Who do we want next as Saints manager?

[SWLondon Saint]

For all the people hankering after Cooper, Leicester clearly got worse after sacking him so in all likelihood he's waiting around for Farke or Parker to get the boot when I expect he'll be in pole position. He'll still be getting paid so why would he take a pay cut to join us?

Like it or not, managers of the level of Rohl, Still or other present Championship managers are what we have to choose from. Lampard just joined Coventry and knows he'd look shit if he jumped ship after half a season. Who else from the Champ would you want then?

[goodymatt]

6 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Rohl is waiting for bigger things, it's been widely hinted at.

Don't know much about Still, but not sure who else is out there and likely to want to come. I assume we don't want to be in the position that we were in with Martin where we have to sack our Manager if we get back to the Prem cos they're not of the standard, and we know Cooper is that man, not good enough for the Prem, so that rules him out. Lampard, meh, done a decent job with Cov, but don't think he's great. Don't rate O'Neil personally, plays worse football than Martin and never really shown much - always been upstaged by whoever is brought in after him.

I'm out of ideas. Anyone else who's bitching and moaning actually got any?

Dyche would be a logical appointment in our situation, not sure he’d come though and his football style isn’t widely loved.

FWIW, if Rohl is keeping us waiting I’m glad the club are being proactive to get things in place ASAP.

Still feels like a risky appointment but he has more experience than many think given his age. Does appear to be highly rated and comes across well. The flexible approach to games appeals given the stubborn tactics we have experienced under the last 6 managers. 

[Baird of the land]

9 minutes ago, Galway saint said:

We need an experienced manager ideally with championship pedigree who  and we may well appoint someone who is 32 and has no experience of the championship.

What could possibly go wrong ?

Maybe it works and maybe it doesnt but we seem incapable of taking the conventional option. We always seem to be trying to be smart, rather than astute.

guess at some point we will appoint someone decent and if it is still maybe its him but no one on here will be surprised if it doesn't work out.

frankly unless we start signing some decent players it doesn't matter who is manager 

 

Yep top three in championship are all experienced with success under their belts. Maybe being unconventional will work out but not sure I see the value in terms of risk vs reward.

[ally_uk]

Bunch of wet fannies on here...

Let's least give Still a chance... soon will change tune if we end up smashing the league 🤣

[coalman]

At least it's not Lampard or Gerard or Rooney.

[2Morrow]

Top three in the Championship had the most money, that's why they did well.

The only easily identifiable metric to estimate success is paying the most wages - the rest is circumstance. 

[goodymatt]

7 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Yep top three in championship are all experienced with success under their belts. Maybe being unconventional will work out but not sure I see the value in terms of risk vs reward.

Looking back at the previous season, the only parachute payment club that didn’t get promoted had the manager with the promotion experience… As Ralph once said, if you want a guarantee, buy a washing machine. 

[Miltonaggro]

15 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

With a partner who is going through a serious illness, he might not even be looking for his next job at the moment. 

Indeed, think a lot of people would in that situation if they could afford it. Maybe he’ll rule himself out of speculation over the next week. 

[AlexLaw76]

9 minutes ago, coalman said:

At least it's not Lampard or Gerard or Rooney.

Lampard is a very decent championship level manager

[Harry_SFC]

3 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

Indeed, think a lot of people would in that situation if they could afford it. Maybe he’ll rule himself out of speculation over the next week. 

Seems like yesterday he said that he wants a job in this country, so I doubt that. 

[Miltonaggro]

24 minutes ago, Paulwantsapint81 said:

Who was last non risk manager of saints?

deliberately missing some recent mangers who were definite risks - Martin, Jones,RH,Hughes,MoPe

Puel - uninspiring 

Koeman - was a bit patchy prior to saints

Poch - never heard of except as player who fouled Owen in Japan

Adkins? 
Pardew?

Burley - had high & lows

Redknapp - Skate 
WGS - relegated with Coventry

Hoddle - sacked by England 

Dave Jones - lower league manager 

Souness - massive name, failed at Liverpool 

Merrington - too good a man

Alan Ball - swapped Exeter for Saints 

 

 

 

Honest reflection on that list, the only managers that I felt were uninspiring or poor choices at time of appointment were Merrington, Jones, and Redknapp.
Since Puel only Hassenhutl has seemed a ‘good’ fit before a ball was kicked and Hughes was probably what we needed at that point in terms of Hobson’s choice post donkey. Big drop off since Sport Republic came on the scene. 

[Miltonaggro]

3 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Seems like yesterday he said that he wants a job in this country, so I doubt that. 

So do I…

[AlexLaw76]

A new manager will at least mean Rusk is further away from the first team selection

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

The Championship is a label for a game, the label of the division doesn't impact events on the pitch. Why couldn't Still treat a match at St Mary's like a French league game? What impact would the Championship label have to stop that?

What a load of old pony. 
 

There’s more games to manage the players through, they’re more physical, the refereeing is slightly different, the tactics of the opponent is different. Only a half wit couldn’t understand that…….. So I’ll forgive you for not doing so. 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I think Saints are so badly damaged at present we can write off next season's promotion challenge which means If Still comes I think he will have a year's grace while he finds his feet in the Championship/attends to personal issues and eases into the job. Both his brothers are his coaches at Lens so presumably he would have their support too.

He is one for the future and as long as he is loyal to us, this could well work out in the long term, but its going to be a long way back from the horror that has been 2024-25.

[imadirtyurchin]

I can’t believe Cleverly is seriously in the running for the job. He’s had 59 career games as a manager and managed 20 wins. Only 5 wins in 2025…

this can’t really be the level we are looking at with no one better identifiable in the entire footballing world… 

Still is a risk, and I’m not convinced- but at least he’s managed a reasonable number of games (for his age) 

imagine the atmosphere when we lose 2 games in a row or don’t score at the start of the season. Could all unravel very very quickly. 

 

Personally I’d have Ralph back, loves the club. Experienced. Can play good football given the right players. He’s probably too divisive amongst the fanbase - but on purely a career/experience level he has to be an outstanding candidate.

Edited 5 hours ago by imadirtyurchin
More info

[Gloucester Saint]

21 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think Saints are so badly damaged at present we can write off next season's promotion challenge which means If Still comes I think he will have a year's grace while he finds his feet in the Championship/attends to personal issues and eases into the job. Both his brothers are his coaches at Lens so presumably he would have their support too.

He is one for the future and as long as he is loyal to us, this could well work out in the long term, but its going to be a long way back from the horror that has been 2024-25.

First priority is not to do what Luton and Sunderland before them have done and fall straight through. One hopeful aspect is that Still’s teams seem better defensively whereas Martin’s always leak like a sieve, and we did under Ralph towards the end as well. To help with that, Bazanu will need to go out on heavily subsidised loans for the next 2 years. A lot of writing off is needing to happen and huge turnover of players even by Saints standards. Still needs to be given a clean slate and that means all of SR’s vanity projects - Bazanu, Larios, Sulemana, Wood and loads more - being shipped out at a loss, or as many as Dragan will pay for.

Very, very difficult job for anyone at the moment. I do think if Saints appoint him that he needs a more experienced assistant who can break the back of the player power which has infested the club over the last few years. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[Lighthouse]

22 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think Saints are so badly damaged at present we can write off next season's promotion challenge which means If Still comes I think he will have a year's grace while he finds his feet in the Championship/attends to personal issues and eases into the job. Both his brothers are his coaches at Lens so presumably he would have their support too.

He is one for the future and as long as he is loyal to us, this could well work out in the long term, but its going to be a long way back from the horror that has been 2024-25.

You can if you like, but I'd like to think most fans aren't that much of a drama queen. I can absolutely guarantee that nobody is saying the same about Ipswich and Leicester, who've both been almost as bad as use this season. In fact I'd wager most Saints fans would have them as odds on for the automatic promotion spots.

[MindtheGab]

On 11/05/2025 at 00:28, MindtheGab said:

It's Rohl vs Still

I think when it got down to these two, it's much of a muchness really. They're both high risk, high reward managers with a lot of potential. 

Rohl has a more distinguished coaching background but as a manager Still has more pedigree. Factor in the compensation required for Rohl and it makes sense why we'd go with Still. We were already interested in Still but his MNF appearance prompted follow ups from us and Leicester 

Still has been interested in a job in England for a while (turned down Sunderland a season or two ago?) and he attended our play off final last year, where he enjoyed the atmosphere created by the fans.

FWIW, I don't know if we (or he) were ever interested but Cooper would have been my first choice. I don't mind a Still or Rohl but SR have got such little credit in the bank that whoever we get has to make a good start imo

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

What are the chances of that, eh?

Top 9 are better than the Championship! That puts the team finishing in 8th as above the Championship, how very convenient.

What is your source for this?

The FM26 database

[Midfield_General]

1 minute ago, MindtheGab said:

We were already interested in Still but his MNF appearance prompted follow ups from us and Leicester 

Are you saying that in a critical season our exhaustive global search for a manager, conducted by our crack team of experts, has basically come down to someone watching Sky Sports and going ‘ooh, he sounds clever’? 

[Micky]

2 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Are you saying that in a critical season our exhaustive global search for a manager, conducted by our crack team of experts, has basically come down to someone watching Sky Sports and going ‘ooh, he sounds clever’? 

I doubt if it's that sophisticated to be honest. 

[sadoldgit]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Lampard is a very decent championship level manager

Give it a rest Frank. We all know it’s you.

[Oldandtired]

Is it thought that he (whoever he is, and I’m assuming it will be a he) will be appointed soon after this season ends so he  can have a say in the players bought in?

[Wiggles31]

Reading more into him I can see why the club are looking at Still. They want a more aggressive style manager and the high press back. You can’t deny he’s been very good at Lens, even drew with PSG and had something like an 17 match unbeaten run. 

People need to check their expectations a tad! 
 

Personally the Premierleague is not the be all end all of football, it’s massively up it’s own arse much like the Super Bowl these days. 
 

I’d much rather the club focus on building a squad of young players, even if that means promotion were to take 2-3 seasons, players who will be able to make the step up in the BPL, well coached, Brentford and Bournemouth being the best examples in recent seasons. 
 

Plain and simply I want to see some damn wins, goals and clean sheets. This season has been horrendous. 

[Convict Colony]

9 minutes ago, Wiggles31 said:

Reading more into him I can see why the club are looking at Still. They want a more aggressive style manager and the high press back. You can’t deny he’s been very good at Lens, even drew with PSG and had something like an 17 match unbeaten run. 

People need to check their expectations a tad! 
 

Personally the Premierleague is not the be all end all of football, it’s massively up it’s own arse much like the Super Bowl these days. 
 

I’d much rather the club focus on building a squad of young players, even if that means promotion were to take 2-3 seasons, players who will be able to make the step up in the BPL, well coached, Brentford and Bournemouth being the best examples in recent seasons. 
 

Plain and simply I want to see some damn wins, goals and clean sheets. This season has been horrendous. 

Just before MLG this was with Rheims 

[Miltonaggro]

25 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Are you saying that in a critical season our exhaustive global search for a manager, conducted by our crack team of experts, has basically come down to someone watching Sky Sports and going ‘ooh, he sounds clever’? 

If that was the criteria these clowns would have appointed Paul Merson already. 

[woodsaint1]

I think people forget we're a championship club again. Still would be a very good appointment.

Dont get the clamour for Rohl. He finished 4 points above Pompey. Yes Wednesday were a shitshow but theres no guarantee if he had a better team and better backing that he would be a success. It would be a big step up for him, which is not the case for Still.

[Harry_SFC]

6 minutes ago, Wiggles31 said:

Reading more into him I can see why the club are looking at Still. They want a more aggressive style manager and the high press back. You can’t deny he’s been very good at Lens, even drew with PSG and had something like an 17 match unbeaten run. 

People need to check their expectations a tad! 
 

Personally the Premierleague is not the be all end all of football, it’s massively up it’s own arse much like the Super Bowl these days. 
 

I’d much rather the club focus on building a squad of young players, even if that means promotion were to take 2-3 seasons, players who will be able to make the step up in the BPL, well coached, Brentford and Bournemouth being the best examples in recent seasons. 
 

Plain and simply I want to see some damn wins, goals and clean sheets. This season has been horrendous. 

I think the club are rightly looking at managers who can make us more organised but also offer a threat going forwards.

Martins tactics were kamikaze and although we scored a lot and got promoted, we conceded way too many goals.

Juric's tactics left us badly exposed through the middle of the pitch and again let in way too many.

We are slightly more solid under Rusk but have offered absolutely nothing going forward (he won't even play a striker, even if the options aren't great)

It looks like it's going to be Still and his track record shows his teams score more than they concede, which has to be a positive! 

[Nolan]

 

Still had a Really good away record this season, his home form not so much.

29 of the teams final tally came from away matches 23 at home. 

 

[trousers]

44 minutes ago, MindtheGab said:

I think when it got down to these two, it's much of a muchness really. They're both high risk, high reward managers with a lot of potential. 

Rohl has a more distinguished coaching background but as a manager Still has more pedigree. Factor in the compensation required for Rohl and it makes sense why we'd go with Still. We were already interested in Still but his MNF appearance prompted follow ups from us and Leicester 

Still has been interested in a job in England for a while (turned down Sunderland a season or two ago?) and he attended our play off final last year, where he enjoyed the atmosphere created by the fans.

FWIW, I don't know if we (or he) were ever interested but Cooper would have been my first choice. I don't mind a Still or Rohl but SR have got such little credit in the bank that whoever we get has to make a good start imo

# interesting 3rd post klaxon #

 

[trousers]

57 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I can absolutely guarantee that nobody is saying the same about Ipswich and Leicester, who've both been almost as bad as us this season.

The word "almost" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, given both those teams have got double our points total (thereabouts)....

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

The word "almost" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, given both those teams have got double our points total (thereabouts)....

Yeah, Ipswich have been a lot more competitive than we have, even though they have the dubious honour of not being able to beat us twice.

[Weston Super Saint]

32 minutes ago, Oldandtired said:

Is it thought that he (whoever he is, and I’m assuming it will be a he) will be appointed soon after this season ends so he  can have a say in the players bought in?

Ordinarily, that would be a very sensible approach.

So, no, not going to happen with us!

[HarvSFC]

I don't get the animosity towards Still. Fair enough if it was Cleverley, or the Minnesota manager. But, Still's coming off a few top 10 finishes in the French top flight. Sunderland appointed Le Bris after he was relegated from the French top division last summer and they're going into a play-off final after a 16th placed finish and a season of three managers. We're a Championship club and we're going to struggle to appoint anyone with top flight experience, hence why a lot of the linked names are so uninspiring.

On the note of needing experience, Maresca had none when he won the league with Leicester, he was just Pep's coach before they appointed him, while McKenna was 34 when Ipswich appointed him and they haven't done too badly, he also didn't have a senior playing career.

We've been down the mid-table Championship avenue before. Nathan Jones had Luton punching above their weight, as Rohl has Sheffield Wednesday and he was a car crash. While, Swansea fans told us Martin's weaknesses, and they continued here, ultimately costing him his job. I just don't think many fans would be bothered if Rohl hadn't previously worked here and would be showing the same disgruntled views they're now sharing on Still. I think Still's done more in his managerial career so far. 

It would be nice to think the club has for the first time since Sports Republic took over done their homework, with Spors now leading the recruitment and for once we may actually unearth something. If not, and Still ends up being a car crash then it would just add to the long list of errors made.

Whoever gets appointed needs to appoint a new captain. Stephens isn't good enough and hasn't kept the team keeping any standards this season under his leadership. The new manager also needs to demand his own coaching team. Rusk is a failed Stockport manager, who was appointed within our U21s, but due to sackings has somehow found his way as caretaker manager of a Premier League senior team. Shouldn't be near the seniors. Lallana should be earning his stripes with the youth teams like Surman and Lancashire are doing, but I doubt his ego would allow him to. While, Carl Martin and Dean Thornton have somehow managed to hang on from the Russell Martin regime. Every game week you're left wondering what the coaches have been doing with the players all week. They need a clear out like the scouting team have had. 12 points, nobody deserves to stay.

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think Saints are so badly damaged at present we can write off next season's promotion challenge which means If Still comes I think he will have a year's grace

What do you think happens when we write off a promotion challenge? Same thing that happened when we sacked Martin in December and wrote off the rest of the season….games will still be played and for us to write off a promotion challenge that means lots of games will be lost. 

Grace period lasts as long as people stop enjoying turning up to games and not winning them. This season how many was that for Juric? Next season it will be less. 

You do not just write off a season and everyone sits quietly watching us finish mid table. Russell Martin had a bad month a couple of seasons ago and people  hated it and some of that shit stuck. Same will happen next season. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Fabrice29

[trousers]

15 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

I don't get the animosity towards Still.

I may have missed it but I'm not seeing any "animosity" towards Still. I've seen people who aren't convinced he's the best option, but it's understandable and reasonable to be uncertain about any managerial appointment, and Still isn't immune to that. 

[The Kraken]

2 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

With a partner who is going through a serious illness, he might not even be looking for his next job at the moment. 

 

2 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

And rightly so, his focus needs to be on his partner and being a manager is going to distract from that

From what I read, she is in recovery and was on the pitch with him for his final game of the season.

[Andy Hill]

We could have Sir Alf Ramsey in charge of this shambles of a team and not much would change. Very little quality, zero mental strength and, based on today, very little effort.

[Saint Fan CaM]

3 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Convince you that someone shouldn’t be involved with saints because of an association with Pompey even though they have not been involved with Pompey.

I wouldn’t know where to begin with that tbh, it’s as ridiculous as your initial comment 

 

You just don’t get it. That’s fine, but there’s no need to be a dick about it.

[Convict Colony]

2 hours ago, ally_uk said:

Bunch of wet fannies on here...

Let's least give Still a chance... soon will change tune if we end up smashing the league 🤣

Is this not a good thing ?

[Lee On Solent Saint]

16 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

 

From what I read, she is in recovery and was on the pitch with him for his final game of the season.

Yeah saw that from earlier. I think someone eventually in the Championship was going to take a punt on Still. Looks likely it will be us.

Edited 3 hours ago by Lee On Solent Saint

[The Kraken]

5 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Yeah saw that from earlier. I think someone eventually in the Championship was going to take a punt on Still. Looks likely it will be us.

He’s definitely done enough to earn a championship gig, I’d suggest. Whether he’s right for us, maybe we’ll see.  I’m not particularly blown away by the idea but neither am I all that concerned about it, especially given that there’s not exactly a long list of obvious candidates waiting in the wings. I can see a lot of player movement in and out, so it would be nice to have the new man in and working with Spors on recruitment as soon as possible.

[hypochondriac]

3 hours ago, ally_uk said:

Bunch of wet fannies on here...

Let's least give Still a chance... soon will change tune if we end up smashing the league 🤣

No one or a tiny minority are 'not giving Still a chance'. 

[hypochondriac]

3 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Honest reflection on that list, the only managers that I felt were uninspiring or poor choices at time of appointment were Merrington, Jones, and Redknapp.
Since Puel only Hassenhutl has seemed a ‘good’ fit before a ball was kicked and Hughes was probably what we needed at that point in terms of Hobson’s choice post donkey. Big drop off since Sport Republic came on the scene. 

I'd say Pardew was a decebt manager for league one prior to seeing what he'd do with us. 

[Smirking_Saint]

4 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

2) The Championship is a label for a game, the label of the division doesn't impact events on the pitch. Why couldn't Still treat a match at St Mary's like a French league game? What impact would the Championship label have to stop that?

You keep saying this shite… like any league there is a roughly defined way of play, for the majority. 
 

The prem can be different to many leagues, to the point you get a lot of coaches saying they get caught out by the physicality of it

The championship is no different, but added to that, you play games thick and fast and often have to adapt towards the latter stages as teams get ready for playoff runs

Now Im ok with Will Still, I think he’ll be fine.. but you’ve said this ‘label for the game’ bullshit about 8 times like you’ve got it out of a fortune cookie and its utter crap

[Smirking_Saint]

3 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Lampard is a very decent championship level manager

In what way has he proven that then

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

You can if you like, but I'd like to think most fans aren't that much of a drama queen. I can absolutely guarantee that nobody is saying the same about Ipswich and Leicester, who've both been almost as bad as use this season. In fact I'd wager most Saints fans would have them as odds on for the automatic promotion spots.

Worth remembering that Luton were very good value in the prem and they were the ones that ended up dropping like a stone. Form from the previous season with so much change counts for little. Without any other signings we could line up with 

Bazunu 

Bree wood Edwards Wellington 

Downes Charles 

Armstrong Edozie 

Fernandes 

Stewart 

Most of whom have very little to do with this season. Obviously we will sell a lot of them and bring in new players but the point is we won't have half as much of a hangover as people imagine because they will be different players. 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by hypochondriac

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

In what way has he proven that then

I'd say getting derby and especially Coventry into the playoffs was not easy. He has a better championship record than Martin for me prior to us getting him in. 

[Forester]

As I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago, Still would be a good appointment.  Has done well in two different Ligue 1 sides, so not a one off, just signed off at Lens by beating runners up Monaco 4-0 in final game to secure eight spot.

We should be grateful to secure any manager with a good record of managing in top flight of England, Spain, Italy, France or Germany in my view as a championship club.  Throw in his age and high potential, what is not to like?

I remember the white handkerchief protest at newly appointed “Mauricio Who?” when we sacked Adkins….