When Adkins left, everyone decided to be nice to Nicola as we didn't want him to leave. Now it's be nice to Katharina for the same reason.
I must admit I find it puzzling that Cortese's exit is causing more distress in some quarters than Adkins' did. I know which of the pair I'd rather trust - with pretty much anything.
Yes, yes, we know that you and CBK are the two happy ones. Well, and redstripe, but that doesn't count.
Good god man. Perhaps you and CBK could start a personal thread which allows you to delight in the deposing of, and to quote Godders, "the best CEO we've ever had", and leave the rest of us to bemoan his departure. Why do you find it puzzling? Cortese brought an awful lot more to this club than Adkins ever did. For a start, no Cortese = no Adkins. Has that de-puzzled it for you?
Adkins' departure was a calculated decision made with the aim of improving the team. Cortese's departure was not.
"The best CEO we've ever had" is not saying much really, and it's not even true if you count Ted Bates. I'm not blind to, or ungrateful for, Cortese's contribution to our club. Unlike you, however, nor am I blind to his defects. He's a ruthless egomaniac who's very likely come undone as a result of his own pride. And before you mention the loyalty some of his staff felt toward him, I'll just remind you that Napoleon inspired love in many of his soldiers. didn't make him any less of a tyrant. Both left their followers in the lurch at the end. Oh and btw, it wasn't Cortese's money that bankrolled our revival - it was Liebherr's.
I don't think even we with our Cortese tinted glasses on can actually say that this statement is true. We don't know what is coming up next but to say that Cortese's departure was not made 'with the aim of improving the team' cannot shown to be true yet. It may well be that his departure was made exactly with the intent of improving things. Maybe KL and her advisors have different ideas of how to move onward and just because Cortese has worked miracles for us and we would not be where we are now without him doesn't mean that his was the only way or indeed the best way to move on from where we are now. I personally am prepared to see what happens next. Like I said in another post, for some reason I can't explain Cortese's departure hasn't bothered me like Adkins departure did and I have been a fervent Cortese fan throughout the past few years.
Maybe, just maybe because we felt NC had a greater influence over our future and our progression than Nigel was going to. That may be strange to you and a little abnormal as you'd think the coach more important, but Nigel was never going to effect things off the field and progression off the field (and I include signing of the right players) more than NC. Interesting that Nigel would talk about being on the bus and we thought he was the driver..... well he may have been sat behind the steering wheel, but someone else was looking at the map.
It may end up improving the team, sure, but that's definitely not the aim. Let's not forget that Cortese resigned, rather than was released. If he was released, you could argue the Liebherrs knew (or at least thought) it would improve the team doing so - instead, Cortese asking to leave (which was, by reports, only reluctantly accepted) shows it's not a scenario anybody really wanted in the best interests of the team, merely Cortese protecting his own self-interests by not wishing to be a part of it. The improvement of the team wasn't a factor in his release, whether that ends up happening or not.
Archers, you are very bitter towards him and I just can't see why. How does his management style affect you? Did you know someone who 'suffered' with this style? With no Cortese, there would have been no Liebherr money and quite possibly no Southampton FC. You remain bitter. I'll remember him fondly, turning a blind eye to some of the management style, because it was worth putting up with for what we got in return.
Thank you for letting me know what I think. Unfortunately you're wrong as I'm not in any way blind to Cortese's reported defects. However, in the position he was in I don't necessarily consider them as such. In fact I suspect he is rather less defective in those areas than has been talked about (note those that constantly bring them up are those that have a grudge). Napoleon indeed may have been tyrannical, but you'll not find a single person (with an active, working brain) that didn't find him a brilliant leader. Personally I, and many others, would like a brilliant leader at the helm of this club. We had one, he's gone. That's why we're a bit gutted.
Tell you what, the very last person I want in charge of this club is a "nice person". Trust me, that really won't get us very far....
I'd like to add at this point that I am not suggesting we will plunge due to NC departure, but simply that those who seem to have this 'grudge' against him refuse to acknowledge just how important a role he played over the last five year and the saving of our club. I'd really like someone like Archers or CBK to explain to me what the problem with him was and why these things were bad and more importantly, why they are not out-weighed by the good he did. I'm not being my usual confrontational or sarcastic self, I really would like to understand. I worry that if we do not have such a driven, single minded leader follow in next, that we will slip back to being 'normal'
Cortese was good for us from the footballing point of view (all we care about), but the problem for KL may have been outside the football side. She may have wanted Nicola's role to change and he couldn't take that. Cortese set up the club so that people could leave with a minimum of affect on other departments (obviously not thinking of himself)...will be business as usual.
Surely you can read between the lines a little here. Yes KL was reluctant to let Cortese go but only because she wanted him to remain in charge but not to carry on as before. It is most likely she asked him to stay with less control and he decided to go. The fact that Pochettino 'says' he didn't know suggests that Cortese had tendered his resignation as a threat to leave and probably expected that it would never be actioned. Who knows? Maybe only in the last couple of weeks KL has called him up on it and stated her position has not changed since the summer?? But to say he made the choice is not quite true to fact I don't think (although we can only speculate.) I think he has tried to play a card and his bluff has been called. Then when KL says we want you to stay but only on our terms it is in effect them releasing him.
similar to my post below LTL and a post I made to PTF yesterday when he used the expression "hold the rudder" or something similar.
Whether you want to take your version of events as true or not, it's clearly not a "this is what's best for the club" decision. It's either a "this is what's best for us" from the Liebherrs, or "this is what's best for me" from Cortese. The club, and what matters to us, the results, have taken a backseat. Adkins, on the other hand, was undeniably "if I make a change, results will improve". I don't see any way Cortese leaving is to improve results - improve profit, maybe, by clamping down on "ambitious" spending, but then that's just speculation.
