Reporter Alex Crook has recently claimed on TalkSport that Southampton will have a new manager appointed by the time the World Cup finishes.
Following their latest heavy defeat in the Premier League, Southampton have decided to part ways with Ralph Hasenhuttl, bringing the Austrian’s near-four-year tenure on the south coast to an end.
It was first reported by The Athletic that Southampton were set to sack their manager before the Saints did indeed part ways on Monday morning. And with just one league game to play until the winter break, Crook has suggested the club will take their time in appointing a new boss.
Crook believes a new manager will be appointed before the end of the World Cup in Qatar, meaning they will be in place for the second half of the season.
Speaking on Sunday, he said: “Southampton, I understand, will have a new manager in place for the first game back after the World Cup break, but it could well happen sooner.”
Did Hassenhuttle deserve to be sacked?
Yes!
No!
TIF Thoughts on Ralph Hasenhuttl’s sacking at Southampton…
It likely won’t come as much of a surprise to see Hasenhuttl sacked given some of the heavy defeats he’s overseen over the last few years, while the Saints now find themselves inside the bottom three with a tough game away to Liverpool coming up this weekend.
The Austrian certainly hasn’t been helped recently in the transfer market, though, with journalist Henry Winter pointing out the imbalance of the squad which has likely led to the Saints’ poor start to the season.
Given Hasenhuttl lost a lot of his coaching and backroom staff over the summer, that may well have been a sign towards him also being replaced in the not-so-distant future, and that has now come to fruition, with the Saints needing to get this appointment right if they are to avoid dropping into the Championship.