Yesterday, Southampton’s chairman Nicola Cortese resigned. Depending on how long you have been trailing this story, he is either being tempted to take up the chef exec job at struggling Milan, or has found working under owner Katharine Liebharr too much. It’s also possible that Ms Liebharr has insisted on a return on her family’s two rounds of investment in the club and forced his hand.
Five years ago Cortese was a working in Switzerland as a banker and acted on behalf of the now-deceased and father of Katharine, Markus Liebharr. They successfully put a deal together to buy Southampton FC and rescue the club from administration (liquidation is not inevitable, some clubs survive). Cortese had no previous experience in the football industry.
Southampton are a small club who seem cursed to produce incredibly talented youth players, only to see extraordinarily bad executives spurn their bounty. I remember writing about their ‘blood on the boardroom carpet’ six years ago.
A year ago this Saturday, Cortese sacked Nigel Atkins, the manager who won them two successive promotions and put them in a comfortable position on the FA Premier League. Cortese was to 2013 what Vincent Tan is to 2014, the butt of a thousand jokes, but none of us were reading the script.
Cortese’ next move was to appoint Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, the 40-year-old recently sacked manager of Espanyol. Southampton haven’t looked back, despite the words “Hooiveld” and “Fox” regularly featuring on team sheets.
Pochettino is now one of the hottest properties in football but he’s not the story, his former boss is. In appointing a young, low-profile, manager, Cortese tackled square-on the biggest problem in football – the vast risk invested on the shoulders of one man, the manager. A football manager is expected to be a master of tactics, a motivational dressing room speaker, a media communications expert, a scout and pretty much guru of everything.
None of them are good at all of this. As a consequence, clubs invest vast proportions of turnover on player wages and transfers, with haphazard diligence being carried out. The man ultimately responsible for approving this spend is more likely to be a shouty media darling, spending an average of 2.5 years at the club, than someone who has experience of long-term strategic planning.
Cortese figured that what he really needed in a manager was a tactical head, someone who could run a technical team, consulting with scouts, coaches, nutritionists and fitness trainers, and come up with what American football teams call a playbook. You want to play at Old Trafford? This is what worked when small teams visited the Bernabeu last season. Playing teams’ taller/faster/luckier with referees than you? You’ve got to see how these guys are leveling the playing field in Uruguay.
Football clubs need their manager to be Master of Tactics, and if they can concentrate him on this, they’re doing better than 90% of clubs in the game. They don’t need someone ‘connected’ to agents in value markets, this attribute can be recruited easily. They don’t need a good media talker. Despite being able to speak English, Pochettino gives press conferences through an interpreter. Yet the fans love him!
Clubs don’t need someone to play to the galleries, or someone with the ability to induce affinity from his public, most of the time results will keep (most) fans onside.
With his technically-proficient and happy-to-be-working-anywhere manager installed, Cortese had all operations working as he wanted, including the inordinately expensive recruitment process. Sacking a good and successful manager in Atkins was the most ballsy and innovative thing to happen in English football in decades, but he was operating in an industry which is the biggest financial basket case in sport. So, despite his clarity of vision, the Southampton gig was never going to last.
Today’s newspapers predict a mass exodus as Pochettino and Southampton’s gifted players head for the exit, good news for Joos and Danny, perhaps, but you feel for the beleaguered fans, who were shown a glimpse of how things should be done, but for years will wonder, what could have been?
The rest of us can ponder the opportunity available due to entrenched inefficiencies in football.
“You should always have pressure on you”, Stefan Johansen, 15 January 2014. I like this guy already.
Last shout for North America based Celtic fans for the Feile, which starts in Philidelphia tomorrow. Full details of the events can be found here. it’s bound to be a great weekend so get along if you can.
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macanbheatha Oscar Abú
20:01 on 16 January, 2014
Roger Lloyd Peck RIP
It was only a few months ago that after 25yrs a fella who frequents our local club stopped calling me Seamy (which is not my name}
We would be standing at the bar and he within earshot could hear people around me calling me by my given name but still insisted on addressing me as Seamy. As with the Trigger character it became a running joke with in the club.
A few months ago he called me over and said
“You don’t call you Seamy do you?” Obviously I said no.
“ Won’t happen again mate” says he, and walks off without as much as reddner
I still don’t know who put him right
LMFAAAAO
DJBEE
classic!
If Fat Sally took a 15% paycut, would that amount spread across the players’ wages not make up for their own 15%?
C’mon, Sally, take one for the team… ;))
Why are Neganon2 / KevJ not on celebrating with the rest of us tonight…?.mmmm are they?
TET you have mail
has seamy been in tonight ?
Malt of the month in ole bt home is?
sandman
20:25 on 16 January, 2014
Is that a 15% cut to his 50% cut…….what will the pie manufacturers do….?? …… This is not going to end well for sally…..believe meeeeeehehehehehehehehe
If Dave King is the answer what the f**k is the question?
Anybody who can put up the posts from FF would be appreciated. Funny as. There’s a guy on twitter called Vidmar FF. Is that Dingwall ? He’s very negative tonight.
leftclick Together we will get justice for the Dam 5
I’ve just spewed tea all over myself. That was a class post.
Can anyone help with a bit of whataboutery I read on another site. Posters are claiming that Hearts and Dundee both liquidated early in the 20th century (1905 quoted for Hearts) but continued with their history intact.
Anyone know anything about this?
setting free the bears supports Res. 12 & Oscar Knox
Continued history means a 25 point penalty (in Admin) and Dunfermline top of the league. The squirming will be so funny.
https://twitter.com/rhilox
Don’t know if this will work or he has double tinfoiled his napper.
Naw didn’t work I will try again
Big Nan
What is a Tax swindler ?
https://twitter.com/rhilox
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
20:30 on
16 January, 2014
Malt of the month in ole bt home is?
Fictional! There’s no way a bottle of malt would last a full 4 weeks! Well, it wouldn’t in my place at any rate…
Off to watch the Barca game now…….leave you with how I feel tonight…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM&sns=em
Hear when Ian durrant was asked to take a 15% cut he said – no way that’s half my wages
notthebus
20:38 on 16 January, 2014
Big Nan
What is a Tax swindler ?
…………………………..
You forgot the: “glib and shameless liar, and convicted criminal and” before the a
DJBEE
If at 1st you dont succeed :))
Sorry not working, I do apologise just trying to link tinfoilheeds ramblings.
tomtheleedstim
20:05 on 16 January, 2014
If I was a gifted Sevco stalwart like errrrm……Black, I’d be telling them to get to……..I’d be declining their kind offer as well.
You’d could put a bet on it too!
Natknow.
I maybe a jake in the boozer but at home I savour my malts. . O)
The Exiled Tim
Just seen this on TSFM
——–
Refuse to listen to Clyde SSB? Me too. But just found out you can watch the pain! http://www.clyde1.com/on-air/superscoreboard/live-stream/
—————-
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
20:43 on
16 January, 2014
Natknow.
I maybe a jake in the boozer but at home I savour my malts. . O)
:-)
I think I might be a jake in either place – not sure as I’m never conscious enough to gather the evidence!
Baca bing
Genious lol
Just to rub salt in the wounds , Hearts to make offer for Rangers players …
Just read Alastair Lamont’s latest.
The saving grace for Sevco:
In July, Rangers posted a £14m operating loss over a 13-month period, although the club has no bank debt.
No bank debt, wooppeeee.
Only because no bank would lend them a penny!
SFTB, Hibernian did. The 1875 date is for the first club. As far as history goes, it has been a matter of dispute ever since. No info on Dundee or Hearts.
Balvennie double wood 12yo wins.
!!bada bing!!
20:40 on 16 January, 2014
Hahahahahahaha….brilliant…
Ha, looks like the hedge funds have found a hole in the football club bits’ finances after all this time. My guess is that they will now try and recover their losses. These city guys were caught nappin whilst the legneds were raiding the piggy bank and signing players.
Denis the menace scarfs won’t work this time (chortle, chortle, gafaw, gafaw)
HH
Set me right lads- are they deed?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BeIHtHkCYAAGgAX.jpg
Anyone remember these two?
What the sceptic tanks call collateral damage,last seen signing on in a JS+ near Wodoikno Wodoikno
Auldheid – CST email stated meeting on Wednesday 22nd?
Thanks Paul.
I did not know about Hibs but the whatabouterists in Sevcoland were stating that Hearts had a limited liability company that liquidated without impact on sporting continuity around 1905. They also dragged Dundee into the mix.
I see, however, that Southampton have announced that Maurice Tinypockets will stay on as their manager.
Stairheedrammy
20:49 on 16 January, 2014
Set me right lads- are they deed?
No they ain’t dead yet but I do hear them as they chant “walkin’ the mile, walkin’ the mile, walkin’ the green mile…”