Lets be honest Nicola Cortese said most things that Southampton supporters wanted to hear, now we need to see the words put in action.
I was as pleased as any Saints supporter to hear the words of Nicola Cortese on Sky Sports this morning, of course it was PR spin, but then again what player or manager or even Chairman's words arent these days and i certainly would rather hear PR Spin than the wall of silence that has been a trait of Saints in recent years, im delighted to hear the reasons behind Cortese's sacking of Nigel Adkins and now having heard those reasons it will help to put to bed the unrest amongst supporters and allow us to concentrate on the task ahead and thats firstly keeping Saints in the Premier league and secondly then striving towards our Chairman's stated target of a top six finish in future years.
That doesnt mean that we should forget about Nigel Adkins, I dont think there is a Saints fan around that doesnt appreciate what he has done for this club and I personally feel that the uproar would have been a lot less, if the words from the interview had been released as a statement alongside the sacking as well as a few words of praise for Adkins.
One thing is for certain Nicola Cortese is not afraid to make difficult decisions and there can be no more decision as difficult and as brave as the one to sack and replace Nigel Adkins, there is no turning back from this now and Nicola Cortese's reign at Southampton will perhaps be defined on this one moment, if Saints stay up Im sure that Mauricio Pochettino can take us forward, but at the moment its a fine line between staying up and going down, if we were to be relegated then it will be a big set back to the Chairman's plans.
I was also pleased to see the Chairman state that there is a place for everyone within the Southampton set up, if thats the case then it serves no purpose to keep ex players, the Daily Echo etc alienated, its time to hold out olive branches from the club, whatever anyones views on the situation between Nicola Cortese and Matt Le Tissier as well as the local media, the best interests of Southampton Football Club are what matters, the Chairman holds the keys to this, I feel all supporters would welcome a peace being brokered.
Mr Cortese has stated that there is no rift between him and ex players, indeed that he has never met Matt Le Tissier, that being the case it should not be difficult to heal the rifts. The Chairman has said that there is a place at the club for everyone with the clubs best interests at heart, they are fine words, now is the time for those words to be prophetical and for a reconcilliation.
I like all supporters of Southampton Football Club want to see us succeed, its true that I dont want to see that happen using any methods, I value the history of our football club as our Chairman also professes to do, there is no doubrt that Nicola Cortese has done some great things at the club, sadly many of these have been overshadowed by events off of the field that happen too regularly for comfort, most of these can be sorted fairly easily, I hope that Nicola Cortese's interview was the first steps in a new openss that will heal rifts with ex players and the media and that we can march forward all the stronger for it.
As he said Nicola Cortese is a perfectionist, there is nothing wrong with that, in a perfect World everyone within this football club be it the Chairman, the players and coaching staff, employee's, local media and lastly but not least the supporters would all be as one with the ideals of the club and the way that it is moving forward and they would do so in the perfect atmosphere, which is one of openess and positivity, our Chairman was very clear that this is what he wants, I for one hopes that he achieves it and that he achieves it in the perfect way.