I have backed Katharina Liebherr to keep Southampton Football Club moving forward, however that doesnt mean that mistakes will not be made, they are being and they need to be addressed.

When I read some of the opinions posted on social media sites, I have to say that many of them are written from an ill informed position and that the wrong people are getting shot at by the majority, in order to idenify what the problem is at St Mary's at present it is first requisite that the person commenting understands the corporate structure that is now in place.

Ralph Krueger has come in for a lot of flak, but he is not the man responsible for running the club on a day by day basis and making the big decisions, as Chairman his job is a part time role, he is there to counsel and advise the CEO and make sure that the wishes of the owner of the Club are followed.

The CEO is Gareth Rodgers, formerly the Financial Director, he is now the man charged with running the club on a day by day basis and keeping it running smoothly.

The problem is for many is that the lines were blurred under Nicola Cortese, although initially Cortese was not CEO but only Chairman, within months or arriving he had taken on both roles and effectively ran the club as CEO reporting only to himself as Chairman, the death of Markus Liebherr meant that he could get away with this a lot longer than he might have otherwise, if this all sounds a bit familiar then it is, it is exactly the same structure we had when Rupert Lowe was in charge.

Perhaps where the club first went wrong is when they made the appointment of CEO, those close to the club and aware of the strife that had been going on in the background for the previous 18 months or so with Katharina Liebherr having reservations about how the club was being run financially could see there would be no smooth transition, that there would be stormy waters and that there needed a steady and experienced hand at the helm.

Initially this looked to be the case with first Cristian Purslow formerly of Liverpool and then ex Man City and Blackburn CEO John Williams was in the frame, ultimately neither were appointed and this was perhaps a mistake, in hindsight what was needed at the helm was a strong CEO with the experience at this level.

With respect to Gareth Rodgers he did not fir this bill, his reputation as a accounts director is second to none, but a football club needs someone able to lead from the front rather than from behind the scenes sometimes and this is one of those times.

But ultimately the CEO is not as influential on the playing side as our ex CEO would have had us all believe, the CEo has to run the club overall, he does not have responsibility for one department he has them all to oversee and the word here is oversee, under Cortese the commercial side of the club had been neglected and gone to pot, a number of marketing directors had all been and gone in a short space of time, all seemingly unable to work with Cortese and this is what ultimately caused his downfall, but even Cortese had to take advice and the man responsible for giving him it was Les Reed.

Back in May Reed confirmed that he was the man responsible for the transfers and contracts at the club and it is this statement that may yet come back to haunt him.

Reed is not a respected figure in football if you believe the likes of Steven Gerrard who savaged him in his biography and the Liverpool captain claimed that Reed had no idea how to handle players and had no respect in the game.

Certainly although Reed had held positions of power in the FA, at club level his experience is not that impressive including the infamous 41 day spell as Charlton manager.

Under Cortese, Reed's influence started to grow, although it is believed that in the later stages of the former CEO's reign that the pair had fallen out, since Cortese left though Reed seems to be effectively the Director Of Football and Katharina Liebherr seems to have been convinced that with Reed running the football side of things that Rodgers could run the business side of things whilst Reed dealt with running the football issues.

This is all good corporate governance but again in hindsight KL and her board have underestimated the need to that strong experienced character heading the club.

From the Reed perspective as it stands at the moment he appears to have failed miserably in his objectives, so far we have lost four players and signed only two and this is where the crux of the problem lies, Reed at this point should be standing firm, he should be addressing the players and making sure that Saints are calling the shots and not the players.

The truth is that all of these players have been tempted away by far better offers both financially and in terms of the stature of the clubs they are joining than they can get at Saints, over the past year there have been those that beleived that the players bought into some sort of masterplan that if followed to the letter would mean Champions League football without a doubt, this is bunkum, Dejan Lovren would have known all about the Premier League, he would know that a club of Saints side would not have been able to jump from 14th in their first season back in the top flight in 8 years to 4th just on the basis of a few promising youngsters and £30 million spent, look at how long it has taken Man City to truly establish themselves and Spurs with multi millions cant break into the top four except on the very odd occasion, if Lovren wanted Champions League football it would not be happening at St Mary's in the short term.

The fans want to see that the club still has ambition and to do that Reed has to start to show that he is in charge, the players who wanted to go should have been informed in no uncertain terms that no one is going anywhere until their replacements have been signed, this softens the blow to the supporters, as it stands now we have seen four men leave and only two come in despite almost a month of rumours in the press.

The truth is now that Saints do not need to bring in the money first to buy a player, they have plenty in the kitty and they need to spend it and spend it fast and that means concentrating on bringing people in rather than negotiating for them to leave, if those players don't like that then tough, but they should be told that face to face and left in no doubt how the club are going to handle things.

The worry for now is that Saints are going to struggle to bring in the players they want, even now Reed seems to want to haggle over the odd million or two as shown by Pelle's arrival from Feyenoord and Celtic's claim that Saints offer for Forster was derisory, yes of course we don't want to overpay, but sometimes you have to and having seen Liverpool and United both overpay to sign players from us we can afford to take a loss on a million or two.

But my biggest concern is Reed's track record in signing players, it should not be forgotten that Reed advised Cortese and to be blunt our transfer dealing over the past two years has not been great when it comes to signing big money players, Reed seems comfortable dealing in the domestic market as shown by the likes of Rodriguez, Clyne and Davis but after that it starts to get a little shoddy, Vegard Forren and Mayuka each cost £3.5 million and contributed nothing and then there is the two marque signings of Ramirez and Osvaldo, the truth is that although there has been a few good signings overall our transfer record is poor and well over half the money we have spent in our first two seasons back in the Premier league was effectively squandered.

So the eyes of Saints fans are on Les Reed, we need him to ensure that no one goes out of the door until we have not only replaced the players already gone, but have signed any other replacement, if someone goes before we sign anyone else then I am afraid that I will have lost confidence in Reed to do his job, yes he has been in a very difficult position, but he has not handled it well.

As I say I still have the utmost confidence in our owner and her board, but it was always going to be a learning curve for her and in hindsight perhaps she felt that keeping Reed in situ and appointing Gareth Rodgers would be good for continuity at a time when there was enough upheaval, this may prove to be a mistake.

But as a squad we are still in a far better position than we were two summers ago and that leads me to think that there is no reason why another decent finish in the Premier league is more than attainable, back then our squad finished 14th without the likes of Lovren so those predicting relegation should perhaps take a look at other clubs squads and the money they have to spend and realise that all that matters now is what we do next, if we replace those gone with good signings then we can and should be stronger than last season, as i write there are big question marks over the man responsible for the transfer dealings, in the next three weks we will find out if these are well founded or knee jerk reactions.

What is needed now from Saints supporters is to keep calm over the next three weeks, that is when we should judge what has happened over this summer, not now when the transfer dealings are still not finished, we do not need to make a drama out of a crisis before the transfer window shuts.

Photo: Action Images

slynch added 10:40 - Jul 28 and this is not a "firesale" it's a harvest. 2nd by Xmas.
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IanRC added 10:42 - Jul 28 Good article Nick with a much more balanced perspective than much you read elsewhere. I do hope Morgan and Callum can be persuaded to stay but you are correct that the focus has to be on strengthening the squad. COYR.
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BarnetSaint added 10:50 - Jul 28 Wenger is already shouting his mouth off about acquiring chambers so that one is done and dusted. It appears that having reed in the club is calamitous for us .
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mayfairsaint1 added 11:03 - Jul 28 I think its the impending sale of Chambers thats tipped us over the edge in terms of our feelings of outrage and dismay. I'm Ok with Lallana going because we've probably seen the best of him but we haven't seen the best of Chambers yet. Keeping Chambers would have given us something to hang onto in an "all is not lost" kind of way. Les Reed owes it to Ronald to put his sodding foot down and 'man up' to the want away players, their agents and avaricious predators. I only hope that Les Reed is keeping his head down because he's about to 'blow our minds 'with some great signings and put a smile back on put faces. But is he?

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beynali73 added 11:25 - Jul 28 Hi Nick, I usually share you views you express on this website. You are correct when you say' opinions posted on social media sites, I have to say that many of them are written from an ill informed position'. However what isn't opinion or ill informed is the fact that Lambert, AL, Lovren, Shaw have been sold - Chambers looks like he is on his way and Spiderman is likely to follow. If J Rod was not coming back form a serious injury the fear is he would have also disappeared. It seems that whoever has responsibility of retaining players has very little power to stop other teams from picking up any Saints player they desire. You have mentioned before that buying players isn't as easy as saying just signing a cheque and the transfers happen, but rather it involves negotiation, agents, lawyers etc which is fair enough. However the process seems to be much slicker when we sell players than when we try to buy them. I realise that the clubs our players have gone to so far have bigger budgets, can offer Champions league etc and we are going to lose players but so far Saints do seem to have difficulty attracting players identified as ideal replacements e.g. Caulker and Forster among the more high profile. We may have to accept that we cannot compete with the big 5 but if we cannot compete with QPR or Aston Villa that's disappointing to say the least. Despite the calls to be positive I am worried about what is going on at the club not based on misinformed speculation but on the fact that we have sold almost half of first team already and fear that others, including Chambers and Spiderman, at least, will follow.

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SanMarco added 11:54 - Jul 28 Good balanced article. It is quite clear that mistakes have been made. The MoPo situation was handled badly. Everyone and his dog knew he was going and he was clearly undermining the club with the players in the last part of the season. He should have been sacked in January. Also in retrospect the sale of RL (which was a big surprise) was not the best way to start the summer. It opened the flood gates and there seems to be little contol or willpower being shown to at least stem the flow until replacements are in place. If club X want Saints player Y then player Y will be just as good a player AFTER his replacement is signed as before. By allowing Liverpool to bully us with the RL ultimatum we set a bad precedent. Now it is open season. The person responsible for these failings (presumably Reed) should be sacked. In the mean time we will all log on daily and check by the hour (or minute) hoping for some good news on sighnings...

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slynch added 12:03 - Jul 28 http://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/liverpool/liverpool-announce-new-cres
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Jesus_02 added 12:36 - Jul 28 We now have a big board to hide decisions behind. It may be an uninformed opinion but the level of success that we had under Cortese doesnt really compare to Lowe. I dont want to get into a slanging match about business aproaches but our current structure is exceptionally risk averse. This may be seen as a good thing by many. Just not footballers.
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pintsizedsaint added 12:50 - Jul 28 What would be best is if there is an official statement from SFC about this- even if it is to just acknowledge what has happened and that we are active in the market. The silence just allows the media and others to make their own conclusions about what is going on. Personally, I reckon we are trying to get best deals for players - which is taking its time as all clubs know we are cash-rich. We should expect other clubs to be seeing what we are doing (only authorizing over-the-odds transfers) and saying to themselves 'lets do that to them'. That makes sense. I would really love a statement that says there will be no further outgoing transfers this window. I can understand all the transfers to date (bar Chambers - but this has not been approved yet) as it is clear that AL, and Lovren wanted to leave and we got top dollar for them. SRL was a no-brainer and the Luke Shaw really sets us up for buying without the need to ask our owner for more cash. I'm a realist. Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal are all bigger clubs that (most importantly) can offer bigger wages. Had NC/MoPo stayed instead of the ridiculous "I thought to myself I would like to play for Liverpool one day") statements we would have heard AL and DL saying something like "I was reluctant to leave Southampton as we were on a great journey - but..." Let's not kid ourselves about the reasons why many of these players have left. What is reassuring is that they did not go without huge over payments being made.

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SanMarco added 13:26 - Jul 28 pintsizedsaint - the trouble with statements is that they tell us what we want to hear. Remember what happened a few weeks ago when the fans were demanding statements. They gave us 'reassurance' and look what came of that. I would like to see action rather than words...
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LesVivian added 14:26 - Jul 28 Even if Chambers and Schneiderlin leave, we might just get away with it in midfield, and, less likely, up front. The problem is at the back. Hooveld, Yoshida are covering players at best and Fonte played out of his skin last season, alongside a good centre-back. Central defence is a disaster area, before we get to the goalkeepers! Boruc is great, but erratic, and if he is injured there is no-one good enough to come in. Spend the money, before it's too late!

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ArchersRoad added 15:00 - Jul 28 i'll keep it simple - REED MUST GO
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 15:48 - Jul 28 Totally agree with LesVivian. Our midfield is still decent without Schneiderlin and at least we still have Clyne at right back. Without Lovren and Shaw our defence is in tatters. Yoshida and Hooiveld aren't good enough for the Premiership and I don't think we can rely on Targett being as good as Shaw at left back. Fonte did well next to Lovren but I fear without that solid influence next to him Fonte could look a bit average again. I think the club need two new centre backs, De Vrij and Van Dijk would be brilliant. £10m a piece. And Fraser Forster would be a fantastic addition in goal, with Boruc as back up next season. Gazza is a liability and will never be a Premiership quality keeper. Saints need to seal those deals as soon as possible, and then look to sign a left back and also bolster our very thin attack. A lot to be done!!!

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simmo400 added 15:56 - Jul 28 Are the owners asset stripping the club before a sell on ??? Makes me wonder.
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BoondockSaint added 16:13 - Jul 28 When KL got rid of NC, why was his lackey Reed kept? Echo has story Chambers is gone and "interview" or statement from Reed (hard to tell from article). If they did talk to him, there was no follow up of "Is this it?" "Why did you say we were not a selling club and turn into one?" In picture he looks like he has all the sincerity and charm of a used car salesman.

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SanMarco added 16:23 - Jul 28 Yes Boondock he does look like a used-car salesman. At least he is getting top price for the cars - the only problem is the forecourt is getting pretty empty.
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CliffordNelson added 18:02 - Jul 28 Whether a shed load of players are being recruited or not, and I doubt it very much for obvious reasons, Reed, Krueger and Rogers have all shown woeful leadership qualities. Of that there is no doubt, and they will never be able to retrieve those failings again. Whatever you think of Cortese he left it in no doubt who was leading the club and in what direction he was taking us. The togetherness and positive outlook both in the changing room and in the stands was proof of that. Look at players (can't get away quick enough) and supporters (pessimism galore) now and spot the difference. There is, I'm afraid nothing to wait for, because it will not happen with this bunch. And Nick is wrong in one important aspect: It is no longer about things which may happen. They already have.

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corkcitysaint added 18:58 - Jul 28 Saints at the moment are like the titanic. We hit the ' berg towards the end of last season. Mopo saw it, the night watchman didn't! the players are fleeing for the lifeboats. The Captain is long gone. Who would want to come on board?? Sorry if that's a bit negative but it's been a sad transfer day.
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zonehead added 23:37 - Jul 28 I think Les is bieng tied up and asset stripped
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aceofthebase added 06:47 - Jul 29 The problem started with the POX who was always going to spurs and the players knew it. He started the exodus and the players as usual were like sheep in their rush to gain megga bucks. Saints will survive, ok it will be in a different format and perhaps a different style but once a players head has been turned by promises of riches and fame then it is inevitable that they will leave and probably good that they do. It's then that the supporters with pen or sword look to blame the club management or owners. They are powerless to stop the outflow. I am eager to see the bright young stars they will be signing but remember that other clubs know that we have money in the bank so do not expect them to hand over players cheaply. Chin up guys, it's only a game!

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Jesus_02 added 08:09 - Jul 29 Come back Cortese...I'd rather listen to your silence than Les Reeds
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montecristo added 15:03 - Jul 29 SOUTHAMPTON FOOTBALL CUB IS FOR SALE I have been saying for months that KL was conducting a fire sale because she has no intention of retaining a club that she sees as a nuisance and major inconvenience. All the indicators were there, if you know what to look for. First the apoointments of Reed and Krueger . Their real jobs are as follows. The first is in charge of selling off all players for whom the club can get a substantial pay off. Kruger s job is in fact charged with finding a buyer for the club. he hasnt been at St marys Im told for the last 6 nweeks and is believed to be in France and moving as required to Switzerland and Germany. A french journalist has got wind of the story and has started putting it about, but the British press have been slow to react so far. When Cortese left KL contacted Christian Purslow, a former director of Liverpool FC no less, who also runs a busness dealing with the aquisition of share capital called Mid Ocean, an american company handling some three billion. He was charged with finding a buyer but did not succeed apparently. Since then however, Krueger has been appointed and he has a track record in this área which i did not know about. Not just a hockey coach then.He is apparently a ruthless negotiator and a member of the World Economic Forum since 2011, which consists of leaders in diferent comercial fields including sport. Apparently Southampton is known to be for sale throughout the Middle East. An individual who is known to be involved in club take overs has also confirmed that Southampton is up for sale. I dont know his name, but he is quoted in the french article. Before Purslow s appointment, Cortese did try to buy the club, but KL would not let him have it. There is bad blood between the two of them it seems.I cannot confirm whether he is behind the latest developments, but its possible. The french journalist s name is Raymond Molina, and he says he expects further developments within the next few days. On the player front the strategy is to sell ,sell ,sell. If any players are brought in they will be at minimum cost to keep the club viable,But I wouldnt count on it. Names coming in include the Celitic pair Forster and Van Dyik, a young 20 yer old french full back currently as PSG as a replacement for Shaw.But thats it Im afraid. There vhas been na offer for Schneiderlin from Spurs for some time , its just a question of the figure now. He is as good as gone.

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pintsizedsaint added 22:31 - Jul 29 Montechristo please stop talking nonsense. You know as much as the rest of us. Krueger was in North America meeting up with other clubs. He's also confirmed the club is not for sale. So. According to you there will be news of a possible sale in the next few days. Let's see shall we?
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Zambucco added 10:29 - Jul 30 At it's time it would have been brilliant Nick, cheers, you're echoing what I'm saying to all my 'loyal' friends, no need to panic, don't start aimlessly slagging off those not resposible, you'll make yourself look an arse. But yes Reed at the moment doesn't look the man for the job. However since then things have moved on, Chambers has left, Ralph Krueger has stated in an interview with Sky, that Schneiderlin and Rodriguez are not for sale! This hopefully will put a few knees back in place, after they were subjected to some jerking! Montecristo, if you wanted to sell your car, would you take off all the best parts first? There will be no sale! I still believe, we should look at this as a new 5 year plan. But instead of starting at the bottom of League one minus ten points. We start, following finishing 8th in the premiership,. With the core of a brilliant squad that has played in EPL for 2 years together. A new manager of international repute, a stable board and £100m to spend on new players. Exciting times ahead, In the words of Nigel Adkins "let's draw a blue line under that and let's jump in the boat and start rowing together again" COYR!

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Tiptv added 14:18 - Jul 30 We did an interview with Gordon 'Flash' Watson. He's got some very positive views on Southampton. Thought you might be interested in wathcing http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/tip-tv-highlight-gordon-watson-30-07-2014/
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