Saint Charlie

Great summary.

Tough decision. The Liebherr's are an unknown and have no living link to the club. If (and its a big if) Cortese could secure similar investment from elsewhere, and it would see him remain at the club, then I would be interested in this option. I just feel that were Cortese to leave the club, we would lose the momentum generated so far. he has done a superb job.

Possibly. As a Saints fan this would be the best reason for the barney but they have shown no desire to get involved in "football matters" before - can only assume they would employ another person to "help".

BBC guy saying its not about investment, but control.

I really doubt the Liebherr's look at the performances of Gaston Ramirez or the tactics of Pochettino too closely.

So much is wrong with this. 1. "The deal expires next year". What deal? 2. The family do know Cortese. 3. They must trust him a little seeing as he has probably tripled the value of their asset in 3 years. 4. Why would they want more say now, they never have done before?

About the only time I have agreed with a sentence you have written. Plus, if Cortese leaves because the Liebherr's won't match his ambition that is in no way good news for the future, and makes it extremely unlikely that a "better" replacement will come in.

This. If he goes and another Chief Exec comes in, then that person won't have the same drive or ambition as he has. Especially not if Cortese leaves because the Liebherr's won't match his ambitions.

Interesting.... Ben Smith from the BBC (and previously of the Times) just said on twitter that Cortese is "very much" still committed to the Saints project and that the issue is "not about money, he just wants to be able to continue as he has since 2009." BBC article also has the line about Cortese having final sign off on decisions. Possibly the Liebherr's feel that at this level there should be a more democratic decision making process rather than Cortese ruling everything as he has got used to doing. He is probably saying he will leave if they try to change it....brinkmanship, although I don't doubt he would go through with it as he would feel he couldnt do his job as effectively with interference. From his point of view, after having such success, why would you want to lose any control? Ben Smith also replies to someone who said to hm that Cortese was "all for the future and very ambitious" by saying "That is exactly what it is all about." Essentially, Cortese is testing the Liebherr's ambition, and whether they match to his own. If they don't, he will leave. All IMHO of course.

Clueless IMO. Liebherr bought the club but Cortese has pushed it in. Anyone who can't see how important he is is mad. As soon as Cortese leaves we would have certainly lost an edge we currently have.

I didn't say he was the greatest but bet you will struggle to name one who has had more of an impact on their club in the last three years?

Nobody knows, but I would doubt there is a Chairman/Chief Exec of a football team in the UK that has done nearly as good a job as Cortese over the last 3 years. Like it or not, of the club employees he is the most important and most influential in our recent rise. 100%.

Or they want more of a say, want someone additional to have a say, or want less money to be spent? That they want to sell is just a guess at this stage.

This thread is silly. MP will pick whatever he feels is the best side to win the game as there is approx 5m at stake here.

Hopefully it will all be sorted. Goes against what the likes of Morgan et al have said when signing a contract about the plans that Nicola has.

We haven't been able to rest him at all. The physical way he plays means he would benefit from it!

He just got booked but you can tell he knows his role very well. Is strong but very agile and gets up and down well and looks calm on the ball. Composed player.

Looks an excellent player, plays very high up the pitch on the right.

Wonder if he will play for Malaga tonight...

Yes, we are.

We have been carrying a couple of defenders all season, but sure they will be replaced anyway.

Should also remember the first 10 games were so poor, without them we could be top half. Hopefully get a win next week to round off a good season.

Safe which is good and hopefully Hooiveld has at most one more game to play for us. He is our biggest weakness.

Hooiveld has never been up to this level.

Norwich winning.