French jornalist Romain Molina says Liebherr wants to sell

[Roo1976]

Makes sense. Fair enough they are playing a great game so far if that is the aim. Couple of cheaper signings in of middling quality and jobs a goodun. If she relegates us though she is ****ed as the clubs value will plummet. Lets see if her advisors have judged this right.

 

and if the clubs value plummets then there would possibly be more parties intrested at a better price eh!?

[Gastón10]

I wonder if Cortese is still playing with Ben Smith from the BBC and Neil Aston from the mail. because any news about Saints for those two media outlets still comes from those two people

[The9]

Is this the action of a fit and proper owner?

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/oct/07/fit-and-proper-person-test

 

"There are several grounds on which you could fail it, but the most important are that anybody with an unspent criminal conviction involving dishonesty, or who has run a football club into administration twice, cannot take over at a club."

[The9]

If you want the Football League's Fit and Proper definition in full (not the same as the Prem's which I haven't tracked down yet):

 

'Disqualifying Condition' means all or any of the following:

 

(a) either directly or indirectly being involved in, or having the power to determine or influence, the management or administration of another Club or Premier League Club unless a dispensation in respect of the same has been granted by the Board in accordance with Regulation 91;

 

(b) either directly or indirectly holding or acquiring any Significant Interest in a Club while at the same time either directly or indirectly holding any interest in any class of shares or securities of another Club unless a dispensation in respect of the same has been granted by the Board in accordance with Regulation 91;

 

© being subject to a suspension or ban, whether directly (for example a sanction against the individual in particular) or indirectly (for example a direction to persons subject to the jurisdiction of the Sports Governing Body that they should not employ, contract with or otherwise engage or retain the services of, any individual), from involvement in the administration of a sport by a Sports Governing Body or such other similar forms of disqualification as may operate from time to time;

 

(d) being found to have breached (irrespective of any sentence actually imposed), or having admitted breaching (irrespective of whether disciplinary proceedings were brought or not) at any time:

 

(i) Rule E8 of the Rules of the Football Association (as amended, or replaced from time to time); and/or

 

(ii) any other rules in force from time to time in relation to the prohibition on betting on football matches played in England and Wales;

 

(e) having an unspent conviction (or where the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not apply for any reason, having a conviction within the period that would have rendered that conviction unspent had the provisions of that Act applied) for any offence (including any attempt to commit the same) that can reasonably be considered to fall within the category of:

 

(i) an offence involving a Dishonest Act;

 

(ii) corruption;

 

(iii) perverting the course of justice;

 

(iv) committing a serious breach of any requirement under the 1985 Act or 2006 Act;

 

(v) dishonestly receiving a programme broadcast from within the UK with intent to avoid payment under Section 297 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988;

 

(vi) admitting spectators to watch a football match at unlicensed premises under Section 9 of the Football Spectators Act 1989;

 

(vii) ticket touting under Section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994;

 

(viii) conspiracy to commit any of the offences set out in paragraphs (i) to (iv) above; or

 

(ix) any conviction for a like offence to any of the above offences by a competent court having jurisdiction outside England and Wales,

 

whether such conviction occurred prior to or after 10th March 2005 (being the date of implementation of this Test);

 

(f) being subject to a banning order in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 2000;

 

(g) being a Registered Offender (as defined in this Appendix 3);

 

(h) having an unspent conviction (or where the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975 does not apply for any reason, having a conviction within the period that would have rendered that conviction unspent had the provisions of that Act applied) for any offence anywhere in the World (including any attempt to commit the same) where such conviction has resulted in a sentence of at least 12 months' imprisonment but for the avoidance of doubt, not a suspended jail sentence unless that sentence is subsequently activated for a period of at least 12 months for whatever reason (irrespective of whether such conviction occurred prior to or after 10th March 2005 (being the date of implementation of this Test));

 

(i) being subject to a disqualification order as a director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (as amended), or being subject to the terms of an undertaking given to the Secretary of State under that act, unless a Court of competent jurisdiction makes an order under that Act permitting an appointment as director of a Club;

 

(j) being subject to any form of suspension, disqualification or striking-off by a professional body including, by way of example and without limitation, The Law Society, Bar Council or the Institute of Chartered Accountants, or any other equivalent body or bodies in any jurisdiction throughout the World and whether that suspension, disqualification or striking off is direct or indirect (for example a direction to Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the professional body that they should not employ, contract with or otherwise engage or retain the services of any individual);

 

(k) being subject to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (in accordance with the provisions of Part VIII of the Insolvency Act);

 

(l) being subject to a Bankruptcy Order, Interim Bankruptcy Restriction Order or a Bankruptcy Restriction Order; and

 

(m) being a Club Director of:

 

(i) at least two Football Clubs that have each been subject to or suffered unconnected Insolvency Events;

 

(ii) one Football Club that has been subject to or suffered two unconnected Insolvency Events,

 

on or after the 11th June 2004). For the purposes of this definition of Disqualifying Condition:

 

(A) a Person shall be deemed to have been a Club Director of a Football Club that was subject to a sporting sanction if the relevant Insolvency Event occurred in the 30 days immediately following his having resigned as a Club Director of that Football Club;

 

(B) the Insolvency Event of a Group Undertaking alone where the Football Club was subjected to a sporting sanction in accordance with Regulation 12.3 of the Football League Regulations (in the case of a Club), or the applicable rules of the league or association of which that Football Club was a member at the relevant time (if any) shall be treated as an Insolvency Event of the Football Club; and

 

© by way of example, where any Football Club or Group Undertaking has been subject to more than one Insolvency Event during the process of compromising or entering into a composition with its creditors (for example Administration followed by exit via a Company Voluntary Arrangement), this will only count as one Insolvency Event;

 

http://www.football-league.co.uk/regulations/20130704/appendix-3_2293633_2128209

[The9]

Pulling the plug? Meaning what exactly? Worse than what she's doing? (allegedly)

 

I would imagine the concept of "pulling the plug" would involve refusing to pay employees. There are a LOT of worse things than, erm, downsizing.

[Olallana]

You may well be right, but why spend nearly 20mill on a couple of replacements? The illusion could have been maintained with cheaper alternatives, surely?

 

The key is to remain PL status, without that there is zero chance to find interested buyers.

[The9]

If anyone says

 

""We are a debt-free, cash-rich club, unlike many of our competitors that will suffer the ravages of a transfer embargo as early as January 2015, when they fall foul of the Financial Fair Play regulations.

"This strong position does not come easily, or without cost, in the way in which we sometimes have to operate.

"Please be assured that the club is in the best possible hands as we are in this for the long term."

 

start worrying. That's from Blackpool's Chairman. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28542883

[The9]

The key is to remain PL status, without that there is zero chance to find interested buyers at the kind of price the owner wants.

 

Fixed it? As we all know, we become easier to sell the less valuable we are - but if the owner wants to make a profit, that's going to be a lot more from selling a Prem side.

[shurlock]

Fixed it? As we all know, we become easier to sell the less valuable we are - but if the owner wants to make a profit, that's going to be a lot more from selling a Prem side.

 

Either way, depending on how much money the owner takes out from player sales, it would put a floor under things, so they'd be quids in regardless how much the club is sold for.

[ART]

The full English translation on the original website of the article posted last night

 

29 juil. 2014 – 18:16 – Par Romain Molina

Southampton is for sale

 

With Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez likely to leave Saint Mary’s, Southampton’s owner Katharina Liebherr will cash in around 150 millions of Euros. Given Liebherr’s lack of interest towards the Saints, the news of her will to sell the club is not a surprise. Her entourage, and specifically Southampton’s current chairman, Ralph Krueger, are currently looking for a rich investor.

 

Translation by Charly Moriceau

French version

 

In 2011, World Economic Forum, a non-profit organization which gathers numerous influential persons in multiple fields of activity, officially welcomed a new member: Ralph Krueger. The German is a former successful hockey player and is described as a “leader” by World Economic Forum’s official website. His success went beyond sports: his book “Teamlife – Beyond Setbacks to Success” was a bestseller around the world. Earlier in 2014, he was appointed as chairman of Southampton, replacing Markus Liebherr’s former right arm man, Nicola Cortese.

 

Cortese was the main architect of the Southampton squad which climbed up to Premier League from League One. Nicola Cortese and Katharina Liebherr – Markus’s daughter and current owner – have had a lot of disagreements, specifically about the huge power Cortese had and used in Southampton. The Italian banker was known for being a tough negotiator. A study published by the BBC showed that between October 2012 and September 2013, Southampton only paid £2.2 millions in agent fees, ranking the Saints in the 17th spot, far behind Chelsea (£13.7M) or even Newcastle (£7.2M).

 

Cortese was omnipotent in Southampton and deeply wanted the club to reach aim and higher. He was willing to keep the key players at Saint Mary’s and even wanted to convince Pochettino to stay. These objectives did not match Katharina Liebherr’s.

Despite being some kind of a dictator, everything was running perfectly fine under Nicola Cortese’s presidency at Southampton.

 

Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s former general manager, was appointed to probe the market. The English businessman is the co-founder of MidOcean Partners, an American firm specialized in buyouts, sales and capital increases. Though, he does not seem to be involved in Southampton anymore.

 

Even though Cortese somehow tried and failed to buy the club back shortly after his resignation, Katharina Liebherr was not willing to sell to him. She decided to appoint Liverpool’s former general manager Christian Purslow to softly probe the market for a buyout. Purslow is a well-known businessman and is the co-founder of an American firm specialized in buyouts, sales and capital increases. The firm value is estimated around 3 billion dollars and has invested money everywhere. It was not surprising that Purslow, whom Gary Neville called “a clueless fool”, managed to get a £80M four-year contract with Standard Chartered Bank for the Liverpool’s shirt sponsoring…

 

Though, Purslow researches were not successful. A specialist in English club buyouts explains: “On the market, everybody knows Southampton is for sale. The strategy is simple: Southampton needs to have a good treasury since they had a lot of loans and debts before. They also need to reinforce the team without investing too much money in order to maintain the stability of the club and attract potential buyers”

 

“Mandaric did the same with Sheffield Wednesday. It’s not officially for sale, but informally it is. Aston Villa did the opposite and see where they are now: nobody is interested in them. In the business world, you need to be discrete and not to show when you are weak. If you publicly explain that you want to sell and that not everything is okay, either you get scammers; either you get people who will try to lower the price, just like it happened with Reading. Southampton understood that very clearly. Recently, there have been contacts with foreign investors. The sale of multiple players was a successful hint for them.”

 

“Krueger perfectly assimilated the way to work rich people with a big ego. These people like to wipe everything out, start again and take full control so they can take the pride if it works out. Here, he is handling this incredibly well.”

 

“It’s an enrichment strategy, of course, but it’s also a way to attract the egocentric buyer. One of my friends was involved in negotiations with Krueger before. This guy is a shark; he does not let you breathe. His nerves are unbreakable. He has completely assimilated the way rich people with a lot of ego work. They like to wipe everything out, start over and take full control so they can take the pride if it succeeds. Here, it’s perfect.

Tottenham bid for Schneiderlin some time ago

 

Logically, Southampton follows the same strategy with its (former) key players. They do not talk much but they negotiate hard. Following Pochettino’s leave to Spurs, the Saints planned no to send any player there, even if it meant let a few millions go away. Though, Tottenham were the only one to show some interest in Jay Rodriguez. Rodriguez, bought for £7M from Burnley in 2012, was completely forgotten by Adkins, only to become later one of Pochettino’s key players, ending up missing the World Cup because of an injury. The Argentinian coach turned J.Rod into a brand new player. Thus, Rodriguez has a very strong bond to Pochettino, just like Morgan Schneiderlin.

 

The Frenchman never missed an opportunity to claim his respect for Pochettino (cf. our interview). “He’s a man of details, really. I remember that at the beginning, he was showing us that a meter or even less than a meter could prevent a pass in the midfield. By making one or two steps or simply bending over, you could put your opponent in a difficult position”, he said to me about the former Parisian defender. Tottenham bid for Schneiderlin some days ago, as we told you in our podcast last Thursday.

 

As for Arsenal, they are also interested in the Frenchman. The Gunners were scouting him in Strasbourg in 2008, before he moved to the South Coast. Olivier Giroud and his teammates even gently pushed him to join them during the World Cup. We do not know whether Arsenal made a concrete offer to Southampton, but we can confirm that Arsenal, Morgan Schneiderlin and his agent have had contacts.

van Dijk Virgil van Dijk is being chased by multiple Premier League clubs. The Dutchman was brilliant since his arrival at Celtic Park last year. He is the Bhoys defensive leader and has way more influence than Efe Ambrose.

Celtic’s Forster and van Dijk are the main targets

 

When it comes to new players, Ronald Koeman is a big fan of Virgil van Dijk (23 years old), the Celtic’s central defender. An offer has already been made, and same goes for the Bhoys’ goalkeeper Fraser Forster (26 years old). Though, the £3.5M offer for the latter has been – rightfully – called “derisory” by the Hoops. With the recent signing of Craig Gordon, it is legitimate to think that the sale of Fraser Forster is something Celtic anticipated.

 

About van Dijk, Celtic is going to do whatever it takes to keep him. The defender was left out the Dutch squad for the World Cup for an unknown reason given his skills (anticipation, technique, aerial timing, strenght, composure…). If the Scots make it to the group stages of the Champions League, it will be hard to lure him away. If they don’t – or if the Saints offer £10M – he will be at Saint Mary’s next year. The Bhoys, with their tiny budget of a Championship club, will then have trouble refusing the money…

 

Southampton scouts have also been watching Emilio Izaguirre (28 years old) for months. The Honduran left-back is currently playing at…Celtic. No offer has been made yet given that Koeman is focused on Jetro Willems (20 years old left-back from PSV) at the moment. Southampton Academy’s Matt Targett (18 years old) will be a full member of the squad this year as well. The young left-back has been playing in England U19 for a while now after wearing the Scottish jersey in his early years. Many big English clubs are already laying eyes on him.

 

Finally, the Papy Djilobodji (26 years old, center-back) lead is not dead yet: the directors have had a meeting with his agent recently. Though, the Nantes defender remains a secondary target for the Saints.

- See more at: http://www.hat-trick.fr/southampton-is-for-sale/#sthash.AEcWnDi1.dpuf

http://www.hat-trick.fr/southampton-is-for-sale/

[Ex Lion Tamer]

I wonder if Cortese is still playing with Ben Smith from the BBC and Neil Aston from the mail. because any news about Saints for those two media outlets still comes from those two people

It may simply be that they've been assigned to cover Saints as part of their ' patch '

[itchen]

the part that I revealed to you which came from a person who was actually Riberao Preto with the FFF was that Morgan would in no way be a Saint's player at the end of the transfer window and that his exit was already planned because there was no way that he could possibly be persuaded to stay. Oddly enough it was in a thread about Morgan Schneiderlin transfer rumours. As I got a lot of bolloaks about it I presumed it wasn't worth going any further down the avenue because it made no difference to anyone. Guan was telling you all all was rosy rosy so what could I add to that. If you remember on that day I contested his authority to say what he was saying in the way he was saying it. Once again I got hassle, no problem i can take it but sometimes I don't quite see the point in inviting any more. If you were to look back over the entire forum since 19 th January last I think that you would find somewhere that the only person to even reflect on the imbalance between the clubs book value (ie sale value) and it's liabilities would be, well yours truly. I reflect on a lot of things, it's what I do, I sometimes put them out there for discussion but when they bring only scorn and abuse then I back off as a rule.

 

Care to reflect on Krueger's statement today re Morgan?

[saintscottofthenortham]

SFC 1976

 

No need for that abuse re fatty . Totally uncalled for and the bit about her fathers grave is probably one of the worst comments I have seen

 

Have you thought of going on the Jeremy Kyle show . You would be well suited to the rest of the chavs that go on there and you will get 250 for doing so

 

Dint be a wetty. She's a porker, that's a fact. What's worse is that fact is my highest opinion of her. Sooner she's shot rid of the better.

[Gemmel]

Dint be a wetty. She's a porker, that's a fact. What's worse is that fact is my highest opinion of her. Sooner she's shot rid of the better.

 

Your post displays your intelligence

Edited 29 July, 2014 by Gemmel

[washsaint]

IQ of 0 - disgusting excuse for a 'human being' is what you are saintscottofthenortham. And your disgusting post makes no sense anyway

[Viking Warrior]

Saintscottofthenortham

 

You total cretin. Some people are unable to control their weight no matter how hard they try but as wash saint has said you have an iQ of zero , they are being generous I would give make it a lot lower

[Window Cleaner]

Second chapter now available

 

http://www.hat-trick.fr/eclaircissements-a-propos-de-southampton-et-schneiderlin/

 

 

I'm sure there'll be an English version later on, there was yesterday.

[Wes Tender]

Dint be a wetty. She's a porker, that's a fact. What's worse is that fact is my highest opinion of her. Sooner she's shot rid of the better.

 

I'll be glad when you're back at school and don't have as much time available to post your infantile rubbish.