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Claude Puel Announced as New Manager - OFFICIAL

Jimmy_D

By Jimmy_D,
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Saint-Armstrong

Saint-Armstrong

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Executive Director of Football Les Reed said:

 

“The process to appoint a new First Team Manager has been diligent and meticulous. In order to ensure we appointed a manager who would meet our needs as a club, feedback from the dressing room, as well as taking account of our culture, vision and values, was critical in drawing up our criteria for the appointment.

 

“As the process eliminated a number of excellent candidates, Claude clearly came out on top of a very impressive shortlist. We have not only got the best man, but the right coaching team to support him.

 

“Eric Black has an excellent pedigree as a coach and vast experience domestically and internationally. Pascal Plancque has an excellent record as a technical coach and, like Claude, has been responsible for developing many young French talents into top quality players.

 

“The development of our young Academy players and delivering a pathway to the first team is key to the role. We were keen to appoint a coaching team who would also work closely with Martin Hunter and Radhi Jaïdi in accelerating the development of our youngsters, as well as developing our current first-team squad as individuals and as a team.

 

“We have an excellent group of first-team players who are keen to take another step forward. There is already a confidence and excitement in the building as some of the squad has returned for testing and they are in great shape.

 

“Claude has a fantastic platform to work from and is aware that our ambition is to repeat and improve on our performances in the Premier League over the past three seasons.

 

“Claude has a track record of improving the situations he has been presented with and we are confident he can repeat this at Southampton.

 

“His Champions League and European experience will be valuable in our Europa League challenge this coming season and with the support of our excellent staff at the club I am sure he will do well.

 

“We are once again excited about what the new season will bring, and we will continue to chase records as we have done in recent years.”

 

]

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Viking Saint

Viking Saint

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Southampton have appointed former Nice boss Claude Puel as their new manager.

 

The 54-year-old Frenchman, who left the Ligue 1 club in May after leading them to fourth in the table, has signed a three-year contract with Saints.

 

He replaces Ronald Koeman, who took over at Everton on 16 June.

 

 

 

 

Southampton considered ex-Roma boss Rudi Garcia, while a move for former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini was not pursued after initial talks.

 

Eric Black, Aston Villa's caretaker manager last season following Remi Garde's sacking, joins Puel as assistant manager with former Boulogne coach Pascal Plancque as assistant first-team coach.

 

Who is Claude Puel?

 

Puel was given his first job in management with Monaco in 1999.

 

He had been a player there for 17 years, of which seven were under Arsene Wenger before he joined Arsenal.

 

Puel led Monaco to the Ligue 1 title in 2000 before taking over at Lille in 2002.

 

Appointed Lyon boss in 2008, he led them to the Champions League semi-finals in 2010.

 

What is his management style?

 

Erik Bielderman, the chief football writer for French newspaper L'Equipe, has followed Puel's career.

 

He told BBC Radio Solent that Puel is a "quiet guy" with the media and will "not give great headlines", but "speaks his mind" in the dressing room.

 

Bielderman described Puel the player as the "Roy Keane" of Monaco's "very offensive, very stylish" side in the 1980s.

 

He added: "He loves entertaining football but he is also realistic.

 

"His team will never be unbalanced but they will play to win games. They are not the kind of team, like we have a lot of in France, just to play for a draw."

 

Will it work at Southampton?

 

Bielderman said it is a "clever appointment" by Southampton rather than a "glamorous move".

 

Garde, the last manager to move to the Premier League from France with an impressive coaching reputation, left Aston Villa in March after only 147 days in charge.

 

But Bielderman said of Puel: "This guy is suitable. Southampton is the perfect connection with Claude because he is an academy coach. He loves the academy player."

 

How long will he stay?

 

Southampton, promoted to the Premier League in 2012, have since seen highly rated managers Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman leave for Tottenham and Everton respectively.

 

They have sold a host of players in recent years, while midfielder Victor Wanyama has joined Tottenham for £11m and striker Sadio Mane moved to Liverpool for £34m since the end of last season.

 

Winger Nathan Redmond, a £10m capture from Norwich, is Southampton's only summer signing.

 

Bielderman said: "Sometimes you are a bit fed up when you build a team, make the young players progress and suddenly people come and buy the players and you have to rebuild again.

 

"The market in England offers so many opportunities to buy and to sell that to build on a long-term basis becomes almost the impossible dream.

 

"In a club like Southampton, you maybe expect to have a couple of years with some consistency.

 

"Claude Puel is the kind of guy to have three, four seasons, but when he feels uncomfortable, which was the case at Nice and also at Lyon, he is not the guy who will fight to stay. He will say, 'This is not for me any more - bye bye'."

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tajjuk

tajjuk

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Welcome Claude.

 

Thought this bit was interesting in the statement -

 

In order to ensure we appointed a manager who would meet our needs as a club, feedback from the dressing room, as well as taking account of our culture, vision and values, was critical in drawing up our criteria for the appointment.

 

Read more at http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/20160630-claude-puel-announcement-southampton-first-team-manager-3162443.aspx#bUPHqQ8DlFp2cJiZ.99

 

Have any of our players played under him before? Or am I misinterpreting that?

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Suhari

Suhari

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Welcome Claude.

 

Thought this bit was interesting in the statement -

 

 

 

Have any of our players played under him before? Or am I misinterpreting that?

 

 

Saw that. Interesting comment.

 

Could interpret it any number of ways......perhaps there was 'something missing' with RK that has been addressed with Cloud Pile?

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tajjuk

tajjuk

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Saw that. Interesting comment.

 

Could interpret it any number of ways......perhaps there was 'something missing' with RK that has been addressed with Cloud Pile?

 

Yeh maybe it's a little dig at Koeman referencing his falling out with some players?

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Jai27

Jai27

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Real shame Sammy Lee's gone. As said before, I'm not particularly excited by Puel, Black or Plancque but I think the club have certainly earned the right to be trusted by us in these matters!

 

Welcome aboard guys! 8th place and a few fun trips in Europe would be fine by me. If you manage to squeeze Wembley in there as well then i'd be most grateful :D

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Charlie Wayman

Charlie Wayman

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Untried gently persuasive French Manager plus Eric Black a combo that promises lots of goals and attractive free-flowing open football (we don't play for draws!)... hang on, I read something like that last year in the Birmingham Post. Ever had that sinking feeling? Still we didn't have to endure Sherwood. Thank goodness Redmond knows his way around the Championship

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Chez

Chez

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Puel's gone for the rat pack look. #silverlining

 

Middle aged men that don't do their ties up properly just look scruffy, not that that has any bearing on hos ability to be a top manager here or anywhere, obviously.

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Fitzhugh Fella

Fitzhugh Fella

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Have to confess to feeling slightly underwhelmed, he has a big task not only finding his feet in an alien environment but a completely new country too. Pochettino and Koeman both had a ruthless streak which you need to survive in the Premier League and a lot will depend if he can gain the respect of the senior pros.

I wouldn't like a situation like we had with Paul Sturrock for instance. I am not sure he was Reed's first choice either but having said all this we the fans have got to get behind him and give him a chance. This is very much a make or break appointment.

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Chez

Chez

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Executive Director of Football Les Reed said:

 

“The process to appoint a new First Team Manager has been diligent and meticulous. In order to ensure we appointed a manager who would meet our needs as a club, feedback from the dressing room, as well as taking account of our culture, vision and values, was critical in drawing up our criteria for the appointment.

 

“As the process eliminated a number of excellent candidates, Claude clearly came out on top of a very impressive shortlist. We have not only got the best man, but the right coaching team to support him.

 

“Eric Black has an excellent pedigree as a coach and vast experience domestically and internationally. Pascal Plancque has an excellent record as a technical coach and, like Claude, has been responsible for developing many young French talents into top quality players.

 

“The development of our young Academy players and delivering a pathway to the first team is key to the role. We were keen to appoint a coaching team who would also work closely with Martin Hunter and Radhi Jaïdi in accelerating the development of our youngsters, as well as developing our current first-team squad as individuals and as a team.

 

“We have an excellent group of first-team players who are keen to take another step forward. There is already a confidence and excitement in the building as some of the squad has returned for testing and they are in great shape.

 

“Claude has a fantastic platform to work from and is aware that our ambition is to repeat and improve on our performances in the Premier League over the past three seasons.

 

“Claude has a track record of improving the situations he has been presented with and we are confident he can repeat this at Southampton.

 

“His Champions League and European experience will be valuable in our Europa League challenge this coming season and with the support of our excellent staff at the club I am sure he will do well.

 

“We are once again excited about what the new season will bring, and we will continue to chase records as we have done in recent years.”

 

]

 

this reads like: "we have got someone in that will play the youngsters, like we wanted the last guy to do."

 

Hopefully the appropriate youngsters are at the club.

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Saint_Ash

Saint_Ash

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Have to confess to feeling slightly underwhelmed, he has a big task not only finding his feet in an alien environment but a completely new country too. Pochettino and Koeman both had a ruthless streak which you need to survive in the Premier League and a lot will depend if he can gain the respect of the senior pros.

I wouldn't like a situation like we had with Paul Sturrock for instance. I am not sure he was Reed's first choice either but having said all this we the fans have got to get behind him and give him a chance. This is very much a make or break appointment.

Maybe Claude has a ruthless streak seeing as he's been called the Roy Keane of Monaco. It appears that the players have been consulted before a manager was appointed, maybe they liked the sound of him. Hopefully our fans will give him a chance before binning him off,

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Chris27687

Chris27687

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Untried gently persuasive French Manager plus Eric Black a combo that promises lots of goals and attractive free-flowing open football (we don't play for draws!)... hang on, I read something like that last year in the Birmingham Post. Ever had that sinking feeling? Still we didn't have to endure Sherwood. Thank goodness Redmond knows his way around the Championship

 

The squad's and spending power is just a tiny bit different.

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