I remember Blackmore saying the club seemed a bit rudderless a couple of weeks ago and it needed a face, a name, and a voice. That's now Krueger. We know who it is and he's introduced himself to the media and supporters. I still wouldn't be surprised to see a CEO appointed with experience in football (Williams?) to work on the board. At current, Krueger is leading the board and his the public face and voice of Southampton Football Club.
Krueger has said there is no time limit on his contract, but also mentioned that he'd turned down other job offers because he wanted something different. Don't think he'd have done that for a temporary post. We have an acting CEO, so could be someone else coming in to fill that position.
Oh and also, I've just seen that Krueger has written a letter/message to the supporters in tomorrow's programme. Could someone be as kind to feedback or type it up?
I'm totally on board with the people saying that Krueger is a figurehead for the club, a public face, a motivator, call it what you will, and that he will be surrounded by people (hopefully) who know both football and business. What always confuses me when these discussions come about is this assumption that Katherina is some kind of business genius, when in reality she's inherited a business built by her father. Now she may WELL be a business genius, she likely HAS had a great grounding. But she's inherited a business, not built it herself, so let's not presume that by rite of inheritance she's necessarily some kind of guru in the boardroom.....
Please don't take me saying that as a criticism of Katherina by the way, she might be all we hope for and the next Warren Buffett. I just find the assumption that she's a brilliant businesswoman because she's inherited a company a little strange.
She may not be a genius (who knows), but she has been brought up knowing that one day she would inherit a large and valuable business. It happened earlier than she expected whilst she still has a family to worry about*, so she has to trust the people who work for her. It's called delegation. And remember she had enough strength of character to take Nicola on. I bet one of the first things she learnt at her father's knee was how to judge people. * Whatever people say, it is usually the mother who gets involved in the children's upbringing whether she is a busy business woman or not.
Absolutely agree Fran - the likelihood is that she will be good. But much like Krueger as a chairman here, her role as a businesswoman is still very much unproven. People act as if she's raised up some European behemoth from the gutter with her own bare hands. It couldn't be further from the truth. With the business structure around her, it would likely be pretty hard to fail. Your point about standing up to Nicola is a very valid one though.
Certainly, however I'm sure a family of their wealth and stature is EXTRAORDINARILY well-advised. Regardless of her own skills and background she will keep council with plenty of people who are qualified to provide a worthwhile opinion.
Yep, though in my experience the poorest business decisions tend to be made when you let emotions cloud your judgement, such as when you start doing things like giving jobs to friends. However, I reiterate, I genuinely do have every confidence this will all work out just fine.
Cortese was about as well qualified as you can get to be a chief executive as a lawyer with a strong financial background. It's little wonder that the club have appointed two people to replace him. The Footballers football show with Les Reed was very insightful as it's probably the 1st major media appearance from Les since he became our director of football. From the way he spoke about the clubs academy I think it was clear that the vision to get our club to be as close to an XL made up entirely of academy players is very much his baby. Because under Cortese only he and the current manager would speak with the media it gave the impression that the visions of the football club were those of Cortese. Take nothing away from Nicola as of course he was in charge of making the plans a reality, but we should feel secure that on the football side of things, nothing is going to change.
TBH I would rather Saints didn't use Barcelona as a template because I don't want us having half a billion debts. I'm sure KL knows what she is doing and I think hearing she has no intentions of selling the Saints should be reassuring every Saints fan and not worrying them. As for the Kruger thing. The guy at the top is answerable to her. I doubt he will be making any decisions off of his own back that could be bad for us. Football has changed from the days of a 'fan for life' owner/chairman. It is now very structured and even Abramovich has others doing the administration while he watches and signs the cheques (if he even signs them ) Nothing to worry about IMO. One person in the chair with a board comprising of qualified in their field directors. All reporting to the owner who will no doubt use neutral advisors too as soundboards or even to keep an eye from outside on what is happening.
