Skacel leaves with others

Rudi Skacel, Ryan Smith and Romain Gasmi are the first to leave St. Mary’s this summer.

Following the relegation to League One, the departure of players was inevitable.

Skacel, 29 , has been hinting to leave the south coast for months now, notably being linked with Ipswich Town, and now the Czech has been released.

Mark Wotte, Dean Gorre and Michael Svensson decided also not to renew Ryan Smith’s and Romain Gasmi’s contracts.

However, Wotte was pleased with the response from the other players, with the majority of them saying they’d prefer to stay at Southampton and push for promotion than sit on the bench elsewhere.

‘We spoke with everyone and almost all of the players were very determined to stay and fight to get Saints back into the Championship as quickly as possible,’ he told the club’s official website.

‘Even players who are linked with other clubs told me that they would prefer to play for the Saints than sit on the bench for a big club, but of course you never know what’s going to happen if someone comes in with an offer.

‘However, we will not be extending Ryan Smith’s contract, Romain Gasmi has returned to France now that his loan has finished and Rudi Skacel has also been released.’