It appears that Ben Smith, who interviewed Cortese a week or two ago is leading the story. Says it will be up on BBC sport website soon. In which case, Cortese said it to Smith in that interview and both held back releasing it until after yesterdays' result. BRINKMANSHIP
Well there's no real evidence either way (yet) but it wouldn't be THAT shocking if he left. He obviously had a very strong friendship with Markus Liebherr and Markus was no doubt happy to give him free rein when it came to running the club. That doesn't mean Nicola gets on well with the rest of the family or whoever is calling the shots on their behalf. Perhaps the family want more say in the running of the club? Nicola's also worked very hard for the club, doesn't get much love from the fans but does get some quite unpleasant press coverage.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Nicola Cortese is considering his position as Southampton chairman.Story on @<a href="https://twitter.com/bbcsport">bbcsport</a> shortly <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23saintsfc">#saintsfc</a> l</p>— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenSmithBBC/status/333888105142706176">May 13, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> https://twitter.com/BenSmithBBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22510420 Nicola Cortese is considering his position as Southampton chairman amid talks to resolve differences with the trust that owns the club. But, with the club having all but secured their position in the top flight, the focus has now shifted to Cortese's future at St Mary's. It is understood Cortese will make a decision by the end of the month. He is thought to be seeking guarantees over his future amid concerns that the Liebherr trust is contemplating a change to the way the club is run. Cortese is currently allowed final approval on all major decisions at Southampton. The Italian bought the club in 2009 on behalf of Markus Liebherr, a wealthy Swiss investor, to lift the club out of administration. When Liebherr died in 2010, the club said "well-laid plans that Liebherr and Cortese mapped out over a year ago will continue to be implemented uninterrupted". Southampton effectively secured their top-flight future with a 1-1 draw at Sunderland on Sunday. They only need to avoid an improbable margin of defeat at home to Stoke next week to stay up, although they will be safe if Wigan lose to Arsenal on Tuesday.
Don't worry, there will be an outpouring of love for Nicola against Stoke and after the mattresses have dried out a bit, he'll decide to stay.
If... ...means that they're considering replacing him, the trust is mad. If it means that they're considering more oversight, that's understandable...but they might still be mad.
Looks like this could be the case. Cortese's threatening to resign if he doesn't retain control of the club. I guess I can understand that they want more of a say but I'm struggling to imagine, considering his near-perfect record, what they think they could do better than him?
If Cortese does leave, yes he's done well, but I'm sure the club will continue to grow and progress without him ... no-one is irreplaceable.
Despite Cortese clearly dropping this to Ben Smith during his interview. It's all part of the game to use fans to put pressure on the Liebherr Trust. Can't believe so many fans, despite seeing how clubs & the media do things for years, still fall for these games every single time. Utterly gullible.
No one's disputing this. It's a question of whether brinkmanship between the guy running the club and the people financing the club is a good thing.
That's business. On the other hand, it could just be that they are not giving him as much money as he wants (either personally or to spend on transfers) and he's throwing his toys out of the pram. This could get messy, especially if it's a sign the Liebherrs are tightening the pursestrings.
I am a bit more worried now than I was an hour ago. In many ways Cortese has done his job and would command interest from any business. The only thing keeping Cortese at Southampton would be if he feels that he still has unfinished ambitions. I would personally recommend he stays as it would be the best thing for Southampton, probably not for him and his family though.
