Fresh doubts raised over Argentine’s job at St Mary’s.
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Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has seen his future as manager of the club be cast into fresh doubt as chairman Nicola Cortese prepares to step down following disagreements over how to run the club, the Daily Telegraph reports.
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Pochettino was appointed as the manager of the club a year ago, but could now face an uncertain future as concerns over Cortese’s leadership of the club has reached boiling point.
Cortese gave serious consideration to walking away from the south coast side over the summer, after a series of disagreements with owner Katharina Liebherr over the direction the club was being led in.
Matters were reportedly “solved” between the two but it now seems that their relationship has broken down completely and the two were locked in talks yesterday over a severance package for the Italian.
Cortese wanted confirmation from the Liebherr family that they would both be on the same page when moving the side forward, but a lack of contact has driven him to the brink of despair and he now wants to step down from his position.
And Cortese could soon be followed out of the club by Pochettino, who had worked closely with the Italian.
Asked if he would be staying if Cortese left, Pochettino said: “Of course not, because the person that has put his faith in me in this club and as a manager is Nicola Cortese.
“Nicola Cortese has basically been the reality at Southampton for the past four years. Me on a personal sense, I would not understand a Southampton without Nicola being here.
“When I first arrived here, nobody knew who Mauricio Pochettino was. Nicola put his faith in me and knew me from way, way back.
“When I got to know his project, we were basically on the same wavelength as to what we wanted for Southampton in the future. Basically, my future in Southampton has to be with Nicola.”
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