Matt talks about the surprising happenings at St Mary's this week and why he is glad that Mauricio Pochettino is staying.

Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to stay on as Southampton manager is good news for the stability of the club.

Had the Argentinian left then maybe their season would have fallen to pieces.

It would have rocked the boat had he gone at this juncture especially if, as speculated, a number of players had followed him out of the door.

The majority of Saints fans will be pleased to see him staying on even though the team is having a bit of a wobble at the moment.

Maybe one of the important factors behind his decision was his relationship with the players.

They seem to have a pretty good team spirit among the squad and the players appear to like him.

He’s come out in his press conference today saying none of his stars are for sale which is great to hear.

But he had backed himself in a bit of corner with the statement he made in the summer: If Nicola Cortese goes then I go.”

Maybe in hindsight he will learn from that and not make such rash statements like that again.

You never know it may have been a case where he was put in a position where he had to say that.

I’m not particularly surprised by Cortese’s departure after what happened the last time the transfer window was open.

His toys came out of the pram a little bit when he wanted more money for transfers and he got the backing then.

So for him to kick-off again is this transfer window was slightly inevitable but with difference consequences.

There will probably be a lot of fans, who are only concerned about what happens on the pitch, who will think this is bad thing for the club.

But I think anybody who’s had any dealings with the man will think completely differently.

A lot of them will think “Good riddance” to be honest because he upset quite a lot of people with the way he conducted his business.

We had our own differences of opinions but I didn’t lose any sleep over it.

The fact he’s actually chosen to walk away at a fairly crucial time in the transfer window, with a couple of weeks left to strengthen the squad, proves he didn’t have the best interest of the club at heart.

It was always a case with him of having the best interest of Nicola Cortese’s heart.

If he had gone about his business in a different way he would have been a huge hero with everybody.

It was a shame that there were bits he did off the field that he kind of spoilt when everything else was going so well.

Matt Le Tissier invites you to sign up for Goalden Goals for free now and win £200 .

Photo: Action Images

landsdownsaint added 22:10 - Jan 16 Your right Matt ! All we do care about is what goes on the pitch,what NC has done for our club is nothing short of a miracle and you don't like that do ya ?
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SaintNick added 22:15 - Jan 16 To say that Matt doesnt like that is insulting, he may have had his spats with Cortese, but he has continued to support this club and promote them at every opportunity. What Le Tissier did for this club in the 1980/90's is also nothing short of a miracle and without him the club would have been relegated long ago and probably still in the Dell
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landsdownsaint added 22:18 - Jan 16 Your living in the past ,fortunately NC realised that and moved the club on to where we are now !
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SaintNick added 22:21 - Jan 16 Without the past their is no future, without Le Tissier there would have been no Cortese here, now it is you living in the past and you need to embrace the future
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slynch added 22:26 - Jan 16 I think I'm on the right blog - I planted a vine in my garden last year but I don't think it gets enough sunshine or something I wonder if you can help, all I seem to are sour grapes.
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SaintNick added 22:27 - Jan 16 If Le Tiss has sour grapes for the way he has been treated then he has every right to be, he has done nothing but good for this club
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landsdownsaint added 22:28 - Jan 16 I can remember us doing very well b4 he came along , we we're never short of great players!? He scored a lot of penaltys and sat on the bench quite a lot ! Great strike of the ball tho.
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mayfairsaint1 added 22:32 - Jan 16 I've been watching Saints for 45 years and no one has given us more joy than MLT. He's right. Cortese leaving in the middle of a window could potentially screw us. Cortese would have known that.
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SaintNick added 22:33 - Jan 16 We did well before he came along, we did well after, same as Cortese, one chapter in history closes another opens. When Le Tissier left Saints he continued to live in the area and despite being employed by Sky continued to support and promote our football club. Perhaps Cortese will return at the head of a consortium, if he doesnt I doubt if he will ever come to st mary's again

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winchesterbob added 22:34 - Jan 16 Sorry Matt, I think your comment is a little too emotional and somewhat bitter.... Not the sort of thing that I would expect from a grown up let alone a media pundit.
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landsdownsaint added 22:34 - Jan 16 That's your view of it Nick ,but some of us are gutted NC has gone and I don't give much to what Le Tiss has to say about it .
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landsdownsaint added 22:36 - Jan 16 That's your view of it Nick ,but some of us are gutted NC has gone and I don't give much to what Le Tiss has to say about it .
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SaintNick added 22:37 - Jan 16 Im not saying that you or others are not gutted, Im not saying that you should agree with le tiss, all im saying is that he has earned the right to give an opinion and earned the right to have that opinion respected if not agreed with.
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landsdownsaint added 22:42 - Jan 16 Yes I do agree with you , but his bitterness is bad timing , and as you said b4 to some younger fans Ricky Lambert has bought as much joy as MLT did under NC reign ... It's about our club now not the days of having one descent player
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SaintNick added 22:47 - Jan 16 It is about the club and it is about having new heroes as well, but everything has to move on sometime, Nicola Cortese has done some good things at this club, but its now clear he wasnt doing some things as the Liebherrs wanted him to do, an era has ended and we all have to move on to the next chapter
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IanRC added 23:13 - Jan 16 Nick. I had been thinking that he MIGHT return with a consortium too. I have great respect for Matt but I am not convinced that his view on Cortese is balanced. It is hard to argue that Cortese has not had a major impact on the speed and momentum with which we have bounced back. I for one would be glad to see him back and working on completing the plan he has put in place.

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SaintNick added 23:21 - Jan 16 His problem might be that he seems to be locked in a spat with Katharina Lieberr, she might want to sell, we dont know, but she doesnt have to sell so she can afford to sit tight to spite him. The thing is what is the plan that Cortese has put in place, would getting Saints into the top ten not be the completion of it, he didnt have the money to go any further will he have enough if he comes in with a consortium, how much of that money will be levied on the club as a loan

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patred added 00:06 - Jan 17 "good riddance" may seem, on the face of it harsh. But had Matt said any other than that he would be a hypocrite. He is only saying it as he sees it, and perhaps now we can have a period of togetherness and harmony, rather than the devision that Nicola seemed to enjoy from the outset of tenure.
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eastlondonsaint added 07:08 - Jan 17 Until we know the real reason NC has walked - he can only appear to be a deserter. Where is that white feather I was saving.
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SaintDownUnder added 10:59 - Jan 17 I am a massive MLT fan, however this isn't his finest hour. An opportunity to show he was the bigger man, put any personal stuff aside and thank NC for the transforming the club we all love, uncharacteristically an opportunity wasted. MLT you may well be in a minority of one who think good riddance.
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Zambucco added 11:14 - Jan 17 I agree totally with Matt, having heard the stories about how NC treated our history and ex players, was just short of criminal. He was involved in a few court cases against him. On the other hand as Matt points out he has done a lot of good at the club, I think our current form this season has given some supporters rose coloured specs when it comes to NC, I'm on the fence. We will survive and build on the foundations put down by him. Rupert Lowe was a hated figure, but did a lot of good too in between the bad thing. I disagree with Matt over the timing of the resignation, apparently had handed his resignation months ago and was just working his notice. Okay so it is the transfer window, but I'm sure any potential purchases will still go ahead, as Katharina will be aware of monies needed, and despite what a lot of people think NC did not do all the scouting and buying, we have a massive department for that, and MP will have asked for players that he wants. So business as usual, although I doubt we were going to bring anybody new in.

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ExiledSupporter added 11:45 - Jan 17 I believe MLT to have been our best ever player, despite the often difficult circumstances that existed during his career with us, the sometimes questionable management practiced for much of the time he played, his long term loyalty to the club no doubt at considerable personal cost to himself and his outstanding on the pitch skill. However he is no different from the rest of us in the sense that he has his personal likes and dislikes, resentments and frustrations. There was no doubt in my mind that he was treated shabbily by Cortese and so his resentment is understandable. That is not to say that I necessarily agree with his opinions in this case. However I do believe he should be free of the sort of character assault attempted by some of the above correspondents. I was amongst those who thought NC treated Adkins shamefully...and still do, but nevertheless can see that Cortese has made an immense difference to us, not least because he has bought in Pochettino and at least bought one or two excellent players (and some rather expensive so far questionable purchases) So all in all I think Cortese departure is much more bad than good, even though I think some of his behaviours have been reprehensible.

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BoondockSaint added 13:54 - Jan 17 How anyone can slag Matt is beyond me. His right foot has done more for this club than any fan has. Not to mention his loyalty in a sport where players kiss the crest one week and are off for more money the next! Former players play an import role. Any successful club in any sport embraces it's past. Former players are used for community relations, sales promotion, and helping sign promising youngsters or current top players. Little Nicci banned them because he wanted it all to be about him. Not the players, the managers or the staff, just him. But he finally went up against some he couldn't push around-the Liebherrs. They probably said "It not you that makes this club successful-it's our money!" As I've said before, I always though his "five year plan" was to be an owner, either by forcing the Liebherrs to hand over or getting his own backers. The catch now is, is the price now out of his range? Surely the family will demand much more from him than anyone else. Would he have be better off with the team not rising as fast, keeping the price lower?

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Libertine36 added 18:25 - Jan 17 Le Tiss has done loads for our club not only in footballing terms which was immense but also whilst with Sky Sports. Anyone who slags him off needs their head examined.
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