On Monday, numerous media outlets claimed that Southampton manager Mark Hughes now only had one game left to save his job at St Mary’s Stadium – Watford next Saturday.
The game is set for home soil following our heavy 6-1 defeat to Manchester City last weekend and it’s not the first rumblings of the sack – social media, in particular, has long been full of fans wanting the Board to draw a line under his spell in charge as there just hasn’t been any real improvements.
Previewing the game, Hughes himself is quoted by saintsfc as saying about the Watford clash.
“It becomes huge. We know ourselves the areas in which we weren’t strong enough. We’ll work towards the weekend and make sure the elements of our play that were missing are present against Watford. There’s not too many teams who have created good moments against City because they stop things very, very quickly if you’re trying to counter attack but we showed good intent in that regard. Those are the things we can take into the games ahead of us but clearly at the weekend it’s a huge game and it’s one that we want maximum points from.”
The betting markets are already busy in reaction to the claims in the likes of the Daily Express and the Birmingham Mail suggest that former Aston Villa manager’s Steve Bruce and Martin O’Neill are in the frame as potential replacements.
Neither actually fill me with joy or hope. Southampton need to get back to the plan that saw success and growth, I don’t see that coming from managers with known flaws and bad habits.
