We are at such a distance from the proceedings that we can hardly make a judgement on the day-to-day activities of transfers. There are many and varied reasons why some have gone through and others haven't. We only wanted 3 or 4 players for this season. Well we have 3 so far. Where's the problem..? The proof of the pudding is that two years after coming into the building [thank you, Nigel], Cortese has hauled the business around and turned it into the most go ahead, ambitious, and forward looking football club, probably in the entire Football League [though Brighton and Leicester are also in there]. He has gone about his business quietly, efficiently, and on the whole, politely too. It is some measure of his reputation and expertise that almost before he had his feet under the table at SFC, the Football league were asking him to look at their books to see how they could be run better. His straight talking side showed them that their business acumen was sadly lacking. I'm sat here trying to think how I could measure up the contribution Nicola Cortese has made to SFC in the short time he has been here. I would say, along with Markus Liebherr, who let's not forget, Nicola persuaded to come along for the journey, that he is one of the best things, and arguably the best thing to happen to Southampton Football Club in living memory. That's how much I value his contribution.
Nicola has a grand plan for Southampton which is progressing because he also employs the right people. Any mistakes he has made may be due to being new to the football world, unfamiliar with the British mentality, and because people simply make mistakes. A dapper chap like him was never going to appeal to the old breed of footballing man. We all know that we have a tough cookie fighting the corner for Saints.
It's a shame it has all the hallmarks of a strong carbonara, he just lets himslef down in the sauce department. Simple as that.
Sorry, but there is no point putting this off any longer and we just can't sit here and ignore the fact that is blatantly staring us all in the face about him. Yes, it's all well saying he "saved the club" and "appointed a brilliant manager" and "invested in the team and facilities" and "gives the club some strength".. but really does all that matter when we analyse the core truth that no one can deny.... He has a girls name.
Oh Fran ... all my dreams of you are shattered. Surely you know you don't use Cream in a proper carbonara sauce?
You have obviously been misinformed about my cooking prowess...I said in an earlier thread that I had just dusted my cooker..I do it every few months whether it needs it or not.
Pasta and Tomato/Onions/Garlic Sauce, with or without Meat. Chop two or three medium onions and a few garlic cloves, some fine, some coarse. If you don't want onions, cut up an entire garlic bulb, and lock the doors to keep the friends in..! Heat a big frying pan with oodles of Olive oil to just below smoking. Don't listen to people who say not to use Extra Virgin. It's fine. [Get it from Lidl/Aldi as it is of good quality and cheap.] If you want to introduce beef or meatballs, now's the time to do it. Seal the meat [surface goes silvery grey] only and remove. If you don't want meat, leave this bit out. Put onions and garlic into the pan and put the heat to medium. Add a little salt at this point for the onions. Cover with a lid, plate, whatever. Don't let the veg burn. they need to soften. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove lid and introduce two tins of Italian plum tomatoes, watery juice included. Don't use any other tomato. While in the pan, take a sharp knife and gently cut the tomatoes up. You won't hurt your pan, as the tomatoes are very soft already. Add more salt. Get a tube of tomato concentrate and squirt as much as you want. Half a tube is fine. Stir this all in. If the pan looks a little dry, add some water. You'll cook it out anyway. Some people add red wine at this point [or at the sealing meat stage]. The only place I add it is into a glass so that I can drink it while I'm cooking. This doesn't need it. Cover with lid and leave on low heat for an hour or more. Upto a certain point, the longer the better, especially if you have meat in the sauce. Come back to check every 15-20 mins. Add water if the sauce appears to be going dry [it won't if the lid is a good seal]. After the time needed to cook the sauce [and meat if you have it], uncover [and remove the meat], Stir the sauce round, making sure there are no burnt bits or that it is overly dry in areas. Taste it, and see if it needs more salt. Don't be afraid of seasoning. Food can taste bloody awful without it, so use it. Now turn the heat up to highish and reduce the sauce. For those that don't know what that is, it is cooking some more of the water out by evaporation. Stir all the time. Reduce until you're satisfied it is think enough. Re-introduce he meat, cover and set aside. Now boil lots of water, much more than you think you need, with about 3-4 teaspoons of salt. Don't worry about the salt, it's in loads of water. Introduce a minimum of 4oz of pasta per person into the boiling water. Why a minimum..? Because they'll want seconds..! Partially cover with a lid and reduce the heat to a soft boil [bubbling water]. Occasionally stir it to stop any sticking [it shouldn't in a large amount of water] Cook until you like the texture. There's torche [some say that's just off stiff pasta], aldente [still with a bite] and cooked through. Then there's a mess in the pot. That's over cooked, so start again..! One tip - Don't waste money buying fresh pasta. Good dried pasta is every bit the equal and is how pasta should be, and historically is. Only buy fresh when there is no alternative or additives like meat or spinach in the pasta. Also generally, don't buy the ingredients [apart from the salt, I suppose] from Sainsburys, Tescos, Waitrose, etc.. as they are either of poor quality or way over priced. Don't use fresh plum tomatoes for the sauce. They don't in Italy. This is originally a poor person's dish, after all. Apologies to people who know all this. No, I didn't get the recipe from The Don but from my Italian relatives. Perhaps he'll read this and come on here..!
Can't think of anyone I would rather have as chairman, makes brilliant choices regarding the club, just feel he has a touch of class about him. Really is doing a good job imo. I doubt we will find the club making any bad choices with a natural buisnessman in charge.
Got as far as the word 'chop', then realised it might be a recipe, so dozed off. Reminds me of when Beddie tried to help me with a technical problem (though I begged him not to)..the words 'click on..' makes my eyes glaze over.
