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.