She could have brought in the best public speaker in the world. It still wouldn't have made a difference, soon as Cortese left it would have still happened the same.
I certainly don't think it was ass-licking, as you put it, Beef. It was Cortese's attention to detail. He always said that lots of little things add up to making a difference. [British Cycling's departed guru had exactly the same attitude and look where he took them] His ability to get the right person and his overall vision for the club made the players buy in to Southampton. Sure, he cosseted the players, but he did it for a reason - to make them play better, not to make them feel brown nosed. They probably still are cosseted, but the reason and ambition is not believed anymore. The thing that made Saints suddenly special in 2009 left in early 2014. 5 years of brilliant achievement, backed by an enormously wealthy benefactor. But money only helps. You still need to put in the hours and have the dream. That's why Liebherr would only do it if Cortese ran the company. Says it all.
No chance. A "cult of Cortese" is much less likely than the alternative: The new board are poor at dealing with the players, and at making the correct decisions.
No, not a public speaker Beef, you miss my point. I couldn't give a **** if this person never spoke to the fans at all. What needed to happen was bringing in someone to speak to, encourage, and sell the "new" Southampton to a group of clearly restless and unsettled players.
With everything we know of Cortese, I think we can safely assume he had a certain cult. It was even evident on this forum. Players always shoe-horned in comments about him, he was the only figure we could really think of running the club. Reed was seen just as a sidekick. He was obsessively hands on with everything. I'd certainly agree he had a cult-like persona. The head of footballing decisions on the new board is the same guy who worked with Cortese.
Still wouldn't have changed things. The players respect Cortese too much and they got that respect back with how he treated them. Soon as he left this was bound to happen.
totally agree with that. they should have brought in someone from the start to saturate the players rather than allow the void of cortese to linger and pochettino to whisper sweet nothings as he planned his escape. If they trusted poch to fill that void, big mistake. wasn't he supposedly missing from training for much of the second half of the season?
Sure he was a good - no a great chairman. But one man does not hold that much sway over a group of people, except in movies. You all sound a bit insane to me. The plain fact is; money talks, agents are greedy, and our board are consistently not making the correct calls to keep the players happy.
True. I think we trusted Mauricio a lot more than we should have. The link between himself and Spurs, and subsequently the agency he was signed to and that of certain players must've had alarm bells ringing somewhat, too.
I think he did. In which case, you can call me insane. I think he was a great during his time here, in respect of footballing progression and I maintain my belief that he would've delivered European football.
I don't think you can say that at all. Listen, it would have had to have been a bloody brilliant leader, no doubt, to have turned this round. Dare I say it, but it needed to be a Cortese without all the baggage that goes with it. They are out there, for certain. It's amazing how a great leader can turn a negative situation through speaking the language of his/her employees coherently and enthusing them as a result. Because Krueger has a reputation as a "motivational speaker" I think that's what Katherina naively believed she was bringing in. Bad, bad decision. Particularly when dealing with that peculiar breed known as footballers.
Sure you're going to get the odd blip along the way, but more importantly, Pardew, Adkins, Pochettino. Not a bad roll call, eh..? Make the important decisions right, and the less important ones will only delay you, if you get them wrong. Osvaldo and Forren. Didn't exactly derail the train did they..?
I think that both things can be true...that the players thought very highly of Cortese and would feel differently toward the club if he departed, and believe that the board has been feckless in attempting to keep them happy after his departure. At some point, they have to bear responsibility for the fact that, in six months heading the team, they seem to have convinced precisely no one in the locker room of their intentions and ambitions. This isn't the week after Cortese left anymore.
So we should just bow down to the players and make them as happy as possible regardless of the outcome? What calls are there to make to keep them happy?
