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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More than half way through transfer window. Not interested in a deid club
Interested if we are going to change our awefull striker policy which has left us with numerous forwards and twenty goals a season between the lot of them
This shambles of cheap non scoring forwards is costing our club a fortune
Ship them out and bring in one goalscorer please
I had high hopes for brian bowman after reading about him on hun media. I thought he might be the educated hun to rival some of our excellent and more eloquent writers.
However, after reading a zombie media thread about him on which he directly answers his hun detractors I conclude he’s obviously just another thick hun twat.
Nice to know some things never, ever change and that their turmoil continues unabated.
Close the big hoose and bulldoze it into the Clyde, its the only way to be certain.
TBJ, never mind the Austrians, did the wee huns ever get the Wallace money?
Remember, they don’t do paying their way.
Hope you’re well bruv.
Sydneytim
It’s certainly a very unusual situation that any Celtic side has such a poor record of goals from forwards, and I agree it should be a priority in January to sort it out, especially with the tricky ( and lucrative) CL qualifiers closing in on us again. League goals records, Stokesy 6, Sammy 4 being overshadowed by Kris commons’ 12 is concerning.
So, whilst I agree we need to get a scorer in ( and I think we will), the addition of Johansen is also a welcome addition for me, because I’m not sure if many bhoys realise, but Izzy with 7 has the most assists this season, suggesting the midfield needed improving as well. Stefan had the most assists in Norwegian football last year, so I am pleased that at least one area of concern has been recognised. Sort out the striker position, as you say, and we should be much better prepared for the summer.
With big Fra, Virgil, the new bhoy already in place, a good striker would give us strength throughout the spine of the team.
According to the Daily Mail, Sevco are to make £300,000 from a £600,000 sell-on clause for Everton’s sale of Jelavic to Hull, after having come to an agreement with BDO that all such sums would be split between the newco and the liquidation estate.
So , players who didn’t want to TUPE over to the NEW club were free to leave the OLD club but the NEW club get a slice of the sell on fee for a player who never played for the NEW club ???????
WTF
Is it just me ?
Remember the old saying:
You can fool some of the people all of the time, you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Do you think the author of that quote had ever met a Hun?
Acgr
Pretty sure I read somewhere that hertz settled for a fraction of the outstanding money owed
From the front page of the Herald sports section. By Richard Wilson (age 7, it should say…)
‘The first months of the year are also the toughest, since season ticket money tends to have been spent. ‘
Now I’m no financial whizz but….. Reckon the latest bloke, Mr Nash is coming in cos none of the rest could find the ’12’ button on their toy town calculators to let them do monthly forecasts for a whole year?!?!?
LMFAO CSC
HH jamesgang
Morning lads
Lennybhoy three admins in a row is a distinct possibility
Here they go 3in a row
Auldheid ah think am in love , every time a see yir posts
Ma heart misses a beat and a butterflies in ma tummy lol
Keep up the good work ….Ps if you know all this stuff about
them , then PL will , maybe the reason he’s keeping sshhtumm ;))
This oldco/newco carry on is like the hokey cokey. Am thoroughly enjoying my jelly & equis ice cream for breakfast this morning. I cant believe the same splurging of cash that bank rupted the previous club has done the same to newco. Someone here used to write stupid huns at the end of their post how very apt!
Correct me if am wrong, but surely the money for jellyvic should go to the creditors of oldco since he was contracted to them when sold.
This rabble have nae shame.
Big sean.
Doc
The ‘author’ was Robert Nesta Marley. Bob. He met many but called them Crazy Baldheads!
And the very man who bumped into Dixie Deans and started asking him about the Hoops. A mighty fine footballer by all accounts….accounts, don’t you just love that word!!!
TuffGongCSC
HH jamesgang
I’m trying hard to work this one out as well, surely this isn’t right.
fourgreenfields
08:41 on 17 January, 2014
So , players who didn’t want to TUPE over to the NEW club were free to leave the OLD club but the NEW club get a slice of the sell on fee for a player who never played for the NEW club ???????
WTF
Is it just me ?
Paolosboots, Oldco were stupid, this lot, stoopid, stoopid Sevcovians.
No white charger on the horizon to rescue them.
Wee shame.
On them of course, not for.
HiHo.
The Ranjurs are singlehandedly rewriting stock market terminology.
Bear – what your bank account will be soon after investment
Bull – what you will be fed
A wee geography question for you
Q. What’s the capital of Ibrox?
A. About a fiver.
FGF, TD67, the money from the Jelavic sale will go to RFC In liquidation, not Sevco, BDO will be monitoring that.
Laters.
tbj praying for oscar knox
08:53 on 17 January, 2014
Acgr
Pretty sure I read somewhere that hertz settled for a fraction of the outstanding money owed
Your right, the Huns boxed them into a corner, cause the state they where in they had to take the second offer, I think it was Green who was in charge then.
Greendreamz….
Absolutely bang on sir,in a statement of only three words.
We can pontificate on Newco /Oldco /Newclub/Oldclub/Company/Club/Clumpany….until the big fat coos come hame…..
We could construct a 50000 word dissertation on the obfuscating,cheating bassas and who owns their ermmmmm…..assets.
It only requires any professional, competent body to do one thing……
Follow the Money………Simple.
Who says men can’t multitask? Unlike some posters I would like to see a striker brought in and I am enjoying Financial Disaster II
Morning all.
And what a beautiful morning it is!!
For anyone who missed it or just wants another wee laff here’s the link SSB on radio snyde from last night.
http://www.clyde1.com/on-air/superscoreboard/listen-again/
Fill yer boots bhoys and ghirls! :oD
HH
/Bishop B
sean thornton
09:02 on 17 January, 2014
Correct…..they can’t refuse to pay creditor’s because they are a new club (the joke of the century) and then claim money that is die to BDO for creditors
Won’t happen…….deluded bhuns
Went for a pint on way home last night.. the pub I drink in has celtic and sevco ends.
We had such a laugh … the sevconians went home to watch corrie I think.
It is a wee shame watching the loud mouthed loadsamoney bullies withdraw ;).
Die = due……..I think….hahahaha
If there was any chance of newco getting any slice of oldco cash they would have got some setanta money.
cant see them getting anything for Jelavic.
they liquidated:))
TD67.
The games but bent ma friend.
As for your earlier comment on n patey,
A can’t speak for his professional ability but for everyone on here who has commented on his allegiance to a club, I can state categorically he is not one of THEM.
big sean.
doc
09:10 on 17 January, 2014
FGF, TD67, the money from the Jelavic sale will go to RFC In liquidation, not Sevco, BDO will be monitoring that.
Laters.
Now that would make sense .
HH
ryecatcher
09:12 on 17 January, 2014
I’ve been saying that all along to anyone who will listen……this is all about money, and noone is going to invest in a busted flush like oldco / newco UNLESS THEY ARE SPIVS, OUT TO BLEED THEM DRY….and I include ming in that….if he doesn’t see a profit at the end of the tunnel, he will not invest one (tax avoidance) penny….
leftclick together we will get justice for the dam 5
09:21 on 17 January, 2014
A very good point .
HH
Tbj
Enjoy you king weekend
I love this stuff when thems have all the headlines on CQN, I also take note of the posters, and also the ones that are missing, I kind of do my own evaluation of lurking Huns, and of course Tims that just like moaning (they’re ok) you should see the results of my theory, of course they are not for public display, as it is for my eyes only, so lurking Huns, I know who you are, so GIRUYs, ;))
TBJ Praying for Oscar Knox
I now have a mental picture of ra peepul used to ganging up on people and waving tenner skulking oooot the pub with the laughter of Tims ringing in their raging ears heads down shoulders drooped wae there empty pockets turned out.
Thank you that will start my day off just fine.
Was up for rolls earlier and shouted after one if yous hadn’t spent money on Jon Daly maybe big jigs wages would be safe:))
You could see the sound of my voice connect with his groin from 20 yards away :)))
Ticketus
Tocketus
TD67, fat ally demand you cut and paste the names of all lurking huns!!
Off to work in my green and white striped shirt.
This will be fun :-)
Just a question, if due anything on sale of Jelavic, would it not be a percentage on money over and above what Everton paid ? And not on full value.
Would be had I done the deal for Everton
Hail Hail, enjoy your day Bhoys and ghirls
tonydonnelly67
09:28 on 17 January, 2014
Ha! Ha! Smoke ’em out!
As long as you don’t start a list!
BT
Drop me a text. . Lost your number.
Lefty
Must admit. . When I paid for my pint I pulled out a wad of twenty and peeled one off ;)
Needless to say… I didnt stop at one pint.
The barmaid didnt really get my humour when I shouted across the bar ” do you have any jelly and ice cream on sale tonight”
Cowiebhoy
Your a bad mhan ;).