I've been hugely impressed by Cortese, during his time at Saints. To me, Nicola deserves every bit as much recognition as Markus Liebherr because they came as a team. One provided the money, the other provided the know-how. Sadly, Markus is not around to enjoy the rewards of success, but Nicola is driving it all on. And really, it has been Cortese's dream all along. He may have convinced Markus that Saints were an ideal and rewarding business to invest in, but as he has said in the past, it was never a financial decision. It was always done for fun. After initial little issues with the media, and sadly, with a minority of fans in his dealings with Pardew, and the changes he made to the setup at Saints, he has learned where to position himself and it has all been good news since then. He has got Saints positioned and pointing in the best condition and direction this particular fan has even known.
Being a Saints fan, there is always a small part of me which wonders how long it can all last. But Cortese is a young man, and he reckons he's going to be around for bloody years, and I say amen to that. On to a successful future.