Whatever happened to Nicola Cortese?

Did Nicola go back to Geneva and banking? Does anyone know what happened to our likely lad?

 

I wouldn't worry...I'm sure he's fine I think he went back to Geneva and probably has his finger in a few pies.

 

As long as he's not here!

 

Amazing how things have changed. I remember being so worried when he left. Hadn't liked the rumours circulating about him, but I also felt he was essential for our progress. Glad to be wrong.

 

I still believe Nicola built the foundations for the success we are seeing now. To suggest people are pleased to be rid of him I think is a tad unfair. Yes he was a tyrant by all accounts but if I'm honest the work he did is second to none. The training ground, the solid business model and the philosophy now instilled amongst the staff, players and fans. Its him that brought the club to the attention of Markus, God knows where we might be, if at all without him. I wouldnt mind betting at some point he may return.

 

I did some work personally for Cortese and, frankly, I didn't like his way of doing things. However....


There's a section in "The Cruel Sea"(which I recommend reading - I read it about once a year) that could have been written about Cortese. Ericson is now the head of an escort group and he's thinking about one of the Captains under his command:

"The latter might have a weakness, amounting almost to a fetishism, for the ceremonial aspect of command, but he ran a good ship at the same time; and that, in war, excused nearly everything, from bad temper to sodomy.."

Whatever you think about him personally, he dragged us into an enviable position where the club works, is financially sound and has structure.

Vin

 

I thank him for what he has done. But also l am pleased he is gone.

 

I agree. Was worried when he left, but am very happy with how the club is doing and pleased that Katharina has shown an interest. She is the one protecting us from the sharks.

 

There are leaders for peacetime and those for war...I'm thinking of Churchill there. Can you imagine fighting the Germans with Blair at the helm. Nicola was great when we had hit rock bottom, but perhaps it was best he moved on for the next stage.

 

Except that this is football, not war. And it's always arguable that the ends do not justify the means, even when survival is at stake.

 

Thought you were going to say he was in the foundations at Staplewood.

 

He will be eventually . It is written in the stars ..................

 

THIS / THIS & THIS .

Say what you like about NC , and t YES it was ML's money ,but it was NC that brought our club to ML's attention .

Love him or loath him , NC is the man who saved our club !!!

By the same token . If rumours are to be believed , he may well have led us on the road to rack & Ruin if it was not for ML's Daughter getting involved .................

Good job this fence I am sitting on is comfy !

 

OK winning a war but how often do we win the Peace?

 

We are to all intents and purposes at war now and look at the twats leading us. Aircraft carriers without planes and a regular army reduced to part time soldiers.

PS I have no intentions of going to war with the Germans. I have far too many German friends.

 

I agree with this, although I don't think Nicola will return in a professional sense. I'd like to see him return as a welcomed guest.

Before people breathe a sigh of relief that Cortese is gone, and even go further to say they are glad, perhaps they should listen to a snippet of what life was like before Nicola turned to Markus and suggested that a football club that was going out of existence could be a fun thing to rescue:

http://www.4shared.com/web/embed/audio/file/uvkApsQtba?

Above is a Radio Hampshire interview with Mary Corbett [click the link and press play on the embedded player]. I don't criticise her or Radio Hampshire. She only wanted to make things open to supporters and Radio Hampshire gave her the chance. This the season of the administration and drop into League One. I suggest people listen to the interview to realise what a total horror show Cortese and Liebherr rescued this club from. If Cortese only pointed Liebherr in our direction he should at least have the respect of supporters. Goodness me, people have incredibly short memories. I'm not glad Cortese is gone. I'm not glad that he seems to be being erased from Saints recent history. Undoubtedly, we are in a post-Cortese era and I entirely accept that, and for the unity of the club and supporters it's probably better that that is so. The club is certainly able to carry on, and will prosper, given the foundations that have been laid in place by Cortese. He provided the expertise, Markus provided the money. Let's not forget that. Without either we wouldn't be here writing about this.

 

I was not too upset when Cortese resigned because I always thought he was a bit extreme and a loose cannon and things were maybe sliding out of control. I defended that decision, and I was not a member of Club Meltdown during the summer. It was the right decision to try and reign him in, and him throwing a bit of a fit and resigning in anger midseason to me simply highlighted a character flaw that would have eventually come back to bite us.

That said, the I find the war analogy was somewhat apt. He had a no-nonsense approach that was what the club needed given the turmoil and those who had been in charge previously. And he gave us a bit of swagger when we really needed it. A five year plan to go from near-dissolution to Premier League is CRAZY. And we even BEAT that schedule.

As much as I never cared that much for Cortese as a person, you can't take that away from him. Yes, it was KL/ML's money but how many clubs have spent and not done as well? He was given a ton of autonomy to run the club, and deserves a massive amount of credit for our present success.

He was the right man at the right time... but that time has since passed. I'm glad he's gone and don't want him back but he has my respect, and I suppose if I ever met him I would feel obligated to hold my nose, shake his hand and thank him for what he did.

 

What's that smell? Sulphur? ****, he's back.

 

Reading all this makes me smile.

It is quite reasonable to say that NC did a great job in saving this club and the main reason that it happened and the consequent owner/structures/monies/etc were put in place.

It is also quite reasonable to say that one is glad he is gone now. That doesn't mean one doesn't appreciate the positive things he did and how important they were. It just means one is glad he had gone.

It is possible and reasonable to say both.

Black........lots of grey........white

 

I'd love to know the whole truth (because I am nosy ). The truths we know...we were going down the pan, Nicola put a plan together and convinced Markus to save us, then (with 2 managers) got us to the PL and the JPT at Wembley. There were too many rumours about him to doubt that he was a sociopath and we don't know how much of our success was down to Les Reed (though our signings have noticeably improved since he left or at least are not so hit and miss). A crazed obsessive got us to the PL, but best to get rid of him before he invaded Poland and Austria.