According to reports in today's Daily Echo Katharina Liebherr has wasted no time in starting her re vamp of the Club's corporate governance.

The new regime is moving quickly, already Nicola Cortese's name has been removed from the list of directors filed at Companies House and in the same set of documents it is also revealed that Katharina herself is 36 years old, virtually the only other information known about her personal life other than her name.

The Echo who presumably have some insight into what is going on at St Mary's also reveal that potential Chief Executives have been interviewed over the past few days and that an announcement is imminent.

If the Echo is right then it seems what has sparked the chain of events at St Mary's is Nicola Cortese's refusal to be held accountable to the trustee's of the Club or to the owner herself, he had refused all overtures for a member of the board to be appointed on behalf of the trustee's and it is also understood that although they had seen the yearly filed accounts that they had never had access to the detailed breakdowns of where money was actually being spent etc. This means that a full audit is likely to be a priority so that a full financial picture can be revealed.

Katharina Liebherr is understood to want to put in place a full system of corporate governance in place to ensure that the club is run properly and to her wishes, this will include not only herself as non executive Chairman a role that will not be hands on, but the aforementioned CO and other directors as well.

One of her issues with Cortese seems to be that this corporate governance was not in place, she had been concerned that Cortese had placed himself in a position of complete autonomy at the club, the executive committee comprised of Club employee's reportable to Cortese's himself and therefore under pressure to agree with everything or face being put in an untenable position with their job.

This was not good corporate governance and Katharina Liebherr being an experienced businesswomen herself knew exactly the pitfalls of this for any business, but probably she was more worried that an asset she owned was being kept at arms length from her by an employee, not that there is any suggestion of wrongdoing, but when someone is witholding information from you it sets alarm bells ringing that something isnt right. In this case it is probably nothing more than the fact that our ex CEO/Chairman wanted to be in full command of everything and this was something he could not have as he did not own the Club.

Some are claiming that the club is now heading for disaster without Cortese at the helm, but the truth could be we are now in a stronger position than a week or so ago, yes the dream of Champions League qualification has turned out to be that, just a dream, but it always was, the fuding was not in place to allow us to throw large sums of money in a gamble that we would get a few lucky breaks and sneak a few places up the table and it is a gamble, you never know what will beset you as we have found out with injuries in the past couple of months.

So under Katharina Liebherr we now know where we stand, firstly the club is no nearer of farther being sold than it was last week, if she sells it then it is an event that would have happened anyway, the club is no nearer of farther Champions League football than it was last week, Katharina Liebherr will put no more or no less money in than she would of last week, in fact she is likely to perhaps consider putting more in now, as she knows just where its going.

The corporate governance will be better, the club will be run as a going concern, I have often been ridiculed by some for talking about income from corporate hospitality and advertising etc, but this is vital to every football club, does anyone think that Roman Abramovich is happy just to put his own money in, no Chelsea have one of the best set ups when it comes to everything from corporate hospitality to merchandising as do Manchester United and Arsenal, with the financial fair play rules this is even more important.

Perhaps we wont be promised Champions League football anymore, perhaps for some their dreams have been burst, but in the long run we will be better equipped for the long haul and establishing ourselves in the Premier league.

Markus Liebherr was a much loved man amongst Saints fans, barely a game goes by without his name being sung, we should remember that this is his daughter, he trusted he to leave the legacy of this club in her hands, he trusted her to do the right thing by us, so far she has not shown any inclination to do anything that will tarnish his memory, in fact the exact opposite, she has provided funding for two back to back promotions, she has written off multi millions in loans to the club, she has been content to let over £70 million be spent since we returned to the Premier league, now she has felt it neccessary to spend a lot of money and her own time to step in when she feels that the club is not being run properly, is this the actions of somebody who has no affinity for the club.

If she really didnt care then she would have already sold it off to anybody who could stump up her asking price, with the money her family has, slashing the price for a quick sale would not have been an issue, perhaps she will sell in the future, but when she does I feel it will be to the right buyer, someone who will continue on the legacy her father started.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 10:48 - Jan 21 Strongly agree with this Nick. She has done more than enough to be given the benefit of the doubt for the time being.
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tiptop added 11:07 - Jan 21 I like the way cortese/poch set no limits to what we can achieve. You dream..thats football! I much prefer that than boring, pragmatic outlooks. OK Champions league is a stretch but if thats the dream why not. Dont stop dreaming. Its a case of dont stop believing after what has been achieved. It was a big focus and driver for everyone - actually believing that getting to the PL promised land could happen..and so quickly justified that dream to everyone. Things have settled down a bit. Ms Liebherr is so far sending the right messages and it appears a sale will not be made in the short/med term. I just hope dejan and gaston are not as bad as expected. But if they are we get money to replace..

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Shanghai_Saint added 11:19 - Jan 21 Good article Nick. It was just over a year ago that the press were howling about the ruthless Cortese making Saints a laughing stock by replacing Nigel, now that he leaves they seem to love him again & slam Ms Liebherr before finding out the actual facts. She's well within her rights to expect corporate governance, a legacy of her father that has made that group of companies one of the most successful in Europe. I don't believe that she's "killing the dream", to the contrary, she's making sure that we don't wake up to a nightmare.

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stalbansaint added 11:44 - Jan 21 Very rarely agree with you Nick, but you have this spot on.
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ItchenNorth added 13:00 - Jan 21 We all hope that the club is (was) run properly but the truth is we know absolutely nothing about what actually goes on (went on) behind closed doors. I certainly wouldn’t trust the Echo’s commentary on the club at all ! I think it is also all too easy to fall into the trap of a new regimes sound bites (certainly following a falling out !) and surmising that; things will be better run now. After all as they say ‘there are many ways to skin a cat’ so who’s to say that Cortese’s way was wrong ! Equally let’s not forget that if Katharina had shown any interest in or had any concerns with the way her asset was being run by Cortese; why then has it taken her seemingly 3 years to take an interest and finally step in and sort this out ! I’m happy with what I’m hearing from Katharina and the club but its early days; let’s just see where we stand both on and off the field in 12 months’ time. An interesting article though.

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tiptop added 13:02 - Jan 21 I think what Nick says here is spot on too. I wasn't saying Ms Liebherr is killing the dream. She is keeping the club and its dreams alive! The nightmare was all hers. Millions of pounds being spent with her not being told exactly how?!? Was never going to last was it. Ms L is establishing her prefered structure and taking us forward together as (hopefully) part of a long term strategy. Uniting the club in a less polarising way the Mr C. will be refreshing Im sure to many. The dream of CL THIS season is just that I agree. Yes we will require greater financial commitment to get there. But Everton have shown how to at least court this dream with steady growth. They are in the mix. Their dream is alive..good luck to them. Cortese's time is over. Reality has arrived with the REAL boss. SFC's ambitions are still alive..

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schatfield added 13:19 - Jan 21 good article Nick and agree 100%. 1 other thing, now Cortese has left the building, will we see a certain MLT back around the stands some time soon :)
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Jesus_02 added 13:59 - Jan 21 I am not for a minute suggesting that Ms L is not a good business woman. But maybe Markus was a better one. There was a trust between Markus and Cortese. This trust enabled Cortese to work with a very “lean” staff. This meant that decisions where unanimous and inherently less risk averse. Take a look at our recent player trading, based on current values are we up or down? We have players that other teams want, even Guly and Fox are converted by lower division teams. Under Lowe we where incredibly risk averse, the result was that we purchased a large number of very average players that had no subsequent value. Now I am not saying that KL is going to start copying that but an organisation that is very high on corporate governance is also likely to be considerably more cautious. He who dares Rodney…he who dares

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Jesus_02 added 14:09 - Jan 21 Just read the Guardian article.. As well as apointing a new CEO (John Williams) KL will appoint at least 3 "aides" including Ralf Krueger "a German citizen, who played ice hockey in Germany before moving into coaching" Now he may be better than Clive Woodward and 4 additional exutives may be value for money but I would be happier if wages where spent on the playing staff. Lets hope John competes well

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BoondockSaint added 14:48 - Jan 21 Totally agree Nick! Can't believe you were ridiculed about the marketing! I've been saying in other posts that to be a "big" club we have to grow our revenue streams and fan base not only locally, but world wide. See those NY Yankee hats in the stands in the Sunderland game? Making it easier to bring kids to games not only gets more seats filled, but helps you make money on food and merch. The merch on the web site could use an overhaul too! Hopefully with a newer, friendly face this will happen. I don't think we even have a PR dept since the director quit (to work with an easier client - Lindsay Lohan?).

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SaintNick50 added 15:51 - Jan 21 Cortese is history long live Katharina!!! Katharina has so far behaved impeccably. I can only guess but Cortese was probably demanding a treasure chest to buy some more expensive players to take us to the promised land without proper audit procedures. Well done for most of what he has done over the past four years, but he has left the building and I don't want him back. He would have sold Rickie to West Spam, why because he needs to justify his over extravagant purchase of Osvaldo. Much of his transfer policy was pants. I feel far more secure now, but time will tell. We should all love Katharina!!!

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Stephen added 16:58 - Jan 21 There was a time for Cortese the Cleaver. Now it is time for us to get our Saints culture back.
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Jesus_02 added 17:21 - Jan 21 We have just appointed Josef Lenhart to the board - Agent to 2nd and 3rd teir footballers in the Austrian League
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Jesus_02 added 17:27 - Jan 21 SaintNick50 - if you can delete your own post it may be wise. Osvaldo is still worth what we paid for him as is Ramerez (more if you beleive some sources) To say he would have sold Rickie to WH is pure conjecture. Who have we sold that you have missed in the 4 years - The Ox maybe but no one elese. At the time 10m for a player with only LG1 experience - pretty shoddy transfer policy?

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Toussaint added 17:49 - Jan 21 Enough of the boardroom politics just bring back our stripes already with black shorts and white socks at home,then I will know her intention`s are good She`s so reclusive that anyone of these new board-members could be her secret- lover..maybe her lover was jealous of Cortese`s success and is now in her ear..``take your club back babe,it`s yours.look at him giving it all that with your club``

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1970 added 21:55 - Jan 21 Marketing is great all the big clubs do it,why stop there,like one of the earlier comments its refreshing to dream i'm sick of the fourth bottom dark lord attitudes some people on here have,how about keep Luke Shaw because at the end of the day that's what Mopo is here for to keep young players that can handle the fitness levels needed to perform the Southampton way,not sell them to chelski as soon as there 18 that's spineless next year we should have 6 more good youngsters i bet Ars,chelski,citeh,spew and sh**epool cant wait.

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