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Andy Oldknow returns to Southampton boardroom (From Daily Echo)
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Andy Oldknow returns to Southampton boardroom
2:00pm Thursday 9th July 2009
ANDY Oldknow has returned to Saints and declared “this is a clean break for everyone”.
The man who was appointed as commercial director after Michael Wilde took over but subsequently left St Mary’s along with chief executive Jim Hone and chairman Ken Dulieu when the SISU deal was blocked and with no other outside investment forthcoming, is back as part of the Markus Liebherr takeover as chief operations officer.
He will be responsible for business operations, stadium operations and will aid on the football side as requested.
He said: “I am back here because the project I was introduced to ticks all the right boxes for Southampton Football Club and the community at large and is something I wanted to be involved with.
“I enjoyed my time here before.
We presented a solution as everyone knows and at the time those who were charged with the running of the club decided that wasn’t what they wanted to do so I felt we couldn’t go any further.
“Unfortunately time has illustrated that the underlying problems which we identified were there.
“But that’s the past and this is a clean break for everyone.
“What Markus brings to this equation is professionalism, a considered approach to the development of the club, a real commitment to be a good corporate citizen and I think in terms of style and the way he wants to push the club forward and the professionalism to day to day operations in my view is absolutely in sync with what the club needs to do to be successful.
“I am delighted to be part of that equation.”
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Your Say YourEcho
brennothornhill, manchester says...
2:11pm Thu 9 Jul 09
whataloadofdump wrote:couldn't agree more with that.
welcome back,few points I think most fans would like to see. 1.Matt le Tiss on board in some sort of role influencing decisions and using his wisdom. 2.offering Mark Wotte a nice role within the club maybe if not as manager but as someone who works with a management team. 3 some big hairy strong league 1 proper players to assist the youngsters.thanks
Wotte deserves something as Loyalty is both ways. Ideally I would like him as part of the coaching staff with a higher profile manager, however, I would not be against him as a manager as I still think he could come good with a little bit of money and stability behind the scenes.
things are looking up...
stmarysmush, soton says...
2:24pm Thu 9 Jul 09
season ticket holder, totton says...
2:33pm Thu 9 Jul 09
StEmmosfire, Woolston says...
2:43pm Thu 9 Jul 09
stmarysmush wrote:You are quite right, fresh start, new owners, new manager, new team.
Mark Wotte has come out of this with alot of credit. But I think he is not the man to lead us out of Div 3. We need a manager with experience of the lower leagues and the dog fighting qualities to survive. This man was Paul Ince but alas we missed him.
Iceland Saint, says...
2:50pm Thu 9 Jul 09
saintjak, Southampton says...
2:53pm Thu 9 Jul 09
StEmmosfire wrote:Gordon Strachan... Still has a place this way i beleive and has fell off the map since his celtic departure.
stmarysmush wrote: Mark Wotte has come out of this with alot of credit. But I think he is not the man to lead us out of Div 3. We need a manager with experience of the lower leagues and the dog fighting qualities to survive. This man was Paul Ince but alas we missed him.You are quite right, fresh start, new owners, new manager, new team.
Love to see the wee man back. Has the passion and the tactical nouse to get us out of this league and lead us back to the premiership...
saintjak, Southampton says...
2:55pm Thu 9 Jul 09
Iceland Saint wrote:can easily be put back in the role he had previously.
Wotte is already the manager and has a rolling one year contract, surely you all should have read this by now as was on this site weeks ago.
THink the man has something to offer SFC but not leading us out of Div 1 im afraid
The Exiled Saint, NEWPORT/Salop says...
3:06pm Thu 9 Jul 09
That’s is exactly the way we should proceed.
It’s tempting to in the interest of continuity and perhaps in gratitude, to offer non-executive places to those with long associations with the club. No matter how ungracious it may appear, perhaps it would be best if the new owners made a totally clean break and appoint a totally new board peopled with those who have no connection to the past.
As this is a new dawn for Southampton Football Club it might be wise not install hostages to fortune, which might be regretted when issues arise, and they will, at a future date.
Let us admire our heroes and legends for their endeavours of the past; love them all the more, but keep them firmly in the background.
If there’s one lesson we all have surely learned is that “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”
mattsouthamptonfcc, southampton says...
3:13pm Thu 9 Jul 09
i just think we need strachan back as manager of southampton fc
COYR!
CliffordNelson, Winchester says...
3:13pm Thu 9 Jul 09
IMHO, of course. Maybe abusing the manager and bringing in sub-standard ("hairy League 1") are top solutions from people with a real future in football management.
zorba, Vafes says...
3:31pm Thu 9 Jul 09
zorba, Vafes says...
3:31pm Thu 9 Jul 09
matt del torro, milan says...
3:47pm Thu 9 Jul 09
zorba wrote:surely you dont want kevin kline as manager.lol
Let Wotte get us to the top half of the table by Christmas and then judge him. He deserves a chance at least after the rubbish of the last 12 months. Maybe playoffs if we are very very lucky. Stability first, KK et al later much later.
saintjak, Southampton says...
3:53pm Thu 9 Jul 09
We have one shot this season to hit the ground running and get out of this division first go. We are capable but if by Christmas we have messed it up then its another season down here.
Just think a seasoned manager who is used to English football with contacts around the leagues is less risky.
If Wotte starts in charge then I will give it my full support. He may well be supurb and I hope he is. But fingers have been burnt too often and don't want another manager change half way through the season.
But quite right, not my money, not my choice...
Stormjuice, Perth, Australia says...
3:59pm Thu 9 Jul 09
If Wotte had to go, then I would vote for Gordon Strachan or The Exeter manager (ex-saint... Tisdale?).
But I believe Mark Wotte deserves some faith shown in him, like he showed the club.
COYR ("Come On You Reds" for the new owners benefit)
I'm hoping Mark has kept his eye out for some good players (from the academy or elsewhere) to replace the ones we lost recently.
Jesus_02, Freemantle says...
4:03pm Thu 9 Jul 09
saintjak wrote:I think that we will be very, very lucky to get out of this division at the first attempt when we are starting on minus 10, have had a disrupted pre-season and have lost players from a squad that was not good enough for the championship.
not anti wotte but this season is too important for risks. Wigley, Gray... lets just give them a chance etc etc... We have one shot this season to hit the ground running and get out of this division first go. We are capable but if by Christmas we have messed it up then its another season down here. Just think a seasoned manager who is used to English football with contacts around the leagues is less risky. If Wotte starts in charge then I will give it my full support. He may well be supurb and I hope he is. But fingers have been burnt too often and don't want another manager change half way through the season. But quite right, not my money, not my choice...
We need to lower our expectations and get behind Wotte. He is a good manager, his stats say he is every bit as good as Pearson and he didn’t do too bad last year
Rossbkr C.O.Y.R, southampton says...
4:09pm Thu 9 Jul 09
1) We know how loyal he is
2) After pork fillet left, we played much better football, ok we still were relegated, but he managed to string 3 wins in a row together!
I just thinks as a few others do, give it to christmas, if we're tosh then its time for a change!
Saying that I would love GS to come back, can't see it! But he did say they only reason he left was due to back room problems ie lowe! So u never know!
UTS, says...
4:23pm Thu 9 Jul 09
Chicago Saint, Chicago says...
4:31pm Thu 9 Jul 09
In addition, he never really got a chance to prove his worth over a full season either. He was handed a team in near last place with a handful of games to go. Let's all return that loyalty to him by supporting him and wanting him as the manager.
I only hope that the unsuccessful "youth movement" was a valuable lesson to management. Although youth is a good foundation for a club, you CANNOT solely rely on the inexperience of a team full of 18-21 year olds in an English professional league and expect them to promote you, period, full stop! Bring in some seasoned, experienced players to work alongside the youth and get a good mix.
icannotrace, says...
5:06am Fri 10 Jul 09
What the same sort of wisdom he displayed getting involved with the clowns at Pinnacle?
I say Arthur Sledge for manager
e_z_tiger, Winchester says...
7:17am Fri 10 Jul 09
Andy Oldknow
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whataloadofdump, Southampton says...
2:04pm Thu 9 Jul 09
1.Matt le Tiss on board in some sort of role influencing decisions and using his wisdom.
2.offering Mark Wotte a nice role within the club maybe if not as manager but as someone who works with a management team.
3 some big hairy strong league 1 proper players to assist the youngsters.thanks