CORTESE - a personal and factual view of why Ms Liebherr was right.

Like most fans I have spent the last 48 hours trawling through websites, reading the papers and listening to rumours from good and bad sources trying to piece together exactly why Cortese left and what is going to happen now.

Did he leave because Katharina Liebherr would not back his vision with finance? If so that is a worry because it tells us that in some ways we have reached the end of the road. But I don’t buy this. His pet spin doctors in the Mail and the BBC have been working hard, too hard methinks.

There is however an article in the Independent which I think, because of my own experiences with the man, is nearer the truth.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/nicola-cortese-chose-to-leave-and-was-not-forced-out-insist-southampton-9065638.html

The article says that Ms Liebherr wanted “basic corporate practice implemented” and that she needed “ a degree of oversight and accountability for Cortese’s running of the club”. It adds that Cortese should “not be answerable solely to himself”. Well, from where I sit that seems perfectly reasonable.

I mentioned earlier the many rumours and they include several claims that Cortese was, shall we say extremely personally extravagant with the Liebherr wealth. Now I don’t know about that but one thing I do know, speaking on a personal level, he tossed away approx £50,000 when he prohibited Hagiology Publishing’s “All the Saints” from the club shops when he learned that we had switched the book launch from the stadium to a local hotel after he had told us Francis Benali would not be allowed to attend. Now £50,000 is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, I accept, but a big company like Waterstones have told us they have been very grateful for their windfall as the consequence of being the sole outlet.

Because of a personal whim could Cortese really expect to deny the company this sort of money and not be answerable? He preached 100% professionalism, but surely he was being a little less than professional turning his back on any legitimate income no matter how small?

As I say, I know the facts of this particular story because I was directly involved but what other incidents were there that meant the Liebherr family were short-changed because of Cortese’s numerous feuds? We do know that he settled out of court with Francis Benali (one of many apparently in which he initiated litigation and then backed down at the final hour) so how much did that all cost the club – is there little wonder Katharina Liebherr finally decided enough is enough or at least attempt to reign in him a little? Basically she was only seeking to ensure there were safeguards towards her family’s investment. There is an old saying “count the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”.

My involvement with him was, I accept, comparative “pennies” but I did get to learn first-hand just what he had become and, as a consequence, I am not in the least bit surprised Ms Liebherr acted how she has. I hope he never returns even if it is with a wealthier investor and for now I am going to trust Katharina, because one thing I know she may have plenty of wealth but it seems she also has “cojones”.

You seem a bit bitter.

Like all these stories, we only get one side, I suspect that there are other facts that we will never hear, so have to make assumptions/allowances which brings me to my conclusion that you aren't objective and your opinion is largely devalued.

Cheers for the post FF. I hadn't read that Independent article before now and it certainly puts a different perspective on the events of the last 48 hours. Sounds like a classic case of Cortese cutting off nose to spite face if there's any truth in the article.

Never a dull moment at SFC

perhaps slightly self indulgent to start a new thread that says very little we didnt already know

Like most fans I have spent the last 48 hours trawling through websites, reading the papers and listening to rumours from good and bad sources trying to piece together exactly why Cortese left and what is going to happen now.

Did he leave because Katharina Liebherr would not back his vision with finance? If so that is a worry because it tells us that in some ways we have reached the end of the road. But I don’t buy this. His pet spin doctors in the Mail and the BBC have been working hard, too hard methinks.

There is however an article in the Independent which I think, because of my own experiences with the man, is nearer the truth.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/nicola-cortese-chose-to-leave-and-was-not-forced-out-insist-southampton-9065638.html

 

The article says that Ms Liebherr wanted “basic corporate practice implemented” and that she needed “ a degree of oversight and accountability for Cortese’s running of the club”. It adds that Cortese should “not be answerable solely to himself”. Well, from where I sit that seems perfectly reasonable.

 

I mentioned earlier the many rumours and they include several claims that Cortese was, shall we say extremely personally extravagant with the Liebherr wealth. Now I don’t know about that but one thing I do know, speaking on a personal level, he tossed away approx £50,000 when he prohibited Hagiology Publishing’s “All the Saints” from the club shops when he learned that we had switched the book launch from the stadium to a local hotel after he had told us Francis Benali would not be allowed to attend. Now £50,000 is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, I accept, but a big company like Waterstones have told us they have been very grateful for their windfall as the consequence of being the sole outlet.

 

Because of a personal whim could Cortese really expect to deny the company this sort of money and not be answerable? He preached 100% professionalism, but surely he was being a little less than professional turning his back on any legitimate income no matter how small?

 

As I say, I know the facts of this particular story because I was directly involved but what other incidents were there that meant the Liebherr family were short-changed because of Cortese’s numerous feuds? We do know that he settled out of court with Francis Benali (one of many apparently in which he initiated litigation and then backed down at the final hour) so how much did that all cost the club – is there little wonder Katharina Liebherr finally decided enough is enough or at least attempt to reign in him a little? Basically she was only seeking to ensure there were safeguards towards her family’s investment. There is an old saying “count the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”.

 

My involvement with him was, I accept, comparative “pennies” but I did get to learn first-hand just what he had become and, as a consequence, I am not in the least bit surprised Ms Liebherr acted how she has. I hope he never returns even if it is with a wealthier investor and for now I am going to trust Katharina, because one thing I know she may have plenty of wealth but it seems she also has “cojones”.

I like the book but please do not give the impression that it was that important to the club. 50k turnover is not profit. If you have taken 50k in sales then the worry about the costs of publishing have gone and the club not stocking the book is not a problem. Waterstones have loads of outlets and so in a way he did you a favour. Iam sure plenty of sales came from wives etc saw them when browsing the shops at Xmas and bought it, those same people may not have gone to the club shop.

You are rightly proud of the book that you did with the others and i do understand why it wrankles but it does seem to me that the thread is all about your disappointment regarding the book.

Thanks Duncan. Sounds interesting.

It's a good article and if it is true what has been reported then we'd be better off without cortese. That said, this is just one side of it and no one here knows what has really gone on between Kat & Nic.

I think that we need to move on and hope the a top CEO is appointed.

Owner: I would like to know what is going on in my company

Sole director: No. Mind your own business and leave me in peace

Owner: It is my business and I will put in place some checks and balances.

Sole director: If you do that, I'm off

If you read between the lines of the Indy article, NC comes out rather badly. OK, he has done, for the greater part, a fantastic job, but the owner wanting to know a bit more of what is going on in their £150m company and to have some say (or control) over the sole director who they employ, really is not unreasonable. In fact, in any business (except seemingly football) if an owner had no say in their own company, they would be thought of as naive, stupid, open to be taken to the cleaners, etc etc. The article rather suggests that NC forgot his position in life.

Duncan, you need to be careful mentioning the rumours about NC, as you say he does like to take people to court.

I like the book but please do not give the impression that it was that important to the club. 50k turnover is not profit. If you have taken 50k in sales then the worry about the costs of publishing have gone and the club not stocking the book is not a problem. Waterstones have loads of outlets and so in a way he did you a favour. Iam sure plenty of sales came from wives etc saw them when browsing the shops at Xmas and bought it, those same people may not have gone to the club shop.

You are rightly proud of the book that you did with the others and i do understand why it wrankles but it does seem to me that the thread is all about your disappointment regarding the book.

Nick, you say he likes to take people to court, well that is the point, it never happens, he threatens and bullies but then settles before it reaches court, costing the club money. My post might be self-indulgent but the fans need to realise why Ms Liebherr intervened. Literally one minute after I posted this a senior ex employee contacted me to confirm all I said and more. Yes this person may have an agenda but they are happily re-employed and doing well. NC did very well in doing what he did on the pitch for Saints but he simply had too much power in my opinion and ultimately that is never a good thing.

I don't think anyone has ever doubted that he was behaving like a dictator, in terms of raw progress it served the club extremely well. The worry for me is what happens now that the head of the beast has been severed.

The club as a corporate entity may be easier to deal with now but if the progress we have made isn't maintained then will that be enough to compensate? - Or will it be a massive weakness?

I think the bottom line in this whole affair is that NC ignored the possibility that the person whose money he was spending might want a minor say in where it went.

Well done Duncan for pointing out that we are only being fed a carefully spun singular side to this story by people with their own vested interests at heart. The fact that you did this via a carefully spun singular side to the story with your own vested interests at heart is completely irrelevant imo.

You discredited your point by linking back (again) to your book and £50K is absolutely nothing to the club in comparison to the prem TV money and other commercial revenue streams.

Nick, you say he likes to take people to court, well that is the point, it never happens, he threatens and bullies but then settles before it reaches court, costing the club money. My post might be self-indulgent but the fans need to realise why Ms Liebherr intervened. Literally one minute after I posted this a senior ex employee contacted me to confirm all I said and more. Yes this person may have an agenda but they are happily re-employed and doing well. NC did very well in doing what he did on the pitch for Saints but he simply had too much power in my opinion and ultimately that is never a good thing.

There is however an article in the Independent which I think, because of my own experiences with the man, is nearer the truth.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/nicola-cortese-chose-to-leave-and-was-not-forced-out-insist-southampton-9065638.html

"Liebherr's advisers have engaged the services of a City of London public relations company."

Anyone know the name of the aforementioned PR company? I assume it was them that 'planted' this alternative viewpoint story in the Independent?

Great book btw - urge all Saints fans to buy it.

As a supporter...SFC comes first and foremost:)

I support the likes of Holley, Ball etc as they bring so much of SFC to us , the supporters and the wider world.

I supported NC as he did so much for our great football club.

I now fully support Ms Liebherr in the hope that in doing the very best for herself and her family....Southampton Football Club and supporters

will become , if not already , a big part of her life and business way into the future.

We as always ...unite behind the mighty Saints and our custodian at this time and pray we continue our upwards and onwards trend.

Three cheers for Ms Liebherr.........Your father will be sooooo proud.

COYS supporters...now lets look forward with confidence:D

3 points against Sunderland....pleeeeeese:):)

I thought Franny took him to court.

Let's not let the facts get in the way of a grudge though.

Regardless of such tattle, angelman's post is spot on. If NC thinks he can run a business without any regard to the owners then he is quite naive in that respect.

Good post Duncan, and the Indy article echoes what I've thought since the summer about NC being completely unwilling to have any sort of accountability placed upon him. The various leaks to SFC friendly papers are, IMO, Cortese's efforts at destabilising the club following his departure. Unsavoury business.

Thinking out loud.... could it be that Cortese was running the club the way that Markus actually wanted him to run it (i.e. autocratically) and that Katharina, in Cortese's mind, was going against the wishes of her father?

As I say, haven't really thought that through but...

Thinking out loud.... could it be that Cortese was running the club the way that Markus actually wanted him to run it (i.e. autocratically) and that Katharina, in Cortese's mind, was going against the wishes of her father?

 

As I say, haven't really thought that through but...

That may be the case, but it could only really work if the club was financially independent of the trust.

You discredited your point by linking back (again) to your book and £50K is absolutely nothing to the club in comparison to the prem TV money and other commercial revenue streams.

I accept totally that my issue is peanuts but at least it enabled me to comment on facts as I know them. Much of what is posted on here is based on hearsay and rumour. The fact is that Cortese spunked 50k up against a wall that wasn't his to spunk.

Apologies if my language offends or discredits me further

It's interesting in hindsight to look back at all the good publicity we've got in the press for the past few months. It always seemed a bit odd that, after years of ignoring the media, Cortese had gone on a charm offensive. If it's true that he handed in his notice in October, then it was clearly all a calculated attempt by Cortese either to put pressure on Liebherr or to raise his profile and help him get a new job.

So let me get this right Cortese left over a dispute over FF's work of genius not being sold in the Club Shop ?

I thought Franny took him to court.

 

Let's not let the facts get in the way of a grudge though.

It never got to court, NC settled shortly before the case was due to be heard.

Regardless of such tattle, angelman's post is spot on. If NC thinks he can run a business without any regard to the owners then he is quite naive in that respect.

Absolutely right.

Have to say, and continuing the ejaculation analogy, 50K is utter chickensh*t compared to how much he squeezed the collective balls at Arsenal over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Disappointing argument that actually makes me sympathise more with NC.

Have to say, and continuing the ejaculation analogy, 50K is utter chickensh*t compared to how much he squeezed the collective balls at Arsenal over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

 

Disappointing argument that actually makes me sympathise more with NC.

I don't really understand where the 50K comes from, I can only see a sort of "if we had some eggs we could have bacon and eggs if we had some bacon" arguement. Might have misunderstood though, the club didn't want to sell the book for whatever reason or other so they didn't sell any but nothing was lost and nothing was gained so I don't see how 50K was "spunked" anywhere. Now the club stores have plenty of merchandise to sell so perhaps the sale of a book would take away sales from another article where the profit potential is higher...I've no idea.

Owner: I would like to know what is going on in my company

Sole director: No. Mind your own business and leave me in peace

Owner: It is my business and I will put in place some checks and balances.

Sole director: If you do that, I'm off

 

"NC vs Katharina Liebherr for dummies"

But it sounds exactly right. I can well believe that he was left to it when we were in the lower leagues, but suddenly with Premiership income potential and players costing a significant amount, there may well have been a sudden burst of interest. Maybe she genuinely didn't have time to pay much attention to Saints, what with all the other companies in her portfolio and having left him to it, finally got round to "that football club" and gained interest.

All perfectly feasible. And then gaining the interest would obviously upset someone who really wants to be the number 1 and accountable to himself. I am still sure he'll be back in all honesty - there will probably be a meeting of minds halfway once she realises that it's an enormous overhead and she's more in the public eye (which the Liebherrs don't appear to like) and also once he realises he's come across as a bit of a kid having some of his toy taken anyway, but he enjoys it.

Just my opinion of the last couple of days with what I've read.

Talk of NC coming back with a consortium?

Talk of NC already lined up with a new club/business venture?

Will be interesting to see what happens in the near future:rolleyes:

Personally hope Ms Liebherr gets the new CEO on board asap and hopefully stays with the club for the long haul:)

In the meantime........Saints continue winning and entertaining........mainly the winning for now:D

Disappointing argument that actually makes me sympathise more with NC.

I wonder if you would sympathise with NC if you knew that he upset a major sponsor in hospitality so much that they told the club they would never sponsor the club again, while he was in charge. It only amounted to the loss of £200K a year, but considering the global brand involved, Jeez.

Let's put it this way, NC will not be getting a PS4 as a leaving present.

Tip to the iceberg...

Maybe she genuinely didn't have time to pay much attention to Saints, what with all the other companies in her portfolio

What other companies does she have in her portfolio? (not doubting what you're saying, just genuinely interested/curious - cheers)

I wonder if you would sympathise with NC if you knew that he upset a major sponsor in hospitality so much that they told the club they would never sponsor the club again, while he was in charge. It only amounted to the loss of £200K a year, but considering the global brand involved, Jeez.

 

Let's put it this way, NC will not be getting a PS4 as a leaving present.

 

Tip to the iceberg...

I am sure there are other more convincing arguments that could tip the balance of my opinion the other way, Jonny.

I just think Duncs contribution a bit lame, and anyone who doesnt think that NCs effect on the club, on balance, was massively positive, is a schmuck.

Intetesting read. Except the bit about Cortese settling with Benali. Think your find Benali settled with Cortese due to his company going bust and him having to sell his home to pay debts.

I am sure there are other more convincing arguments that could tip the balance of my opinion the other way, Jonny.

 

I just think Duncs contribution a bit lame, and anyone who doesnt think that NCs effect on the club, on balance, was massively positive, is a schmuck.

Long term, I think Lowe's influence on the club was more fundamental and given the money available to NC, Lowe and Cowen could have achieved as much, but that won't sit well with the class warriors on this site.

By the way, you never met NC, or encountered him in any dealings. I can tell you that the main reason he was canned was that apart from screwing suppliers, other clubs and past players, he also screwed customers and sponsors, which is probably why the Liebherr's had to try and reign him in. NC treated the lot like sh !t most of the time and forced at least one local company into administration.

Good riddance and it feels good to get that off my chest at long last...

Talk of NC coming back with a consortium?

 

Talk of NC already lined up with a new club/business venture?

 

Will be interesting to see what happens in the near future:rolleyes:

 

Personally hope Ms Liebherr gets the new CEO on board asap and hopefully stays with the club for the long haul:)

 

In the meantime........Saints continue winning and entertaining........mainly the winning for now:D

Snippet from The Mail today:

'Cortese, who intends to return to St Mary's as chairman of another Barclays Premier League club, faces a massive compensation battle with Liebherr.'

Good read Duncan, all these £50k's and other amounts that he has wasted or lost revenue do add up.

Snippet from The Mail today:

'Cortese, who intends to return to St Mary's as chairman of another Barclays Premier League club, faces a massive compensation battle with Liebherr.'

What do we believe?

I have been thinking Italian clubs for a few weeks but can see the draw for a few English clubs:?

Do you think Pompey would be a step too far for our Uncle Nic:rolleyes:

I am now in the Ms Liebherr gang ......with bigger conkers than most:D

Long term, I think Lowe's influence on the club was more fundamental and given the money available to NC, Lowe and Cowen could have achieved as much, but that won't sit well with the class warriors on this site.

 

By the way, you never met NC, or encountered him in any dealings. I can tell you that the main reason he was canned was that apart from screwing suppliers, other clubs and past players, he also screwed customers and sponsors, which is probably why the Liebherr's had to try and reign him in. NC treated the lot like sh !t most of the time and forced at least one local company into administration.

 

Good riddance and it feels good to get that off my chest at long last...

Yes, but we'll never know, will we ? Succeeding in bringing the money is isnt the minor detail you are making it out to be; NC managed it, Lowe didnt.

And being a hard-arsed over expensive business transactions goes with the territory; the mess Lowe made of SFC did a lot more damage to local business when we went into admin than NC has. I seem to recall NC and ML paid off a load of the debts left to local businesses from his last reign.

BTW, I did meet him over the summer. Only for a brief exchange of words, however.

Good read Duncan, all these £50k's and other amounts that he has wasted or lost revenue do add up.

True. Although I would imagine that Cortese would argue that the nett result of his involvement in the club is financially positive (i.e. that he's created more wealth than he's lost). I guess we'll never know as the amount of 'wealth generation' that we can attribute directly to Cortese will always be subjective.

Snippet from The Mail today:

'Cortese, who intends to return to St Mary's as chairman of another Barclays Premier League club, faces a massive compensation battle with Liebherr.'

He will have offers lined up, of that you can be sure. Hardly the CV of someone unsuccessful.

He's a businessman, not seeking to win a popularity contest.

I accept totally that my issue is peanuts but at least it enabled me to comment on facts as I know them. Much of what is posted on here is based on hearsay and rumour. The fact is that Cortese spunked 50k up against a wall that wasn't his to spunk.

Apologies if my language offends or discredits me further

Duncan your point about the book is a perfect insight into Cortese as a person and the way he runs the club / business, but that doesn't mean it necessarily supports your view.

First off, the emotion behind banding a figure of 50k is flawed, this is 50k sales, not profit, which without knowing the industry, would guess it would be more like 5k???

But regardless of the amount, the insight comes from "The Cortese way" or "No way", which is from what I know from people at the club and what we read in the press, exactly the way it was. No grey area on any matter and if you didn't buy into that ethos, you wouldn't last very long.

We can question the merits of that approach / method until we are blue in the face, but the reality is that it worked and worked incredibly well, In every aspect of the club / business and more importantly on the pitch. There are very few football Chairmen that can boast the success that Nicola had. It isn't far off being spectacular.

But it wasn't without pain and certainly not to everyones liking, so there have been casualties along the way, but in the grand scheme of things they are not significant.

I am not sure why this news of how KL wanted to impose some level of accountability is new - This was my understanding from the wranglings over the summer and simply a continuation of Cortese's business methodology of his way or no way, that has created the situation we now have.

Some of the stories ive been told about him are almost unbelievable and suggest that at best he is a strange man, but what he has done at this football club is incredible and we are in my opinion, significantly worse off without him.

That said, there is of course no way, you can manage a billion pound estate and not have any control in one of it's businesses, so I guess that ultimately this was always going to happen.

Snippet from The Mail today:

'Cortese, who intends to return to St Mary's as chairman of another Barclays Premier League club, faces a massive compensation battle with Liebherr.'

Ummm if he resigned how will he be due compensation???? More ****e press work. Annoyed me this morning, because Cortese has gone our dream with the academy is all gone...funny that as every Chairman we have had lately has had the same principle even Lord Voldemort.

I've spent some time looking at everything that's happened amd IMHO the Indy article does seem to be one of the more believable reports.

Whilst I acknowledge that NC did a lot for the club - arguably he found us and saved us (though obviously not with his cash), if it is true that he felt he had to answer to no-one then that is worrying.

It is widely known that NC had his own favourite journos and media outlets. With this report in the Indy seemingly leaning to the KL side, can we expect them to become one of the new favoured outlets? Perhaps. Do the Liebherr's have a centre left political leaning (and therefore about he Indy)? Unknown.

Duncan's post is interesting in that it is an insight from someone who has dealt with NC. Some have rubbished it as it only being £50k. That is not the point. If he was like that with a fan, an organisation acting with the club and the fan's best interests at heart, we do t know how he dealt with others. I am not disputing that he did a huge amount of good or the club, but it is possible that left unchecked, he could have started to negatively affect the club.

However, going from an autocratic management style, to a less "intense" one may also cause problems. If we look to McLaren F1, they are bringing back the autocratic style go Ron Dennis as it is felt that the lesser style of Martin Whitmarsh hadn't delivered. Will we suffer from not having the autocratic style of NC in charge? Undoubtedly - in some areas. In others however, we will benefit.

The key to it all, is the next appointment. The fact that this will not be made by KL on her own (she can surround herself with any advisor she wants) means I think that she will make the right appointment for the club.

I was gutted to see him go, I won't forget what he did or the club, but I now look to the future and trust the actions of Ms Liebherr.

Duncan your point about the book is a perfect insight into Cortese as a person and the way he runs the club / business, but that doesn't mean it necessarily supports your view.

 

First off, the emotion behind banding a figure of 50k is flawed, this is 50k sales, not profit, which without knowing the industry, would guess it would be more like 5k???

 

But regardless of the amount, the insight comes from "The Cortese way" or "No way", which is from what I know from people at the club and what we read in the press, exactly the way it was. No grey area on any matter and if you didn't buy into that ethos, you wouldn't last very long.

 

We can question the merits of that approach / method until we are blue in the face, but the reality is that it worked and worked incredibly well, In every aspect of the club / business and more importantly on the pitch. There are very few football Chairmen that can boast the success that Nicola had. It isn't far off being spectacular.

 

But it wasn't without pain and certainly not to everyones liking, so there have been casualties along the way, but in the grand scheme of things they are not significant.

 

I am not sure why this news of how KL wanted to impose some level of accountability is new - This was my understanding from the wranglings over the summer and simply a continuation of Cortese's business methodology of his way or no way, that has created the situation we now have.

 

Some of the stories ive been told about him are almost unbelievable and suggest that at best he is a strange man, but what he has done at this football club is incredible and we are in my opinion, significantly worse off without him.

 

That said, there is of course no way, you can manage a billion pound estate and not have any control in one of it's businesses, so I guess that ultimately this was always going to happen.

Great post.

The club would have got £25 on every copy of All the Saints they sold at £35. They have no overheads (other than existing ones) or expenses or risk as it is sale or return. We paid for everything in the book's production. Over the last decade they sold over 3000 copies of "In That Number" at a similar price and it is still selling. 3000x25 = £75,000. That is virtual 100% profit. Cortese turned his back on a similar amount of money because for once he did not get his way ie Benali was able to attend the launch. My point is he had no right to be so cavalier with that amount of money, it was not his to forfeit. And for those who still think this is peanuts, see what Guided Missile has said - suggesting it is just the tip of an iceberg.

Don't get bogged down by Duncan's issue with the book. There is plenty more said in the original post on the thread that could explain why Liebherr didn't want to continue with the present 1 man board structure.

Owner: I would like to know what is going on in my company

Sole director: No. Mind your own business and leave me in peace

Owner: It is my business and I will put in place some checks and balances.

Sole director: If you do that, I'm off

 

If you read between the lines of the Indy article, NC comes out rather badly. OK, he has done, for the greater part, a fantastic job, but the owner wanting to know a bit more of what is going on in their £150m company and to have some say (or control) over the sole director who they employ, really is not unreasonable. In fact, in any business (except seemingly football) if an owner had no say in their own company, they would be thought of as naive, stupid, open to be taken to the cleaners, etc etc. The article rather suggests that NC forgot his position in life.

Exactly the conclusion I came to when sitting in the traffic jams heading home last night.

Add in a conversation with NC asking for funds in January, and KL saying something along the lines of....."Umm, that defender bloke from Norway last year? Sharp - he's not playing much is he? Who was that African player you signed? Those guys from the Italian league - how are they getting on?"

I love what NC has done for us - with someone elses money; and I can't begrudge the owner wanting some involvement in where their funds are spent.

As with everything around this, it's pure speculation at this stage. Going to be a very interesting few months.

COYRs

WIFM

What other companies does she have in her portfolio? (not doubting what you're saying, just genuinely interested/curious - cheers)

You are joking?!

I agree with Duncans's post, and found Cortese's approach to finances baffling. He would screw the fans for every penny he could get , even down to the "away fan fund" gifted to the club to improve away support. Every other club spent this on subsidising away tickets / travel for THEIR fans, whereas we used it for abit of paint in the away section to save the club money on doing it up themselves. This tells me everything about Cortese's disregard for the fans.

Having got as much money from the fanbase as possible he then adopted a policy of using club funds to fight his court battles such as his dispute with Benali and other firms.

Cortese in my opinion was a classic sociopath. The problem is that there is nothing more dangerous than a sociopath with power and so it has proved. It always ends in tears. It's why he didn't care about the club, only himself and why he was described as charming and charismatic but also ruthless and impulsive.