I smell a little tease here... If not, you really need to avoid the forum and all forms of media until 31st August.
Not sure a about "great interview" in fact a little dull, but it is good there is nothing disruptive in there.
Probably not, it's usually the case to release the "juicy" stuff first. The above is rather boring and only a little bit "me me me". Was expecting more of that. Might actually show that Cortese has been totally cut adrift from the club & that no one talks to him anymore, despite what he says.
I think it is a bit naive to pass this off as harmless comment. We all know Cortese is an egotistical man and with the rumours about Shaw reaching an apparent crescendo I wouldn't be surprised if it were to be announced this week. If it happens without any positive news e.g. Poch staying, then the whole thing could start to unravel. Like every other saints fan I'm hoping and praying that the majority of personnel are committed to the journey but the failure to have quelled any of the rumours and reach agreement with the Manager after 2 weeks of close season is concerning. Cortese is shrewd. If he had simply stuck the knife in then we all would have dismissed him as bitter. The key content is that players would not have left under his watch. Watch this space...
So it turned out to be a ....."If I was still in charge interview then" Is that so surprising? I don't understand why so many thought he would put the knife in to Saints. If he is as close to Shaw as has been bandied about surely that would mean Shaw is not off as has been predicted, at least not in the short term. Nothing in the interview surprised me as far as I could see.
I think in the next few weeks we should all be wary of new members. If they weren't here when everything was rosie.....
Nobody here is saying it means that players won't leave, we're saying it is a 'nothing' interview. I still think one maybe two will go. For all the naivety for thinking it a harmless comment, multiply that by ten for paranoia if you read it is as bad news. With that view, I'll be expecting people to post links to dozens of old articles if someone leaves, saying, "see, this is when I said it meant they were off"
If anything he's almost helping out by suggesting Mauricio should stay, all things being equal. Hopefully Mauricio will read that and think "yeah, he's right".
He conveniently forgets selling Oxlade-Chamberlain doesn't he? And obviously there will be more offers now that these players are established premier league stars than there were before, surely he doesn't believe that his politely asking people not to bid actually made any difference. Pretty difficult to reconcile this interview with the idea that he's trying to undermine the club though isn't it?
I think that if Nicola said no politely, people knew they'd be wasting their time. And there would be no point in being underhand and approaching the player. The difference is not that Kreuger et al are more likely to say yes, but perception suggests it's worth trying again and again. The same applied to a player asking for a move...they wouldn't try and beat Cortese down. Like being told no by a rottweiller and by a chihuahua.
in fairness it looked like the player's father forced the move there and we were expected to spend a couple of years in the championship. the step up was massive. players might be happier to stay now.
