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.

Photo: Action Images

Jesus_02 added 10:36 - May 21 "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" Its all a bit strong isnt it. I understand that you hate NC. Its understandable I guess after the mess he made of running the club
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montecristo added 10:36 - May 21 Are you playing politics Nick? Cortese is entitled to his view. I dont believe for a minute that he does not want the club to succeed he saw us through some pretty rough times. And I totally believe he would not let our best players go. Krueger, for all his claims to be a motivational speaker ,l has done nothing to persuade me that he has the faintest idea how to run a football club. There seems to be total disarray , deathly silence , which I am sure is making fans increasingly uneasy. You cant help feeling that Cortese would never even have allowed Pochettino s contract situation to get to this stage which is the root of all the current unrest. The proof of that is that he put every player on a long term contract well before their current deals expired. End of story. So why has the present management not done the same? Why the delay? Cortese had his faults but I for one wish he was still running the club.When you are taking on established powers in the Football world you dont want too much democracy.Its a rough business and Cortese was totally suited to his role. And Liebherr knew it, she tried to persuade him to stay on her terms.Sell Shaw, and the others will be off as well.Mark my words.

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slynch added 10:48 - May 21 …..He certainly knew how to keep order... let's face it, he was only one who could in a place like that. Nick: All right... all right... but apart from better training facilities and promotion and promotion and survival and retention of best players and dumping dodgy managers and second in the prem ... what did Cortese do for us? Quiet Voice in Row 48X: Brought in Pochettino! Nick: What!? Pochettinno… Oh...shut up

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Jesus_02 added 11:04 - May 21 @slynch...irrigation, via ducts and saints ale.
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StRipper added 11:09 - May 21 Isn't the whole point that we don't know what is going on. The media keep claiming to, but then their story keeps on changing to keep it possibly accurate. Even Cortese's comments, they don't change an iota as he is no longer in the loop. And all Cortese has said is that we shouldn't sell our best players, exactly as we all think and as the club has assured us they won't. Fair play to him. But it doesn't have any bearing on what Pochettino and Les Reed think will be best for our club's progression. Les Reed assured us that we were selling no one and that basically only he and Pochettino would decide if they will. Fundamentally, nothing has changed since that statement. Just rumour and shit being peddled by the mainstream media. Similarly, for a guy that might be going to Spurs, Poch and his team are spending a lot of time in the public eye around Southampton having dinner out etc. Hardly the actions of a team heading for the exit. Quite the opposite in fact, more like a team that will just keep going about its business and not be pressured into reacting to news stories I have a hope that all this is being allowed to build up by Saintsfc to embarrass the media and stop stuff like this happening again. That Southampton FC will do their business how they want to, with or without media spotlight. Who knows. Maybe Cortese is in on it and this is one of the trailers being planted by Saints as a precursor to us doing just that. NOT selling our players and keeping it together for next season's push for the CL.

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slynch added 11:26 - May 21 Jesus: Well, 2 out ot 3 ain't bad?
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SaintNick added 11:35 - May 21 slynch you miss the point, its now not about what Cortese did or did not do for us, its about the fact that clearly now he is trying to de stabilise the club with his comments
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ThereIn76 added 11:49 - May 21 For all that he did for the club, I could never escape the feeling while he was Exec Chairman that Cortese was all about Cortese. To claim that the manager and players would all be staying if he were still at the club is nothing but an idle boast. There is no way of testing the theory because he is not still at the club – and that was his choice. This is a time for cool heads and to let Katharina and Ralph get on with things. Remember too that the manager and players are still under contract and that Saints are at liberty refuse any approaches from other clubs.

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landsdownsaint added 12:19 - May 21 You make me laugh,Montecristo has it spot on !
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slynch added 12:27 - May 21 Do you think that the Club has been so de-stabilized by the current administration that - the words of advice from a previous chairman, with a record breaking reign that even the Romans would have been pleased with, and that nearly all supporters agree with, even The Ugly Parts - will bring it all tumbing down??
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SaintNick added 12:52 - May 21 The club believe there is an orchestrated press campaign against them, read Neil Ashton in the Mail there is certainly an agenda there. You call this a record breaking reign yet is it ? Norwich City went down and came up from league 1 quicker than us, 8th is good progress after an average first season back in the premier, but there are no records broken just good steady progress made and not yet up to the position we were in a decade ago. What we are being lauded for is our youth policy the fruits of which were at the club before Cortese arrived. Im fed up with justifying whether ortese is good or bad when he was at the club, he is gone and is history, what is really hacking me off now is that Cortese is still sniping at the club, famously himself he derided past managers and players that they were in the past, yet he cant seem to accept this himself and has become just what he always professed to despise

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ItchenNorth added 13:19 - May 21 All the usual anti Cortese drivel on this site again. Move on Nick. You are falling into the same old trap that the media sets and just like a lemming you jump off every time about it. If you are fed up with justifying your view on Cortese (Neil Ashton or media reporting in general); why write about it. In the next few weeks we will see what this new lot are made of but Cortese record speaks for itself; but that time has gone now.

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SanMarco added 13:33 - May 21 A Cortese 'intervention' was as inevitable as it is unhelpful. He bears a grudge and thinks very highly of himself. He achieved a lot at Saints but let's heed ItchenNorth's last six words and stop arguing about this man. We need the club to do something decisive soon because, quite frankly, things do not look or feel good. A lot of people are desperately hoping that the board is on top of all this and has a constructive, achievable plan - if they are drifting in the wind created by MoPo's indecision/manipulation/waiting for the Spurs offer (take your pick) then it will leave us in big trouble. I believe he should be told to sign on the dotted line or leave now - and if that means sacking him, so be it.

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montecristo added 14:30 - May 21 Believe me I am desperate to be proved wrong but I keep going back to what I call the Ralph Krueger issue. To me, its about horses for courses, and the guy is all wrong for the job he holds.he needed to be a top businessman hes not that. hes some sort of guru but thats not what we need. We need a safe pair of hands who can steer the club through good times and bad. Cortese was brilliant for us. There is a better interview of him done in Milan where he now is which makes it plain that he would never come back, which actually saddens me. I am having trouble believing that Miss Liebherr is prepared to give the club the sort of financial support it needs to go on from the level it is now at. And I think that is the general perception, and why suddenly bids are flying in for our players. It would not have happened if Cortese had been there. Nor would there have been this mad press campaign against the club generally suggesting the club is in meltdown. The fact of the matter is the press would not have dared in Corteses day. They would have found themselves being sued. Now the perception is of weak ineffectual leadership and I absolutely hate what is happening. it comes down to this either Miss Liebherr sees this project through without making tactical mistakes like selling players or she sells the club to someone who is prepared to take the club forward properly , and that means dealing with the competition in a forthright and uncompromising manner. There is no alternative. What Liebherr does now will either see us moving on in the right way or we could find ourselves back in the championship by the end of next season. Morale is all important, and its not great at the moment is it and it will get worse if the club sells anyone.

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ThereIn76 added 15:04 - May 21 Montecristo, you say " I am having trouble believing that Miss Liebherr is prepared to give the club the sort of financial support it needs to go on from the level it is now at." So who do you suppose has been putting up the funds since August 2010? any what would Cortese have achieved without the financial backing he had?
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ancientbriton added 15:29 - May 21 Sorry Nick but I think your usual sensible analysis of the facts is way way wrong this time around. I thank Cortese for whatever he did or didn't do and you can't deny that Ms Liebherr's father did too. Who knows what's going to happen? You don't and we your avid readers don't. Only the Board of Southampton Football Club can know and sadly (maybe correctly) they're doing what they're supposed to do, which is manage the club's fortunes in the established Cortese 'close to their chests' fashion?

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thegeneral added 15:47 - May 21 Cortese comes from a background of banking, an industry where morals don't exist, the weak don't survive and bullies rule and prosper. Quite a few similarities to the football world i'd say. Chairman need to be tough. I do not believe under Cortese we would be i) bullied by the press ii) allow so much speculation about players leaving iii) have the MP contract issue so protracted. It really does feel like we are on a knife edge at the moment, are we about to tumble into the dulldrums of bottom 5 and fighting and eventually falling to relegation? or are we going to make history and become one of the best clubs in Europe? Personally i'd rather have a hard arse banker as our chairman than a motivational speaker.

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Zambucco added 16:13 - May 21 Nick, you've got to let this issue go, he's history and opinions divided, he did a lot for good but also a lot that was detrimental to the club. Even Rupert Lowe had some good points. You slate the media for having a campaign to destabilise Southampton, you have a hate campaign against Cortese. Neither serve the interests of the club or fans any good. I have faith in KL, she's proved to be a shrewd business person, she had a great teacher. I am confused why others are so concerned that we haven't heard anything from the board. We only feel agitated because of the press. Les Reid has spoken once, we shouldn't need further assurance. I would imagine that the board are very aware of our situation and are quietly and methodically, negotiating new contracts, for the manager and players, allegedly involved in interest from other clubs. In my mind no news is good news. In olden times, We knew the name of the players, the manager, maybe a trainer, but did we even know we had a board? We never heard about the business side of things. Yes we all want the dream, to progress and to be a big club, to win the Prem and CL, but it won't happen tomorrow and without a firm financial footing. We just have to be patient. I'm the eternal optimist and believe we will keep the majority of our squad, including the manager, we will buy wisely and possibly finish 6th or 5th next season. If we don't so what? We'll still have the best team in the world! STAY CALM BELIEVE IN THE SAINTS!

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BoondockSaint added 17:41 - May 21 If Cortese was so good, how come he hasn't been snapped up by a Champions League team? This all about him trying to get a new job. He didn't develop the young stars. They were in the pipeline when he got there. Length of contracts mean ablsolutely nothing. If a player wants away, he's going. It has always been the Liebherrs' money that has helped the team progress. But we won't challenge the "big" clubs until we expand our fan base: a 25,000 seat stadium is not going to financially support Champions League football. Maybe we can hope one of the other owners makes a sexist remark about women running football clubs and Katharina gets angry and starts pouring money in! Funny how last year, silence from the club meant "That's because they know what they are doing!" With Cortese gone, now silence from the club means "That's because they don't know what they are doing!"

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TeamCortese added 18:34 - May 21 For me Cortese is entitled to his opinion about the club. Just like Nigel Adkins, Le Tissier (and others) he will always have some sense of belonging to the club and his viewpoint should not be disregarded, especially when we factor in his contribution. He gave us 5 years of excellent service and should be considered one of the best chairmen we've seen in decades. The reality is Cortese is light-years away from previous chairmen and I really hope our replacements are up to the task. I personally believe we will have a much clearer picture of the club's situation post world-cup. Most clubs will be holding out for better offers. ps: @Nick I personally believe my name has been misrepresented on this forum and will looking to take legal action ;)

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lockseaf77 added 18:53 - May 21 Nick, A good piece. Short and sweet, if he had any respect at all for this football club, he would kept his mouth shut at a time when the air is full of rumour and conjecture. But no, he just shows us how bitter and twisted he really is.
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montecristo added 19:53 - May 21 so if as suggested Miss Liebherr was prepared to continue putting money in why the immense upheaval at Saints. Krueger himself is on record as saying that the club had to live within its means. That sounds pretty negative to me. And if Liebherr is prepared to put her money in why is Pochettino planning on leaving and the players also?? And if that is not true than why the dickens hasnt anyone from Saints put a stop to the rumors?

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cheltenhamsaint added 19:54 - May 21 Unless there is more of the interview yet to be published I didn't read, or hear in the clip posted by the BBC, to get agitated by or found very illuminating. So far it just seems a bit of an excuse of an interview by Ben Smith, too scared to ask the real questions (for me) Why did Cortese tender his resignation and not continue to work for the club when offered an olive branch by the owner (think I know the answer to that one) Why was he trying to sell Lambert to West Ham against the player's and manager's wishes at the point of departure? And where would that have left us with subsequent events to our other forwards? Anyway, Am I the only one to think that the stone wall silence to the media circus by the club/board is the right tactic to follow? They've tried the "not for sale" stance on more than one occasion and it just gets ignored by other clubs and the papers. Time for us to ignore them and get on with next season's plans.

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Nicolacomeback added 21:15 - May 21 Nicola did a fantastic job for the club and I truly believe he was emotionally attached to the club. He was a egocentric arrogant perfectionist as a chairman. Outside of his role as a chairman we don't know what sort of a man he was. One thing I have seen in my life is that people like him are achievers and I would say that he was a perfect fit for the footballing world. He would have delivered if he had stayed and there is no doubt about it but he would have been ruthless in his approach. He was quite capable of building saints into a Athletico madrid sort of club. The new board has lot to prove and I don't know if they can take the club to the heights he could have done. I hope they do

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tiptop added 08:44 - May 22 Typical Cortese. V rarely gave nterviews while in charge. Why now? For all his wrongs his vision was clear, he believed it, so did the players and he was ruthless about achieving it. Cortese interview: NC said a new plan was in place when we got promotion. - Poch said he was waiting to hear what the board sell him the new 5 year plan. Cortese interview: Poch should rightly be keen to develop his career. - No mention of nearly firing him in Dec. I agree with the feeling that Krueger is a soft touch compared to NC. When I've heard him speak he doesn't fill me with confidence. It's all corporate team building shpeel with the annoying mouth thing. Yes maybe the club staff as a whole needed a bit of a hug as NC was a walking hand grenade.. But the team were together and didn't need to be told what apears to be Ralphs vision - we are Southampton, a small family club with no ambition. Lets all hug and not over spend. Getting back to NC there are issues like why has Jack cork not been tied down previously to a longer contract?!! WTF is going on there with the claims of players being tied down. Also Adam Blackmore has tweeted that half the first team squad have told him they have no idea what is going on right now, Jack cork being one of those. Cortese's vision was how can we maximise potential. Fine detail and strong arm tactics against bigger bullies. Current vision? Not in the same league it feels.

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