Interesting Article

[nta786]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2541553/Cortese-thought-star-Southampton-just-rich-familys-banker-Martin-Samuel.html

 

And surprisingly, it's from the Daily Mail :/

 

I thought it summed up everything quite well, so fair play to Martin Samuel.

[damers]

Can see the PR firm starting to work already!

[Saint_clark]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

[S-Clarke]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

 

You do make some good points there. The one thing we will miss, no matter what anyone else says, will be his vision and ambition. He drove that from the top right through the club. He wouldn't have been able to pursue those dreams or ambitions without KL's money though, so in that sense I don't think he's irreplaceable.

 

But this is what I'm still not entirely sure about....there has been talk from his wife in the past that he's obsessed, all he did was pace around before a match, he couldn't sleep due to nerves etc. He lived this club for 5 years, literally.....I can't see him just turning away and resigning from that. There has to surely be plans from his side to come back in, especially given his comments regarding the family a year or so back...''If they don't want to fulfill the vision, I have people lined up who can'' etc.

 

I think he's a bit of a nutter, with lots of good contacts who have lots of $$$4 - and he's not going to just turn away from that. Maybe someone is out there who will spend £500m to push us into title contenders? That's obviously always been his vision, and I'm to be honest we've achieved everything he said we would so far, so I'm not going to ignore those comments from a year or so back. Will be interesting to see what occurs over the coming months, but I fully expect the PR machine from both sides to be in overdrive.

Edited 18 January, 2014 by S-Clarke

[Turkish]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

 

When you say 'had the backbone to keep hold if Shaw' what do you mean? We don't know that there were any bids, all we've heard is that there is a young player playing premier league football and was happy to stay put here, it's very convenient to believe he was only here because of 'the vision' bit in truth we don't know if his determination to keep him was down to the fact we didn't have any bids or the player simply wants to play football and establish himself here.

 

To be blunt, the only time that this backbone has been tested was when arsenal came knocking for AOC, remind me what happened there.

 

That's not to take anything away from the job he did, which was excellent but the what we don't know is if this 'backbone' was ever truly tested.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Can see the PR firm starting to work already!

 

Samuel was always having pops at cortese. He's never bought into his genius.

[niceandfriendly]

Good article, seems all fair enough.

 

Still want Cortese to buy us though!

[Andy Durman]

Money restored the natural order, Liebherr money, and Cortese spent it well, as the best bankers do. That’s why billionaires use them.

 

I love this sentence!!!!

[The Kraken]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

This line kind of sums up why I find it a touch bizarre how people so often only see what they want to see when there's an article that isn't entirely gushing in praise about something they support. Over on the other other thread this article has been described as "slagging off Cortese". Despite these quotes from the article:

 

"He proved an excellent administrator and Southampton returned to the Premier League through two divisions."

 

"And Katharina Liebherr may prove to be a dud, by comparison. She may have no interest in football and might no longer feel the emotional pull that existed when her father died; it is now suggested she wants to sell. This would be a great pity. "

"Cortese has been good for Southampton, but his was hardly a lone mission. By the time he arrived in 2009 Theo Walcott was at Arsenal, Gareth Bale was at Tottenham Hotspur, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was established enough to be sold within the year and Adam Lallana had been a professional there since 2006. This was a club with a successful, established youth policy, a strong fan base and a new ground, languishing in League One due to poor financial management. Money restored the natural order, Liebherr money, and Cortese spent it well, as the best bankers do. That’s why billionaires use them."

 

So I don't think [most] people will forget the excellent job that Cortese has done here. They're just able to put it into a bit of context.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Apart from repeating the (very) old mistake of confusing Markus Liebherr's MALI business with the huge crane and construction equipment concern of the wider family, this is a decent article by Martin Samuel. In particular when the author mentions the 'glass ceiling' hanging, solid but invisible, over this club ascent of the football pyramid - if you'll forgive my mixed metaphors.

 

You get the feeling that our (now former) Chief Executive was more a 'the sky's the limit' type of fella, those who owned (and payed) for everything had their feet planted more firmly on the ground. That type of relationship very often ends up in the divorce court sooner or later does it not?

 

If KL has the sense to either sell up, or forget about dreams of the Champions League and find someone to run the club on a sound business footing, like Bill Kenwright does at Everton, then she will do well I think.

[doddisalegend]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

 

Surely that backbone came from knowing he had the Liebherr millions backing him so he

a) had no need to sell

b) because of a) he could, if a player really wanted to leave like Ox, he could hold out for a really good price.

 

Previous Saints Chairman didn't have the financial clout to have as much backbone as NC

[doddisalegend]

You do make some good points there. The one thing we will miss, no matter what anyone else says, will be his vision and ambition. He drove that from the top right through the club. He wouldn't have been able to pursue those dreams or ambitions without KL's money though, so in that sense I don't think he's irreplaceable.

 

But this is what I'm still not entirely sure about....there has been talk from his wife in the past that he's obsessed, all he did was pace around before a match, he couldn't sleep due to nerves etc. He lived this club for 5 years, literally.....I can't see him just turning away and resigning from that. There has to surely be plans from his side to come back in, especially given his comments regarding the family a year or so back...''If they don't want to fulfill the vision, I have people lined up who can'' etc.

I think he's a bit of a nutter, with lots of good contacts who have lots of $$$4 - and he's not going to just turn away from that. Maybe someone is out there who will spend £500m to push us into title contenders? That's obviously always been his vision, and I'm to be honest we've achieved everything he said we would so far, so I'm not going to ignore those comments from a year or so back. Will be interesting to see what occurs over the coming months, but I fully expect the PR machine from both sides to be in overdrive.

 

Maybe after five years of obsession like that he (or his wife) got fed up and wanted a bit less stress? I'm sure he has made enough money out of saints over the last five years that he doesn't need to work again.

[ART]

Wasn't Samuel the mouth piece of Rupert Lowe? Certainly like Cortese, Rupert made use of the Mail to spread his thoughts and plans. But was it Samuel he relied on?

[The Kraken]

Wasn't Samuel the mouth piece of Rupert Lowe? Certainly like Cortese, Rupert made use of the Mail to spread his thoughts and plans. But was it Samuel he relied on?

No. Completely the opposite. Lowe sued Samuel (and won a record libel payout) over a Dave Jones story that Samuel ran. After that Samuel took it upon himself to try to portray Saints in a less than favourable light, in particularly the chairman, with almost every opinion piece he wrote about us.

[Bewildered]

Wasn't Samuel the mouth piece of Rupert Lowe? Certainly like Cortese, Rupert made use of the Mail to spread his thoughts and plans. But was it Samuel he relied on?

 

Wasn't that Charles Sale?

[Badger]

Can see the PR firm starting to work already!

 

Probably right here. If you look at the final sentence in yesterday's Independent article:

 

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

 

First and foremost, I hope they get their message drilled into MP and the players.

[The Kraken]

Wasn't that Charles Sale?

 

He used to fag for Rupert at boarding school. Or something.

[Dalek2003]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

 

I think we all recognise the job that NC did and we are grateful. However, we still have Liebherr support and for the time being at least, a good manager. The ship has been steadied. It is now time to look forwards not backwards and am confident that we 'can re-invent ourselves'. We may have a different way of doing things but we may still be successful.

For what it is worth I think we can expect a bit of realism. I often thought it was unrealistic to expect us to be a CL team, but realistic to be a solid mid table premier team. as long as we keep our Premier status we can expect some good years ahead.

Keep the faith.

[nta786]

Money restored the natural order, Liebherr money, and Cortese spent it well, as the best bankers do. That’s why billionaires use them.

 

I love this sentence!!!!

 

same lol... I felt it summed it up quite well

[Real-Saints-Wear-Stripes]

People are totally missing the point that since the takeover there has been no involvement from above Cortese, so it HAS been all down to him (not talking about the financial side of things).

Yes with someone else in charge we would still have had the money, but would they have had the backbone to keep hold of Shaw in the summer? Or the determination to get £15million for a 17 year old in league one? Or the courage to make two VERY unpopular managerial changes, only to be proven right on both occasions?

I really hope that people don't forget that he did do a very good job here, just because the media is going into overload about how unimportant he was.

With respect you're missing the point. Clubs 'keep' players day in day out, but because they 'keep' them you don't here of it. Lowe kept players, Lowe sold players, Cortese kept players, Cortese sold players, so all you have to go on is Cortese's very well oiled PR machine to put the right spin on it.

Delia Smith took Norwich to back-to-back promotions with a fraction of the resources, is she a visionary?

Corteses' PR was impeccable and so many people bought it, I guess they wanted to believe a little too much.

Getting into Champions league would take £150m each season every season so they say. We don't have that money, and the Liebherrs were never going to put that much in. So visionary or bull**ter?

The youth policy, the fan base, the stadium were all in position before NC arrived and yet the impression he gave was it was all down to him!

He as a Svengali character and we're a lot better off without him.

[the colonel]

Daily Mail really!!!!! they can't even get the facts right about Markus:

 

'Markus Liebherr, a Swiss billionaire who had made his money in crane and construction equipment.....' That was his father company Liebherr. Markus' company is called Mali Group.

 

So why believe anything Samuel has to say.

[Highfield Saint]

The song is "there's only one Markus Liebherr" not "walking in a Cortese wonderland".

[SW5 SAINT]

I got a real sense of deja vu reading that. Reminds me of the Rupert Lowe era, only difference Nicola Cortese had the Liebherrs as rich backers. I seem to remember Lowe saying once he could be "transferred" to another EPL club. We so seem at Southampton to specialise in the cult of the CEO.

[Dalek2003]

I got a real sense of deja vu reading that. Reminds me of the Rupert Lowe era, only difference Nicola Cortese had the Liebherrs as rich backers. I seem to remember Lowe saying once he could be "transferred" to another EPL club. We so seem at Southampton to specialise in the cult of the CEO.

 

Like Davros is to the Renegade Daleks.

[SW5 SAINT]

Like Davros is to the Renegade Daleks.

 

Lolz…...

[Charlie Wayman]

The article is unfair to Cortese. Who was it that picked unknown managers from obscurity and made them household names? A fool and money are soon parted, no sign of financial failure here. Samuels is right about the dispensability of people around Cortese but that's what a CEO is for and a good one can and will take tough decisions without allowing emotional considerations to get in the way. He could handle the truth, many others around football cannot.

 

I didn't see Samuel writing much direct criticism whilst Cortese was in post, it must be fun to come out from under cover to join in the kicking of the corpse.

[iansums]

The thing with journos is that it always comes down to the most basic of human emotions, whether they like someone or not. They are on the same paper but Samuel clearly doesn't have much time for Cortese whereas his colleague Neil Ashton does.

 

I remember in the late 90's reading Patrick Collins in the Mail who had an intense dislike for Terry Venables when elsewhere in the media he was very popular. Every time Venables was in the news for whatever reason Collins would trot out the same old criticisms, it was all so predictable. What made me laugh was that when Venables wrote his auto-biography who did the Mail choose to review it, yes you've guessed it.

[Real-Saints-Wear-Stripes]

The article is unfair to Cortese. Who was it that picked unknown managers from obscurity and made them household names? A fool and money are soon parted, no sign of financial failure here. Samuels is right about the dispensability of people around Cortese but that's what a CEO is for and a good one can and will take tough decisions without allowing emotional considerations to get in the way. He could handle the truth, many others around football cannot.

 

I didn't see Samuel writing much direct criticism whilst Cortese was in post, it must be fun to come out from under cover to join in the kicking of the corpse.

 

With respect, none of Corteses three managerial appointments were obscure or unknown. Mopo is well known it Spain, Adkins was everyones choice before he was appointed after his success at Scunny, and Pardew is/was a house hold name. So the basic tenor of you post is wrong.