Media fight Poortvliet and Wotte

[SaintRobbie]

Hello,

After reading this topic I phoned a friend over in the Netherlands who was friendly enough to translate the whole interview with Poortvliet. The interview was done by football magazine Voetbal International.

 

(he apologises for some of his English)

 

 

VI: How do you look back at your time in England?

 

JP: It was an awful time. At the start it sounded great, I had always dreamed of being a football trainer in England. Though from day one I was in an awkward situation. It started with the court case against Helmond Sport, where I was working at the time. Its sad it all went that way. I had a great time working at Helmond and I hoped they would let me go, sadly they didn’t. However I decided to fight the case because Southampton really wanted me. I had hoped the club would have supported me throughout the case, regardless of the verdict. The verdict was that I had to pay Helmond 75 thousand euro. When I signed my contract in England, the small letters in my contract stated that I had to pay the amount myself. The contract wasn’t what I expected, it was a rollover contract, that after every year there would be a option for the next. This was after we had agreed on a 3 year contract.

 

VI: Why did you sign?

 

JP: It all came very sudden to me. I was there in England on my own without a manager or anything. I didn’t know any better so I just signed.

 

VI: What else went wrong at Southampton?

 

JP: Southampton is a den of vipers, I soon found out. It’s a club going in all different ways. Over the last few years many people have been in charge of the club and still have influence on the organisation. The chairman at the time, Rupert Lowe, was hated by almost everyone. He signed me, but he was soon pressured to sack me. Lowe got very restless, he started interfering with everything. He started moaning about the fact that our goalkeeper, Kelvin Davis, didn’t join in with the football. Davis has been a goalkeeper for 20 years, I cant teach him in 1 day how to play a ball I would say. We started having all that kind of pointless arguments. They started doing all kinds of strange things. At the end I there all on my own. The goalkeepers trainer and the assistant manager were sacked, both for no apparent reason. It was a madhouse. No one at Southampton has ever heard of working together, everyone wants to be in charge. It drives you mad.

 

VI: You would function in a tandem with Mark Wotte, who was appointed at the same time as you as academy director. What was his position?

 

JP: He has never done anything at all to support me. He was out for just one thing, my job.

 

VI: The rumour has it he was critical about you to the board.

 

JP: That was what I heard as well. I constantly heard rumours how he was trying to nick my job. Officially he was appointed as academy director, however on Saturdays he was never at the youth games. He was always in the directors box watching the first team, home and away. That’s Mark Wotte for you. When you see him its obvious, in his suit with his chin up. He thought he was above me and that he deserved to have my job. Eventually he got what he wanted. After I had been sacked he took over right away. His mission was accomplished, well done.

 

VI: The combination Poortvliet-Wotte was impossible.

 

JP: It was a mistake to put us two together. We are completely different people, but I did my best to make it work. I wanted to include him in everything and I didn’t mind working with him. But for Mark that wasn’t enough. He had his own agenda. Eventually are working relationship got that bad that one of us had to go. He or me. I then tried to get rid of him, I am honest about that. But the club didn’t want to sack him and I was sacked. At the start I was upset about it, however eventually I was delighted, I lived under huge stress for 6 months, I was glad to be home.

 

VI: Southampton had some bad results whilst you were in charge. You were sacked, when the club was second to last in the Championship.

 

JP: The squad was very young and almost all the players were between 17 and early 20. Fiscally we were poor and we missed a natural goalscorer. But I did what I had to do, develop young talented players and sometimes we played some very good football. Eventually I sacked due to poor results, that happens. Mark thought he could do a better job. In the end Southampton were relegated. Very sad for the club but I was happy they did. I felt done by Mark and when he was relegated it was a relief for me. Under Mark they reverted to playing the English game. He played the older experienced players. The transfer value of the younger players went down again. He ruined all the work I did at the club.

 

VI: Was the adventure financially interesting?

 

JP: Don’t be daft, I had a basic salary and had to pay Helmond Sport. It has cost me money. It was one big fiasco.

 

 

Once more I feel vindicated for all the anti-Lowe and his cloggy rubbish campaigning. Lowe really was the cancer of our downfall. Still I suppose eejits like 19 Canteen will still be deniers.

Edited 15 August, 2009 by SaintRobbie

[Fan The Flames]

Wotte was and maybe still is a wa*ker.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

There are some Divs on this forum, aint there?

 

Jan says he was "completely unaware" of the "level" of the league he was in - the English second tier the fifth most popular league in Europe and probably the fifth richest.

 

Completely unaware? Completely unaware?

 

But because he peppers his quotes with a few vaguely anti-Lowe rentaquotes you lap it up. Poor old Jan he loves Saints through and through etc etc etc.

 

Completely unaware of the level of the league.

 

God help us.

 

So why would anyone (that'll be anyone with a capital L) appoint someone who knew nothing about this league? How did the interview go?

 

Was it something like "My chum Woody tells me he thinks he's heard of you from somewhere or other. You are Dutch. All the Dutch believe in sports science. So you can manage a team of kids, do you think?"

 

"Yesh, no problemsh."

 

"Ok, the jobs yours. And there's another Dutch bloke Woody thinks he met in a bar a couple of years ago. He apparently listened to everything Woddy said, so he's coming along too. OK?"

 

"Yesh, it's OK."

 

There were some of us saying it was just ludicrous from day one, but were abused for saying so.

[eurosaint]

Frankly, after reading that, Poortvliet seems like a complete idiot.

 

Cheers for the translation.

 

And Lowe like a complete C U N T !!

Edited 15 August, 2009 by eurosaint
Please excuse the language, my last ever word on the man !

[Gorgiesaint]

Good work Dr Kucho and thank your friend for the translation.

 

Just confirms what we all knew anyway - no-one comes out of this with any credit whatsoever. JP looks like a bumbling buffoon, Wotte a slimy backstabber & Lowe is just the complete **** that he is.

 

One question Dr Kucho (if you read this), was there any mention of the mystery Dutchman that Lowe brought - can't remember his name but the agent who wasn't employed by us but hung around all of the time?

[CB Fry]

So why would anyone (that'll be anyone with a capital L) appoint someone who knew nothing about this league? How did the interview go?

 

Was it something like "My chum Woody tells me he thinks he's heard of you from somewhere or other. You are Dutch. All the Dutch believe in sports science. So you can manage a team of kids, do you think?"

 

"Yesh, no problemsh."

 

"Ok, the jobs yours. And there's another Dutch bloke Woody thinks he met in a bar a couple of years ago. He apparently listened to everything Woddy said, so he's coming along too. OK?"

 

"Yesh, it's OK."

 

There were some of us saying it was just ludicrous from day one, but were abused for saying so.

 

 

Woodward didn't recommend Poortvilet, that was Wotte and some other Dutch bloke pre Burley.

 

Indeed it was ludicrous from day one, including me who slated them from day one flying in the face of the "give-them-a-chance-Alex-Ferguson-took-five-years-blah-blah" brigade droning on. Useless idiots.

 

I'm not defending Lowe for appointing the tw* t, but just annoyed that as long as anyone says disparaging things about Lowe then they become a Saints cult hero by default. JP having a pop at Lowe now is just a cheap way of hiding his own useless tw *ttishness. And people on here lap it up. Lap it up. He said Lowe interfered, everyone. Let's name a stand after him. What an all time Saints legend.

 

Well he isn't, wasn't and never will be - he was a useless idiot from day one, should never have been given the job, but was even worse at it than any of us dared dread.

[St Marco]

Always thought Wotte was a **** to be honest and this in my eyes just prooves it.

 

Even to this day i never quite understood why people were saying he was a great guy, was loyal etc.. He was getting paid more money here then he would of anywhere else.

Being Southampton manager is as good as it was ever going to get for him simply because his record as a manager reads like a horror story, if you want a guy to save your team from relegation the last guy you would call is Mark Wotte.

What was he going to do throw away his few hundred grand a week job to go on the dole? Of course he wasen't.

 

Both JP and Wotte were ****. For guys supposedly known for their ability to get youngsters playing "total football" you have to laugh at it. What we saw last year was the worst year i have seen as a Saints fan. From start to finish.

 

I just hope people like Lowe,JP or Wotte never ever get in this club ever again.

[um pahars]

What a sad epitaph to probably the most diastrous seasons in the Club's history!

 

Poortvliet comes across as naive and thoroughly overwhlemed by what he had taken on. Someone who was clearly out of his depth (despite the impressive CV LOL) and who should never have been given the chance. How bitter and twisted must he have been to be pleased to see us relegated.

 

Wotte comes across as the slimey chancer only too willing to put his own interests before anything else.

 

The Revolutionary Coaching Set Up is shown to be a sham from the start, with the two main protagonists not able to get along (even trying to get each other sacked six months in!!!!).

 

The Club doesn't come out of it well, apparently moving the goalposts with regards Poortvliet's contract before he even started (as poor as he was, it's hardly advisable to undermine and p1ss of the manager before he even starts!!!!).

 

And then we end with more evidence of Lowe's day to day involvement in team affairs, something as FF mentions was apparent to all apart from those so blind.

 

Looking at that interview we were doomed from the start and it was inevitable we would go down both in the league and in the finance stakes.

 

However, I certainly don't subscribe to the view that administration and relegation were inevitable immediately after the Sheffiled United game in 2008.

 

It would have been a tough season (or maybe a tough few seasons) and we would certainly have had to a fight an uphill battle both on and off the pitch, but the arrival of Lowe, Poortvliet and Wotte (and Van Der Waals!!!) just consigned any chance to the dustbin as the Revolutionary Coaching Set Up (which now extends to include Lowe!!!!) showed what it was capable of!!!!

 

Hopefully last season will be shown to be the lowest point in the Club's recent history and we will start to climb the Leagues again, even if it does take some time to do that.

[John B]

What a sad epitaph to probably the most diastrous seasons in the Club's history!

 

Poortvliet comes across as naive and thoroughly overwhlemed by what he had taken on. Someone who was clearly out of his depth (despite the impressive CV LOL) and who should never have been given the chance. How bitter and twisted must he have been to be pleased to see us relegated.

 

Wotte comes across as the slimey chancer only too willing to put his own interests before anything else.

 

The Revolutionary Coaching Set Up is shown to be a sham from the start, with the two main protagonists not able to get along (even trying to get each other sacked six months in!!!!).

 

The Club doesn't come out of it well, apparently moving the goalposts with regards Poortvliet's contract before he even started (as poor as he was, it's hardly advisable to undermine and p1ss of the manager before he even starts!!!!).

 

And then we end with more evidence of Lowe's day to day involvement in team affairs, something as FF mentions was apparent to all apart from those so blind.

 

Looking at that interview we were doomed from the start and it was inevitable we would go down both in the league and in the finance stakes.

 

However, I certainly don't subscribe to the view that administration and relegation were inevitable immediately after the Sheffiled United game in 2008.

 

It would have been a tough season (or maybe a tough few seasons) and we would certainly have had to a fight an uphill battle both on and off the pitch, but the arrival of Lowe, Poortvliet and Wotte (and Van Der Waals!!!) just consigned any chance to the dustbin as the Revolutionary Coaching Set Up (which now extends to include Lowe!!!!) showed what it was capable of!!!!

 

Hopefully last season will be shown to be the lowest point in the Club's recent history and we will start to climb the Leagues again, even if it does take some time to do that.

 

Obviously you could be right but the writing was on the wall from when Hone said players had to be sold in Nov 2007 if things had to been done then perhaps the situation regarding Lowe's return would not have happened.

 

 

 

Although the Administration and Relegation for a lot of people has been traumatic for me personally it has not as with a debt free club we have the oppurtunity now to go forward and hopefully get out of League 1 but as you say it will take time to build a team.

 

 

It is not going to be easy as I cannot see many of this team being outstanding in League 1 and able to prosper in the CCC.

[Whitey Grandad]

Obviously you could be right but the writing was on the wall from when Hone said players had to be sold in Nov 2007 if things had to been done then perhaps the situation regarding Lowe's return would not have happened.

 

 

 

Although the Administration and Relegation for a lot of people has been traumatic for me personally it has not as with a debt free club we have the oppurtunity now to go forward and hopefully get out of League 1 but as you say it will take time to build a team.

 

 

It is not going to be easy as I cannot see many of this team being outstanding in League 1 and able to prosper in the CCC.

 

The decline suddenly accelerated when he made that crass statement, IMO.

[eelpie]

The decline suddenly accelerated when he made that crass statement, IMO.

 

Immediately before a crucial match - everyone was gob-smacked and deflated. No wonder we lost when we might otherwise have had a good chance of winning. Downhill all the way from then. It might have been necessary to warn fans of impending cost-cutting, but the timing was catastrophic. Those guys had no idea about the psychology required to run a successful football club. They were no better than Lowelife.

[eelpie]

What a sad epitaph to probably the most diastrous seasons in the Club's history!

Hopefully last season will be shown to be the lowest point in the Club's recent history and we will start to climb the Leagues again, even if it does take some time to do that.

 

Sadly the reality of last season's legacy means we are now at the lowest point in our football league history. But at least there are signs of a few green-shoots. If we can win at Swindon (or whenever we get our first win in this league) I'll believe the recovery is beginning.