Saints' new owners have wasted no time in making their first appointment with a familiar face returning to the St. Mary's corridors of power…
Former Director Andy Oldknow has been unveiled by the Swiss backers as the club's new Chief Operating Officer and has outlined owner Markus Liebherr's ambitions for the future of Southampton.
Oldknow was joined at St. Mary's by Swiss banker, Nicola Cortese, who has been acting as Liebherr's principal adviser.
The two men arrived at St. Mary's this evening to address and take questions from club employees, alongside Director David Jones, and will now begin the process of implementing their plans for the future of The Saints.
In an EXCLUSIVE first interview available in full ONLY on www.saintstv.com, Oldknow outlines the plans and ambitions for the future and explains the new owner's long-term philosophy.
"In essence, only our actions will tell the true story, but the only reason that I accepted the chance to work with Markus Liebherr's team was because of their professionalism, their integrity and above all their clarity in terms of how they wish to move the club forward," he said.
"The Club will be run on clear business ethics and will be structured appropriately for the League that it's in but where possible the monies will be made available to grow the club both on and off the field.
"This will be done after a period of reflection and analysis of what's required. The philosophy is to secure the future of the football club which is now being done.
"Then we will need to assess what is required and put in place both the people and the resources to make significant progress in this division initially and then in time to a position where we can all be proud of Southampton Football Club once again."
Subscribers to www.saintstv.com can log on now to watch the full 7 minute interview with Andy Oldknow and well as highlights from Saints' pre-season match against Eastleigh Mark Wotte's post-match reaction from Totton and much more…
