If any Saints fan was unsure of whether ex Chairman Nicola Cortese has the best interests of Southampton Football Club at heart, they now know the answer.
There is an old saying that if you can't say anything good, then don't say anything at all, this old adage does not seem to translate into Italian very well judging by Nicola Cortese's interview published on the BBC Website this morning.
Only a brief piece Im told a prelude to a bigger one to be aired later, never the less it makes statements that are clearly designed to make sure that Katharina Liebherr and her new board cannot get on with the job of running the club without the spectre of Cortese hanging over their heads, something he is clearly determined to make sure happens.
It is not so much an interview but a bragging session as evidenced by this snippet from the BBC Interview.
"Cortese, who took charge of Southampton in 2009 when they were in League One, said he was confident none of his players would have left if he had still been chairman and was never worried about losing star names."
That is clearly trying to set a benchmark for Ralph Krueger and his board, the inference is clear, if they sell one player thats one more than Cortese would have let go.
His next statement clarifys that
"We created those talents," he told BBC Sport.
"It was key to keep them.
"You don't produce them just to sell, otherwise you give away your ambition."
Again the inference is clear, he had ambition he would have kept them, if even one goes then Katharina Liebherr doesnt have the same ambition.
However he doesn't let facts get in the way of his viewpoint when it comes to his viewpoint of just how great he was as Chairman of Saints, just who the "WE" who created those talents is not clear, but of the home grown players heavily linkied with a move, only Luke Shaw was not a first team player before Cortese arrived.
"I didn't have written offers, but I obviously had phone calls. My answer was that it was not going to happen for at least the next two seasons. The other chairmen respected that. Until the day I left, there were no offers."
This contradicts the view of Neil Ashton who earlier in the week in a gushing pro Cortese piece recounts how the then Saints Chairman ripped up a written transfer offer in front of a young player to dramatically emphasise that he Cortese would not listen to offers, strange that Ashton should think that he had recieved those offers.
Was Cortese really so arrogant that he thought his word alone would be enough to keep at bay the biggest club's in the land if they wanted any of our players,as we have seen countless times even at the biggest club's, if a player wants away then there is little a club can do to stop it.
What that statement does show though is that Cortese is talking a good talk, but he never had to walk his own walk, his mettle was never tested, OK well it was once, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain being evidence that perhaps Cortese could not just click his fingers and treat players like his own property.
Im saddened that Cortese should feel the need to give this interview, what good could it do for anyone, it puts pressure on the Club's new board and merely serves to stir up elements of the club's support who still believe that Cortese was a man who could back up all his fine talk about the Champions League etc with actions.
In my mind it is the interview of a man who is very bitter, who harbours a grudge against Katharina Liebherr and by proxy Southampton Football Club, perhaps he would have done well to take a lesson from a man who he himself sacked ruthlessly Nigel Adkins' our ex and current Reading manager gave a lesson in decency and humility in his last months at Saints as clearly his Chairman was working behind his back, he did his job well even with the embarrassment of having to manage for the final time with his successor watching from the stands.
There should now be no shred of doubt that Nicola Cortese does not now have the interests of this football club at heart, in fact clearly the opposite, if he wanted it to succeed then he would not be making these comments.