Just came back across this memory... please log in to view this image Katharina for the Arsenal cover!
I think she would rather put either her father, or the fans on the front. That is the difference between them I think. Cortese is a egotistical individual, albeit a successful and brilliant one for us. Katharina seems the polar opposite at present.
To be fair, if I looked like Cortese, dressed like Cortese and achieved the success I achieved whilst running a down-on-its-luck football club, I'd be pretty egotistical too, I reckon.
Look! He's wearing the one true watch! The one watch to rule them all. Do you think he can still call the players to do his bidding through the power of the watch?
This is spot on but what do you expect. She will have as many advisors around her as Cortese would have done. His advisors would've been advising the hardline hardnosed stance. Her advisors are doing the pre election Thatcher, female angle, mother type appeal stance. Either way you can guarantee that a statement from Nicola Cortese or Katharina Liebherr will have been 'helped' by others before being released. You seem to take it as a negative though Joe. Let her do her job. That is employing those others to do the job and enjoy being a Saints fan. Whether she is just calming things down before an eventual sale or not at least things are happening. She is one week in and before the second week is complete she will have taken a relative back seat again. We await how the new 'democracy' performs compared to the previous 'autocracy'. The Cortese regime did wonders but has been toppled. Civil war has been averted so far and lets hope it stays that way.
I'm not taking as a negative at all; I'm just appealing to people not to take it as a positive, which in relative terms can look quite negative! Don't take it as anything, is what I'm saying. Wait for her to speak with her actions.
Jim Lucas: "Night all. Two magazine deadlines in as many days this week. Couple of interesting interviews lined up. #saintsfc" Just routine player chit-chat, or do you think he might have a word in one of the programmes (more likely Arsenal) with the new folk?
I'm not taking it as a positive because of what she said. I'm saying the very fact that she has addressed the fans and said no one is going, etc.-- those actually ARE actions. It IS a positive. She had to do something to show the club wasn't in disarray. Cortese did it as well when he fired Adkins and did that interview. His approach was different in that it was more like "Yeah, I'm the bad guy. I don't mind being the bad guy. You'll see I'm right." His PR was in keeping with his public image as a tough negotiator and a perfectionist. And he had to do it because in a nice guy battle, he would lose to Adkins. It was always Adkins is the nice guy and underdog hero, Cortese was "our jerk" so we wouldn't get pushed around, and the Liebherrs were the fatherly/motherly owners. It was important that Cortese show that he was on our side, just like it's important for KL to do so now. Who knows if they are lying or not, but KL is doing things the right way. "Doing" being the operative word. She is taking action whether you personally believe her PR spin or not.
Cor blimey Joe what does it take to make you happy..........The lass has made a statement of intent...she surely deserves any benefit of the doubt at this stage. Her actions for the future is going to be closely monitored not just by you but by the whole world. Not every one is going to agree that any action she takes is the correct action, most certainly. However if she believes it is the best for the club she has said she will take that action. I do not think there is one poster out there that doesn't accept that "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" so to speak and are waiting to see what she actually sees as in " the best interests of its staff, players, management and fans" . Surely her first action of getting in a good CEO to replace Cortese to help her make the right decisions is a step in the right direction. At this stage all she can do is talk about her intent and therefore surely she has done nothing to cause doubt? When Cortese took complete control after the death of the owner did we not all say similar things to what we are saying now, about him? Also was there not posts accusing a lot of being too positive?
To be fair to Cortese (and I'm not the chairman of his fan club) he only did that once. Lowe's ugly mug was splattered all over the programme every home game.
My attitude entirely. At the moment I'm fine with the statement that settles the ship, but nothing has been done yet. By contrast, I was reading the tail end of a Ben Smith article again just now. This one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25420261 Here's the end bit: Southampton's incredible rise to prominence in recent seasons is not a fluke, it was carefully planned. And the planning is now focusing on new goals. Last April, the players were shown a film called the "Southampton Way". It charted the development of the team from League One to the Premier League and, at the end, insiders say, asked not if Southampton can win the Premier League, but how. That is the ultimate target for this project and there is a belief throughout the club that it is attainable and realistic, however impossible those outside might deem it. Many of the players have committed themselves to the club because of their chairman. They say he encourages them to talk to each other, encourage each other to sign new deals and grow together. Interest in the manager is futile at this stage because he is committed to the Southampton way and committed to Cortese beyond all else. Leading clubs in Italy and Germany have expressed an interest in Southampton's executive chairman. Were Cortese to leave in the future, Pochettino would follow suit and many of the club's leading players would also question their future. The club's success is the realisation of Cortese's vision. Pochettino would be the first to deflect any suggestions that this season is down to him. For now, Southampton's project remains very much on course. As long, as the chairman remains at the helm, anything is possible. So the question now is not whether Southampton can hang on to Pochettino, but whether they can keep Cortese. Articles like this are an indication of what the club was doing and where it was going. If the club keeps this momentum and drive going then I'll be delighted. I don't want a return to mediocre when achieving something great is actually out there and is tangible and realistic.
I think we will find out quite quickly if the focus and drive has changed as our best players will simply leave. Shaw, Lallana etc won't stay if they think avoiding relegation is the height of the clubs ambition.
I tend to agree with elements of what TSS and Joe have said. This statement is a nice touch but it doesn't really change anything or mean very much and - as far as priorities go - I would put communication with the fans a long way behind achievement on the pitch. Cortese had a clear vision for Southampton - Champions League qualification and perhaps even a title challenge. Now I've always had my doubts about whether his aims were achievable given the way we were trying to operate (for me recent history shows the only way to break into the elite group of clubs is to throw a lot of money around) and it has to be said that Cortese didn't actually take us anywhere we haven't been before as a club, but I always felt with Cortese in charge that we were going to give it a real go. Will the new board have the same ambition or will we go back to the days of being happy with 10th place and reaching the 6th round of the FA Cup? After the excitement of the last few years that would be a bit of an anticlimax for me. I also suspect that many of the things that bother some people will remain the same. I can't see ticket prices falling and I suspect the club will basically continue to view the fans as a source of income rather than stakeholders in the club. They may now smile at you as they try to empty your wallet but they'll still be trying to empty your wallet. As for people saying "We may get our stripes back", well I simply don't care about stripes.
Ooh mate, I don't ever want to find out the level of ambition of the club that way. If Katharina, or whoever she appoints, can resharpen the focus and reset the drive to how it was, then we might be fine. I know she has done very well to steady the ship and I do have every confidence that she'll do the right thing, but I can't shake off a small lingering feeling that the star player went out the door last week. At the moment, I feel like the true indispensable one [remember the poll..?] just got transferred.
