Fitzhugh Fella

I find him frustrating. He is too easily eased off the ball and has no body strength. The potential is there alright but he needs to muscle up and get more aggressive.

Wow aren't you sure you are not really a Lib Dem sort of guy?

A promising start - already communicated more openly than NC and that can't be bad. Let's give her a chance I am sure we could be in worse hands.

From talking to quite a few people in a better place than most to form an opinion I would say this is very near the truth.

Indeed Hypo

Thanks MLG - you are right bad odds

Ray's funeral was today and I am pleased to say Brian O'Neil, Tommy Hare, Denis Hollywood and Lawrie McMenemy turned up. For me that is wonderful that ex players and an ex manager took the time to pay tribute to a devoted fan. Fair play and hopefully now we can once again have a club that respects properly the local community. Too many funerals recently the club have not sent anyone to represent them and while I accept football has changed a lot of the players' relatives come from a different era and they don't understand why the club grandees just don't seem to care.

Manji has just had six kittens!

I am seriously thinking of waging a large bet on Pompey not getting relegated. This means I have a win win situation. IE if they avoid relegation I pick up some winnings but if they don't? - well I would be quite happy to spunk £100 up the wall if it means they go down. So my fellow nut jobs, what are the odds on them not going down tonight?

Nick knows nothing but he talks like he knows everything

Indeed there were, don't forget Anthony Salz and Morph's friends. Good solid, honest Saints fans who would not have let the club die.

Nick your traditional obsequiousness always undermines the value I attach to your opinions. In other words you would say that.

I once spent an interesting drive up to Doncaster listening to Leon Crouch's explanation of the Tommac/Paul Allen takeover. I was staggered how, based on very little evidence, Tommac was able to convince the board at the time there was something in the story that Allen was interested and even managed to fleece them for more than a few grand. Like all Saints fans I desperately wanted the Allen thing to be true but at the time, when I think of all the hours I spent on the forums waiting for the final announcement that our club was rich and yet at the end of the day it was all based on a con man and a very naiive board, then I am going to be truly sceptical about this story. One thing I know when it comes to football clubs being for sale every Walter Mitty, tyre kicker, nutjob and fantasist comes out of the woodwork. And even if it is true I am not sure I want it to happen, especially if it means the return of the bully.

Well said, Old Nick likes nothing better than to have his cake and eat it. I've heard the facts and the added fact that someone coughed up on the court room steps should indicate pretty clearly who the guilty party was. More money, not his mind you spunked up the wall - he was pretty good at that.

And you know all the in ands outs of what NC did to Benali?

This is one of the most refreshing posts on this thread. If our club is being successful we are all - to various degrees - fickle. You only have to note the NC appreciation thread is struggling to clear two pages.

As usual wise words Chapel End Charlie. I know I am accused of having an agenda but for the record I have got to say, by and large, before the book business I was pretty much behind NC if only for the fact he put my football club back on the map and then some. But I did feel very let down re the book ban and I challenge anyone else who found themselves in a similar position not to be a little hacked off and yes, a tad bitter that many years of work and a considerable financial outlay was jeopardised. I realised if he treated me like that (and it was nothing of my own making) then what else was he up to. He shafted Hagiology out of petty spite so I make no apologies tonight for a) explaining what happened and b) letting people know I think the man actually to be a bit of an arse, no matter how brilliant his business acumen is (or was). I also make no apologies for what I said about Lowe as eventually my accusations over his egotism proved right despite what diehard Lowe luvvies like Once Bitterne would have you believe. Tbh give me Lowe any day, he did actually have some redeeming features, he at least treated his staff well. It seems Saints are unlucky in that two of our recent chairmen have turned out to be flawed in fatal ways and have had to step aside. Let's just hope our next messiah does not fall into the same category but it seems anyone who runs or owns a football club these days is of a certain breed.

slightly annoy?

I think Ms Liebherr might have other priorities right now

The club would have got £25 on every copy of All the Saints they sold at £35. They have no overheads (other than existing ones) or expenses or risk as it is sale or return. We paid for everything in the book's production. Over the last decade they sold over 3000 copies of "In That Number" at a similar price and it is still selling. 3000x25 = £75,000. That is virtual 100% profit. Cortese turned his back on a similar amount of money because for once he did not get his way ie Benali was able to attend the launch. My point is he had no right to be so cavalier with that amount of money, it was not his to forfeit. And for those who still think this is peanuts, see what Guided Missile has said - suggesting it is just the tip of an iceberg.

I accept totally that my issue is peanuts but at least it enabled me to comment on facts as I know them. Much of what is posted on here is based on hearsay and rumour. The fact is that Cortese spunked 50k up against a wall that wasn't his to spunk. Apologies if my language offends or discredits me further

Nick, you say he likes to take people to court, well that is the point, it never happens, he threatens and bullies but then settles before it reaches court, costing the club money. My post might be self-indulgent but the fans need to realise why Ms Liebherr intervened. Literally one minute after I posted this a senior ex employee contacted me to confirm all I said and more. Yes this person may have an agenda but they are happily re-employed and doing well. NC did very well in doing what he did on the pitch for Saints but he simply had too much power in my opinion and ultimately that is never a good thing.

Like most fans I have spent the last 48 hours trawling through websites, reading the papers and listening to rumours from good and bad sources trying to piece together exactly why Cortese left and what is going to happen now. Did he leave because Katharina Liebherr would not back his vision with finance? If so that is a worry because it tells us that in some ways we have reached the end of the road. But I don’t buy this. His pet spin doctors in the Mail and the BBC have been working hard, too hard methinks. There is however an article in the Independent which I think, because of my own experiences with the man, is nearer the truth. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/nicola-cortese-chose-to-leave-and-was-not-forced-out-insist-southampton-9065638.html The article says that Ms Liebherr wanted “basic corporate practice implemented” and that she needed “ a degree of oversight and accountability for Cortese’s running of the club”. It adds that Cortese should “not be answerable solely to himself”. Well, from where I sit that seems perfectly reasonable. I mentioned earlier the many rumours and they include several claims that Cortese was, shall we say extremely personally extravagant with the Liebherr wealth. Now I don’t know about that but one thing I do know, speaking on a personal level, he tossed away approx £50,000 when he prohibited Hagiology Publishing’s “All the Saints” from the club shops when he learned that we had switched the book launch from the stadium to a local hotel after he had told us Francis Benali would not be allowed to attend. Now £50,000 is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, I accept, but a big company like Waterstones have told us they have been very grateful for their windfall as the consequence of being the sole outlet. Because of a personal whim could Cortese really expect to deny the company this sort of money and not be answerable? He preached 100% professionalism, but surely he was being a little less than professional turning his back on any legitimate income no matter how small? As I say, I know the facts of this particular story because I was directly involved but what other incidents were there that meant the Liebherr family were short-changed because of Cortese’s numerous feuds? We do know that he settled out of court with Francis Benali (one of many apparently in which he initiated litigation and then backed down at the final hour) so how much did that all cost the club – is there little wonder Katharina Liebherr finally decided enough is enough or at least attempt to reign in him a little? Basically she was only seeking to ensure there were safeguards towards her family’s investment. There is an old saying “count the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”. My involvement with him was, I accept, comparative “pennies” but I did get to learn first-hand just what he had become and, as a consequence, I am not in the least bit surprised Ms Liebherr acted how she has. I hope he never returns even if it is with a wealthier investor and for now I am going to trust Katharina, because one thing I know she may have plenty of wealth but it seems she also has “cojones”.

I think you have treated a tricky subject very well and anyone reading your work will end up having a pretty accurate picture. Well done, you have outperformed many national journos in my opinion.

Nick mate that post is one of your most ignorant. Matt pays for his tickets and gets no freebies nor does Franny. The person who rang Franny was very close to NC. If there is to be any positivity from NC's departure let's celebrate some healing of wounds. The more people pulling together the better it will be for our team.