Forget Claude Puel – Here Are 3 Super Managers Southampton Could Look To Sign This Summer

Three Quality Replacements For Claude Puel If He Leaves Southampton

Southampton manager Claude Puel’s future at the club is now uncertain after rumours linking him with a move away from the club have surfaced. The French manager had a rather decent first season in England, helping The Saints finish 8^th in the league, while they also finished runners-up to Manchester United in the League Cup.

But supporters of the club have been disgruntled due to the playing style deployed by Puel, which many see as being a defensive one, something that the Premier League has no room for. Tenure after tenure, Southampton manage to replace their managers well. Bringing in Puel to replace the Goodison Park-departed Koeman was also seen as a master stroke, given Puel had enviable managerial records at Monaco, Lille, Lyon and Nice, following a monotonous playing career with Monaco.

With Puel being linked with a move away, Southampton have their work cut out in trying to get in a good replacement once again. The job at St. Mary’s is definitely an attractive one for on-looking managers without a job or those that are facing uncertain times at their respective jobs. The club is well run, has a good youth academy and has loyal supporters that most of the other English clubs would be envious of.

The men behind the scenes at St. Mary’s – Les Reed in particular – have a reputation for leaving no stone unturned, allowing the club to flourish due to the meticulous analysis and preparation that comes before appointing managers and signing players. They will definitely have to be on top form again, particularly in a time when Saints fans are unhappy with their team, which was worsened by a final matchday home loss to Stoke.

Here’s a lowdown on 3 managers who could replace Claude Puel at the helm of things –

Roger Schmidt

He is currently without a job, having been relieved of his duties at Bayer Leverkusen in March as the club sat at 9^th place. It’s been a highly underwhelming season for the Bundesliga side, who since then appointed Tayfun Korkut and finished a disappointing 12^th, the club’s lowest finish since 2003.

Schmidt’s fall from grace was particularly shocking as he had previously lead the team to a 4^th placed and 3^rd placed finish respectively, as well as decent performances in both the Champions League and Europa League. The idea of Schmidt in charge of Saints is an exciting one, and it’s most certainly realistic. Given his availability, it’s a plausible option for Saints.

Schmidt plays attacking, expansive football with a high-risk, high-reward mentality. The style of play has been bemoaned at St Mary’s this season but with the 50-year-old’s stereotypically German footballing philosophy, calls for Saints to attack more would indefinitely be reduced.

He has been known to use a high intensity approach to the game, making use of Gegenpressing, implementing an aggressive and forward-thinking mentality wherever he’s coached. He would almost certainly be a strong fit for the Saints job.

Mauricio Pellegrino

Pellegrino has confirmed that he is set to leave Deportivo Alaves after enjoying quite a successful season.

The Argentine tactician took charge of the club following their promotion from the Segunda Division to La Liga, after their head coach was poached by Getafe after a strong campaign in the second tier of Spanish football. After enduring a tough previous spell in the La Liga with Valencia, the expectations from Pellegrino were bare minimum, but boy did he defy the odds to finish 9^th in the table, while also taking the team to the final of the Copa Del Rey, where they were no match to the might of Barcelona.

Pellegrino is a defensively-orientated coach by trade, having followed Rafa Benitez to both Liverpool and Inter Milan, meaning that he has developed his philosophy based on the influence of the Spaniard.

While Saints fans may not be too welcoming of another defensively-minded coach, Pellegrino does have some qualities that would be well suited to the club. He has developed Alavés’ squad, playing a big part in the development of Théo Hernandez (on loan from Atletico Madrid) particularly, and has helped them to play some good football throughout the course of the season.

The chance to coach in England might be too hard to turn down for Pellegrino, who has seen his compatriot Mauricio Pochettino enjoy decent success on the coast of England and he would obviously love to replicate it.

Thomas Tuchel

The German manager caught the eyes of many onlookers with his Dortmund side. Klopp is definitely a hard manager to replace and having replaced him at both Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, Tuchel is certainly no muck.

The German tactician has officially left Borussia Dortmund having fallen out with the powers at be, leaving them after a relatively successful season with the club, leading them to a 3rd place finish in the Bundesliga, helping them to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and also leading them to victory in the DfB Pokal final.

Tuchel was brilliant at Mainz and continued the same trend at Dortmund, developing young players and instilling them into the first-team setup. He’s a superb man manager and clearly has an excellent coaching nous about him. This element of player development is something that Saints have endorsed for years now, and something that would ultimately attract them. Therefore he would make a very great choice for The Saints and although it’s a very astonishing link, it’s a plausible one, with Southampton needing some top quality.