I can't see how Cortese is to blame for the present confusion. Especially as the present setup seem to be erasing him from the Club's memory. Have you noticed that..? While we bring up the subject, let me make this observation. The Club never mentions Nicola's massive contribution through his leadership and vision. It's all Markus this and Markus that. That's all very well. But other people have loads of dosh. It's what you do with that counts. We wouldn't be in the position of being massively disappointed, because we'd still be in League One, or the Championship, if it wasn't for NC. You're right. It is his fault.
Just to rub salt into the wound, the 2013/14 season is just about to start on Premier League Years on Sky Sports, right now.
The hypocrisy of this is quite staggering when Nicola wiped Alan Pardew and Nigel Adkins and even went to the extent of having Nigel Adkins airbrushed out of club literature and club video that was posted on the website. Not even any thanks to Nigel for his service when we sacked him. Not one mention at all. Not to mention that he got rid of the Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup and the Ted Bates Memorial game.
Cortese let his ego get the better of him and ****ed up too many times. The players brought into his dreams( they were only dreams) and that is why we are losing them now. Pochettino held meetings with players (Jay and Lallana and who knows who else) in the season to basically say they can do better. The board haven't been open enough with the fans, yes I feel players would still be leaving even if they tried harder to keep them. But not telling the fans what is going on is crazy. (This is a really short version as I can't be arsed)
Probably not worth the club putting out a commemorative DVD of our record premier league season. At least i'll never have to remember that kit fondly.
It's true. The club was effectively a house of cards based around the cult of Cortese. I mean I liked it a lot at the time, but as it goes, you remove that central card from the bottom and it all tumbles down. And it has.
Don't mention the Season ticket sales... Think we will "slip back into the pack" but to be honest, that pack is nearly every team from 8th place downwards. As long as you don't go on a long run of defeats, most clubs are going to be floating around the middle of the table... and on the business side of things at every club... that's what they target.
Still don't believe this. There's no way Cortese had that much influence because he showed them some DVD's and talked about a "vision." I could see players being disappointed because he left and maybe even 1 or 2 like Shaw leaving. But not the mass exodus and extreme discontent we've seen. I think it's likely that Cortese was promising them all wage hikes or under-the-table perks of some kind that the club will not now deliver. But not that he was some sort of charismatic cult leader.
I think it is both. I heard a rumour that some kind of Cortese bonus was withdrawn by the club, upsetting the players. I also think Pochettino's charisma can't be underestimated.mhe made those guys feel like world beaters.
He promised them a lot of things. He treated the players like kings or something. It wasn't a bad thing until he left.
I think word has got out that we're willing to sell any player for a good price, meaning clubs are coming in and making bids. This may sound good as we get a decent price, but only if the money is reinvested. I thought we needed between 3 and 5 players added to last season's squad for us to improve again, yet we've sold that many, and only signed 2 replacements so far. I'm not sure asset stripping is the right term, but something wrong has/is definitely going on. Does anyone know why there are so many job vacancies being advertised, and are season ticket sales down at the moment compared to last season?
Would be very surprised if a lot of fans (including me) aren't waiting to see what happens before committing to a season ticket. I'll reserve judgement until after the Leverkusen game ....................
I've been asked by a national newspaper journalist if I'll give them a fan's view, rather than them having to speak to Mike O'Callaghan...
Good for you. Make sure you get I there a note to Board to have the communication to us improved... ... Oh and say hi to Kylie from me
But had Cortese stayed and those promises not been delivered, I still think many players would be angry and want to go. Alternatively had the board delivered on the promises and continued treating the players like kings, some players would have stayed even without Cortese. So to me, that conflict between the commitments Cortese was making (or attempting to persuade the club to make) vs. what the club was willing to do is the underlying cause of all this. And people can decide whether NC was going to drive us into bankruptcy or if KL is just being greedy or maybe 50/50. The board has made some huge mistakes as well. And once one or two people go then then everyone else wants to go as well. There is for sure a house of cards aspect to this, but it wasn't Cortese holding it up. And even the house of cards thing only goes so far. I've been a pretty big advocate of selling players for big money and using those profits to reinvest in the club. But you don't sell them all in one go. Some of the other players leaving I can see how there wasn't a choice. But selling Chambers is a big mistake, IMO. I happen to think Clyne was better last year, but that might not be the case by the end of this year. And even if Chambers only gets in 15 appearances, his value would increase. And we need the stability right now as well. And since Chambers had said nothing about leaving, I think the responsibility for that move rests solely on the board. Which is why I'm now getting very concerned.
Lets go back to the end of the season, Things didn't seem quite right then. coaches being sacked, The club unable to give a reason to why!? There is a lot of unrest, our players had a lot of respect for Cortese and he resigned. For me it was obvious that this would happen. I didn't expect it to be on the scale that it has been, but surely if there is a lot of unrest with the players its worth moving them on before bringing in new players. I think its going to be a long season for us. Les Reed has said, we don't need to sale. Maybe we don't but more forced to do so.
Haha! Two people have been asked. Me and the guy who runs SaintsWeb. I said I don't mind doing it, just don't say I am the 'voice of the fans' or something like that.
couldn't agree more. the sale of players on this scale seems strategic. i don't see the board spending anything like the amounts they've got in the bank following all these sales.
