Pochettino ‘surprised’ by Cortese departure but vows to stay

Mauricio Pochettino has decided not to walk away from Southampton in the wake of executive chairman Nicola Cortese’s exit.

The Saints manager stopped short yesterday of committing beyond the end of the season however, and to the full 17 months remaining on his contract.

Admitting he cannot be definitive about his long-term future at the club, Pochettino said: “It’s very hard to say at the moment, I think it’s very soon to say about that.”

In acknowledging surprise at Cortese’s resignation on Wednesday, the 41-year-old Southampton coach revealed his former boss told him not to follow suit and leave St Mary’s.

Pochettino has met with Southampton owner Katharina Liebherr, who has installed herself as non-executive chairperson and offered her backing to the club’s current coaching staff.

“What’s quite clear is I have a very good relationship with Nicola Cortese,” Pochettino said. “He agrees with my decision to stay and there’s nothing more I can say about that right now.

“He only asked me for one thing and that’s to try to win on Saturday (against Sunderland).

“I don’t know [why he decided to leave], it’s quite difficult to say, I found out yesterday as you did about his decision.

“Of course it has surprised me quite a bit, the same as other people at the club.”

The conversation with Liebherr was short, but apparently reassuring.

“I met her for five minutes, she told me we have her full support, she wants the club to be stable and that we need to look forward to the future,” Pochettino said.

It is believed that Cortese, 45, harbours ambitions to take up another post in English football. He is clearly keen to reprise his double-act with Pochettino, with sources describing the duo as having a very strong bond.