There has been no shortage of potential candidates to take over the management seat at St Mary's after the sacking of Nathan Jones and it seems likely Saints will move quickly to appoint his successor.

The sacking of Nathan Jones came swiftly at the end of his short tenure at Southampton FC and it seems likely the club will move just as quickly to appoint his successor, indeed when Ralph Hasenhuttl was sacked on 6th November just days before the World Cup break, Jones was announced as Saints manager just four days later.

That might sound like an appointment made in haste, but the club monitor potential managers just as they monitor potential players, so they can make quick appointments.

However they got it badly wrong with Jones, some blame those in charge at St Mary's be in Martin Semmens and the board or the owners led by Rasmus Ankersen, whilst they do have to bear the responsibility it is easy to see why they saw Jones as the right man for the job, as he himself is quick to point out, he played in a certain way and got results, he probably came across well in interviews etc and that led the board to think he would be their man.

However it became clear early on that Jones lacked a certain strength of character needed to manage in the Premier League and the more it progressed I actually started to feel sorry for him as a man, he was unravelling in the glare of the media with car crash post match interviews and his team selections became more erratic.

But that is now all history, this is not the first mistake in appointing a manager made by a board at Southampton Football Club and it probably won't be the last, we just hope that with the next appointment they get it right.

So who will that next appointment be ?

By yesterday evening there had been around 10 potential candidates in the fore that had some credence.

Jesse Marsch, Steven Gerrard, Sam Allardyce, Marcella Gallardo, Steve Bruce, Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nino Espirito Santo,, Ivan Juric, Jess Thorup & Marcelo Bielsa have all been touted as potential replacements and these are just the top of the tree.

Judging from responses on social media, it seems there is no clear favourite amongst the fans, all of the 10 mentioned have their plus points and all have their minus points, the early voting in our online poll has seen all but one of the candidates getting a vote, the only exception being ex boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Each hour seems to bring a new contender, Steve Bruce seemed to be the favourite in some parts of the media, several such as Sam Allardyce and Steven Gerrard got mentions, probably more because they are out of work and the same could be said for Marcelo Bielsa.

There are some names being touted that come from the left field, Jess Thorup will not be name familiar with Saints supporters although it should be in that he was in charge of the Midtjylland side that knocked Saints out of the Europa League in 2015/16.

It was there that his connection to Rasmus Ankersen came and after leaving there he has won the Danish title with FC Copenhagen and also managed in Belgium.

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper is also being touted, but it is hard to believe that he would swap Forest's relatively lofty position to join Saints at present.

Torino manager Ivan Juric has emerged as another strong contender to take over at St. Mary’s, with reports saying that Saints are looking to move on quickly from the disastrous Jones era.

But the favourite emerging this morning is with Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch, perhaps the choice for the club because of his experience in the Premier League over the last year.

His is now 1/4 odds on favourite to be given the job and certainly media outlets like Sky Sports feel that he is going to be the man with reports saying that he could be appointed today.

I am not sure that his appointment would be universally popular in the fan base, the general view would be that he is an excitable American version of Nathan Jones, certainly some of his interviews have been bizarre, but he has the credentials that the club's owners will be looking for.

He has had a good grounding in the MLS in his home country with 7 years experience before moving between the Red Bull clubs, firstly from New York to become assistant at RB Leipzig, then becoming head coach at RB Salzburg in June 2019, two straight Bundesliga titles followed before he returned to Leipzig this time as Head coach in the summer of 2021.

His tenure there was short and they parted ways in December 2021 by mutual consent.

He was not out of work long before Leeds United came knocking and he succeeded in keeping them up.

I can see why Saints may want Marsch, from a supporters perspective he is a little bit of a cartoon character and the TV series character Ted Lasso is often quoted as being a similar match.

However that is a little unfair, a deeper look at his career shows that he has worked hard and earned a good reputation over a 12 year period and across 4 different Leagues, the MLS, Austria, Germany and more importantly from what Saints are looking for in the Premier League.

So it looks like Marsch could well be our man, he won't be the most popular choice, some of the fans will want a so called big name such as Sam Allardyce, that would not be my choice, in essence I don't think we have the players to play the Allardyce way, or perhaps one of the foreign options in Juric or Gallardo, but they would be gambles having had no Premier League experience.

Who would you prefer to take over, would you be happy with Marsch or would you prefer someone else, give your opinion in the comments section and vote in our online poll using the link below.

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/294686/who-would-you-wa

Photo: Action Images

saintbazza added 09:27 - Feb 13 Non of the above really inspires me and we never go with the 'media choice' anyway. Personally, I would like to see Selles given a chance, he has experienced the Premiership and knows the players! One thing for certain is that they will have been looking at someone before the sacking happened.
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kevleykeegle added 09:32 - Feb 13 Marsch and Gerard would be disastrous. To appoint a manager who was on the brink of taking Leeds down - madness. Gerard did well in the Mickey Mouse league but was useless as villa’s boss would be equally insane.
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SanMarco added 09:45 - Feb 13 "it is easy to see why they saw Jones as the right man for the job" - REALLY?? It has to be someone from a 'lower league' or someone out of work. Can't see that Marsch ticks many boxes and Gerrard has little experience in EPL and none of it successful. Of those on the list who would possibly come I would plump, with fingers-crossed for Espirito Santo. Of the 'relegation specialists' I doubt Big Sam would say yes after his West Brom experiences and the others are over 90 and why would anyone think Bruce was a good idea? The important thing is we are NOT down yet. We need someone for NOW, not for next season in the second division.

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IanRC added 10:03 - Feb 13 Gallardo if he will come.
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FrankSaint added 10:20 - Feb 13 Jesse March is maybe too one dimensional. I think we need a good tactician as many of our remaining games are against the top teams and we need to be able to put a team out that can pinch draws and wins rather than gloriously lose 4-3 like Blackpool did when they came up.
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FrankSaint added 10:27 - Feb 13 Our owners are very stats oriented and they will focus on the fact we have 48 points to go for in 16 games. And we are only 4 points off safety. This is thanks to the World Cup break. The right manager with the new squad which everyone in football agrees has a good number of quality players would save the club from relegation. So, I think any talk of preparing for the championship is off the mark. The owners should go for a manager who can actually set up a team for each of the next 16 matches with whatever tactics are required. Including changing the our shape and making substitutions mid game as we are accustomed to under Koeman. Maybe they will appoint a foreign manager as the new boss that Selles can work with. If Saints appoint one dimensional Marche we deserve they deserve to go down.

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Ifonly added 10:36 - Feb 13 This is the wrong time and the wrong situation to be making a long term appointment particularly a hasty one. What manager wants almost certain relegation on their CV? Only a desperate one like Marsch. Even if it's a lower league next year, a new manager would prefer the chance of first time promotion. Look at what Gallardo has said. Look at what Bielsa told Everton. A top manager needs time to build and performances could get worse before they get better as players learn new systems and tactics. The summer is the time to bring in a long term solution. Now should be a short term appointment with the offer of a big bonus for keeping us up.

2

DF_20032017 added 10:53 - Feb 13 Marsch isn’t the moron a lot seem to think he is and he did actually keep a dreadful Leeds team, that we’re in disarray up last season. We have to be realistic in that great managers aren’t going to come here at the moment and there is a good chance you will have a relegation on your CV and have to start again next season a division lower. I think someone like the guy from Bodo/Glimt could be really exciting but November was the time to make that appointment and now Jones has wasted all the games against teams around us. Marsch at least plays half decent football and our players will fit into and be familiar with his formations. I wouldn’t be really excited and he isn’t top of my list but it might at least bring a realistic chance of some progress.

1

Saidou added 11:15 - Feb 13 Go get us The Celtic Manager, Ange Postecoglu. He is more similar to the Ronald Koeman style of play that we so desperately miss. Oh ! is Koeman with any team at the moment? We were such a perfect match.
1

highfield49 added 11:17 - Feb 13 I can't really justify my choice from those touted for the job but I'd prefer Nino Espirito Santo. Whilst he's currently doing a very good job in the Saudi Pro League he might be interested in a new challenge, and we can certainly offer him that with immediate effect. For me he ticks the boxes because of his tactical awareness and organisational skills rather than the scattergun approach of others on the list.

3

DiscoStoobs added 12:02 - Feb 13 We're down, so I'd take a gamble on Gallardo and build for the future
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Farlow added 13:15 - Feb 13 I saw Wayne Rooneys name mentioned in one rag,I thought he did a great job at Derby in dreadfully difficult circumstances.I hope they don,t pick Jesse Marsche,who was,nt good enough at LEEDS.Maybe Selles deserves a go.
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ItchenNorth added 13:43 - Feb 13 Personally I'd go for Nino Espirito Santo and keep Rubben Selles involved or even give it to Selles.
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Crispinmumbles added 14:52 - Feb 13 An old mate of mine lives in Leipzig and says Marsch was bobbins there too. I'm not at all impressed by the current field of runners. Leave it with Selles to the Summer. I think we're down but he may prove to be the answer and save us anyway. If not, I suspect there will be many better options between now and the Summer. I don't mind getting relegated, i won't stop being a Saints fan, we might have some excitement again. It wouldn't be the first time nor probably the last but get the right man so that we can bounce straight back.

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YosemiteSaint added 17:47 - Feb 13 IF we're looking longer term and are semi-resigned to the drop, I think that Marsch is the kind of manager who could help us bounce back up. But his Leeds sides leaked goals, and that is not at all what we need right now.
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leighsaint added 19:20 - Feb 13 Give Rooney a chance he did quite well at Derby well having a 21point deduction to contend with
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saint66 added 22:08 - Feb 13 Having watched the Liverpool-Everton match on Sky I think we have dodged a bullet With Mr Dyche having become Everton’s manager.
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DellBoyWally added 22:21 - Feb 13 The chances of survival are very remote so I'd save big money and give it to Selles. His tenure can be assessed between now and relegation to see if he deserves a stab at getting us promoted. All the names being tossed around are proven flops. Just accept the situation without throwing money away and reassess the situation in the summer.
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StRipper added 15:11 - Feb 14 Looks like we are about to make a balls up of our next appointment too. Rushing to appoint a manager over getting the right manager. I see on Sports Witness that our preferred candidate is Juric at Torino. But because they aren't keen to release him, we're just going to go for Marsh instead. Going for the fallback option again, just like we did when we appointed Jones. Seems like Ankersen and the board have learnt nothing from the Jones screw up

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