It was amazing how when he took over he was public enemy number one with the newspapers and media, but by the end, they were his biggest allies. His departure really was a remarkable showing of the strength of the media in swaying people's perceptions of the club. Everyone said the club would crumble into dust, and there would be chaos, whereas in truth things have only got better.
Might be worth noting that the figures DTLW posted were for the 12/13 season, I doubt any of the previous seasons were anywhere near that high.
I'm not slagging Cortese off. He did great things for the club. He brought in three very successful managers, signed the right players, and also the right characters. However, he was an individual and egotistical man. The salary thing isn't necessarily a criticism of him, as he was well within his rights to take what he wanted if he has sole control, but his departure was a tremendous publicity stunt. Certainly, if you asked me would I rather Cortese not have been Chairman of Saints, absolutely not would be the answer. He brought nothing but success for us on the pitch and had the club become an ambitious one with a fresh, vibrant feel about it. These results do highlight the fact that it is extremely difficult running a Premier League club on your own. Let's not forget that running any business on your own, whether that be a corner shop on the high street or a multi-national corporation, is a difficult task. Cortese did a great job at it, but perhaps things just started to get away from him. It is only natural, and that is why most clubs have Boards of Directors, or Chairman, Chief Execs and other senior officials. We just had Cortese.
Free trips for choosen Journalists to Barcelona & Switzerland in private jets at the club's expense, had the desired effect then. Plus the 6 figure payment per year to a london media consultancy. Yes, he learned to "play the game" but trust me, I bet nearly all of them, including the ones he buttered up, are glad he's gone.
To be honest anyone could slag NC off, he is never going to defend himself on here, and is filthy rich so wouldn't give a toss if you did! As you said pointless.
Not sure about that as he gave them some copy. Have a suspicion that Katharina and her board are squeaky clean. Doubt Katharina is a rent a quote.
I liked Cortese, though not as much as some here. I did always think it was going to end badly at some point in the more distant future. The fact that it happened so soon was surprising in a bad way. But the fact that it happened so quickly and-- after all's been said and done-- relatively smoothly was surprising in a good way.
Right. Let's see if people are saying that if in the next window we sell Shaw and Lallana and don't buy anyone of note.
It is so easy to go onto a forum such as this and slag off someone who actually cannot fight back. When saints were taken over he and the new owners were quickly made "Saints" by most fans for Saving the club. There can be no denying as to what was achieved in a comparable short time. A five year plan was announced and seemingly followed to the letter. To achieve all this though there was inevitably going to be casualties. From players to managers and even later the chairman himself. All through this time there have been questions asked about various decisions that were being made but fans judgements were persuaded by the success on the pitch. You cannot take away the fact that under Cortese's stewardship relative success was gained...but at a price perhaps? The squabbling behind closed doors was of relatively little interest to the fans, they quite rightly just wanted success. Now we are starting a new era.....for me all I want is for my beloved Saints to be a success. I want them to be able to challenge the very best clubs in the world and give them a bloody good game!! That is what Fans want, they in real terms just want to turn up and see Saints win against all comers. Old codgers like me will be able to remember the Man U's The Liverpool's and the Citey's when they were struggling in the second division (Modern day championship) As I have repeated on numerous occasions the Year Liverpool were promoted to the then first division saints beat them home and away in all competitions. The reason I mentioned this is because they all did not become top teams over night. They did not spend enormous amounts to their achieve their goals. (I know Citey did eventually) It took years of hard work probably around 10 to 15 in most cases. We at Saints have to be patient we have the basis of a very good squad a good foundation. I just hope our present owner realises this. Once again though it is up to the bosses to make those decisions, we the fans just have to grin and bare it that they make the decisions we want them to make. The squabbles behind closed doors will still be there, the agreements and disagreements will still be there. We will once again have to wait and see what happens. That as they say....is a fans lot!!
Katharina said when she arrived that the first thing to do was stabilise the club...rather implies instability in the first place. She was obviously good at settling everything down, because manager and players were all on board after a couple of meetings. They must have liked what they heard....though we have to bear in mind that players are simple souls....love what you are doing, lads; you will get paid; now get out there and do what you are doing. Nicola was not universally popular with other staff, so they would also be happy...however, although happiness is good in the work place, we must remember that bad workers are always happy when a tough boss leaves (not that I am presuming they were all bad). So, here is where we are. Katharina means us well, because of her father and because we are a large asset. She believes the way forward is better with a larger board than with a dictator...we have to wait and see if she is right. The board intends to stick largely with our present plan (signing off on further spending on the Academy shows that), but is looking for more commercial investment (something that for whatever reason Cortese let slide). Jury is out on Krueger, but he has nothing like Nicola's power anyway. I think it was probably time for a change of regime...Nicola led us over the barricades, but revolutionaries don't always make the best post-war leaders. KL may mean consolidation rather than wild excess, but we don't know if NC could have carried on funding it anyway. I'm chilled at the moment...looking forward to more good times.
I think this is a good idea. We should all get paid enormous wages so that we have to pay lots of tax and then the Governments financial problems would all be solved.
Well I may have solved the nation's financial crisis but there is still the little matter of my own Micawber like household accounts to sort out now. Annual pension £20 000 annual expenditure £20 500 and the very lovely Mrs Godders still hasn't had a new coat.
