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Clubs spend money they do not have; they spend next year’s income. They spend money that will not arrive for two years and say, "But we'll have some success and bring in more cash to cover the shortfall". It cannot be sustained. In good times you need to be saving money for the bad times. If we reach the Premier League, I would like to be in a position where we did not need parachute payments. In good years you should put money away for the bad years.

Following media speculation over an "irreconcilable rift" with the Club's owner, Katharina Liebherr, Cortese resigned from his position at the club on 15 January 2014.

I have been running the Club as Markus' representative since 8 July and a good start has been made in recruiting well regarded senior staff and our new First Team Manager, who have begun putting together the strategies for on and off field success. But it is only a start. We have been reviewing, and will continue to review, every aspect of the Club. We will be applying policies to our football team, commercial operations, financial structures, community work and fan communications which ensure that we run as a first-in-class football club and business. I realise that there are great expectations and I will ensure that every effort is expended to meet these expectations, but effectively we need to restructure and create a solid base from which we can build and become successful. This will take time. We will take our example from our supporters, who already are what we aim to become – Premier League. With their support we will again become a Premier League Club. The supporters, the City of Southampton and the region deserve nothing less. Everyone at the Club will be fully committed to responding to this great challenge.

The following month, Cortese denied that there was any rift between him and Pardew, but once again underlined his desire to reach the play-offs at the end of the season. Cortese said they were both of the opinion that the amount spent in January – around £2 million – meant the playoffs had to become their target for the campaign.

In January 2010, rumours were circulated that a top Italian club had approached Southampton about Cortese with a view to him joining their board of directors. Initially the mystery club was believed to be Fiorentina, because at the time that Southampton signed Senegalese striker Papa Waigo on loan in September 2009, Cortese is alleged to have commented that he had "links on the board".

A few weeks later, on 28 March 2010, Cortese was present at Wembley to witness Southampton win the Football League Trophy, defeating Carlisle United 4–1. After collecting his winner's medal, Pardew embraced both Liebherr and Cortese. Pardew later commented:

In an interview with The Times in March 2010, Cortese discussed his approach to running a football club.

In July 2009, Cortese conducted the deal to buy Southampton, then in administration, for Markus Liebherr, a German-born, Swiss-based industrialist. Following the completion of the purchase, Liebherr realised that his newly acquired business had no senior management structure, and invited Cortese to take the role of executive chairman, with the principal role of developing the long term strategy for the football club and the business. Cortese was appointed a director of Southampton Football Club Limited on 1 August 2009.

Nicola Cortese (born 7 August 1968) is a swiss based Italian banker, best known for his time as executive chairman of Southampton Football Club, from August 2009 to January 2014.