Southampton FC’s chairman Nicola Cortese resigned last night after succumbing in an internal power struggle with club owner Katharina Liebherr. Katharina Liebherr is the daughter of Markus Liebherr, a Swiss business man who bought the south coast club in 2009. Markus Liebherr passed away in 2010. Cortese was installed as chairman, after brokering the deal for Liebherr, and oversaw the business model and plans set out by Liebherr and himself that resulted in back-to-back promotions from League 1 to the Premier League for Saints. Cortese, a former banker, also called the shots on firing Alan Pardew and Nigel Adkins. However Cortese’s decisions were always vindicated, with Adkins and now Mauricio Pochettino doing significantly better than their managerial predecessor’s. More importantly than running the club’s day to day business, Cortese was also the one who implemented the foundations for more academy players breaking into the first team, a process which has seen Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse and Calum Chambers establish themselves in the first team squad. Cortese was also instrumental in bringing Mauricio Pochettino to the club, after sacking Nigel Adkins. Pochettino took Saints to the next level after replacing Adkins. The former Argentinian defender has overseen the transition from a relegation candidate to a club pushing for the European league places. Pochettino announced in his press conference in May 2013, after Cortese considered his position, that he was unsure if he will stay at the club, if Cortese resigned, claiming a certain loyalty towards the man who brought him to the club: “I would not understand staying in this role if Nicola was not here, the person who actually called me from the start, told me about the project and put the faith in me was Nicola.” With Cortese having already resigned, Pochettino’s comments have seen bookmakers slash their odds on him being the next manager to leave his post and a plethora of players willing to leave too, new chairman Katharina Liebherr has a lot on her plate. The fact that she has no experience running a football club, will cause sleepless nights for Southampton fans. Southampton face Sunderland on Saturday and should have enough quality to beat the relegation threatened Sunderland. The intentions of Liebherr are unsure, it is not yet known if she will sell the club, appoint a different chairman or try and run things herself. The one thing for sure is that the club will come under close scrutiny and pressure to keep functioning on such a high level.
Kristian Teller
Sports Pundit member
