Frank's cousin

Great news.... but do you not think that words like 'disgraceful' , disgusting etc, were perhaps premature in hindsight, given that it appears that this is a case of the current rules/regs not covering your father's situation, and that once this was highlighted to thsoe with the poere to look into these things, teh correct decsion was made? I would be disgusted with the club if they refused a disabled ticket to your father, but seems to me a fair few on here have a case of 'premature speculation'...

... same policy, culture , just within a bigger budget... not sure how that can be considered wrong in any way....

What kind of club do we want? I think the OP asks a very interesting question, BUT I would say there is a bigger fundemental question to ask first, and that kind of dictates or limits the options in the policy or strategy NC can adopt or implement. That question revolves around 'what is the purpose of a club in a league?' is it to be satisfied with your position, gracefully accepting your share of the prem riches as some clubs seem happy to do, and thus operating a policy of survival at any cost, including that of any 'style' in your play, or is the whole purpose to to be the very best... to try and do what you can to win the darn thing no matter what the so called odds against it are? For me the premise has to be that you aim to win it - otherwise what is the point if you are happy making up the numbers? OK, so you might agree but worry about the pace with which a club looks to achieve their ambitions... afterall no one is really happy with the Chelseas/Man City sling loads of money at it approach... but this is where the problem lies. As others have stated, Saints is always been about developing good homegrown talent supplemented by a few select experienced players.... its been indicated that this will not change - and that is good. BUT what we need to be able to do is two things - Hold onto the best youth, at least until they actually reach their full potential, AND step up the Quality of those we do buy in to supplement this. BOth of these require increases in cash we are prepared to spend on the playing staff in transfer fees and wages over an above what we have traditionally been willing or able to to. There is also the issue of whether younger players will be willing to wait for us to become a more successful side (the 'want it now culture driven by agents etc does not help) and whether teh better quality transfers are willing to be part of a 'project' as opposed to again getting it today. So this increases the pressure on teh club to accelerate the progress, to ensure we can at least try and keep teh best youth, and attract teh next levcel of quality in the transfer market.... chicken and egg, vicious circle etc, call it what you want, but at least you can undersatnd the rational for NC wanting to accelerate progress... wait too long and you go backwards as youth lose patience... I dont believe NC with teh backing of the Liebherr's is looking to change the tried and tested youth + quality additions approach, just up our game to be in a position to retain the best kids longer and attract a higher quality player... of the right attitude. And that is simply not possible without a committment from the owners to invest in the infrastructure and playing staff, until we are in a position to benefit financially from the Euro pot and increased Prem cash from better finishing on a regular basis. Of course this is set against the same desire of many other clubs as well, all trying to do the smae thing, so no one said it would be easy, but if you think about it, our rise these last few years has been precisely based on team ethic, the right type of characters bonding and growing as a unit... and so far it seems that this is the approach we wish to retain.

Of course it's a negative article, it's highly critical, how can that be positive? I don't give a sheet what the overblown windbag thinks, but I believe we can rightly ask questions as to his motives over this. Same as its odd that Cortese did use the media in this case when previously he is so keen to keep stuff behind closed doors. Truth is that NO one knows why he felt he had to take this approach in this case, other than NC. Its just as easy to think Katharina Liebherr was in the know challenging NC, to demonstrate that any one actually believed in his strategy.... I just find it more strange that you see never seem more pleased than when someone is openly critical or negative about the club... Actually defending it as well... Not thenormal attitude of a down to earth fan.

Ahr Hypo the Turkish Wannabe strikes strikes a mortal blow.... Your powers of intellect never cease to amaze me... It is not perceived as negative.... IT IS a negative article DOH! And you guys are behind the times as already being discussed on the Cortese stays thread. The fact that Samuals has bothered to writes such a negative OPINION piece is a question you should be asking, because there is no news in it, just opinion, and yes, negative at that, so what is his motivation? Or don't you care about that now as its tuned to your own (or you master Turks) opinion? The ONLY 'controversy' in any of this saga is that is was Strange that NC used the media when he is normally so guarded. That is a fair and reasonable question... The rest is simply his Deliberately controversial POV. His motivation for which is unclear, but he has a history with us, having nailed his paper for £250k damages under Lowe, probably has something to do with it....

For one who loves to pontificate, and present yourself as some sort of intellectual heavyweight, perhaps you should look up the definition of 'objective response'.... An objective response to this saga would have been (as many on here have done) to point out the inconsistency, that Cortese , who is renowned for keeping business behind closed doors, appears here to have used the media to help influence the situation, instead of jumping to conclusions and presenting such an aggressive slant on this. Controversy sells papers, but this has the hallmarks of quickly rewritten, cobbled together 'opinion', as they have been left disappointed that they now won't get much 'summer of discontent' copy as they had been hoping for. As to 'spend, spend spend' - granted there are a few who seem happy to spend other folks money, when you consider that We don't know, and nor does Samuels, what the plans entail, he is speculating and ignoring a couple of key previous statements 1) Infrastructure and thus legacy is a vital and major component of those plans, and 2) Cortese has always said homegrown is vital. I find it strange he went public, but getting public support to be able to fulfil your ambitions is nothing new, just surprising in this case. Samuals has history with us, so hardly surprising he would take this slant.....

Like everyone else, I am stumped as to why NC leaked the strategy and contract talk stuff... As we have seen and has been pointed out, it goes against the normal behind clouded doors approach... But as its open season on mad speculative improbable possible maybes... I'll have a mad punt . My mad theory is based on the Liebherrs not believing NC can actually achieve what he has set for global domination. Indeed it easy to see Katherina, saying, "we are never in the news we must be tin pot small, never going to happen sunshine" NC replies, "ok, watch this, and your'll see how quickly the media suckers lap it up and we'll have saints on the sky ticker tape quicker than Pompey are back in admin" .... A few days later, " see, told ya. The interest is there. Give us the spondoolies and you won't lose out' totally made up ******, like everyone else's theories. Only thing is, I don't believe anyone dropped a bollock here, this was calculated, but NC must also have known that it was never going to rattle the family... Or would have been a mental risk... We will never know, but who cares, the outcome is what 95% of us wanted so we must all be happy now!

Its even simpler than that Trousers.... him and his reacharound buddy Turks seem to find it surprizing that 'fans' or supporters of a club will be critical of the media when presenting the club in a a negative light and speculating, yet less so when its portraying the club in a positive light... no sheet! ... the reality is simple WUM love

His IQ As mentioned, find MPs honesty refreshing. He has been hear 4 months so is hardly likely to be in 'love' with the club yet. Much rather this than teh fake plastic badge kissing platitudes you see so often after 5 minutes. OP is a obviously thick as shiedt.

Oh please get over yourself and stop being such a frame queen. He has been here 4 months that is all, and I find it refreshingly honest that after such a short period he is not bullshi ting fans with fake 'love the club' 'badge kissing platitudes. All this BS and speculation spouted on here in the last couple of days, the histrionics, is frankly pretty embarrassing. NC is 4 years into what we believe is a 5 year contract - so at season end with 1 year to go, they will have learnt what they need to push on beyond this. He is IN discussion with the owners to assess what can and can not be done to deliver on that.... Perfectly fricken normal. If you look at the actual quotes and not the headlines, they are all fair comments as part of a negotiation. If the owners, who incidentally had ownership thrust upon them due to the sad and untimely death of Markus, feel its not for them to invest more or if they do, wish greater say, both are also normal. As is the NC wanting to continue as he has done, after all its worked for 4 years. So they DISCUSS and negotiate. NORMAL if they can not reach agreement and no party is willing to compromise, then so be it. We move on under either different ownership or different leadership, but to give the old sad cliches you spout about the 'club is bigger than two individuals' is frankly as pathetic as it is irrelevant. Its also disingenuous to both the role that the Liebherrs's and NC have played in dragging us back up. I am just glad that they would not waste any time looking at comments on this or other fan boards, because there is enough insulting, misguided and fricken pathetic Sheila written about this that I could not blame them for thinking its not worth it. Thankfully this site is not representative of the fan base as a whole and most, simply appreciate how far we have come the backing , leadership and management decisions that have been made and want it continue, because its been good for the club, and the majority of its fans. Some you your and others histrionics are like gossiping fish wives gleefully wishing the worst will come true... Fricken saddos.

thing is Duncs, you are self aware enough to know why you approach it all as you do... Even if its a little depressing ;-) we can not influence what happens, unless you believe that a united fan base that is behind the club as well as the side has any impact... And there is too much ambiguity and contradictory evidence to suggest it does. For me, seeing us win agin and enjoy our football in L1 and then the FCC, just reaffirmed why I like this game and this club... So the cycle is success and possible failure no longer holds any fear - why will be will be, and whilst its clear we are TRYING to play an attractive style, progress and are beating top sides, what's not to enjoy? we go down, so be it, it's Not life or death, and its Not more important than that.

It's pretty ironic, that as sell professed 'happy clappy' some of those WUMs accuse me of 'taking it all tooooo seriously, when that's the whole fricken point of being happy clappy- I don't. I can be comfortable being 'positive' about our future , our ambitions, our growth and development because I ENJOY it. The reality of such claims of European domination, is irrelevant. .... Unless you are so sad that you worry yourself and wet your bed about the fact that fans of other clubs might think its funny and laugh at us.... Its easy to dismiss dreams and aspiration as naive if you never take the time to understand that for most supporters it's dreams and aspirations, whether realistic or not that underpin your affection. I wonder how many Wigan fans would have believed they would win the cup some time when they languished in non league? But plenty would have dreamed about it. The whole Europe thing.... Well we have been there before. The side when playing the best it can could probably win a few rounds now... The difference is within the Prem, qualification is so much harder as instead of 2-3 dominating sides, there are 6-7 that take those positions. No one has ever said its possible without serious investment and continued growth... But that does not mean serious investment and growth can not or will not happen... It's a possibility and yet some are obsessed by the probability of this being low, whilst others like me don't give a flying feck about the probability and are simply enjoying being in the upward cycle right now.... There will be plants of opportunity to be miserable again in future as it won't last forever... as to positive/negative news stories.... This is simple. Whether positive or negative, you want at least some facts to substantiate what is most often speculation. With positive stories, of course we want facts as well, but such stories are harmless, and well have no negative PR, so there is no issue if it IS just speculation. With negative stories, the opposite is true, they can be damaging and dividing, so if just speculation they should be exposed as such. Claims made without facts, will always suit someone's agenda, and some seem happy to believe because of it and even propagate the claims... Which makes you suet that they don't really have the clubs best interests at heart.

And with that post you demonstrate all that is fundamentally stupid. So lets get this straight, you believe that when have success it has nothing to do with the chairman. No doubt that means with struggle, then it's also not down to the chairman? Does that mean everyone was wrong in blaming Lowe for relegation.? its this kind of utter tosh, wanting it both ways when it suits that undermines any credibility in many of the arguments on this site. Success is possible only when you get the combination right, leadership, funding, manger choice, manager decisions and tactics, player choice and importantly drive an ambition so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. i have absolutely no doubt that some staff walked being unable to adapt... Or accept a working environment in which the expectations were turned on their head, and everyone expected to tow NCs line. - I will even wager it would not be for me, but hat does not mean its not right for the club that needed a huge kick up the backside to get back on the winning track . Shape up or ship out seems harsh, but its a reality of life. All this community club ****** is fine if you are happy in lower league obscurity or as an excuse for mediocrity, but success in sport is driven by more than such 'emotive' and naive platitudes.... It's no surprise that those down the make a big play of it, yet any of them would swap their ' fan ownership' ****** for our leadership any day. Lowe was not successful because his direction and strategy was focused on financial risk aversion..fine for keeping the books balanced but as we saw eventually everyone else overtakes you... And by employing cheap and cheerful under the guise of 'loyalty and reward' we were left with sub standard managers who failed... Giving the job to Gray and Wriggly was all nice and 'community' .... Those still go cant move beyond ticket tax, Adkins and parking, need to ask where they want this club to be... A mid table championship 'community club' run by lots of nice people, or a dynamic club at the top table with the ambitions to go beyond our expected rank? If you believe both are possible, then that's pretty naive. Be careful what you wish for.

To be fair, Marcus made his motivations perfectly clear when he rescued the club... It was a hobby and something that would give him a great deal of pleasure to see what he and Nicola could make of it. Anyone who saw him at Wembley will have seen he quickly came to love what being an owner can do; it is one of the saddest things that he is no longer around to see us progress as we have. Nicola, I believe is motivated by the challenge and what that means for him and his reputation, but it would be disingenuous in the extreme to deny that he is not also motivated by fullfilling the ambitions of his dear friend, and sometimes folk on here forget that. As for Markus' family, it would be wrong to second guess their interest or motivation. But again a lot will come down to the memory of their family member and wanting to honour his wishes and dreams. ' Power and money?' Well in part maybe... I speculate that as we have now secured prem status, Cortese has shared the plan and that ambitious plan requires serious funding. As such the family need to approve and feel comfortable that this is an appropriate way to go. Therefore it's possible that this is all a storm in a teacup when reality is that we have now come to a new phase that requires new money.... So why is anyone surprised that this will mean discussion and negotiation, or do clever and smart people simply hand over blank cheques? - certainly not how wealth is protected. I hope that is the case, but who knows, we shall see, but all this additional speculation on 'failings out' or Liebherrs not being happy with NC etc is probably about as inaccurate as it is helpful. It may see a parting of the ways if no agreement can be reached, always possible, but to dismiss Corteses's influence and impact on our 4 year progress is as naive as it is disingenuous. Without leadership and direction of a high calibre, money alone is not enough and whilst there are undoubtedly very good CEOs out there, don't under estimate the impact of Markus ad NCs friendship in driving the commitment to success.

Duncs, know we dont always agree, but always respected your opinion... how do you see it now, brinkmanship and resolution or a parting of the ways?

No one can touch this site for speculation Couple of points - to those few who wish him gone, be careful what you wish for. the list of clubs with money who have NOT delivered on targets is far greater than those that have... Blackburn, Leicester, QPR, Man City even. For a variety of reasons, but usually because of internal compromise or poor strategy and implementation... Mr Cortese has more then delivered, most likely due to a singleminded determination , and I for one am happy to accept no one is perfect and it comes with a few idiosyncracies. As to emotional committment, there are a few that are stronger than wishing to deliver on your Friend's ambition. From takeover on -10 in L1 to prem survival in 4 seasons - not bad for a 'Swiss banker' Careful what we wish for...

Real class there ..... That will be the 'Clotese' whose meaner germinal decisions have seen us go from L1 to prem and stay up in 3 seasons ... We really do have some fans whose idiocy is beyond belief. Your understanding of the game obviously pretty limited if you can't see beyond stats and points.... Go support the skates, it's about your level

...sadly in close season ART and Alps will have some sort of bastard love child as they bemoan the fact we don't sign 47 global stars within week one of the transfer window... Adkins v Poch? jeez.... If you are the type that is only ever interested in stats and points, enjoy making a fuss about the minimal difference... If you enjoy football and the way it is played, Poch has BUILT on what Adkins started and I believe that with the right additions will take us further with his style. We are not Dortmund... We simply don't have that quality of player, but its nice to see us TRY and play a more attacking pressing style ... We have just run out of steam with a small squad. Sometimes it's more important to try with what you have - even I it means set backs than accept the 'advice' of some who still see Stoke as the model approach. For some of us it's about football we play, not just survival at any cost, and both Adkins and Poch can take pride in their contribution to how far we have comely those principles.

Bite? Just pathetically wierd... what sad fricken life event has caused such patheitic bitterness of a football?... I feel for you as it must have been pretty horrendous.

Thing is though Jimmy, critcising their choice of slogans for their campaign is one thing, but its the principle of encouraging youngsters to support that is good surely and just because its pompey and their ad approachshould we not acknowledge that the princip;le is sound, even if their advertsiing is not to your taste?

This is going to hurt.... but I kind of agree with CB Fry on this one. Whatever we think of their past and the hilarity that really masks the anger with what they got away with... whatever we think of the potential competence of their new set up, I cant really see anything wrong with them at least trying to encourage kids to support their local side and not fall victim to the Sky ideal that football satrts and ends with Manu U and Chelski etc al I enjoy laughing at them, I am honest to admit that it still amkes me angry how they can ignore the reality of how they written off so much yet keep the spoils, but the truth is if they are to rebuild and have any future, they need their kids to to become local fans and that is afterall the cornerstone of all clubs, weather prem or conference.

Results results, points... blah blah, all that is missing from teh NIge v Poch comparisons is the standard 'its a results buisness...'' blah blah.... welll Stoke get results, WHam get results, yet quite rightly IMHO they are criticised for the way they do it. NIge had us playing a proper style... but it does not take a huge football brain to se that we have stepped this up under Poch. Its also no surprise that we have performed and gained results against those sides who dont sit back and defend.... the better sides. Its no surprize to me that we do still struggle a bit with our style against the more defensive sides as we still do not have the level of quality that the top sides have in addressing this, but we are young and developing... not all fans are more worruied about points, but personnaly I am more interested in how we play... IMO, Poch has improved this and with additioanl squad depth and time to work over the summer, feel we can take another step forward, without compromising the entertaining style we want to play. As to 'how NIge was treated'...jeez, we dont know how he was treated yet many seem perfectlyu happy to assume it was bad, because the media told you so.... there is more credence in the theroy that NIge knew he was out after Coventry than any of the stuff reported since - he played his part and played it well within the plan... as Pochetino will... As to writing a ****ty letter with the fricken supreme arrogance to suggest 'all fans'' .... no one has the right to do that. You want to write with your opinion fair enough, but teh presumption all fans agree is pretty outrageous...

...without having a clue about whether the club had a case or not - they simply assumed the local supplier was in the right as it suited them to do so. Disputes happen, they are discussed, they are litigated, they are resolved... you go ahead and make a big deal out of it if you want to as it supports your POV on Cortese, but it makes you look rather silly.

''It's pretty clear Franny caved in and was in the wrong. One day they he is claiming £30,000 for a new carpet the next he settles ut of court - why make that statement if he is happy to receive less or its just a matter of meeting in the middle as to what compensation is owed? This follows the precident that we've had of falling out with the club and criticising and joking about it in public, letting it all drag on and on. People can attempt to spin it and defend it how they want to, but the fact is no one knows the facts, no matter how they like to pretend they do....'' The above is completely made up, just as Turk's Troll post - both ontain equa; amounts of BS and made up stuff in support of an opinion....

Would those so obsessed with the club's approach be so 'upset' had it not been 'Franny club legend', but some local landlord with a bad rep even if the circumstances had been exactly the same.... ? Gien that this is a dispute about the AMOUNT owed, instigated by Franny, and not as to whether anything was owed, is it not right that club hold out until the looming court case forces through a compromise that both parties can live with - a fairly common practice? No one likes the club being seen as some sort of litigacious moster, but 2 -3 cases in nearly 4 years is hardly 'constantly in court' as some seem determined to believe. Nobody is perfect and noone is above criticism. We are in a far better place after 3.5 years of Cortese in charge than we were before - that is his only job. Keeping EVERYONE happy is impossible and simply rolling over on every demand is also not the way to run things. The trolls and some of you seem to get some twisted pleasure/enjoyment from these stories - that is the wierdest thing in all this.