Three years ago today...

[Fitzhugh Fella]

It's not been a bad 4 years to be fair but there will always be the nagging worry what happens when the money stops rolling in...............................................

[9-3]

Brilliant

[Cascadia Saint]

I am at a loss as to how my OP caused the toddler tantrums but if it was inappropriate thread I apologise.

 

Just take a look at all the other 'appropriate' and stunningly original threads and see what yours is lacking...

 

Nobody wants to hear about our meteoric rise, that's so last year.

 

We want to lambast the team for only amassing enough points to be sixth whilst at the same time rubbish any talk of finishing in the top six.

 

Keep your happy clapping away from our forum! We want to focus on the here and now! Unless that includes the fact we are sixth on merit.

[Wes Tender]

OK - introducing the phrase "visionary decision" was intended to be a little provocative - The9 reacted and swallowed hook, line and sinker. However in a reflective mood after half a bottle of indifferent Rioja I really would love to know more about Cortese's thought process and motivation. Italian banker (i.e. not steeped in the English game) appointed as chairman of Saints removes from his job a manager, almost universally loved by the fan base, who has achieved consecutive promotions and appoints an unknown foreigner who does not speak English. He knew this would probably provoke almost universal outrage and if MP had not worked out would have considerably weakened his authority. The safe option would have been to allow Nigel to carry on and keep his fingers crossed.

 

Bear in mind that he doesn't own the club - he's answerable to others. How much mental anguish did he go through in reaching his decision? There must have been many subsequent moments when he experienced huge doubts and fears that the ice was becoming wafer-thin and he would be the next recipient of a P45. What an incredibly brave - almost perverse - decision. My conclusion is that he (NC) must have an incredibly firm vision (hence "visionary") of both his future ambition and the modus operandum to achieve it and he's willing to go out on a limb to pursue that belief. I'm not saying he was right; as The9 and others have observed it's maybe too early to reach a firm conclusion.

 

 

Thanks Nick for raising your contextual thread; I've thoroughly enjoyed the last 4 years - can anyone really say they have not?

The inference that something was a visionary decision is that it was bold, unexpected and produced a successful outcome, perhaps even against all odds. At least that is my understanding of the phrase.

 

I'm with The9 and you on this; it is too early to conclude that the decision was visionary instead of being what another poster called "a punt", more a throw of the dice.

 

For all that the progress made since NC's arrival has been spectacular, it is the contrasting comparison on how we have performed under Pochettino since he arrived against how his last team performed just before he left that makes the decision to appoint him such a bold one. It might turn out to be an inspired and visionary appointment, but that judgement cannot be made just yet

[Saint_clark]

It's not been a bad 4 years to be fair but there will always be the nagging worry what happens when the money stops rolling in...............................................

 

You mean the PL money? I don't think the Liebherr estate is putting much in to be honest, if anything.

[hypochondriac]

You mean the PL money? I don't think the Liebherr estate is putting much in to be honest, if anything.

 

I suspect he means when the owners decide they no longer wish to use whatever money they have to bankroll the team and these extravagant purchases.

[Saint_clark]

I suspect he means when the owners decide they no longer wish to use whatever money they have to bankroll the team and these extravagant purchases.

 

I don't think they are. I think this is why we're so unbelievably tight with booking fees, parking fees, cheap shirt designs selling for high prices. And also why I think we may see a player sold for big money either in january or next summer.

[The9]

OK - introducing the phrase "visionary decision" was intended to be a little provocative - The9 reacted and swallowed hook, line and sinker.

 

So either you're trolling, or you don't understand what the phrase "hook, line and sinker" means. Because I don't think I was duped into reacting to the phrase, I think I reacted to a statement you genuinely believed, and are now climbing down because no-one else has supported it. But if you insist it was some kind of cunning trap, then I'll add you to the list of people who post stuff they don't believe just to get a reaction, and stop bothering to comment on anything you post. Which one was it?

[The9]

I don't think they are. I think this is why we're so unbelievably tight with booking fees, parking fees, cheap shirt designs selling for high prices. And also why I think we may see a player sold for big money either in january or next summer.

 

It makes no sense to penny-pinch when that is such a minor part of overall income compared to the tv money.

 

Also, all of those choices has a revenue-reducing downside which suggests it's more a personal policy statement than a financial decision. Booking fees can deter people from buying on a matchday, parking fees reduce the numbers of ticket office and megastore visitors, and whilst selling cheap shirts for high prices impacts on sales, the design of the shirt itself is the bigger problem there - and that one's rumoured to be one person's choice rather than a financial decision, too.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

Do people really not get that the money in the prem is huge now? What we spend seems a lot compared to what we are used to as Southampton, but with the massively increased revenues on offer now it's really just inflated prices.

 

I said on another thread, that I wonder how much more Gaston Ramirez or Big Vic cost at around the £12m mark than Rory Delap did back in 2001 for £4m. By this I mean in terms of what share or percentage of the clubs revenue would this be at each point in time.

 

So yeah, it may sound like Gaston or Big Vic cost 3x as much as Delap - but revenues have increased so much, that the effect of such a payment on the balance sheet probably is 3x what the Delap transfer was. Also why comparing Gaston's contribution at £12 to someone like Puncheon is a little spurious, or at least needs a little more thought than simply looking at the two figures and claiming how much cheaper one is than the other. Undoubtedly Puncheon cost less, but we were also receiving a much lower income.

 

When you see clubs like Norwich, Sunderland & Aston Villa spending probably in excess of £20-£25m all in, then you have to say are we actually really being bankrolled by these wealthy benefactors seem to claim?

 

If the Liebherrs did decide enough was enough, I don't think we would be in massive trouble (assuming PL status is maintained), but yeah maybe the signings of the Osvaldo's of this world would not still happen.