Read the internet over the past 24 hours and you would assume that Southampton Football Club is about to go into meltdown.

The thing is little has actually changed.

Nicola Cortese might well have had big ambitions but they were never going to be bankrolled by the Liebherrs who clearly had lost faith in him, this isn't an attack on the former Saints Chairman, just a comment that although many fans assumed one thing, the reality was actually a lot different as we now have found out.

So we are actually in a better position now in the fact the situation is a lot more polarised and clearer, again not an attack on Cortese, but the fact is he couldn't deliver what he was promising because he didnt have the financial clout that he needed to do so he may hve wanted to spend millions in a Champions league bid, but the Liebherr's didn't share that business plan, eventually this would have become clear to all and players and fans would have become dissallusioned and there would have possibly have been a slow demise as the top players left, indeed it would have been very hard to hang on to certain players like Luke Shaw even with a top six finish, look at Everton they have been consistently top 6 yet they lose at least one player a year to a "bigger" club, could Spurs even hold on to Gareth Bale ?

Now we have a possible four outcomes.

1. The Liebherr's continue to run the club and install a CEO who is experienced and will run the club as to their budget, he wont promise or deliver Champions league qualification but will hopefully keep us in a stable position in the Premier.

2. The Liebherr's sell the club to a new owner who is a good custodian and who continues with the progress we have made.

3. The Liebherr's sell to a bad owner another Vincent Tan at Cardiff or Alam at Hull.

4. The Liebherr's sell to a Cortese backed consortium.

Three of those four possibilities are perfectly acceptable.

Lets give the Liebherr's credit here, they saved us with their money, they never promised multi millions to make us a top top club, they have done what they promised in five years and have never done anything to suggest that they have anything but the best interests at heart.

Back in 2009 they arrived with talk of a five year plan to get us in the Premier League, they also stated that their aim was also to make the club self sufficient in that time, it could be said that both targets have been reached and of course Nicola Cortese played a big part in that.

But somewhere along the line what the owner's wanted and what Nicola Cortese wanted went off in different directions, again Im not casting any blame here, but whilst the supporters lapped up talk of Champions League qualification, the Liebherr's didnt and a rift was appearing which became public last May.

We will possibly never find out the true cause of the rift, some rumours, none of whom have eminated from the Liebherr's have insinuated that it might have been a question of control, others have suggested that it is about investment money into the club, then there are those who are saying that the lub is up for sale, these are just the tip of the iceberg, the truth is probably a combination of all three of them.

Many Saints fans are up in arms about Cortese leaving, I can understand their point, they feel that challenging for the Champions League is not on the cards now, but the truth is it never was due to reasons explained, I applaud Nicola Cortese's ambitions, but he was making statements that the Liebherr's werent willing to cash.

But what Saints fans and indeed all football fans fear most is change, especially when things are going well and this the crux of the matter, the future is uncertain in many people minds.

Ironically Cortese has often said that the only way to achieve what you are aiming for is by constantly striving and never being afraid of changing things, even when things are OK, perhaps Saints fans can take consolation in those words.

It might not be the last we see of Nicola Cortese, as i said he may well come back heading a consortium, if that is the case it will have definately have been a change for the better, if he does so he will be able to deliver what he has promised with the financial backing he needs.

In any business there can ultimately only be one boss who makes the ultimate call, as we have found out.

Photo: Action Images

1962saint added 12:19 - Jan 16 An excellent summing up of the state of affairs. Of course it was great looking at the league table when we made 3rd place but with gates of 30,000 we will never likely to break into the top 4 or even top 6. The only way that could happen is to have a billionaire lifelong Saints fan like Jack Walker (Blackburn) who was willing to pump in unlimited funds into the team. Had Markus not sadly passed away that was a possibility. However unless Outcome 3 occurs Saints should remain a solid Premier League club with a good future with our academy, ground, and state of the art training facilities unlike the shambles down the M27.

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StEdmund added 12:23 - Jan 16 Thanks for this clear thinking and positive assessment of the situation. There have been a lot of headless chickens running around since the announcement of NC's departure. Okay, I may be wrong but why can't this be a positive step forward rather than back. Clearly NC was seen as too removed from the family hence the need to rein things in. Can't see a fire sale of players if they want MP to stay (please delete after 3 o'clock press conference if necessary).

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Knibbosaint added 12:25 - Jan 16 Nick, that is probably the best piece you have ever written on this site (did somebody do it for you!?!?!) Joking aside, I think all Saints fans need to avoid reading the hysterical national (and local press) for the time being until we find out more more from the club.
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ThereIn76 added 12:26 - Jan 16 Good analysis but it's misleading to refer to "the Liebherrs". Markus was Markus and it is a tragedy that he did not live to see the realisation of his ambitions. Katharina could have sold up when the club was still in League One had she wanted - instead she has sanctioned £millions of investment. Hopefully this will continue. I had thought the idea that Cortese would put a consortium together to buy Katharina out and regain control to be pretty far-fetched - but if anyone can find some wealthy backers, it would be him.

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Zambucco added 12:33 - Jan 16 Crisis? what crisis?
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darkangelv2 added 13:15 - Jan 16 Sanity!!! The Daily Mail can thoroughly DO ONE! Maybe the Echo can become the Club's friend again?
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slynch added 13:39 - Jan 16 There are 2 facts in this saga. Cortese wasn't sacked he resigned. KL has said she will continue to support MP and the players. Neither of these facts are mentioned in this article which seems to be just opinion, which is fine, only that you present a lot of it as fact.
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SingaporeSaint added 13:53 - Jan 16 Excellent article. I always wondered when this would end - quite simply we are owned by someone who didn't ask for the club and doesn't like football, we had a chairman without a relationship with the owner and a manager who refers to the 'project'. I've for some time wanted to hear of longer term commitment. We are (I hope!) safe in mid table, with big gaps above and below us.. If there was ever a time for this - then this is it. Makes your first article of the week very pertinent Nick. So assuming we keep the best players and they keep their spirit and desire then we can get over this, find a more stable leadership team and build on the excellent foundation that the Liebherr's and Cortese have enabled.

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BoondockSaint added 14:46 - Jan 16 It was always the Liebherr's money, even though NC thought it was his. From Day One the plan was that the club was to be self sustaining. But for some reason we were taking out loans (with interest) for the Gaston deal last year. Throw in all the legal fees for unnessary lawsuits and you have a sizable sum that NC wasted. Even billionaires don't like to see their money wasted. As 1962 says above, to compete with the big clubs we need bigger gates (and other streams of revenue). To do that, we need good publicity, increasing the international fanbase and fan friendly promotions. None of which NC was capable of. So hopefully this is just a tempest in a teapot. If the family wants to sell, we should attract a lot of offers because of the value, but if they want to make even more money, they may hold on to it and build it bigger. It's always about the money.

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saintdavid added 21:23 - Jan 16 This seems a very credible interpretation of events. For any "business", the massive investment required and the high risk of failure inherent in challenging for a champions league place is prohibitive. Even for clubs with significantly bigger stadiums and fan bases, it is still a vanity project for multi billionaires in the thrall of football. For somebody like Katherine liebherr it must seem completely mad. i suspect she will seek to sell and that some like Luke Shaw will be sold to balance the books, but with any luck we should still have a team capable of finishing between 6th and 17th on a regular basis.

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montecristo added 19:47 - Jan 19 It is a difficult situation to assess ,on the one hand it is highly likely that KL wanted greater accountability, lets face it Cortese wasnt one for the niceties of PR he did things his way and did not tolerate interference full stop. The other issue concernes where the club goes from here it has reached a certain level it either goes forward or reverts back to the bad old days of being a selling club to survive. Without player investment , no club can thrive, its a fact of life, the question is is Liebherr prepared to finance? No money was provided for this window , was this because of disagreements over Cortese s management style? I suspect so , after, all she had bank rolled Saints to the tune of 75 million, so she didnt exactly let us down on that front. The next few days are crucial I think as to Saints future direction. Is Cortese coming back, or are the Liebherrs now in this for the long term and if so on what basis.

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montecristo added 19:58 - Jan 19 no player sales but crucially will Saints strengthen the squad is not that great to be honest beyond 13 or 14 players we have no one to call upon, needs addressing. Problem is it doesnt look as if KL wants to do this I could be wrong!!!
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