If the news came out tomorrow that Sheik Mansour had purchased Saints and brought in Pep Guardiola to coach would all the players insist on leaving? If Cortese had accepted a bid for Shaw and he'd been offered double the wages would he in fact have stayed out of loyalty to Cortese? Or what if Cortese had merely decided to step down due to health issues instead of resigning in such a tumultuous way? To me, it's the way things went down and suddenly everything is so uncertain that both 1) Makes players unsure of where the club is going and 2) makes the club especially vulnerable so if players were maybe thinking of testing the waters this is their golden chance. Of course Cortese offered them a vision and stability and all that, not minimizing any of that. But it wasn't "Cortese's" Southampton Way. It was just the Southampton Way. It can go on without Cortese. Perhaps it will.
Looking at a discussion about swiss inheritance law the default position is for the spouse to receive half and the child(ren) to receive half. there's scope for some to be given away elsewhere but the spouse must receive a minimum of something like 25% and the child(ren) 37.5
On an irrelevant, minor and possibly controversial side-point... Katharina looks nothing like I thought she would.
Clearly just taking the piss mate. She might be lovely, either way I'm not very fond of her at the moment, try not to take my comment too seriously.
I'm not right now a fully paid-up member of the Katherina Liebherr fan club myself, but willing to be proven utterly wrong.
A few questions whizzing about in my head as I lie here... 1 - Why did Ms. Liebherr want immediate involvement? She evidently tried in the summer and took a knock back until now. She must have had a bone to pick with Cortese to bring all of this on, surely? I just hope Nicola hasn't been doing something contrary to the expectations and beliefs of the fans. 2 - How does this relate to the British Virgin Islands loans we took out? We took 2 out, from memory. One at the back end of the Championship season, and another in the Premier League (first season) - Katharina must've been aware of these? Harmless cashflow loans, or something more?
Yeah, but you gotta look at it from her side... or what could at this point be reasonably projected to be her side. If she had decided to sell the club and Cortese stayed, everyone would have thanked her for putting money into the club to get us where we are at and wished her a fond farewell. If she has decided to sell the club and Cortese is going because of it, now she's on everyone's bad side. But it's not fair for her to be a villain merely because of Cortese's choice not to continue. And why would she fire or pressure Cortese to leave simply because she's selling the club anyway? That doesn't make sense. You would think the new owner would be happy to take over a club where Cortese is at the helm, or at least be fine with having the option to sack him if they choose, and at a time when it's convenient for them. Remember, it was Cortese who resigned. He didn't get sacked. At a minimum it appears he could have stayed until the summer and then left and we'd be in better shape than we are.
The thing I'm mostly upset with her is based on the rumours that she's accepting offers for Lambert and stuff. Seems like she wants to asset strip and then sell up. May not be true, may not be rational, but **** it, it's not a rational day.
None of us have much to go on, but I'm gonna say I reckon Katharina knows what she's doing. She's a businesswoman, and a successful one at that. I read today (in the Guardian online?) that she wants to distribute power within the club more evenly. She believed that the man at the top (Cortese) help too much power, and she was uncomfortable about so many decisions going through one man. This may be what irked Cortese. This switch can perhaps already be seen as happening via the move from an Executive Chairman, to a non-Executive Chairwoman, and a Chief Executive Officer. This plan to distribute power within the club is forward-thinking, and I like it. Gone are the days when 1 sole figure rules a country, and these days are also becoming a thing of a past within business. It's inefficient and too risky for 1 man to control everything, and although it's early days, I think Katharina's move may be a step in the right direction. Obviously though, I feel nothing but love for Cortese, and wish he could have been the Chief Executive Officer. Presumably though, this role is not for him, so I thank hm for everything he's done for Southampton Football Club, and wish him all the best for the future.
Most interesting point I read in the Telegraph piece was that NC offered resignation in October (that we now know) and that actually he's just been working his notice period (whilst resisting KL's efforts to get him to change his mind). So basically this isn't as much of a shock as it feels to us.
I have no idea what to make of this one. If so, surely Pochettino et al can't be surprised? Unless Cortese kept it all secret assuming the Liebherrs would eventually break during this notice period. The brinkmanship long game.
Possibly. He may well not have told MP full stop, for whatever reasons. Curious if true though. If it is true, then surely, surely KL will have had a contingency plan in place long before this point. If she didn't, then sorry, she ain't no businesswoman.
That's what I was thinking. If this really has been going on since October, and the manager and players are as close to Nicola as reported then there's no way them or the coaching staff could have gone on for three months without so much as a whisper.
I think that part of the Telegraph may well be incorrect, unless as Dan says it's the long brinkmanship game gone sour. I believe he offered to resign in Oct, but less so the notice period part. Just doesn't quite fit for me.
What would her contingency plan be, though? If it were me I'd work mainly under the assumption that Cortese was a man of his word-- after all he's only being asked to finish out another 8 months. So I'd be looking to keep things stable, and I'd beheadhunting people who could take over in the summer which is a much better transition time than mid-season. In the meantime, I'd be looking to move authority somewhat away from Cortese since after all, he's leaving. I just don't think she would asset strip the club since the club is worth more whole than the individual assets. If she sells all the best players, the price of the club goes down much more than the worth of the players. Also... seriously-- she's worth like a zillion dollars and manages companies worth doublezillions. Is she really going to sweat 7 million pounds? Everyone here has said that while 7 million pounds is a good price for Lambert, he's actually worth more than that to the club. I can't imagine that she wouldn't realize this, or have some advisor point this out to her. How would we find someone to replace Lambert when there isn't even anyone in charge of the football side of the club right now? I still think the only reason Lambert would be sold is because Lambert has asked to go.
