x

Saints To Name Cortese Replacement Today

According to media sources Katharina Liebherr is about to appoint Nicola ortese's successor to the job of running Southampton Football Club on a day to day basis.

Saints have been in limbo over the last couple of months since Cortese's shock departure, to her credit Katharina Liebherr hasn't pressed the panic button but has sat tight and looked at all her options whilst making sure that she is clearly seen at the helm of the ship herself.

According to the Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson she is about to name the new man for the position, Wilson himself being an ex Daily Echo reporter could be said to have an ear to the ground when it comes to happenings at St Mary's

The man who is set to take over responsibility for running the club is Ralph Krueger the 54 year old Canadian born German who has recently been involved with Canada's Ice Hockey team at the winter olympic's.

Although Krueger has never worked in football he is known for his business brain when involved with sports teams, he has publicly stated that he does not intend to get involved with the playing side of things, leaving that to Mauricio Pochettino but to run the club in all its departments.

This looks to be a good piece of corporate governance from Katharina Liebherr, she will presumably remain at the head of the club to oversee Krueger's running of it, but day to day it will be down to the Canadian/German to make all the decisions.

He seems to see his role as making sure all the heads of department do their job whilst he keeps the business rolling.

This is just what we didnt have under Cortese who wanted to make the decisions in each and every area of the business, this was far too hands on and meant that a series of departmental heads who previously had worked in similar positions found their position at Saints untenable within a very short period of time and left, hopefully Krueger will now bring some stability to the club and we can prosper in the areas that football fans dont really care about, but in reality are crucial if a football club is to survive.

These are the areas that brought down Cortese with the Liebherr's, whilst the fans only looked at the league positions, Katharina Liebherr was wondering why the alleged £25 million that she was having to invest in the club to upgrade the training ground, was not seeing any real progress with work on it delayed time and time again and her access to the books being blocked.

Likewise the commercial side of things why were so many highly regarded people leaving the club whilst their was no real corporate income coming in in terms of advertising and sponsorship, again not things fans care about, but if you are running a business its about utilising every income stream.

Hopefully now we will see a period of more transparency at the club, it will be run as a business and it will once again embrace the local business community who will once again pour good money into the corporate areas and advertising, money that can be re invested into the club to buy players etc.

What to read next:

Southampton At Leeds United The Verdict
Saints finished the season with a flourish, to give hope that they can go into the play offs with discipline & organisation as well as the confidence that they can beat anyone that they meet.
Leeds United 1 - 2 Southampton - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Saints Announce Ticket Pricing Information For Play Off Semi Final
The opponents won't be known until Saturday afternoon, but Southampton FC have announced their ticket pricing structure and how the tickets will be sold to give supporters plenty of time to sort their tickets out.
Time For The Spirit Of Southampton Football Club
Recent months have seen a number of events and issues divide opinion and split the supporter base but as we head towards the play offs it is time for everyone at Saints to kick in the same direction.
Should Russell Martin Put Out Another Reserve Side For Leeds United Trip
Against Stoke City Russell martin selected a side that was very much a second string line up, with the play offs looming should the manager repeat this for the trip to take on Leeds on Saturday.
A Rough Guide To Leeds United
A big big game for just Leeds now, although by Saturday the odds on them going up automatically might have changed slightly so here is all the info for those travelling Saints fans who are still going,
Southampton Should Not Fear Anyone In The Play Offs.
The hope of getting back into the Premier League automatically has long gone, but the season is not yet over and we now have a good chance of getting to Wembley and going up through the play offs, here we look at who we could meet.
Southampton V Stoke City The Verdict
This should have been a celebratory day for Saints fans, there should have been a feeling of positivity, but the truth is that the fight has been knocked out of the supporter base and we go into the play offs with confidence both on and off the pitch at a low ebb.
Southampton 0 - 1 Stoke City - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Saints V Stoke City A Look Back In Pictures 2
In the second part of our pictorial look back at some of our games against Stoke City from the past, here we look back at more recent games, so most of you would have been at them.