Next manager candidates

[SambaMaverick]

Still won't be able to account for all of what we saw tonight but I've seen enough. Doesn't know his best team, no improvement week on week and the system he's playing is just boring and blunt.

So who next?

Edited 3 hours ago by SambaMaverick

[Willo of Whiteley]

Mr Blobby would be an upgrade

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Well we're fucked. Dyche and Rohl not available. Who is?

[Patrick Bateman]

Just now, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

Well we're fucked. Dyche and Rohl not available. Who is?

Ange ... 🙄

[trousers]

1 minute ago, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

Well we're fucked. Dyche and Rohl not available. Who is?

 

[Willo of Whiteley]

Bring back Ralph. JWP on loan in January.

Get the band of 2020 back together.

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Just now, trousers said:

 

Looks like he has his mojo back.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik

[trousers]

Maybe Koeman would fancy another crack of the whip after the World Cup next year...?

[SambaMaverick]

3 minutes ago, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

Looks like he has his mojo back.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik

Skate O'Neil and Carrick only names that 'jump' off the page for me there, I'm not too keen on either

Edited 3 hours ago by SambaMaverick

[AlexLaw76]

Carrick for me

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just now, SambaMaverick said:

Gary O'Neil and Carrick only names that 'jump' off the page for me there, I'm not too keen on either

They probably won't be keen on us either to be fair 

[SambaMaverick]

Updated with an in/out poll for everyone to nail their colours to the mast 

[LGTL]

Wasted our fucking time when Rohl was available all the way until yesterday. Ridiculous 

[sfc4prem]

Ralph. What a manager. He would be wise to steer clear of frauds like Sports Republic.

Not that he'd come back to us now, or ever, anyway. That ship has sailed.

[Willo of Whiteley]

He isn’t going anywhere. Sport Republic aren’t going to sack him and effectively admit another mistake.

Also in regards to this thread, who do you realistically expect us to get if he were to go? Good luck.

[Saint86]

I'll say this much, if we hire Southgate, I might genuinely have to take a break from saints 😂

 

[Gloucester Saint]

19 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Mr Blobby would be an upgrade

You remember the Lower East banner too.

I’d actually welcome Branfoot on his zimmer over this computer game jockey.

[Fabrice29]

Nathan Jones fancy it?

[Saint86]

I said it in the summer.... The manager to go for is David challinor. Sadly he signed a new 3 year contract so will have a higher exit fee - but someone is going to pick him up at some point and he'll likely be cheaper wage wise than bigger names... Ultimately he is going up the leagues and he can't get Stockport to the premier league...

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[Baird of the land]

22 minutes ago, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

Well we're fucked. Dyche and Rohl not available. Who is?

Nigel is unemployed

[S-Clarke]

It'll be that Eric Ramsay bloke if we switch it up, and thus what's the point.

Edited 2 hours ago by S-Clarke

[James]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

It'll be that Eric Ramsay bloke if we switch it up, and thus what's the point.

If that is the next move I might need to take a break from this shower of sh*t.

Should have gotten Lampard in the summer when we had a chance but SR tried to be too clever again.

[Sir Ralph]

9 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I said it in the summer.... The manager to go for is David challinor. Sadly he signed a new 3 year contract so will have a higher exit fee - but someone is going to pick him up at some point and he'll likely be cheaper wage wise than bigger names... Ultimately he is going up the leagues and he can't get Stockport to the premier league...

To be fair he has an amazing record. If I was him I wouldnt come to the graveyard of manager.

[Bakovnetski]

Gerhard Struber

[benali-shorts]

We are a basket case. We need someone with experience and extremely thick skin, who can fill in both as a keeper and a centre forward. 

I vote for Billy the Fish.

[Saint86]

6 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

To be fair he has an amazing record. If I was him I wouldnt come to the graveyard of manager.

If we hire another in post manager from the EFL without first trying to throw money at him, it will just show yet more ineptitude from SR imo.

 

[Badger]

24 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Wasted our fucking time when Rohl was available all the way until yesterday. Ridiculous 

Criminal by Spors in my view. 

[benjii]

18 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I said it in the summer.... The manager to go for is David challinor. Sadly he signed a new 3 year contract so will have a higher exit fee - but someone is going to pick him up at some point and he'll likely be cheaper wage wise than bigger names... Ultimately he is going up the leagues and he can't get Stockport to the premier league...

Good throw in, too.

[EBS1980]

24 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Wasted our fucking time when Rohl was available all the way until yesterday. Ridiculous 

Kinda sums us up though don’t it. Wanted Rohl for a year, then knowing us we’d sack Still the day after he got a new job lol 

[Osvaldorama]

IWhat’s Sam Allardyce up to these days? Reckon he’d fancy a rebuild job?

[Toussaint]

41 minutes ago, trousers said:

Maybe Koeman would fancy another crack of the whip after the World Cup next year...?

In league 2?

[saintant]

42 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Bring back Ralph. JWP on loan in January.

Get the band of 2020 back together.

No thanks to JWP. It's big strong quick athletes we need not a small, immobile ball recycler. 

[aintforever]

Any bang average manager would get this squad up and around the playoffs.

[danjosaint]

That list had some decent managers on it to be fair 

[wild-saint]

Flip to a back 4 and I’ll give him another 2 games. Play 5 at Blackburn and then im done.

[Patches O Houlihan]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

 

AI:

Yes, there is a professional connection between Southampton’s current Director of Football Johannes Spors and former Saints manager Ralf Hasenhüttl — primarily through their shared history at RB Leipzig.

Background at RB Leipzig

Johannes Spors worked at RB Leipzig as a head of scouting and recruitment during the mid-2010s, a time when Ralf Hasenhüttl was appointed Leipzig manager (in 2016) and led them to a second-place Bundesliga finish in their debut top-flight season. Their roles overlapped directly, with Spors involved in player identification and squad planning, while Hasenhüttl managed on-field performance. This collaboration established a shared foundation in high-pressing, data-driven football operations that both men became associated with later in their careers.

Ongoing professional synergy

Spors’s later appointments at Genoa, Vitesse, and now Southampton reflect the same Red Bull-inspired football model — emphasizing youthful recruitment, tactical energy, and a clear vertical structure between sporting director and coach. Hasenhüttl, during his subsequent Southampton tenure, applied a near-identical philosophy, which the club’s media and fan networks later described as aligned with Spors’s outlook.

Significance of the connection

When Spors joined Southampton in early 2025, local coverage described him as Hasenhüttl’s former colleague and “a trusted name from that era,” suggesting the board valued his alignment with Hasenhüttl’s football vision — pressing intensity, development focus, and structured recruitment. Supporters and journalists noted that Spors’s arrival represented a return to the kind of strategic direction that underpinned Hasenhüttl’s most successful period at St Mary’s.

In short, Johannes Spors and Ralf Hasenhüttl share a meaningful professional history from RB Leipzig, bound by a similar footballing philosophy. Their time together there shaped both men’s subsequent approaches — and Spors’s 2025 appointment at Southampton was widely interpreted as an attempt to revive the organizational and tactical principles first established during Hasenhüttl’s tenure.

[CSA96]

Neil Warnock's got his feet up

[CamSaint]

27 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

Flip to a back 4 and I’ll give him another 2 games. Play 5 at Blackburn and then im done.

Who plays RB in a 4? The last time he played a back 4 was at Hull with Roerslev at RB and he had a terrible game and hasn't played since. According to the OS, Jelert is out for 4-6 weeks with injury, so we are limited for choice. Edwards, I suppose might be a candidate, but doesn't sound too inspiring.......

[EBS1980]

It’ll be some 35 yr or younger Second division German manager (out of work obvs) if Spoors is in control

[benali-shorts]

6 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

Who plays RB in a 4? The last time he played a back 4 was at Hull with Roerslev at RB and he had a terrible game and hasn't played since. According to the OS, Jelert is out for 4-6 weeks with injury, so we are limited for choice. Edwards, I suppose might be a candidate, but doesn't sound too inspiring.......

Could Downes do a temporary job rather than festering on the bench? Needs must and all that.....

[danjosaint]

6 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

Who plays RB in a 4? The last time he played a back 4 was at Hull with Roerslev at RB and he had a terrible game and hasn't played since. According to the OS, Jelert is out for 4-6 weeks with injury, so we are limited for choice. Edwards, I suppose might be a candidate, but doesn't sound too inspiring.......

Edwards would be fine as a rb

[leeham_69]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

 

A total stranger in a thread of Facebook comments pointed out that the current City assistant is Craig Fleming, who worked for us under Ralph. Possible he's there to catch up with an old mate?

[CSA96]

1 minute ago, leeham_69 said:

A total stranger in a thread of Facebook comments pointed out that the current City assistant is Craig Fleming, who worked for us under Ralph. Possible he's there to catch up with an old mate?

He was invited by Fleming as his guest

[Holmes_and_Watson]

15 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Neil Warnock's got his feet up

So he's already been working on having things in common with our club. That's the sign of a top coach. 🙂

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

 

He's got a hat just waiting to be thrown in to the ring. 🙂

[trousers]

18 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

 

AI:

Yes, there is a professional connection between Southampton’s current Director of Football Johannes Spors and former Saints manager Ralf Hasenhüttl — primarily through their shared history at RB Leipzig.

Background at RB Leipzig

Johannes Spors worked at RB Leipzig as a head of scouting and recruitment during the mid-2010s, a time when Ralf Hasenhüttl was appointed Leipzig manager (in 2016) and led them to a second-place Bundesliga finish in their debut top-flight season. Their roles overlapped directly, with Spors involved in player identification and squad planning, while Hasenhüttl managed on-field performance. This collaboration established a shared foundation in high-pressing, data-driven football operations that both men became associated with later in their careers.

Ongoing professional synergy

Spors’s later appointments at Genoa, Vitesse, and now Southampton reflect the same Red Bull-inspired football model — emphasizing youthful recruitment, tactical energy, and a clear vertical structure between sporting director and coach. Hasenhüttl, during his subsequent Southampton tenure, applied a near-identical philosophy, which the club’s media and fan networks later described as aligned with Spors’s outlook.

Significance of the connection

When Spors joined Southampton in early 2025, local coverage described him as Hasenhüttl’s former colleague and “a trusted name from that era,” suggesting the board valued his alignment with Hasenhüttl’s football vision — pressing intensity, development focus, and structured recruitment. Supporters and journalists noted that Spors’s arrival represented a return to the kind of strategic direction that underpinned Hasenhüttl’s most successful period at St Mary’s.

In short, Johannes Spors and Ralf Hasenhüttl share a meaningful professional history from RB Leipzig, bound by a similar footballing philosophy. Their time together there shaped both men’s subsequent approaches — and Spors’s 2025 appointment at Southampton was widely interpreted as an attempt to revive the organizational and tactical principles first established during Hasenhüttl’s tenure.

Anyone know when we're likely to see this high intensity approach to the game that Spors is supposed to be in favour of....?

[Patches O Houlihan]

20 minutes ago, trousers said:

Anyone know when we're likely to see this high intensity approach to the game that Spors is supposed to be in favour of....?

Whilst it has been a complete shit show I do think our players started the season fitter than they did after either of Russ's two pre-seasons. So there is the potential for the team to be able to play Ralf's style.

I don't think we'll go that way though; it's not fashionable enough.

Klopp was made to look stupid by 'pool winning at a canter after he left. Now Pep is playing with balls into a big man up front.

The crucial rules for Sports Republic seem to be:

• Do they interview well?
• Will they do what we tell them to do?
• Does the style sound like flavour of the month?
• Are we likely to quadruple our investment with a sale in 24 months?

What they don't look for is:

• Competent and experienced at the role required
• Proven track record at doing it
• Leadership, winning mentality and the kind of personality that puts noses out of joint, but ultimately creates a dressing room where you don't want to let standards drop and let the side down.
• Big fucking scary bastards

Edited 1 hour ago by Patches O Houlihan
BFSB

[Andy Hill]

A Blackburn win on Saturday and this thread should become a reality. We are already 13 pts behind Coventry for Christ’s sake.

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, Andy Hill said:

A Blackburn win on Saturday and this thread should become a reality. We are already 13 pts behind Coventry for Christ’s sake.

Why is it always after the next match, or run of games ??? 

[CSA96]

If we did sack him, I'd go for Tony Mowbray

Heaps of experience. Didn't work out at WBA back end of last season, granted, and missed the playoffs, but prior to that he was on a run of four straight 'hits' in the past decade I would say... Coventry, Blackburn, Sunderland, Birmingham all improved with him and missed him once he was gone

He is also liked and well-respected by fans of seemingly all of his former clubs and used to working with younger players, developing people and inheriting situations that need stabilising

The counter to that would be that his most recent job didn't go well in this division and he's been getting over a health scare with his cancer diagnosis. Then there is the fact that his brother Darren was sacked by Johannes Spors and would probably have a few words for his older brother on Sport Republic...