of a private meeting between him and Cortese lasting a couple of hours yesterday. Maybe he was explaining his master plan?

It's all speculation. As a Saints fan, I'm trying to be optimistic. Would be a shame to see the young talented team get dismantled.

 

[Gilly]

Looks pretty bad for Southampton at the moment, Pochettino is likely to go soon if he meant what he said earlier in the season.

Unless he is expecting Cortese to come back in.

 

[drunkenmaster]

From what I Can tell despite all the "Pochettino says he will leave if Cortese does" type headlines. Didn't he just say that Cortese is the reason he joined, the reason he wants to be there and can't see a reason to be there if Cortese isn't.

Okay, but what is the reason for him to be at random club X, if Cortese isn't at that club either, so why would he throw away a job he has, and apparently enjoys, for a job that also doesn't have Cortese. He was a manager before working under Cortese and every indication he continues to want to be a manager.

He likes Cortese, recognised what a great job he was doing and as such supported him when his words may have swayed the owners opinion on what they were doing. It didn't/hasn't, doesn't mean he can't work under someone else or has a reason to go. Cortese was the reason to come to Southampton is what I get from what the manager has said, that doesn't mean him leaving is a reason for the manager to also go.

In terms of copying cycling with small changes adding up to bigger improvements, possibly, but this isn't a new concept in sport. Barca have been doing it, or more to the point had been doing it for years. One of the reasons people suspected Messi started to suffer injury problems was a change in the way his physio was working and how the club organised things under different management.

Lots of talk about a players exodus but again, I can't really see why. Same group of players, playing the same way currently. I also can't see a reason for the owner to sell half the team, when selling the club you are selling the profitability potential. Destroying the team and leaving them ripe for relegation in the near future isn't going to help with the price she can get for the club.

I still think it's all a little odd and hope Cortese ends up behind another bid to buy the club, because if he just got uppity and left because someone didn't want to own a football club, it's frankly petty. I can fully understand someone not wanting to take on their fathers pet project of a football club. She may be nuts, or hate her father and want to ruin the club, who knows. The whole situation comes across as very strange till we maybe see what happens in the next few months, maybe couple years, who buys the club and what happens.

Ultimately it's surely better for the club long term to be owned by someone who wants to own a premiership club, than by someone who doesn't want to own a football team?