.comsaint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I'm sure Dutch Saint over on the UI won't mind me copying this: On wednesday there was an interview with Poortvliet in a dutch football magazine. They asked him the question what went wrong in Southampton. Poortvliet said the following: " I really did my best to get something out of the team. But the youngsters could not handle the pressure. I myself was completely unaware about the level of the league i was thrown in by the chairman. My relationship with Wotte wasnt good. He ( Wotte ) wasnt helping me with advise about english football. He was just there to get my job as manager. In the end he got it and he was standing there with his suit, chest and chin up, looking like a real saviour of the club. I feel sorry for the club and fans for what they had to go through and i am glad that someone came in to save that great club. And i am glad they have taken the step to get rid of Wotte. Southampton will get better from this. " Today Wotte has given his reaction throught the media. " I am very disappointed in what Poortvliet says. I did my best to help him in any way i could. It is totally not true that i didnt help him. You dont say these thing about collegues."I have put in a complaint with the union of football coaches and i demand an apoligy from poortvliet. " My opinion on this is that Poortvliet is saying what is true. its just a feeling but the way he still talks about southampton puts me in favour of Poortvliet. Wotte didnt say anything in his reaction about southampton. To be continued..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 of course fans lap it up when someone says something nice about the club...regardless if it is true or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farawaysaint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I think regardless of what happened JP shouldn't say these sorts of things about a colleague it really seems petty, (even if it is true.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr X Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 We are better off without either of them, but I wish them both well. The fact remains neither of them should have been here in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glasgow_Saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 fight, fight, fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanovski Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 i liked porvlieet and he did get some silky football in our team, maybe some bad defending. we almost had opportunities to walk it in the net under him and with a real striker i think we couldve bloody scored afew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Based on: A) how the two of them come across, B) what was being said about Wotte on here when he was hired to replace JP, and C) Wotte's arrogant lecturing of the fans, I find it easy to believe JP's version. Very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRobbie Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 JP is spot on. Wotte got what he deserved, sacked and removed for his own incompetence and underhandedness. Thank goodness he's gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadhall Saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 couldn't give a flying **** about either of them - both out of their depth and inept. We've moved on and I really do not want my club involved in some childish dutch spat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint lard Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I blame Lowe. The whole thing was a debacle,to say the least,from start to finish. They were both put into positions that they could not sucsessfully fulfil to their limited potentials. Best of luck to the both of them. End of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I blame Lowe. The whole thing was a debacle,to say the least,from start to finish. They were both put into positions that they could not sucsessfully fulfil to their limited potentials. Best of luck to the both of them. End of. +1 sums it up perfectly, but it's now time to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Just shows how badly we were stitched up by the absolutely incompetent senior management team of the business. Still, all's well that ends well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxfordshire_saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 They should both have a plate of Amshhhterdam brownies and chill out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smirking_Saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor_Saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 BRING BACK JP!!! :smt081 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 A few got stick on this forum this time last year for daring to suggest all was not OK. We have moved on thank God but last season was an utter shambles from start to finish and those that promoted the return of the very much discredited Lowe should hang their heads in shame. Me? I have my enthusiasm back now we have a proper manager etc etc and am even off to Huddersfield in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Katalinic's 'tache Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 A few got stick on this forum this time last year for daring to suggest all was not OK. We have moved on thank God but last season was an utter shambles from start to finish and those that promoted the return of the very much discredited Lowe should hang their heads in shame. Me? I have my enthusiasm back now we have a proper manager etc etc and am even off to Huddersfield in the morning. To be honest, the whole thing just smacked of typical upper class English arrogance from Lowe. They're both Dutch, they're bound to be able to work together. When it became obvious they both had their own agendas, we began to suffer even more. Surely, if you were to hire two coaches from abroad, you'd bring in people who'd worked together before not just chuck people together and expect them to work in perfect harmony. Particularly not when you pick a guy you considered for the manager's position previously as the assistant! FWIW I quite liked JP but we're so much better off without Lowe (goes without saying really!), JP and Wotte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 For any sympathy I might have for JP (which is not a lot), I don't understand how exactly he expected Wotte to advise him on English football. Wotte knew as little as JP - which is so little that science hasn't developed instruments to measure it. When you take their combined ignorance of the league they were in with the destruction of the scouting system, while the few experienced players were being explicitly ostracised, and all in the name of the 'total football' to which both JP and Wotte put their name, how could anyone be surprised at our relegation, admin and -10? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L1Minus10 Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 JP was a ****ing moron. I will post this or something similar on every thread in which he is mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe-le-Saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I never held any hatred towards JP, I just felt sorry for the bloke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint lard Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 They were both pawns in Lowes' game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Chalet Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I wish they had employed similar attacking tactics on the pitch, we might have scored more goals. 2008/09 is but a bad memory for me - let them ***** slap eachother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Chalet Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I wish they had employed similar attacking tactics on the pitch, we might have scored more goals. 2008/09 is but a bad memory for me - let them ***** slap eachother. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up and away Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Originally Posted by Fitzhugh Fella A few got stick on this forum this time last year for daring to suggest all was not OK. We have moved on thank God but last season was an utter shambles from start to finish and those that promoted the return of the very much discredited Lowe should hang their heads in shame. Me? I have my enthusiasm back now we have a proper manager etc etc and am even off to Huddersfield in the morning. To be honest, the whole thing just smacked of typical upper class English arrogance from Lowe. They're both Dutch, they're bound to be able to work together. When it became obvious they both had their own agendas, we began to suffer even more. Surely, if you were to hire two coaches from abroad, you'd bring in people who'd worked together before not just chuck people together and expect them to work in perfect harmony. Particularly not when you pick a guy you considered for the manager's position previously as the assistant! FWIW I quite liked JP but we're so much better off without Lowe (goes without saying really!), JP and Wotte. Just for one minute take Lowe out of the equation and look at the facts at the time. When Pearson saved us on the last day of the season I was hopeful he would stay, equally I admitted we were odds on favourites for relegation the following season even with Pearson. When we failed to get rid of high salaries or manage fees for players we were cooked with a capital F. Our very, very slim chance of getting out of this mess was to get another Wallcott / Bale out of what we had and screw the lid down on the finances so the bank would not put us into admin. Because the logic of the situation revolved around the youth, there was some sense in the appointment and early play against West Ham and Stoke gave us some hope. Even if Pearson had managed to scrape us through to the end of the season and miraculously we had stayed up, that would have been nowhere near the end of things. We were still odds on to go into administration the following season and a fire sale of everything we held unless we could get mega money for any of our players. We were never going to get that from some old has been who could kick an attacker as far as some could kick a ball, we had to get the money from the youth. We were in a monumental stranglehold that would dictate virtually everything we did, yet I hear no one complaining about the facts that got us into this mess. As it is, we seem to have cashed all that momentous stupidity into one massive stroke of luck with Liebherr. You can see the Norwich board and fans looking in our direction as absolute proof there is no God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano6 Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Wotte always was the more professional of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I'm sure Dutch Saint over on the UI won't mind me copying this: On wednesday there was an interview with Poortvliet in a dutch football magazine. They asked him the question what went wrong in Southampton. Poortvliet said the following: " I really did my best to get something out of the team. But the youngsters could not handle the pressure. I myself was completely unaware about the level of the league i was thrown in by the chairman. My relationship with Wotte wasnt good. He ( Wotte ) wasnt helping me with advise about english football. He was just there to get my job as manager. In the end he got it and he was standing there with his suit, chest and chin up, looking like a real saviour of the club. I feel sorry for the club and fans for what they had to go through and i am glad that someone came in to save that great club. And i am glad they have taken the step to get rid of Wotte. Southampton will get better from this. " Today Wotte has given his reaction throught the media. " I am very disappointed in what Poortvliet says. I did my best to help him in any way i could. It is totally not true that i didnt help him. You dont say these thing about collegues."I have put in a complaint with the union of football coaches and i demand an apoligy from poortvliet. " My opinion on this is that Poortvliet is saying what is true. its just a feeling but the way he still talks about southampton puts me in favour of Poortvliet. Wotte didnt say anything in his reaction about southampton. To be continued..... Ah no, I'm sorry, I had felt some sympathy for him, but if he has actually SAID that line above then I have only one question for him AND his employers WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? This was supposed to be a Football man. He was supposed to have made an informed choice to leave his secure employment and work in a foreign country. And yet he did NO research, he had NO friends to call to ask questions. This hit me on the second read. Good riddance to the whole sodding lot of them, this comment just finally proved incompetence at ALL levels in those last stupid months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I'm sure Dutch Saint over on the UI won't mind me copying this: On wednesday there was an interview with Poortvliet in a dutch football magazine. They asked him the question what went wrong in Southampton. Poortvliet said the following: " I really did my best to get something out of the team. But the youngsters could not handle the pressure. I myself was completely unaware about the level of the league i was thrown in by the chairman. My relationship with Wotte wasnt good. He ( Wotte ) wasnt helping me with advise about english football. He was just there to get my job as manager. In the end he got it and he was standing there with his suit, chest and chin up, looking like a real saviour of the club. I feel sorry for the club and fans for what they had to go through and i am glad that someone came in to save that great club. And i am glad they have taken the step to get rid of Wotte. Southampton will get better from this. " Today Wotte has given his reaction throught the media. " I am very disappointed in what Poortvliet says. I did my best to help him in any way i could. It is totally not true that i didnt help him. You dont say these thing about collegues."I have put in a complaint with the union of football coaches and i demand an apoligy from poortvliet. " My opinion on this is that Poortvliet is saying what is true. its just a feeling but the way he still talks about southampton puts me in favour of Poortvliet. Wotte didnt say anything in his reaction about southampton. To be continued..... There are some Divs on this forum, aint there? Jan says he was "completely unaware" of the "level" of the league he was in - the English second tier the fifth most popular league in Europe and probably the fifth richest. Completely unaware? Completely unaware? But because he peppers his quotes with a few vaguely anti-Lowe rentaquotes you lap it up. Poor old Jan he loves Saints through and through etc etc etc. Completely unaware of the level of the league. God help us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo78 Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Just for one minute take Lowe out of the equation and look at the facts at the time. When Pearson saved us on the last day of the season I was hopeful he would stay, equally I admitted we were odds on favourites for relegation the following season even with Pearson. When we failed to get rid of high salaries or manage fees for players we were cooked with a capital F. Our very, very slim chance of getting out of this mess was to get another Wallcott / Bale out of what we had and screw the lid down on the finances so the bank would not put us into admin. Because the logic of the situation revolved around the youth, there was some sense in the appointment and early play against West Ham and Stoke gave us some hope. Even if Pearson had managed to scrape us through to the end of the season and miraculously we had stayed up, that would have been nowhere near the end of things. We were still odds on to go into administration the following season and a fire sale of everything we held unless we could get mega money for any of our players. We were never going to get that from some old has been who could kick an attacker as far as some could kick a ball, we had to get the money from the youth. We were in a monumental stranglehold that would dictate virtually everything we did, yet I hear no one complaining about the facts that got us into this mess. As it is, we seem to have cashed all that momentous stupidity into one massive stroke of luck with Liebherr. You can see the Norwich board and fans looking in our direction as absolute proof there is no God. I think this is very well put. I keep thinking that Portvliet was a sensible solution to a looming economical problem. And as such Portvliet himself was not the problem. He worked within the boundaries set (=use academy players) and delivered some entertaining football but unfortunately did not deliver the unexpected results. I still like that he was a man with an ideology about football and he was willing to take up a hopeless challenge. I'd take him over Redknapp any day of the week even though Redknapps cv looks so much better. Portvliet agreed to work with what he had instead of relying on a big cheque book. He failed miserably (although as many others have posted a 20+ goals/season player would have made the situation slightly more interesting) but he still has my utmost respect... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Just for one minute take Lowe out of the equation and look at the facts at the time. When Pearson saved us on the last day of the season I was hopeful he would stay, equally I admitted we were odds on favourites for relegation the following season even with Pearson. When we failed to get rid of high salaries or manage fees for players we were cooked with a capital F. Our very, very slim chance of getting out of this mess was to get another Wallcott / Bale out of what we had and screw the lid down on the finances so the bank would not put us into admin. Because the logic of the situation revolved around the youth, there was some sense in the appointment and early play against West Ham and Stoke gave us some hope. Even if Pearson had managed to scrape us through to the end of the season and miraculously we had stayed up, that would have been nowhere near the end of things. We were still odds on to go into administration the following season and a fire sale of everything we held unless we could get mega money for any of our players. We were never going to get that from some old has been who could kick an attacker as far as some could kick a ball, we had to get the money from the youth. We were in a monumental stranglehold that would dictate virtually everything we did, yet I hear no one complaining about the facts that got us into this mess. As it is, we seem to have cashed all that momentous stupidity into one massive stroke of luck with Liebherr. You can see the Norwich board and fans looking in our direction as absolute proof there is no God. Fair comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Ah no, I'm sorry, I had felt some sympathy for him, but if he has actually SAID that line above then I have only one question for him AND his employers WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? This was supposed to be a Football man. He was supposed to have made an informed choice to leave his secure employment and work in a foreign country. And yet he did NO research, he had NO friends to call to ask questions. This hit me on the second read. Good riddance to the whole sodding lot of them, this comment just finally proved incompetence at ALL levels in those last stupid months Again, very fair comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonist Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Both are clearly mongs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 There are some Divs on this forum, aint there? Jan says he was "completely unaware" of the "level" of the league he was in - the English second tier the fifth most popular league in Europe and probably the fifth richest. Completely unaware? Completely unaware? But because he peppers his quotes with a few vaguely anti-Lowe rentaquotes you lap it up. Poor old Jan he loves Saints through and through etc etc etc. Completely unaware of the level of the league. God help us. It was obvious to a lot of us at the time of his appointment that JP knew diddleysquat about the CCC - or anything else about how English football works. What's truly amazing is that he depended on Wotte to compensate for that ignorance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I believe Portvliet as he has no reason to lie. Wotte and Lowe made a good pair. Thank god they are both gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 There are some Divs on this forum, aint there? Jan says he was "completely unaware" of the "level" of the league he was in - the English second tier the fifth most popular league in Europe and probably the fifth richest. Completely unaware? Completely unaware? But because he peppers his quotes with a few vaguely anti-Lowe rentaquotes you lap it up. Poor old Jan he loves Saints through and through etc etc etc. Completely unaware of the level of the league. God help us. I understand where you are coming from CB but why the hell did Lowe give him the job if he was so obviously unsuited or ill-equiped? Was it because Lowe knew he could manipulate him vis a vis team selections etc? I think the answer to that is almost certainly yes. (My big grudge against Lowe coming back was based around his desire to make footballing decisions instead of financial decisions). JP was a patsy - a Lowe patsy and now the patsy has found his tongue. As for Wotte - he was always going to be the fall back man - the sinister shadow in the background, mainly because he had been SCW's (Lowe's guru) "choice" a few years before. As Dubai Phil has said - it was all rotten and hopefully better days await but the recent history cannot just be whitewashed by those now embarrassed by so enthusiastically beating the Lowe drum 12 months ago. Neither should we forget those who thought SCW was the greatest thing ever to arrive in English football, along with his autobiography which told the world how it should be done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I believe Portvliet as he has no reason to lie. Wotte and Lowe made a good pair. Thank god they are both gone. Well if "I was completely unaware of the level of the league I was in" isn't a lie then fine. But to take a job as head coach of a club in a league "he didn't know the level of" is taking money under false pretences. So he is a liar. Or, more accurately, an idiot. Portvilet is getting heroworshipped for being an imbecile. Can't believe what some people are posting here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisobee Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 fight, fight, fight. I'll give you full marks for trying though no one is going to bite it seems !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Both were woefully inadequate for the job and should never have been hired in the first place. I have no idea who's version of events is correct, although JP's version is easier to believe, despite the shameless arse licking of Saints fans. To be honnest they're both part of a chapter I'd like to forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70's Mike Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 who cares they both were failures before they came here ( in coaching terms) and both fulfilled their potential. it had nothing to do with money, plenty of clubs are short of cash, not many try and re-invent the wheel. it was one man his vision and ego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruddick Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I myself was completely unaware about the level of the league i was thrown in by the chairman. My relationship with Wotte wasnt good. He ( Wotte ) wasnt helping me with advise about english football. To be continued..... He didn't have a clue what job he had taken and expected someone else to explain it then they got his job. And the general consensus is to stick with JP?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 i could not give a fuk now what they think and their little spat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyboy Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 seems like 100 years ago now and more amusing from that distance. Maybe Wotte wasn't malicious and undermining, just no good? If it was Call My Bluff I would go for JP's version of events, but who cares other than them?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottery st mary Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Apparently it is all Phil The Whales fault.....Rupert was totally misled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stthrobber Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 I understand where you are coming from CB but why the hell did Lowe give him the job if he was so obviously unsuited or ill-equiped? Was it because Lowe knew he could manipulate him vis a vis team selections etc? I think the answer to that is almost certainly yes. (My big grudge against Lowe coming back was based around his desire to make footballing decisions instead of financial decisions). JP was a patsy - a Lowe patsy and now the patsy has found his tongue. As for Wotte - he was always going to be the fall back man - the sinister shadow in the background, mainly because he had been SCW's (Lowe's guru) "choice" a few years before. As Dubai Phil has said - it was all rotten and hopefully better days await but the recent history cannot just be whitewashed by those now embarrassed by so enthusiastically beating the Lowe drum 12 months ago. Neither should we forget those who thought SCW was the greatest thing ever to arrive in English football, along with his autobiography which told the world how it should be done! I can see this degenerating once again, but JP by his own admission seems to be saying he was out of his depth. I think that the whole Dutch thing was madness from the word go, and that the fact that Pearson was Crouch's man virtually guaranteed his departure from Saints. It was no particular secret that MW and JP didn't get on. I think JP is a decent man who jumped at the chance he was given, I doubt any of us would turn such a job down. Lowe would have been acutely aware that the quicker they reduced the debt to Barclays, the more likely it was that Barclays would call in the loan, so the irony is that he hastened his own departure. I don't blame Lowe for trying the SCW thing, but sadly he was bigger than the club and the press would never let things lie between him and Redknapp. Then to give someone the title of Director of Football when it was wholly inappropriate with the job he was there to do was pretty dumb. As for Wotte, I don't know whether he was being Machiavellian or not. He always seemed fairly decent to me, and I felt sorry for the way he was given a contract one day then booted out a couple of days later, but that's football I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgiesaint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 (edited) Ah no, I'm sorry, I had felt some sympathy for him, but if he has actually SAID that line above then I have only one question for him AND his employers WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? This was supposed to be a Football man. He was supposed to have made an informed choice to leave his secure employment and work in a foreign country. And yet he did NO research, he had NO friends to call to ask questions. This hit me on the second read. Good riddance to the whole sodding lot of them, this comment just finally proved incompetence at ALL levels in those last stupid months Does anyone know which magazine this was in? (I'm assuming Voetbal International) and if so, do they have access to the original article as something may have been lost in the translation. Edit: It was VI but the on-line search does not have the line as the full article is only in the magazine Edited 14 August, 2009 by Gorgiesaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Kucho Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Hello, After reading this topic I phoned a friend over in the Netherlands who was friendly enough to translate the whole interview with Poortvliet. The interview was done by football magazine Voetbal International. (he apologises for some of his English) VI: How do you look back at your time in England? JP: It was an awful time. At the start it sounded great, I had always dreamed of being a football trainer in England. Though from day one I was in an awkward situation. It started with the court case against Helmond Sport, where I was working at the time. Its sad it all went that way. I had a great time working at Helmond and I hoped they would let me go, sadly they didn’t. However I decided to fight the case because Southampton really wanted me. I had hoped the club would have supported me throughout the case, regardless of the verdict. The verdict was that I had to pay Helmond 75 thousand euro. When I signed my contract in England, the small letters in my contract stated that I had to pay the amount myself. The contract wasn’t what I expected, it was a rollover contract, that after every year there would be a option for the next. This was after we had agreed on a 3 year contract. VI: Why did you sign? JP: It all came very sudden to me. I was there in England on my own without a manager or anything. I didn’t know any better so I just signed. VI: What else went wrong at Southampton? JP: Southampton is a den of vipers, I soon found out. It’s a club going in all different ways. Over the last few years many people have been in charge of the club and still have influence on the organisation. The chairman at the time, Rupert Lowe, was hated by almost everyone. He signed me, but he was soon pressured to sack me. Lowe got very restless, he started interfering with everything. He started moaning about the fact that our goalkeeper, Kelvin Davis, didn’t join in with the football. Davis has been a goalkeeper for 20 years, I cant teach him in 1 day how to play a ball I would say. We started having all that kind of pointless arguments. They started doing all kinds of strange things. At the end I there all on my own. The goalkeepers trainer and the assistant manager were sacked, both for no apparent reason. It was a madhouse. No one at Southampton has ever heard of working together, everyone wants to be in charge. It drives you mad. VI: You would function in a tandem with Mark Wotte, who was appointed at the same time as you as academy director. What was his position? JP: He has never done anything at all to support me. He was out for just one thing, my job. VI: The rumour has it he was critical about you to the board. JP: That was what I heard as well. I constantly heard rumours how he was trying to nick my job. Officially he was appointed as academy director, however on Saturdays he was never at the youth games. He was always in the directors box watching the first team, home and away. That’s Mark Wotte for you. When you see him its obvious, in his suit with his chin up. He thought he was above me and that he deserved to have my job. Eventually he got what he wanted. After I had been sacked he took over right away. His mission was accomplished, well done. VI: The combination Poortvliet-Wotte was impossible. JP: It was a mistake to put us two together. We are completely different people, but I did my best to make it work. I wanted to include him in everything and I didn’t mind working with him. But for Mark that wasn’t enough. He had his own agenda. Eventually are working relationship got that bad that one of us had to go. He or me. I then tried to get rid of him, I am honest about that. But the club didn’t want to sack him and I was sacked. At the start I was upset about it, however eventually I was delighted, I lived under huge stress for 6 months, I was glad to be home. VI: Southampton had some bad results whilst you were in charge. You were sacked, when the club was second to last in the Championship. JP: The squad was very young and almost all the players were between 17 and early 20. Fiscally we were poor and we missed a natural goalscorer. But I did what I had to do, develop young talented players and sometimes we played some very good football. Eventually I sacked due to poor results, that happens. Mark thought he could do a better job. In the end Southampton were relegated. Very sad for the club but I was happy they did. I felt done by Mark and when he was relegated it was a relief for me. Under Mark they reverted to playing the English game. He played the older experienced players. The transfer value of the younger players went down again. He ruined all the work I did at the club. VI: Was the adventure financially interesting? JP: Don’t be daft, I had a basic salary and had to pay Helmond Sport. It has cost me money. It was one big fiasco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor_Saint Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Hello, (he apologises for some of his English) VI: Was the adventure financially interesting? JP: Don’t be daft, I had a basic salary and had to pay Helmond Sport. It has cost me money. It was one big fiasco. A: Your friend doesn't need to apologise, his English is a bit better than my dutch B: JP - sack your advisor or hang yourself. How the hell do you go into a contract to manage a 2nd tier English team a lose money?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offix Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 1 incompetent manager scolding another incompetent manager. Regardless the fact that one of them was a nice guy and the other an arrogant twit, they both sucked at their job. This little spat is completely irrelevant and fortunately of no consequence to us anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Lowe got very restless, he started interfering with everything. He started moaning about the fact that our goalkeeper, Kelvin Davis, didn’t join in with the football. Davis has been a goalkeeper for 20 years, I cant teach him in 1 day how to play a ball I would say. We started having all that kind of pointless arguments. They started doing all kinds of strange things. At the end I there all on my own. The goalkeepers trainer and the assistant manager were sacked, both for no apparent reason. It was a madhouse. No one at Southampton has ever heard of working together, everyone wants to be in charge. It drives you mad. . WTF? that in one paragraph sums up what an utter moron and incompetent human being lowe was. Let's just all be very grateful that he can never ever be part of this club again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leslie Charteris Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 This sad little episode just shows Lowe's judgement of things football for what it was - very poor. Let's all be thankful that ten years of gradual decline are now over and by lucky happenstance, the future looks rosy for those with some patience. I just want to forget the last few years and move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St.Jeweller Posted 14 August, 2009 Share Posted 14 August, 2009 Didn't stop them playing head tennis just over a year ago so i recall, whot! (he-he) a difference a year can make even if we are a div. lower, things look so much more promising than they did back then COYR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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