CanadaSaint

I think we'll all be whistling a lot of Dixie if we wait for Cortese to explain himself about anything to anyone. Yes, it would make things better but it's just not his style and it's all part of his horrible arrogance. Jeez, I doubt that he even did it for Nigel so we've got no chance of an explanation.

We don't know what's happened inside the club. During our horror run at the start of the season, one of our key vulnerabilities was Fox. Having seen Shaw acclimatize so damn well makes me wonder why he didn't get his chance earlier. Cortese may have wanted to see exactly that (his internally-developed talent focus), but the coaching staff didn't feel he was ready. Hypothetical? Yes, but it could be one of the things behind Cortese's decision, just as over-commitment to the Paint Cup might have been part of Pardew's undoing. I'm just being open-minded here because I don't think Cortese would have taken such a massive risk unless he thought he had good reason - and I completely agree that the manner of Nigel's dismissal (and probably the timing as well) was disgusting.

You're like a kid in the playground, running around trying to start a fight which you, of course, will watch from the sidelines. Most people have managed to grow out of the horror of their early reaction and are trying to deal with it, but you're still plugging away in your infantile "agent provocateur" way, trying so hard to be one of the little group of sneerers and cynics you admire so much. I don't like what happened today, and I hate the manner and the timing. I was - and still am - a big NA fan, and I'm sickened and ashamed about today's events. But it's done and there's not a damn thing we can do to change it. Moreover, we (and especially you) have no idea of the capabilities and fit of Pochettino; he may be perfect for us in the longer term on which Cortese is focused (which will hopefully still be on track in May). Apart from being one of the worst PR men I've ever seen in football, and a rather obnoxious pr*ck, Cortese hasn't done too much wrong when it comes to moving this club forward, and I'm willing to wait and see how this turns out. If that makes me a "mug", so be it.

The problem with controversial people is that their personality flaws can obscure their other qualities, and such is the case IMO with Cortese. For me, he has a towering ego and a bad case of "small man syndrome" coupled with its usual side-effect - a desire to use a position of power as a platform for bullying and rudeness. I suspect that he's not a very nice person at all, and a side-effect of that is that he has made enemies among people who have the media's ear; MLT, Benali and Lawrie Mac are just examples. Frankly, I don't like him much at all. But these things don't make him a bad PL chairman any more than Ronaldo's petulance and self-centered arrogance make him a lousy player. When it comes to running this club he really hasn't made many serious mistakes, and (dreadful timing and PR aside) he may not have made one today - unless the period of judgment is measured in hours and the thought process consists of uninformed knee-jerk emotion. I'll withhold my judgment because I don't know enough - either about things that happen behind the club doors or the capabilities of the new manager. One thing I do know, though, is this: today's actions are not those of a man who is planning on leaving within the next few months. He's here for the long term, and people might as well get used to his rather obnoxious personality and the things that go along with it. All we can do is hope that he mellows with time and that his judgment takes us where he wants us to go.

That from the guy who posted this in December:

Well, I think you've succeeded.

No harm at all - that's what these things are for. FWIW I share your reservations but I'm willing to entertain the possibility that there are some significant things beyond our sight and hearing. That doesn't make me "gullible", just open-minded. And there's no harm in that, either.

Bets are on for which Dave will produce first: "What Saints don't need now is a new manager" "What Saints don't need now is instability" "What Saints don't need now is ..."

You missed the bit about trying to be open-minded, didn't you?

According to the Beeb, Pochettino's "been researching the team for weeks", so he should be sufficiently familiar with us to allow some interesting decisions.At the risk of inviting incoming misiles, let's see if S. Davis and Guly start.

I'm not being gullible, I'm trying to be open-minded. And if you have to go back 200 years to support your point, perhaps you need to try that as well. I have significant reservations about today's events but I offered a potential explanation for them - one of several. I can't see Cortese making this highly risky move unless he was privy to information or perspective that nobody on this forum has. Anyway, Napoleon didn't have the internet.

I'd suggest that we are more saleable now than at any point in our history. Whether we still are in May remains to be seen, but even if we were relegated we'd still be an attractive proposition to anyone interested in owning a leading English club. The ground, academy and parachute payments would see to that.

I can see Solent joining the Echo on the naughty step.

I'm not at all happy about the decision, the timing, or the potential impact on our fight to avoid relegation. And I'm not happy that a thoroughly decent man (who brought a very pleasing style to our play) has been shafted. However, this forum has proven time and again that it has little idea of what really goes on inside the club. For all we know, there might just be some disenchantment with Nigel among some of the key players (such as Rickie, after being left out at Chelsea) - or even a reluctance among key targets to join us. Cortese strikes me as the kind of guy who would keep his finger on the player pulse, even if the manager might view that as under-cutting his authority. Say what you like about Cortese but he's not stupid. He knows that this kind of change at this stage of the season is extremely risky, and that it would create a furore among the fan base and in the media. He wouldn't have done it unless, after very careful consideration, he was convinced that it was the right thing to do. That doesn't stop me from being p*ssed off about this, but it does stop me from going ballistic.

Even with Cortese's level of arrogance, I can't see him doing this without running it by the owners. And they're the only people capable of sacking him.

Any change now - or even at the end of the season, if we maintain the current momentum - would be mental. And we were laughing at Chelsea not many hours ago. Funny old game, eh?

Sorry but I think he's a plodding journeyman who marks space rather than his man, lacks pace at this level, telegraphs passes and is slow to recover from the resultant giveaway. He may have been fairly solid and perhaps even more in the SPL but IMO he's struggling here. It's just as well he has Cork and Schneiderlin to cover for his inadequacies so that they are far less costly than they could have been. Good team guy though.

Boy, are you ever mis-named.

I thought we played well in the first half and only went behind because of one bad giveaway and some ball watching and space-marking at the back; space has never scored a goal so I don't know why Davis, in particular, is so keen to mark it. The difference, for me, was that we got the ball into the box very quickly on two occasions in the second half, and didn't fart around when it arrived; the "strike" was almost instant on both occasions. Of course, it didn't hurt that Rickie was there for the first one. But that early ball/early strike lesson is one I really hope we'll heed from now on. Especially Puncheon.

In a similar vein, I think that performance would only have significantly increased the amount of money Chelsea would be willing to pay for Shaw. He out-performed one of the best LBs in the world tonight. By a distance.

I have no idea how much ground he covers in a game but I'd bet it's more than two other players combined (except Corky and one or two others).

Early ball, quick strike = 2 goals. Oh, that we learn from it.

Don't you just know it.

The two best things about a Saints goal? 1. It's a Saints goal. 2. Alpine and Lard disappear.

Early ball. Goal. What the f*ck is so difficult for our coaching staff to understand?