Time For Sport Republic To Rip Up The Manager Blueprint And Appoint Experience Thursday, 6th Nov 2025 19:04 When Sport Republic arrived Southampton FC had an experienced manager in Ralph Hasenhuttl, he was the longest serving manager in the club's history in the previous 30 years when he was sacked on this day 3 years ago, now we need more of the same with the next appointment. Sacking Ralph Hasenhuttl still divides Saints supporters to this day, one thing that cannot be denied though is that he brought stability to to the club after a 6 year period that had started with Nigel Adkins in charge and gone through Mauricio Pochetino, Ronald Koeman, Claude Puel, Mauricio Pellegrino & then finally Mark Hughes.
6 managers in 6 years sounds almost good in the 3 years since Ralph left, since then 2 caretaker/interim managers included , we have gone through 6 successors to Ralph in just 3 years. So where have we been going wrong ? To be blunt in my opinion we have had a blueprint of appointing young coaches rather than managers, Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles, Russell Martin, Simon Rusk & Will Still all had one thing in common.
None of them had a real track record of success in football, lower division coaches with aspirations, they all had good reputations as aspiring young coaches, thinking men & for imposing their own tactics on their squads. That is fine, but it hasn't worked in the past 3 years and now Johannes Spors and Sport Republic need to realise that they need to tear up this blueprint and bring a strong tried and tested manager to this club. Anything less than this will just result in doing the same things and getting the same results. You look at our squad and it lacks leadership in the dressing room, if rumour is to be believed, they were big and strong enough to go to Sport Republic and complain about the manager, even though they aren't doing it on the pitch themselves.
This is a club in turmoil, both in the dressing room, in the boardroom and not only that in the stands as well, with the fans having reached the end of their tether. Sport Republic and Johannes Spors now need to show that they can see what 30,000 Southampton supporters are seeing every game, they need to show that not only can they see it, but they can deal with it. They need to get a manager with character, with man management skills and one that is confident in their own ability, that they can bring in experience on the pitch and not be scared that they might be a threat to their job. That has been the problem these last few years, none of the managers has brought in someone who can lead the team on the pitch, a leader of men, a man that demands and commands respect because he has earned it. If we had done that 3 years ago then I don't think our problems now would be so bad.
Sport Republic have not got the balance right, I can see the benefits of bringing through young talent and nurturing it, that has been the Southampton Way since Ted Bates in the 1950's but he, Lawrie McMenemy and subsequent managers all knew that you had to have a balance, you had to have young bucks and you have to have old heads to steer them in the right direction. But so far that has not been the Sport Republic blueprint. So they have to change that blueprint if they want to prosper, if they don't then they will continue along a path that a lot of our fellow former Premier League clubs in the Championship and below have followed and it is not upward. This is a pivotal moment in the history of Southampton Football Club, it is one that will go a long way to mending the wide rift between those running the club, both owners and employees and those that ultimately they cannot succeed without, that is the supporters of the club. At the moment it seems that Sport Republic just bury their heads in the sand, Never Explain, Never Apologise seems to be their motto, the PR department is woeful in what it puts out, we fans see what is happening and take it at face value and what we are seeing isn't good, there is no bigger picture being explained.
We need to bring true leadership into this club, the owners and Johannes Spors have to show that in their case it is already there, its just been well hidden and the next manager has to be a man who has an aura about him and a reputation for being hard but firm with his squad and in doing so has built a team that can compete at this level, we will worry about the premier League when we get there. So I don't want to read about unknown German managers being linked, or aspiring 30 year old coaches with a cunning game plan, or for that matter Russell Martin. I want a good old fashioned Leader of men who will put discipline back into this Saints squad, he will put leadership into it and he will breed a winning mentality again. If I knew who that man might be I would on the surface of it seem to know more that Johannes Spors who is saying nothing. The choices are limited, however I would prefer Michael Carrick than Tonda Eckert or similar, although I do hope that he stays at the club and works toward being the man who replaces whoever is the next manager. I don't want to see one trick ponies or the likes of Wayne Rooney of Steven Gerrard, I want experience, have I said that yet ! But we have to be realistic to the situation we are in, we are not an attractive proposition, who would Frank Lampard for instance leave Coventry for us, I don't want to see Bruno Lage another on the list, who has limited English football experience, I want a man who has bee, seen and done it in England, whether he is English or not I don't care, its the experience that is critical.
There is some hope on the horizon, the signing of Oriol Romeu has shown that perhaps the club has at least seen where they are going wrong, perhaps they will change, I hope so. So Mr Spors, tear down that blueprint from the wall, realise that sometimes you have to go off plan to build something, take a few steps sideways to get back on track. All Photos Via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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