Interesting Article

[Schad]

That was Cortese tho wasn't it?

Likely, if it was over last summer. But if Morgan hadn't heard anything until now to indicate that the promised move was off, it definitely explains the reaction.

 

[St George]

They've done an English translation of the whole Southampton are for sale story...

Southampton is for sale

With Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez likely to leave Saint Mary’s, Southampton’s owner Katharina Liebherr will cash in around 150 millions of Euros. Given Liebherr’s lack of interest towards the Saints, the news of her will to sell the club is not a surprise. Her entourage, and specifically Southampton’s current chairman, Ralph Krueger, are currently looking for a rich investor.

In 2011, World Economic Forum, a non-profit organization which gathers numerous influential persons in multiple fields of activity, officially welcomed a new member: Ralph Krueger. The German is a former successful hockey player and is described as a “leader” by World Economic Forum’s official website. His success went beyond sports: his book “Teamlife – Beyond Setbacks to Success” was a bestseller around the world. Earlier in 2014, he was appointed as chairman of Southampton, replacing Markus Liebherr’s former right arm man, Nicola Cortese.

Cortese was the main architect of the Southampton squad which climbed up to Premier League from League One. Nicola Cortese and Katharina Liebherr – Markus’s daughter and current owner – have had a lot of disagreements, specifically about the huge power Cortese had and used in Southampton. The Italian banker was known for being a tough negotiator. A study published by the BBC showed that between October 2012 and September 2013, Southampton only paid £2.2 millions in agent fees, ranking the Saints in the 17th spot, far behind Chelsea (£13.7M) or even Newcastle (£7.2M).

Cortese was omnipotent in Southampton and deeply wanted the club to reach aim and higher. He was willing to keep the key players at Saint Mary’s and even wanted to convince Pochettino to stay. These objectives did not match Katharina Liebherr’s.

Despite being some kind of a dictator, everything was running perfectly fine under Nicola Cortese’s presidency at Southampton.

Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s former general manager, was appointed to probe the market. The English businessman is the co-founder of MidOcean Partners, an American firm specialized in buyouts, sales and capital increases. Though, he does not seem to be involved in Southampton anymore.

Even though Cortese somehow tried and failed to buy the club back shortly after his resignation, Katharina Liebherr was not willing to sell to him. She decided to appoint Liverpool’s former general manager Christian Purslow to softly probe the market for a buyout. Purslow is a well-known businessman and is the co-founder of an American firm specialized in buyouts, sales and capital increases. The firm value is estimated around 3 billion dollars and has invested money everywhere. It was not surprising that Purslow, whom Gary Neville called “a clueless fool”, managed to get a £80M four-year contract with Standard Chartered Bank for the Liverpool’s shirt sponsoring…

Though, Purslow researches were not successful. A specialist in English club buyouts explains: “On the market, everybody knows Southampton is for sale. The strategy is simple: Southampton needs to have a good treasury since they had a lot of loans and debts before. They also need to reinforce the team without investing too much money in order to maintain the stability of the club and attract potential buyers”

“Mandaric did the same with Sheffield Wednesday. It’s not officially for sale, but informally it is. Aston Villa did the opposite and see where they are now: nobody is interested in them. In the business world, you need to be discrete and not to show when you are weak. If you publicly explain that you want to sell and that not everything is okay, either you get scammers; either you get people who will try to lower the price, just like it happened with Reading. Southampton understood that very clearly. Recently, there have been contacts with foreign investors. The sale of multiple players was a successful hint for them.”

“Krueger perfectly assimilated the way to work rich people with a big ego. These people like to wipe everything out, start again and take full control so they can take the pride if it works out. Here, he is handling this incredibly well.”

“It’s an enrichment strategy, of course, but it’s also a way to attract the egocentric buyer. One of my friends was involved in negotiations with Krueger before. This guy is a shark; he does not let you breathe. His nerves are unbreakable. He has completely assimilated the way rich people with a lot of ego work. They like to wipe everything out, start over and take full control so they can take the pride if it succeeds. Here, it’s perfect.

Tottenham bid for Schneiderlin some time ago

Logically, Southampton follows the same strategy with its (former) key players. They do not talk much but they negotiate hard. Following Pochettino’s leave to Spurs, the Saints planned no to send any player there, even if it meant let a few millions go away. Though, Tottenham were the only one to show some interest in Jay Rodriguez. Rodriguez, bought for £7M from Burnley in 2012, was completely forgotten by Adkins, only to become later one of Pochettino’s key players, ending up missing the World Cup because of an injury. The Argentinian coach turned J.Rod into a brand new player. Thus, Rodriguez has a very strong bond to Pochettino, just like Morgan Schneiderlin.

The Frenchman never missed an opportunity to claim his respect for Pochettino (cf. our interview). “He’s a man of details, really. I remember that at the beginning, he was showing us that a meter or even less than a meter could prevent a pass in the midfield. By making one or two steps or simply bending over, you could put your opponent in a difficult position”, he said to me about the former Parisian defender. Tottenham bid for Schneiderlin some days ago, as we told you in our podcast last Thursday.

As for Arsenal, they are also interested in the Frenchman. The Gunners were scouting him in Strasbourg in 2008, before he moved to the South Coast. Olivier Giroud and his teammates even gently pushed him to join them during the World Cup. We do not know whether Arsenal made a concrete offer to Southampton, but we can confirm that Arsenal, Morgan Schneiderlin and his agent have had contacts.

Virgil van Dijk is being chased by multiple Premier League clubs. The Dutchman was brilliant since his arrival at Celtic Park last year. He is the Bhoys defensive leader and has way more influence than Efe Ambrose.

Celtic’s Forster and van Dijk are the main targets

When it comes to new players, Ronald Koeman is a big fan of Virgil van Dijk (23 years old), the Celtic’s central defender. An offer has already been made, and same goes for the Bhoys’ goalkeeper Fraser Forster (26 years old). Though, the £3.5M offer for the latter has been – rightfully – called “derisory” by the Hoops. With the recent signing of Craig Gordon, it is legitimate to think that the sale of Fraser Forster is something Celtic anticipated.

About van Dijk, Celtic is going to do whatever it takes to keep him. The defender was left out the Dutch squad for the World Cup for an unknown reason given his skills (anticipation, technique, aerial timing, strenght, composure…). If the Scots make it to the group stages of the Champions League, it will be hard to lure him away. If they don’t – or if the Saints offer £10M – he will be at Saint Mary’s next year. The Bhoys, with their tiny budget of a Championship club, will then have trouble refusing the money…

Southampton scouts have also been watching Emilio Izaguirre (28 years old) for months. The Honduran left-back is currently playing at…Celtic. No offer has been made yet given that Koeman is focused on Jetro Willems (20 years old left-back from PSV) at the moment. Southampton Academy’s Matt Targett (18 years old) will be a full member of the squad this year as well. The young left-back has been playing in England U19 for a while now after wearing the Scottish jersey in his early years. Many big English clubs are already laying eyes on him.

Finally, the Papy Djilobodji (26 years old, center-back) lead is not dead yet: the directors have had a meeting with his agent recently. Though, the Nantes defender remains a secondary target for the Saints.

 

[Joe!]

I want to like this Romain Molina fella because he keeps telling me I'm right. But who is he?

 

[Beef]

I want to like this Romain Molina fella because he keeps telling me I'm right. But who is he?

A friend of Morgan.

 

[Puck]

I wondered the same thing. French journalist. Did an interview with Schneiderlin at the end of last year. Possibly his friend, I dunno.

Link to Schneiderlin interview: http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/232770-L-Equipe-Interview-with-Morgan-Schneiderlin-by-Romain-Molina

Interview with Molina from some blog: http://weonlysingwhenwerewinning.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/an-interview-with-french-free-lance-journalist-romain-molina/

 

[monty987]

It spells disaster for Soton, you will be certs for relegation if the manager does not act, but who will go to your club ?, what will the owner be saying in 10 months time ?. You had world class players and could have been pushing for a top 4 place, with a couple of extra players.

 

[......loading......]

It spells disaster for Soton, you will be certs for relegation if the manager does not act, but who will go to your club ?, what will the owner be saying in 10 months time ?. You had world class players and could have been pushing for a top 4 place, with a couple of extra players.

It is worth waiting to see what happens. I am sure you know that this story is not as simple as some elements of the press and idiots on twitter make it out to be.

 

[Piebacca]

I am sure you know that this story is not as simple as some elements of the press and idiots on twitter make it out to be.

Don't hold your breath.

 

[A Touch of Clas]

Why should I? The ideas being peddled here are that any club that finishes 8th will lose most of the first team, that losing all those players is inevitable, that the board could do nothing about it and that this happens all the time. Which just isn't true. To paraphrase Friends:

It's NOT that common, it DOESN'T happen to every club and it IS a big deal.

In recent years Newcastle, Villa, West Brom, Fulham and us last season are teams who have finished 8th or above in recent memory. They've also had their best players sold and been worse off for it. Newcastle have steadied fairly well but are a pretty big club anyway. But look at the other three, relegation battles or relegation. I don't think we will be like that because we have a decent squad and are reinvesting the money. But there is definitely a glass ceiling and when you hit that the big clubs swoop for your best players. It's like a food chain.

 

[ImpSaint]

Molina, who is very close to Schneiderlin is claiming that Morgan was promised a move this summer if a big offer came, having agreed to stay last summer.

But Molina is trying to stay we have 'broken a promise'. Have we? What amount would we consider a big offer for Morgan? And what offers have we received? From all the paper talk it seems Arsenal were valuing him something around the £15m -£20m mark and we all know Levy tries to penny pinch. I doubt we have had any 'inflated' offer for Morgan which is probably the crux of the matter.

 

[Puck]

In recent years Newcastle, Villa, West Brom, Fulham and us last season are teams who have finished 8th or above in recent memory. They've also had their best players sold and been worse off for it. Newcastle have steadied fairly well but are a pretty big club anyway. But look at the other three, relegation battles or relegation. I don't think we will be like that because we have a decent squad and are reinvesting the money. But there is definitely a glass ceiling and when you hit that the big clubs swoop for your best players. It's like a food chain.

I'm not suggesting clubs never lose players. Of course they do. None of those clubs lost as many players in the summer after a good finish as we have though.

Fulham sustained good positions for a few years but each season failed to really replace the one or two players they did lose and eventually that told. Newcastle suffered because their relatively small squad couldn't sustain league form and a European campaign and then had to sell some players. West Brom were in something of a false position anyway because they had Lukaku banging in loads of goals for them and he wasn't really their player. Villa was a while ago but from memory I think it was some sort of mix between Newcastle and Fulham (I should be asleep so I'm not looking it up).

None of them sold half their first team the summer after their best finish.

 

[- Doing The Lambert Walk]

I'm not suggesting clubs never lose players. Of course they do. None of those clubs lost as many players in the summer after a good finish as we have though.

Fulham sustained good positions for a few years but each season failed to really replace the one or two players they did lose and eventually that told. Newcastle suffered because their relatively small squad couldn't sustain league form and a European campaign and then had to sell some players. West Brom were in something of a false position anyway because they had Lukaku banging in loads of goals for them and he wasn't really their player. Villa was a while ago but from memory I think it was some sort of mix between Newcastle and Fulham (I should be asleep so I'm not looking it up).

None of them sold half their first team the summer after their best finish.

To be fair, none of those clubs saw their chairman walk out, the total boardroom make-up change and their manager agree to take another job whilst still in the hot-seat of his current club. Nor did they probably have any of the resulting dressing room mutiny and opportunism that was caused by the boardroom transition.

So yes, it is unprecedented.

Simply put, a lot of **** hit the fan at once. Causing more **** to hit the fan. Resulting in the fan failing to work, due to being full of ****.

 

[fatletiss]

That was Cortese tho wasn't it?

Couldn't possibly be. Surely not?

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

So Cortese made a promise...he's not here, is he? As they say, verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they are written on. And things change, 5 top players leaving meant Saints hit the tipping point.

 

[Puck]

To be fair, none of those clubs saw their chairman walk out, the total boardroom make-up change and their manager agree to take another job whilst still in the hot-seat of his current club. Nor did they probably have any of the resulting dressing room mutiny and opportunism that was caused by the boardroom transition.

So yes, it is unprecedented.

Simply put, a lot of s**t hit the fan at once. Causing more s**t to hit the fan. Resulting in the fan failing to work, due to being full of s**t.

Agreed. That's hardly a good thing though.

Cortese didn't just wake up one morning and quit, it seems pretty much accepted by everyone that he refused to accept a lesser position when his original position was done away with. So for me this mess is of Katharina's making.

Could things have been worse if she hadn't done what she did? Perhaps. We may never know though and it's fairly pointless speculating on what might have happened. What has happened is that the owner removed the chairman and (directly or indirectly) that's triggered an unprecedented number of departures.

 

[......loading......]

Agreed. That's hardly a good thing though.

Cortese didn't just wake up one morning and quit, it seems pretty much accepted by everyone that he refused to accept a lesser position when his original position was done away with. So for me this mess is of Katharina's making.

Could things have been worse if she hadn't done what she did? Perhaps. We may never know though and it's fairly pointless speculating on what might have happened. What has happened is that the owner removed the chairman and (directly or indirectly) that's triggered an unprecedented number of departures.

Not quite. He was not done away with. He quit. He could have compromised to protect the project, but refused.

 

[Puck]

Not quite. He was not done away with. He quit. He could have compromised to protect the project, but refused.

No. His job was effectively deleted. Nobody is currently doing what he did before. That role no longer exists. He was offered a lesser position (Krueger's role, or similar) which he chose not to accept.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

Nicola occupied a position usually reserved for owners. Dictatorships can work and he clearly showed it did, but eventually the dictator is called out by somebody. The Don probably left before things went pear-shaped...they didn't go pear-shaped because he left. His reputation as an achiever is intact...he got us here, but is probably not the right man for the boring but essential stuff of stabilisation and careful improvement. The new board has to prove they are the right ones.

 

[......loading......]

No. His job was effectively deleted. Nobody is currently doing what he did before. That role no longer exists. He was offered a lesser position (Krueger's role, or similar) which he chose not to accept.

Still a choice. You can't paint the man as a hero if he would not compromise to keep Saints going. If he believed the club might fall apart without him, which he did, then he should have given the new set up a try. However, that didn't fit with his ego. Great men sacrifice for the greater good.

 

[Lff]

I'm going to be such a smug c**t about this. Sorry in advance.

I know you've been suggesting that a sale is on the cards for sometime but I really don't really get it.

I can clearly see KL from where I sit and the enjoyment she appears to get from the games is obvious. Now, I realise that that is no proof at all but I've always had the feeling that her actions over Cortese etc was about her getting more control over the business so she could run it more effectively, not so she could sell it.

We shall see.