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Cortese clarifies the current position (Daily Telegraph)


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/8310643/Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-remains-part-of-Southamptons-five-year-plan-despite-interest-from-Liverpool-and-Arsenal.html

 

“The negative side of all the speculation was that it messed up quite a few deals that we tried to do. You can imagine every time we put a bid in, people were, ‘wait a minute, you are just about to cash in £10 million’. We lost out on one deal despite the fact that we had the best offer.”

Apologies for uplifting a post from the Chamberlain thread but I felt the 'side-effect' of the Chamberlain situation warranted a separate discussion.

 

So, it would appear that several targets were missed in the January transfer window....

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What a fantastic article, what a fantastic chairman, I feel so confident with him at the helm we will get back into the Premiership.

 

“I gave my word to the family that I will remain involved and people who know me very well know that, if I give my word, I don’t break my word and that is what I’m going to do.”

 

Even the negative fans that don't like him for whatever their silly reasons are should be impressed. No doubt they'll find something wrong about this article though and try and put a negative slant on it. Simpletons.

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Bearing in mine we signed Jonathan Forte... I suspect the player in question could have been BWP.

 

Having said that I'm sure they would still accept the best offer rather than less money if they were trying to get more money... if that makes sense.

 

Unless they made a ridiculous demand, we told them to get lost and the previously lower offer was now the highest offer.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/8310643/Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-remains-part-of-Southamptons-five-year-plan-despite-interest-from-Liverpool-and-Arsenal.html

 

“The negative side of all the speculation was that it messed up quite a few deals that we tried to do. You can imagine every time we put a bid in, people were, ‘wait a minute, you are just about to cash in £10 million’. We lost out on one deal despite the fact that we had the best offer.”

Apologies for uplifting a post from the Chamberlain thread but I felt the 'side-effect' of the Chamberlain situation warranted a separate discussion.

 

So, it would appear that several targets were missed in the January transfer window....

 

Surely this brilliant brilliant interview should be a thread on its own rather than specifically the transfer bit. This interview yet again clears up so much and confirms yet again that we HAVE NO REASON TO WORRY!

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/8310643/Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-remains-part-of-Southamptons-five-year-plan-despite-interest-from-Liverpool-and-Arsenal.html

 

“The negative side of all the speculation was that it messed up quite a few deals that we tried to do. You can imagine every time we put a bid in, people were, ‘wait a minute, you are just about to cash in £10 million’. We lost out on one deal despite the fact that we had the best offer.”

 

Thanks for uplifting it - I was about to do the same thing - compare this with the ill-sourced sensationalism of the Mail article!

 

And I detest the Telegraph!

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I am another with a man crush by the way! Cortese has been nothing but magnificent for Saints so far.

 

All the negative stuff about him is usually paper talk and rumours. No doubt from people who haven't been invited aboard the bus.

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Jeremy Wilson's a saints fan, so is not indifferent to the contribution and importance of the past- bloody hell he's even written a book about our cult heroes. so he's no sycophant; unlike the daily fail, his tone is balanced and makes it hard, even for the strongest critic, not to be impressed by cortese.

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I just read this through and through and my personal thoughts on it are that, once more NC has stood up, put his head above the parapet, and made it clear on certain items that have abounded recently such as:

 

- He made it clear he didn't want to negotiate on AOC but some 'Prem' clubs didn't get the message. So those that phoned we politely told to eff off, and those arrogant enough, (just send them ****s at Saints a fax and buy that player that Arsenal wants.) to not even phone, were ignored.

 

- He had made it clear that the previous regime is no longer in charge and this has put some people’s noses out of joint. I personally like LMac, Matt Le Tiss, Banali I can take or leave, but this isn't the old world at SMS. They are like the people who have left your company, but keep coming back, just walking in, talking to all in sundry, acting like they still have free reign, not the fact they are guests now. We all know people who do this, and it used to Pee me off when I joined my current firm, and all sorts of strangers used to just walk in, make a coffee etc. because they worked there once. I even went to a leaving do for someone who started the same time as me, and our company paid for it, but it was mostly filled with a majority of people who worked for others and had left BEFORE we started. So in this respect, I actually form this point onwards know what NC is on about now. They were great ambassadors for the club, they were appreciated when they were here, but this is a new dawn. Thanks for coming and all you have done, now bye bye. But I do admit he could be a bit more diplomatic.

 

- Also with regard to these ‘Dark Forces’ we do have to ask the following question:

 

With all the rumours of AL and AOC are DEFINATLY going, and the club is DEFINATLY up for sale, given by the mysterious ‘I am in the Know’ brigade, WHY HASN’T ALL THIS HAPPENED?

AL Leaving his girlfriend has told us, (if you remember this one)

AOC going to Arsenal, paperwork just being put into place, (another recent gem).

Club being sold to Arabs (but of course)

WHY,WHERE,WHEN,HOW,WHO?

 

I think I believe Cortes, here. There are others afoot with their eye on the club, a nice cheap little investment, get it for £10-20 million, sell off AL, AOC, Lambo, Chappers, Fonte and Barnard. Got the money back plus nice little profit. Bring in cheap replacements. Let the hangers on back in for some credibility with the fans. Run up some debts buying excessively priced has beens. Go into Liquidation. Sorted. Or Sell for a mint in Championship.

Hey, that sounds like a decent business plan. Let’s do it.

 

- It also in my mind he is starting to dispel the rumours about the sale of the Club. If you were looking to sell something, would you really keep something that’s worth something and expect to add it to the price? You wouldn’t look sell you house for the market price, plus an additional grand because you have left a top-of-the-range fried behind? No one would give you a grand above asking, they would say they only want to buy the house, (then sell it for a grand themselves). No, this does bode well for me. If you’re Kat, and you’re going to sell Saints, why not cash in first?

 

No, the one side of the press is having a field day on our expense fed from the side lines, by those nameless shadowy people who are using our love for the Former heroes of the Saints.

The other is being fed what the fans need to hear on the other from NC. And in this battle, I think NC is winning. After all Lawrie will never manage us again, MLT and Banali will never play for us again, and there are too many of us that just want success at any price and couldn’t give a **** who gave it too us, as long as we get it. Then THEY become our new heroes.

 

Personally, I am liking NC more, because for all his arrogance, and **** poor mistakes, and failure to capitalise, he has the same drivers as most of us, and what he does is logical and makes sense to me, in the business world and in how he is looking to capitalise on the media, and he is slowly getting better at it, especially with the misdirection.

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For the doubters amongst you....

 

 

“We came with a very serious intention to take this club where we genuinely believe it can be. This is a long-term project and we have taken so many decisions, some invisible, some behind the scenes, but they are all set for a plan and the plan is long-term.

“Short-term, it would have probably been the wrong deal to buy a club in League One. You would have done a different deal, come in and, a year later, try to off-load it.

“This was never a financial transaction. This was a transaction with a very, very strong belief that we can achieve something here that will be special.”

That vision has been funded by Markus Liebherr, the Swiss billionaire who owned Southampton until his death last summer. Liebherr’s daughter Katharina is expected to inherit the empire, including Saints.

Cortese remains adamant that his work - and the level of funding and commitment from the Liebher family - has remained intact. He has also dismissed local rumours that the club is up for sale.

 

“I gave my word to the family that I will remain involved and people who know me very well know that, if I give my word, I don’t break my word and that is what I’m going to do.”

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Also, a response to the Daily hell article....

 

There have been spats with both the local and national media and, more significantly, also some of the club’s all-time greats, notably Matthew Le Tissier, Lawrie McMenemy and Francis Benali.

It continued this week with reports that the current squad and manager will not be attending a dinner to celebrate 125 years of the club’s history.

“Everyone knows me and him don’t see eye to eye,” said Le Tissier. “Most football clubs treat ex-players which served them for many years quite well but that doesn’t seem to be the way under this chairman.”

Cortese says that he has a good relationship with many former Saints players and is keen to respond.

There are two sides to every story, and I have more important things on my agenda to deal with,” he says.

“I am well aware that there are people, who used to be involved in the club and who behind the scenes are trying to destabilise it.

“In reality their actions are completely ineffective and serve only to damage their own reputations. These same people are obviously frustrated as they are not involved in any way with the club and I can understand that.

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I think most people have learnt to ignore most of the rubbish about us in the press now. That article from Cortese would have got a MASSIVE reaction last year. He will no doubt still have to release an interview like that yearly though to show up the muppets at the Daily Hell or the pesky ex-saints who are determined to cause the club hassle.

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Well, that put the lie to a lot of the crap that's been posted on here. to wit:

 

1. The (Liebherr) family isn't interested and "wants out"

 

2. We don't have any money behind us

 

3. Cortese and the family are in "take the profit and run" mode

 

4. All that stuff about developing the Academy was just puffery.

 

5. We'll do what we always do - sell our best players as soon as a good offer comes in.

 

The truth is that the five year plan is a document he takes as seriously as anything in his day to day life, and he's now thinking we could even get there ahead of schedule. He's not going to pay "over the odds" for players. He fully expects - demands - that his relationship with his manager is based on mutual trust. When he said he wouldn't sell his best players, he meant it.

 

We don't have a Premiership squad, although we certainly have a few pieces. We don't have a "big name" Premiership manager but the one we do have has the capability of being one of the best. But we damn well DO have a Premiership ground, a Premiership fan base, and an above-Premiership player development operation. And we sure as hell have an above-premiership chairman/chief exec.

 

I feel better about our future than I've felt in decades.

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Surely this brilliant brilliant interview should be a thread on its own rather than specifically the transfer bit.

 

Fair point

 

Mods - perhaps change the title to something more generic?

 

e.g. "Cortese clarifies the current position (again)"

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Well, that put the lie to a lot of the crap that's been posted on here. to wit:

 

1. The (Liebherr) family isn't interested and "wants out"

 

2. We don't have any money behind us

 

3. Cortese and the family are in "take the profit and run" mode

 

4. All that stuff about developing the Academy was just puffery.

 

5. We'll do what we always do - sell our best players as soon as a good offer comes in.

 

The truth is that the five year plan is a document he takes as seriously as anything in his day to day life, and he's now thinking we could even get there ahead of schedule. He's not going to pay "over the odds" for players. He fully expects - demands - that his relationship with his manager is based on mutual trust. When he said he wouldn't sell his best players, he meant it.

 

We don't have a Premiership squad, although we certainly have a few pieces. We don't have a "big name" Premiership manager but the one we do have has the capability of being one of the best. But we damn well DO have a Premiership ground, a Premiership fan base, and an above-Premiership player development operation. And we sure as hell have an above-premiership chairman/chief exec.

 

I feel better about our future than I've felt in decades.

 

Nice isn't it.

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Nice isn't it.

 

I loved the bit about Markus telling him that he is the only person who can make it happen and wants him to do it for him. No friend could possibly turn and walk away without fulfilling that promise unless it wasnt physically possible.

 

From what I can tell, Cortese will do everything in his power to get us back to the premiership not only because of this promise but because believe it or not I reckon he bloody loves this club too!

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Perhaps the most impressive National Press interview anyone from Saints has given. I for one will now not believe any speculation about the club unless Nicola specifically states it to be true.

 

This should be a pledge all posters have to agree to :) Afterall it wouldnt be a bad move for anyone.

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I had more than a little whinge about NC & the Pardew sacking & other things but I am glad he is the Chairman making himself more visible in the press & explaining his decisions helps a lot a fair play to him he does what he says he is going to do.

 

He is the man for the job I believe what he is saying good work NC keep it up the next 5 years should be bright in red & white UTS

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Oh NOOOOO

 

NC in "Saints have no chance of getting to the PL before 2014" shock.

 

Yes folks, here it is, the last sentence in the article

 

And that will be the case with Cortese, who remains unerringly forthright about his expectation of Premier League football by 2014.

“I am very confident that it happens very quickly,” he said. “We said a five-year plan - 2014 - and there’s no reason why it should happen earlier

 

There is NO REASON WHY IT SHOULD HAPPEN EARLIER

 

So that's it then, no plan or attempt to go up in ur first season (insh'allah) in the NPC next year

 

Don't you love being a part time Journo!

 

8)

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I will say one thing and I speak as someone who fell out with Matt badly over the Pinnacle affair.

If anyone is foolish enough to believe MLT is actually trying to destabilise this club they must be off their rocker.

 

I'm inclined to agree with you, but what exactly is he trying to do, Duncan?

 

The longer it goes on with these snipes, the more it fuels the allegation that there is a group out there trying to do something.

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If anyone is foolish enough to believe MLT is actually trying to destabilise this club they must be off their rocker.

 

No-one has said that in this thread. I just think he is very naive and foolish to think his comments over the past 18 months will mean Cortese continues to give him ex-player perks.

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My personal view on the situation is that we have two men that just for whatever reason cannot agree on certain things. Cortese holds the aces in terms of his control and running of the club, MLT an affection from anyone who ever saw the massive contribution he made & loyalty he showed our club over so many years.

 

It really is a sad state of affairs, they both clearly care for the club in their own way - they just cannot agree which way is right.

 

I am sure at some point, they will both realise life would be so much easier if they worked together, and as pragmatic men who both love the club they will bury the hatchet.

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I'm inclined to agree with you, but what exactly is he trying to do, Duncan?

 

The longer it goes on with these snipes, the more it fuels the allegation that there is a group out there trying to do something.

 

Exactly.

 

Why doesn't he just sit down with Cortese and work it out behind closed doors? Cortese did that with News Corp and came out of it ok. He backed down over the picture thing. Which shows he is someone who will go back on a decision and someone who will talk about a situation.

How does speaking to the press to throw digs at Cortese accomplish that? It won't.

 

MLT is a legend, will always be a legend. But the club is bigger then any fan,chairman or any player. He needs to do the honourable thing and talk to Cortese face to face, not through The Daily Mail.

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Exactly.

 

Why doesn't he just sit down with Cortese and work it out behind closed doors? Cortese did that with News Corp and came out of it ok. He backed down over the picture thing. Which shows he is someone who will go back on a decision and someone who will talk about a situation.

 

He didn't have a lot of choice. The Sun was the cat and Nicola was the mouse.

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He didn't have a lot of choice. The Sun was the cat and Nicola was the mouse.

 

I don't think it was like that at all. Cortese is a stuborn guy by all accounts. I am sure he would have kept going if he wanted to. Just he didn't as he was wrong, i am sure he knows he was wrong. It hurt the club and as a businessman i am sure he made a business decision rather then a personal one.

 

Point being the guy has shown he will back down about things. So Matt should go speak to him and sort it out face to face. Having it in the press all the time is just stupid. Doesn't benefit anyone except the paper/website in which it is written.

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I will say one thing and I speak as someone who fell out with Matt badly over the Pinnacle affair.

If anyone is foolish enough to believe MLT is actually trying to destabilise this club they must be off their rocker.

 

And the same goes for Lawrie and Frannie, anyone claiming these are trying to harm the club is just plain thick TBF . At worse they have for whatever reason fallen out with NC and critisized him..whoopee doo.

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Now I just have the image of MLT strolling in every day for a chat and even his dog getting banned.

 

He's just boosting morale Nicola, you should be paying him to be there. Great man, great dog.

 

Nicola: Matt, can we speak alone for a moment?

Matt: (looking around and pointing at the dog) He can't understand you.

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"It is a stand-off that will sadden most Southampton supporters who, after so much division over the past decade, would simply like to see the past, present and future of their club functioning harmoniously."

 

Wasn't there talk of being custodians of the club when ML came in? I believe the club's in safe hands but I'd prefer to see a more inclusive approach.

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