Cortese, similarities to lord Lowe?

[Mr X]

Obviously no real comparisons can be made to each others record of bringing success to the club Cortese has clearly had a part in rescuing us from the brink but then Lowe managed to keep us in the prem on a shoestring budget.

 

both are stubborn men that will singlemindedly follow there vision, both seemingly have limited people skills in dealing with both the media, fans and general public, both have huge egos, both like to change managers at a rate of knots to alledgedly move forward.

 

Are there any other similarities? Surely Cortese is the lesser of two evils?

[Dig Dig]

Change managers at a rate of knots? 3 managers in 4 years probably a below average turnover in professional football. And the Pardew Adkins change benefited the club and early signs of Pochettino are good. Lowes managerial changes were mainly him trying to clean up his mess.

 

A lazy comparison

[Wes Tender]

They're both blokes and both with a background in finance. That's about as far as it goes. They really couldn't be more different individuals otherwise.

[VectisSaint]

Obviously no real comparisons can be made to each others record of bringing success to the club Cortese has clearly had a part in rescuing us from the brink but then Lowe managed to keep us in the prem on a shoestring budget.

Lowe did not keep us in the Prem on a shoestring budget, it was Le Tissier that kept us in the Prem. Lowe managed to restrict our progress in the Prem because of his shoestring budget and lack of foresight and investment.

[Saint Without a Halo]

Lesser of Two Evils? Have you had a goos look at the Chairman of the other 91 league clubs? we are lucky to have Cortese! How many others would or could rescue a club languishing in league 1 (with a minus 10 start) and get it back to the Premier in 10 years, never mind 3 (just look at Leeds and Nottingham Forest for example as well as the way Coventry and wolves are going) even Leicester with bags of money and only 1 Divison down are making hard going of the task of getting back. I wont even mention the little club down the road and their various Chairmen. The only comparison success wise could be Norwich and Delia who seem well run.

 

No one is perfect and Cortese man/medi management could be better he also has an ego but so do many other Chairman however in the list of successful current Chairman he cant be too far off the top! As for Lowe he did well keeping us up and built us a stadium but in reaility he made too many bad mangerial and investment decisions and its arguable that if it it was not for Le Tiss we would have gone down far earlier anyway.

 

Also their choice in managers stand little if any comparism so far as both Pardew and Adknis contributed to our return and the early signs of MP are promising!

[Tamesaint]

Cortese has not brought us world class catering, a radio station, talked about klingons or has even mentioned the possibility of sitting on FA committees.

 

They are not similar.

[Turkish]

I see to remember lots of talk on here c2001-2004 about what a great businessman Lowe was and how he had adopted the right approach, gradual progression rather than big spending. Lots of talk about the investment in the academy and bringing through the youth and how this was a fantastic philosophy for a club like ours. Of course a lot of people will have 'forgotten' they said this or deny it. The praise lavished on him in good times is only usurped by the blind faith that many have in Cortese and the cult like devotion, denying it is possible for the man to do any wrong.

[Katalinic]

I see to remember lots of talk on here c2001-2004 about what a great businessman Lowe was and how he had adopted the right approach, gradual progression rather than big spending. Lots of talk about the investment in the academy and bringing through the youth and how this was a fantastic philosophy for a club like ours. Of course a lot of people will have 'forgotten' they said this or deny it. The praise lavished on him in good times is only usurped by the blind faith that many have in Cortese and the cult like devotion, denying it is possible for the man to do any wrong.

 

What are your views on their respective dress sense? For me Nicola's suits look more finely tailored.

[Turkish]

What are your views on their respective dress sense? For me Nicola's suits look more finely tailored.

 

Lowe was very old school English gent, blazer, tie and waxed jacket in the winter. Cortese is well dressed, smart, sharp suits and if he was 6 inches taller would make a smart and imposing and chairman. Both were smart in their own ways but in terms of style Cortese is the clear winner.

[JustMike]

I see to remember lots of talk on here c2001-2004 about what a great businessman Lowe was and how he had adopted the right approach, gradual progression rather than big spending. Lots of talk about the investment in the academy and bringing through the youth and how this was a fantastic philosophy for a club like ours. Of course a lot of people will have 'forgotten' they said this or deny it. The praise lavished on him in good times is only usurped by the blind faith that many have in Cortese and the cult like devotion, denying it is possible for the man to do any wrong.

 

I don't remember there being much praise. For WGS yes, but RL was still largely hated and was blamed for WGS leaving

[Katalinic]

Lowe was very old school English gent, blazer, tie and waxed jacket in the winter. Cortese is well dressed, smart, sharp suits and if he was 6 inches taller would make a smart and imposing and chairman. Both were smart in their own ways but in terms of style Cortese is the clear winner.

 

Lowe's suits went downhill post the cup final. I think he failed to invest in his wardrobe.

[Turkish]

I don't remember there being much praise. For WGS yes, but RL was still largely hated and was blamed for WGS leaving

 

Oh there was, many claimed he was a great businessman, that he'd got us the stadium and was progressing us the right way. He didn't have access to someone else's credit card like Cortese does so didn't command the same blind faith he does but many claimed he was a great businessman and had done lots of good for the club. It wasn't Cortese levels of adulation but he had his fans.

[david in sweden]

Obviously no real comparisons can be made to each others record of bringing success to the club Cortese has clearly had a part in rescuing us from the brink but then Lowe managed to keep us in the prem on a shoestring budget.

both are stubborn men that will single mindedly follow there vision, both seemingly have limited people skills in dealing with both the media, fans and general public, both have huge egos, both like to change managers at a rate of knots to alledgedly move forward. Are there any other similarities? Surely Cortese is the lesser of two evils?

 

 

 

MY assessment. YES - both have / have had ...the title " Chairman".

 

I'd substitute the word " determined " instead of " stubborn ", and if you have a vision you must be single-minded, and not be swayed by other negative opinions and criticism.

This may lead to the assumption that they have limited people skills. I think Cortese probably " lacks skill " with people who have limited abilities / old-fashioned ideas.

I wonder if Lowe would have " made -up " with an errant Puncheon.. and kept him on?. (Rumour had it) that Lowe turned down Didier Drogba...because he thought he had "an attitude".

 

Huge EGO's ?....Ego is a strangely-used word meaning different things to different people. Without getting too psychological, I'd say that RL was a prime example of someone who liked to call the shots in his way, and be seen to succeed and accept the glory. He made some every positive decisions (actually doing something about SMS, the Academy, taking positive action in managerial crises; DJ / Hoddle and Strachan. but he was clearly an acquired taste, and when things went wrong (post Strachan) made some poor judgements.

I don't think the Woodward appointment was a bad idea, but it was bad timing as the entire concept was clearly way over ' arry's ' ead, which that led to his murmurs of disapproval.

Many of the " Woodward ideas" were subsequently adopted at a later date. After HR's departure, Lowe clearly lost the plot, in the financial area (poor signings / salaries / transfer fees).

 

Neither Lowe (a committed hockey fan) and the criticism that he wasn't " football " or Cortese seems to have much of a " footballing " background -

....except that Cortese had been used to dealing with very rich people in the sport sector for more than 10 years, and would have realised what " big money " was about, and must have seen clubs driven to bankruptcy through poor decision-making / lack of financial control at Board level.

 

Cortese has (unless I'm mistaken) ..given only THREE/ FOUR interviews (?) in 3 years since taking over running the club, and seemed to be very low-key despite his driving ambition.

Not the anticipated behaviour pattern from someone with a (supposedly).. " big ego " . Who made that statement, anyway ?

 

Recently, (after the MP appointment) NC stated (something like) " .....if I have to suffer some personal criticism for the sake of the club's success, then I will do so "

 

I could never see Rupert Lowe making that sort of statement.

 

Rupert Lowe saw himself as the Chairman of a Premier League club. Nicola Cortese (I dare to suggest) sees himself as the Chairman of a leading club in Europe, it's just that we haven't achieved that level yet....but many people laughed aloud when he made that statement.... whilst Saints were in the relegation zone of L1.

Many of his " decisions " were at first, unpopular at " fan level ", but few of them have affected the clubs success - quite the opposite.

 

Similarities? ....perhaps not so many...

Edited 2 March, 2013 by david in sweden

[ToreSF]

Is there any similarities between Cortese and Ted Bates?

[Stud mark of doom]

Cortese has not brought us world class catering, a radio station, talked about klingons or has even mentioned the possibility of sitting on FA committees.

 

They are not similar.

 

I may have missed it in the Mark Fry-based fun but did we establish what happened to that nice picture of a train? That may be another significant difference, if it's not still there.

[Roger]

Lowe got us relegated two divisions.

[Frank's cousin]

I see to remember lots of talk on here c2001-2004 about what a great businessman Lowe was and how he had adopted the right approach, gradual progression rather than big spending. Lots of talk about the investment in the academy and bringing through the youth and how this was a fantastic philosophy for a club like ours. Of course a lot of people will have 'forgotten' they said this or deny it. The praise lavished on him in good times is only usurped by the blind faith that many have in Cortese and the cult like devotion, denying it is possible for the man to do any wrong.

 

Sorry but you misses a fundamental point - with benefit of hindsight,especially in light of what has gone on down the road, more folk now see the wisdom of running a club within our means - our spending and wage policy were not responsible for our down fall, only a realisation that we were unlikely ever to see any progress beyond 12th on a good season.... Our downfall was simply a combination of other clubs spending more than they had + bad managerial decisions.

 

forgetting the CoC ****** for a moment, most are now judging NC on what is happening on the pitch.... The very same thing the lowe haters were telling us 'luvvies' we should do, when trying to point out the pros of sound financial management and infrastructure investment.... And you talk about rewriting history?

 

NC has made Unpopular decisions - which have not gone down with all fans as they were never going to, but the impact these have had where it counts (on the pitch) is hard to argue against. many clubs with bigger budgets than hours have not achieved what we have and still languish after years of stagnation outside the prem...

[Frank's cousin]

MY assessment. YES - both have / have had ...the title " Chairman".

 

I'd substitute the word " determined " instead of " stubborn ", and if you have a vision you must be single-minded, and not be swayed by other negative opinions and criticism.

This may lead to the assumption that they have limited people skills. I think Cortese probably " lacks skill " with people who have limited abilities / old-fashioned ideas.

I wonder if Lowe would have " made -up " with an errant Puncheon.. and kept him on?. (Rumour had it) that Lowe turned down Didier Drogba...because he thought he had "an attitude".

 

Huge EGO's ?....Ego is a strangely-used word meaning different things to different people. Without getting too psychological, I'd say that RL was a prime example of someone who liked to call the shots in his way, and be seen to succeed and accept the glory. He made some every positive decisions (actually doing something about SMS, the Academy, taking positive action in managerial crises; DJ / Hoddle and Strachan. but he was clearly an acquired taste, and when things went wrong (post Strachan) made some poor judgements.

I don't think the Woodward appointment was a bad idea, but it was bad timing as the entire concept was clearly way over ' arry's ' ead, which that led to his murmurs of disapproval.

Many of the " Woodward ideas" were subsequently adopted at a later date. After HR's departure, Lowe clearly lost the plot, in the financial area (poor signings / salaries / transfer fees).

 

Neither Lowe (a committed hockey fan) and the criticism that he wasn't " football " or Cortese seems to have much of a " footballing " background -

....except that Cortese had been used to dealing with very rich people in the sport sector for more than 10 years, and would have realised what " big money " was about, and must have seen clubs driven to bankruptcy through poor decision-making / lack of financial control at Board level.

 

Cortese has (unless I'm mistaken) ..given only THREE/ FOUR interviews (?) in 3 years since taking over running the club, and seemed to be very low-key despite his driving ambition.

Not the anticipated behaviour pattern from someone with a (supposedly).. " big ego " . Who made that statement, anyway ?

 

Recently, (after the MP appointment) NC stated (something like) " .....if I have to suffer some personal criticism for the sake of the club's success, then I will do so "

 

I could never see Rupert Lowe making that sort of statement.

 

Rupert Lowe saw himself as the Chairman of a Premier League club. Nicola Cortese (I dare to suggest) sees himself as the Chairman of a leading club in Europe, it's just that we haven't achieved that level yet....but many people laughed aloud when he made that statement.... whilst Saints were in the relegation zone of L1.

Many of his " decisions " were at first, unpopular at " fan level ", but few of them have affected the clubs success - quite the opposite.

 

Similarities? ....perhaps not so many...

 

great post

[JackFrost]

Lowe did do a good job in some ways, some people won't like to hear it but a significant amount of our infrastructure that attracted Markus to buy us was originally here because of Lowe. I think whilst there was method to it, a lot of fans turned against him because the money that we generated from selling our best players didn't all go back into the first team, and the majority of players that Lowe sanctioned for the first team at the time simply weren't good enough. He failed to kick the club on when we were originally in the PL and instead signed galacticos like Mark Draper.

 

After WGS left it was clear to me that Lowe lost the plot completely and his legacy was ultimately culminated by the stupid decisions he made during the 2004-2006 period (Sturrock, Wigley, Woodward, Simon Clifford etc.) a legacy which he then made twice as bad by coming back, getting rid of Pearson and proceeding with the disastrous Dutch experiment.

 

Some people say that Cortese is ultimately 'Lowe with money' but I totally disagree with this. Neither of them are afraid to upset people to ultimately achieve success for the club but unlike a significant part of Lowe's tenure, Cortese is the silent force behind the club's progress, his focus is only on the job in hand and he thus far appears to very much know what he's doing. (even though the jury is still out on MP) Lowe seemed to have this attention seeking streak which not only got the fans backs up but undermined his own position. I'm under no illusions that both Lowe and Cortese have massive egos but only one of them can keep it in check.

[CB Fry]

Lowe did not keep us in the Prem on a shoestring budget, it was Le Tissier that kept us in the Prem. Lowe managed to restrict our progress in the Prem because of his shoestring budget and lack of foresight and investment.

 

 

 

Have a look at Le Tissiers contributions post summer 1997 and think again. Matt didn't do much, and certainly did not "keep us up" by himself in any of those seasons. Lowe kept us up in the post Le Tissier era.

 

 

Nice attempt at myth making though.

[Roger]

Cb fry are u serious. Lowe was the worst thing to ever happen to this football club. Behind the scenes he really didn't let redknapp manage at saints.

[Frank's cousin]

Cb fry are u serious. Lowe was the worst thing to ever happen to this football club. Behind the scenes he really didn't let redknapp manage at saints.

 

 

serously? would you? look at te way he operates - check book charlie - Lowe's mistakes were in selecting managers who were simply not capable of working and bettring the players. The rst of his odd personality as just irrelevent -= the financial side was a model, just that beacuse we kept control of our spending and others did not we were progressively left behind. Redknapp is ONLY ever about himself and showed at saints exactly what he is capable of without any money and the abilty to have a high turnover of players - which is not very much.

[CB Fry]

Cb fry are u serious. Lowe was the worst thing to ever happen to this football club. Behind the scenes he really didn't let redknapp manage at saints.

 

QPR have "let Redknapp manage" and lets see how that pans out.

 

Lowe is far from the worst thing to happen to the club. But I am not getting into it.

 

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk 2

[JackFrost]

Cb fry are u serious. Lowe was the worst thing to ever happen to this football club. Behind the scenes he really didn't let redknapp manage at saints.

 

Then again we also "got our club back" when Michael Wilde came along

[Smirking_Saint]

QPR have "let Redknapp manage" and lets see how that pans out.

 

Lowe is far from the worst thing to happen to the club. But I am not getting into it.

 

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk 2

 

What does that even mean ? And im not talking about the tapatalk ********

[110_Persaint]

Let's see how this feller handles relegation before we start making comparisons. My guess is... not too well...