Mark Wotte has parted company with Saints in the first of what will presumably be many sweeping changes the new club management team will make in the coming weeks.

It follows just days after he was handed a new 12-month rolling contract, and after he had admirably held the fort during the period of administration. It’s believed he will receive his full salary as compensation.

He was unable to keep the side in the Championship after he took over from Jan Poortvliet towards the end of January, although in hindsight that task was probably ultimately an impossible one with the prospect of a ten-point deduction sending us down if we did technically stay up anyway.

The club’s official statement reads as follows:

Southampton Football Club can confirm that Mark Wotte has left the Club.

We wish to recognise Mr Wotte’s efforts during a difficult period for all associated with the Club. We wish him well for the future.

Our decision is part of a wider strategic plan being implemented to improve all aspects of the club’s operations, both on and off the field.

In keeping with this plan we can confirm that the search for a new manager has already begun.

Our search will be conducted in a systematic and professional manner. We will find the right candidate, who will fulfil the criteria necessary to move the Club forward.

Stewart Henderson will take charge of First Team affairs on a temporary basis.

We will update fans on the appointment process as soon as possible.

The bookmakers’ early favourite to take his place is Gordon Strachan, with SkyBet even suspending their betting already on a return for the man who led us to the 2003 FA Cup Final. Other short-priced options are Dennis Wise (4/1), Kevin Keegan (6/1), Aidy Boothroyd (10/1), Matt Le Tissier (12/1), Micky Adams and Alan Shearer (both 16/1).

Of those, only Keegan really stands out as an appointment that would bring in the crowds and generate plenty of interest. Adams has only just started in a new role at Port Vale, Shearer’s future at Newcastle is uncertain, Le Tissier would seem an unlikely option and both Wise and Boothroyd are fairly uninspiring options given their recent past.

While a return for either Strachan or the much longer-priced Glenn Hoddle would probably be a popular move, football is littered with occasions where a manager has returned for a second spell at a club having been successful first time around - invariably it’s never as good the second time.

Departing Reading captain Graham Murty is joining Saints on a trial basis.

The 34-year-old Scottish international’s contract at the Madejski has expired, which has allowed Mark Wotte to bring him into the setup for a few weeks. Murty made more than 300 appearances over eleven years at Reading, winning promotion twice with the Royals, and leaves there having not been offered a new deal under new boss Brendan Rodgers.

Regardless of the outcome of the trial, he will return to Berkshire for one final appearance - his testimonial against Phil Parkinson’s Charlton Athletic.

Murty becomes the second triallist to join this week, after the Nigerian-born Belgian striker Ode Thompson arrived yesterday. Thompson won’t be eligible to play at either Eastleigh on Saturday or AFC Totton on Tuesday due to international clearance not having arrived in time, but Wotte and his coaching staff will take a look at him in training over the next couple of weeks. It’s unclear whether Murty will be available for selection or not.

Saints midfielder Andrew Surman has joined Premier League new boys Wolves in a deal worth an initial £1.2m.

It’s believed that the deal could rise to £2m based on appearances and if Wolves manage to stay in the top flight beyond this season.

Surman made 144 appearances for the club, 18 of which were as a substitute, and scored 18 goals. He also won 4 caps for the England Under-21s during his time at St Mary’s, scoring on his debut in a 3-0 win in Montenegro.

He had been linked with a move to Reading a year ago, a rumour which resurfaced again in the January transfer window, but following their failure to win promotion and the resignation of Steve Coppell, a long-time admirer, Wolves boss Mick McCarthy made a move to take him to the Black Country, where he joins another Southampton local, Sam Vokes, in a youthful-looking squad.

In other transfer news, Kelvin Davis has had a medical at West Ham, but that move still hasn’t been finalised - it’s believed he’s still waiting to hear if there will be a contract offer here first as he and his family are well settled in the area.

Mark Wotte has been given some sort of contract extension, although it’s unclear as to the terms of that deal, particularly with the likelihood that a new owner would want to bring in their own man. With that in mind, it’s likely to be a monthly rolling contract. Wotte has kept Michael Svensson on his backroom team. The future of Dean Gorré is unclear at the moment.

Mark Wotte has been confirmed as the permanent Head Coach, replacing Jan Poortvliet, who resigned last night. Wotte’s first act has been to add Michael Svensson to the coaching staff as player/assistant first-team coach.

Svensson will share first-team coaching responsibilities with Dean Gorre, while also continuing his rehabilitation work to regain full fitness to return to playing duties as soon as possible.

The addition of Svensson to the coaching staff seems a sensible one, he’s always led by example as a player and even though, as far as I’m aware, he doesn’t have any coaching qualifications, he’ll be able to pass on his experience and knowledge to the players. It’ll also be a popular appointment among the fanbase, so for once, the club has probably got the PR right on this one.

The confirmation of Wotte’s appointment, however, is a different kettle of fish. While he was almost appointed in 2005 before George Burley eventually got the job, the idea of appointing from within is one we’ve seen before on more than one occasion in the not-too-distant past, and on every occasion it’s proven to be an absolute disaster.

Stuart Gray, Steve Wigley and the joint control of Jason Dodd and John Gorman have all been given opportunities after the departure of managers they had worked under on the coaching staff, and all were unmitigating failures. Wotte’s situation is slightly different as he wasn’t on the coaching staff, but as the Academy director and reserve team manager, his role has still been one lower down the food chain to his predecessor.

How long he actually gets in his new role is very much up in the air - I can’t help but feel that we’re going to be embarking on another managerial merry-go-round.

Jan Poortvliet has resigned in the wake of last week’s 2-1 home defeat to Doncaster Rovers.

In a brief club statement, the club states that he has taken the decision to stand down “in response to the Club’s poor home form”, and that Mark Wotte has been asked to take over as Head Coach, starting with Tuesday’s trip to Norwich City.

The statement doesn’t clarify whether Wotte’s appointment is on a temporary basis or something more permanent - I suspect he will probably be placed in charge until the end of the season as, to be honest, the board probably feel they’ve got more than enough on their plate dealing with the current financial situation without having to recruit a new manager. That said, that position is probably the most important at the club, so I would certainly prefer the board to be looking for an experienced manager who can get us out of the rather deep hole we’ve dug for ourselves.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Poortvliet’s departure, which I suppose shows the indifference shown by many towards the goings-on at the club right now. While there’s no doubting he was a very likeable person and, for me, his footballing principles are spot-on, he certainly came across as tactically naive towards the way the game is usually played in the Championship.

With the players at his disposal this season - mostly players who weren’t good enough last season when we stayed up on the final day - the vast majority expected us to struggle, particularly in terms of the physical side of the game, and so it has proved. I don’t blame him for that, and I suspect he probably hasn’t had a massive input on the player recruitment side of things.

Early in the season, things looked very promising, particularly after wins against Derby and Birmingham, two sides who were in the Premier League last year, but the side has been dogged by a mix of inconsistency and runs of poor form, particularly at home where we have registered just one win in 14 games. I don’t think many can complain about the away form - only Wolves, Birmingham and Sheffield United have won more games on the road this season - but the results at St Mary’s simply haven’t been good enough, particularly against the lesser sides, i.e. our main competitors. It’s all well and good putting in performances against the likes of Wolves and Reading, but a failure to perform against Doncaster and particularly against Nottingham Forest (in front of a 27,000-strong crowd) is pretty damning.

While the club statement clearly says he resigned, I can’t help but feel he may have been given an incentive to do so - after all, if Rupert Lowe had felt the need to sack him, it would have made his own position even more untenable than it already is. Now that would have been some achievement…