Southampton’s meteoric rise back up through the leagues has been overseen by executive chairman Nicola Cortese – a man not afraid to make an unpopular decision but whose results speak for themselves.

Overview

Southampton’s executive chairman Nicola Cortese is certainly not in football to make friends.

The Italian banker originally masterminded a takeover of the cash strapped club in 2009 by the Swiss Liebherr family and oversaw the 2009/10 season where the Saints overcame a ten point deduction for their spell in administration to stage a late play off charge and win the Football League Trophy. Sadly, Markus Liebherr had a heart attack and died the following summer, leaving Cortese in charge of the investment.What has followed has been a ruthless, brutal management style in stark contrast to the likeable style and image of Liebherr.

It started with manager Alan Pardew, who was widely praised for getting Southampton as close as he did to the play offs in 2010, as well as securing the Wembley win. But Cortese stated publicly that for the money spent in the transfer market missing the top six was not good enough – regardless of a points deduction. He said that Norwich’s lousy start to the campaign meant they were not in a dissimilar position to Southampton after a couple of months and it seemed to grate on him that Paul Lambert subsequently took over the Canaries and they were promoted as champions. Pardew was sacked early the following season and replaced by Nigel Adkins.

Since then Cortese has thought nothing of a public spat with the club’s greatest ever player Matthew Le Tissier, and has become embroiled in a legal row with another former player Francis Benali after renting a house from the retired left back when he first moved to the country. He has banned Benali, and the local Echo newspaper, from attending Southampton home games. Imagine a chairman at QPR daring to ban Clive Wilson from Loftus Road, publicly arguing with Stan Bowles and emptying the press box of all the local newspapers.

Southampton have faced employment tribunals from several members of staff who failed to reach Cortese’s exacting standards and were therefore dismissed. Earlier this season programme sellers, some with 25 years of service, were dismissed days before a home game with Fulham by letter. He’s been rather extreme, even by the standards of QPR’s own Flavio Briatore.

But the fact that they are now playing Fulham, just two years after they hosted Hartlepool and Yeovil on this ground in league fixtures, means all this is, if not quite forgiven and forgotten, then certainly brushed to one side. Two quick fire promotions have been achieved, seemingly vindicating Cortese’s methods in the eyes of many Southampton fans.

Upon arrival back in the top flight for the first time since 2005 they spent £12m on Gaston Ramirez and £7m on Jay Rodriguez showing they meant serious business and results and performances have been impressive at times for a club that was in League One such a short period of time ago. But, having spent that money in the summer, Cortese expected better than simply survival. Despite a run of two defeats in 12 league games through the winter, starting with a 3-1 win at QPR and ending with a 2-2 draw at Chelsea when they’d trailed 2-0, Adkins was sacked and replaced with a relative unknown Mauricio Pochettino. Cortese left club captain Adam Lallana to break the news to the players and then sent Pochettino into his first press conference alone despite his lack of English.

The move provoked an outcry. Adkins has not only been hugely successful for the Saints, and his previous club Scunthorpe, but is also a thoroughly likeable and decent guy. Pundits queued up to brand it a crazy decision, typical of the modern game, and absolutely disgraceful. The Southampton fans planned a Spanish-style white hanky protest at the following home match with Everton.

That never really materialised. Why? Because Southampton, for the first half at least, absolutely tore Everton apart and should have done far better than the 0-0 draw they eventually ended up with. They were unfortunate to lose at Man Utd, unfortunate not to win rather than draw at Wigan, and then they destroyed champions Manchester City. It’s quickly become a case of Nigel who?

Cortese, who gives few interviews, said at the time of the Adkins sacking: “Maybe I need to sacrifice my popularity to get the right decision. If that’s the case I’m happy.” And so, it seems, are the Southampton fans. His attitude is lamentable, but the results have been consistently good, and so nobody cares. Never mind the quality, feel the width.

This is football. Leave your morals at the door.

Interview

We’re in the rare position of having a sister site on Fans Network for our opposition this week. We welcome Nick from The Ugly Inside who kindly gave us his views on the Saints. If you’re desperate for something to do, you can read the piece I sent the other way here.

What was your opinion of the Nigel Adkins sacking at the time it happened? What was the general mood of the Southampton fans?

Initially Saints fans were horrified at his sacking, a poll in the local paper had backed Adkins at the start of January to the tune of 85%, but a well put together PR blitz soon changed the mood of supporters and soon most had bought the party line that Adkins wasn’t good enough for the Premier and that a change needed to be made, although in fairness most still reserved judgement about the timing of the sacking.

Given the results and performances since then, has your opinion and the general mood changed since then?

Initially the performances were good and the mood improved swiftly, however after the defeat against Newcastle suddenly some are realising that the anticipated surge away from relegation hasn’t happened and that the same old problems are still resurfacing. Pochettino's first five games in charge have seen five points gained, Adkins last five saw seven, so the jury still has to be out at present. The result against QPR will go a long way to telling us whether we will get away with the timing of the sacking or whether it could cost us our Premier place.

Nicola Cortese doesn't seem like a particularly likeable, or even very reasonable guy. The results have been good since he arrived but his treatment of Le Tissier, the local press, managers etc less so. What is the general opinion of him?

Nicola Cortese runs the club on a dictatorial basis, although there is nothing new in that at football clubs. He has done many things right during his time and the sad thing is if he had embraced the clubs, history and culture he could truly be a great chairman. His problem though is he seems to feel that the past is in the past and that the only thing that matters is the future - the treatment of Le Tissier and other players has been appalling and the local press are barred from reporting on home games officially. If, as a club, we had utilised the icons like Le Tiss and harnessed the local paper then we have all the ingredients here to secure a Premiership place for many years to come.

Problem is our meteoric rise has seen many long term fans feel alienated and stop going and those that come instead may buy the shirt etc but they don’t seem to have any longevity about them. They believe the hype that we will be challenging for a top six place next season and the problem is if it doesn’t happen then they won’t be around too much longer especially if we are relegated. Judging by what I have seen of other clubs this season I don’t feel this is a trend just limited to Southampton.

Who have been the stand out performers for Southampton this season? Where are the weak links and areas that need strengthening?

Rickie Lambert has been outstanding this season and has got the headlines, but Morgan Schneiderlin and Jack Cork in the centre of midfield are the true engine room without getting the plaudits.

Our weak links are on the flanks where our wide men just can’t seem to defend and protect the full backs and in the centre of defence where, to be blunt, we are paying the price for not signing truly quality Premiership central defenders last summer.

Gaston Ramirez and Jay Rodriguez cost the best part of £20m between them last summer – is that seen as money well spent? Should we expect another big splurge this summer assuming you stay up?

At present neither have justified the cost. In the case of Jay Rodriguez he was bought to replace Lambert but Lambert has played so well he has either played out of position on the wing or, on rare occasions, alongside Lambert so hasn’t had the chance to shine much. I think that he could go on to be worth the money.

Ramirez is a different kettle of fish, when he is on form he is brilliant, but he hasn’t got the work rate for the Premier and is usually shattered by about 70 minutes and has to be subbed. Away from home especially he has been a liability at times. When we are on top in games he is a world class player, when we are on the back foot he might as well not be there. Ramirez will be world class in the right team, but at present it’s not a team at the bottom of the Premier League he needs to be in. Most Saints fans would concur that if we had spent the Ramirez money on two central defenders and a good winger we would be safely mid table by now.

The club has a famously prolific youth academy – who should we be looking out for progressing through your ranks in the next few years?

Luke Shaw is the latest, he has got into the side at left back and although he is raw he is a prodigious talent and it’s hard to believe he is still only 17. Jamie Ward Prowse is another who has seen plenty of first team action as well this season. We have a few others in the squad who may or may not make the grade in the top flight including Ben Reeves currently on loan at Southend to get experience.

Scout Report

I most recently saw Southampton in their home match with Everton, Pochettino’s first in charge. Now this isn’t great from an assessment point of view because, clearly, the manager had only been there for a couple of days and Everton are such a unique side – with their attacking threat so very lopsided in favour of the left – that teams often adopt special tactics to counter that Pienaar and Baines combination which will not be repeated against QPR.

Southampton did that to some extent, although they did line up in the 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by Pochettino and his predecessor Nigel Adkins. Their method of dealing with Everton’s left side had two main thrusts: with the ball they attacked almost exclusively down their right through Jason Puncheon and Nathaniel Clyne which forced Pienaar and Baines back to do defensive work; without the ball Jack Cork would slide over from his deep lying midfield position to add an extra obstacle and close off space. It’s clear from this match, and every other time I’ve seen the Saints this season, that Cork’s partnership with Morgan Schneiderlin at the base of the midfield is absolutely key to everything the team does well.

The goal threat is, of course, carried by Rickie Lambert who should have had a hat trick in this game and was a constant menace to Distin and Jagielka. QPR must watch for him pulling into a deep area in the penalty area and then arriving at the back post onto a cross. He’s doing it to target the smaller, weaker full backs and he’s a master at it. If Redknapp dares to start with Jose Bosingwa at right back again this weekend I can well imagine Lambert having an absolute field day.

Southampton deliberately pressed Everton extremely high up the pitch, and their work rate for the first hour was phenomenal. It was also, as it turned out, unsustainable and once they tired in the second half they were ultimately lucky not to lose the game. Since then they’ve shipped goals for fun – nine in four matches. QPR have got to match the initial tempo and work rate, and then not be afraid to actually attack a game for once. The Saints are weakest in the centre half position and Rangers could be rewarded for a more positive approach than they’ve employed of late.

Miguel Ortiz, LoftforWords’ man in Spain, is a season ticket holder at Espanyol where Pochettino was a long serving player and manager before he came to Southampton.

“C’mon You R’s give me some happiness.”

Tweet @loftforwords

Pictures – Action Images

Photo: Action Images

QPRski added 07:54 - Mar 1 I did not realise that Nicola Cortese is such a dictatororial chairman and was intrigued by the sentence "Southampton have faced employment tribunals from several members of staff who failed to reach Cortese’s exacting standards and were therefore dismissed". Has he applied this to players, or only lesser staff of programme sellers? I am sure that in "normal" business we have the evidence to terminate several players contracts due poor performance or unacceptable behaviour. Sadly, footballers contracts are not "normal".

0

TacticalR added 11:06 - Mar 1 Cortese sounds like Briatore. When I hear such stories I wonder if they are actually about success at any price, or really about monstrous egos that must pretend that history begins with them. The problem with these kind of people is that they start off believing that to be successful they must be ruthless, and end up believing that if they are being ruthless they are being successful. We know that at QPR they hollowed out the club, as they removed all the experienced people who could challenge them. Given some of the things that have happened at Southampton, and their big spending during the summer, it's surprising how little the press seem interested in Southampton. On the pitch I haven't seen enough of the Southampton team to really work them out. From what I've seen the defence is shaky, but they do have significant firepower. They looked a neat passing side at Loftus Road, and Puncheon really gave us the run around.

0

Kimbadter4 added 18:54 - Feb 28 I recently discovered this online casino https://slotscity.com/ , and I have to say, it's quickly become one of my favorites. They have some really cool slots games that are a lot of fun to play, but what really sets them apart are their tournaments. They offer some really interesting tournaments that give you the chance to win big while competing against other players. And the fact that the tournaments are really well-organized and easy to participate in makes it all the more enjoyable.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Manchester City Polls