Southampton has sacked their manager Mauricio Pellegrino last night after the Argentine boss could only lead them to one win in their last 17 Premier League matches this season. The former Alaves manager was only in charge of the Saints for nine months before being fired yesterday following a disappointing run of results in the league which has left the south coast club in real danger of getting relegated to the Skybet Championship at the end of the season.
The Saints have tasted just one victory in 17 league outings and has slumped to the 17th position in the Premier League standings. They are sitting just a point above the relegation zone with just 8 matches remaining in this campaign. The decision to part ways with Pellegrino is Southampton’s attempt to rescue their season and avoid the agony of relegation to the second tier of English football.
The South-coast outfit are hoping to have a new manager in place before Sunday’s crucial away clash versus Wigan Athletic in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Pellegrino’s successor will be the Saints’ fifth manager in four years which will be a cause for concern for their fans.
It is expected that the new appointment will be a permanent manager and not an interim one to take charge of the club until the end of the season. Some sources are claiming that Marco Silva is being considered for the role as he is currently out of work after being sacked by Watford earlier this season. Any potential move would be complicated by the fact that the Portuguese manager was overlooked by the Saints last summer in favour of Pellegrino.
Pellegrino has failed to live up to Southampton’s expectations since arriving at the club as the successor of Claude Puel in June which is why the club has opted to go in a different direction and the move can either turn out to be a shrewd one if they can avoid the drop or it can backfire leaving the club in turmoil.
The Argentine manager ended up taking charge of just 34 matches for the Saints, winning 8, drawing 13 and losing 13 of those matches with a PPG (Points Per Game) average of 1.09. The potential appointment of Silva could be a good, long-term solution for Southampton’s managerial problems as his attacking and attractive style of play will be welcomed by the club’s supporters. It remains to be seen what lies ahead in the future of Southampton and whether the club can manage to avoid the drop at the end of the season.
