How to stop the revolving door – what next for Southampton?

Following the sacking of Will Still after just five months in charge, Southampton’s ownership group Sport Republic need to find a sixth new boss since taking over in January 2022.

Under the investment group, led by chairman Dragan Solak, they have been relegated twice with two 20th-placed finishes in the Premier League, and won promotion to the top flight in 2023-24.

Despite an inconsistent start to the season, there are still 31 Championship games to play and plenty of points up for grabs in a division where it is customary to make late runs at promotion.

Saints were among the favourites for promotion before the season started but results have been off the pace.

Before Still was sacked they had only won twice and sat just above the relegation zone before interim boss Tonda Eckert produced a hint of positivity following back-to-back victories last week.

The next full-time manager will follow Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles, Russell Martin, Ivan Juric and Still as a permanent Sport Republic appointment.

Pressure has been growing on chairman Solak and the Saints board, with fans more recently starting to voice their frustrations.

“I think where Sport Republic have gone wrong is they have hired the wrong manager for the type of situation the club finds itself in,” Southampton fan Rob Maddox said.

“The appointment of Nathan Jones in the Premier League was completely wrong but potentially one that could have worked right now.

“When he came in we appointed someone with no Premier League experience and he didn’t have the skills to get the squad ticking and keep us up.

“Bringing in Ivan Juric when we did was also the same thing where it’s someone with no experience of that level that ultimately ended up getting us relegated with almost a record low points total.

“I was very positive about us hiring Will Still but he obviously wasn’t playing the right football for the squad to adapt to, or he failed to adapt to the squad.

A number of names have been mentioned for the vacant manager position, including former bosses Martin and Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The latter, who managed Southampton between 2018 and 2022, attended Saints’ game against Bristol City at Ashton Gate last month.

Another name touted is former Wolves and Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil who has been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in December 2024.

But fans made their feelings known about this potential appointment in their win over Sheffield Wednesday. O’Neil made 192 appearances for Portsmouth and came through the academy of Saints’ south coast rivals.

“The ensuing days since Still’s sacking have been fascinating,” BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore said.

“It’s almost like the media have been testing the water with Saints fans by seeing what reaction they’ll get to names like Russell Martin and Ralph Hasenhuttl and former Portsmouth player Gary O’Neil.

“Personally I’ve ruled out all three as potential new Southampton managers, although O’Neil is the most feasible option.

Amid the noise, interim boss Eckert has been quietly impressing.

The 32-year-old German – previously U21s manager – has come away from his first two league matches in charge with six points.

After Still was sacked, Eckert took Saints to QPR where they won 2-1 before last weekend’s stylish victory over bottom side Sheffield Wednesday.

Following the Wednesday game, Eckert was seen sharing an embrace with sporting director Johannes Spors, someone he had previously crossed paths with during his time at Genoa.

Eckert has already held youth team coaching roles at Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich as well as assistant boss roles at Barnsley and Genoa.

“From what I was hearing last week, appointing another young inexperienced man in Eckert would be too much of a gamble,” Blackmore said.

Within Southampton’s current squad one thing that stands out is a lack of firepower.

In recent weeks, forward Leo Scienza has been one of Saints’ biggest threats going forward, and wide players Finn Azaz and Tom Fellows combined well together on Saturday for Southampton’s second goal.

But down the middle of that attacking line, there appears a void.

Towards the end of September, Ross Stewart looked set to make that position his own as he produced a star performance at Bramall Lane, scoring twice in a 2-1 win at Sheffield United.

But he sustained another injury and the 29-year-old – who has been out since mid-October – is not expected to return until 2026.

Adam Armstrong is the club’s leading goalscorer with five goals in 17 games but the drop off after that is stark with four players on two goals and another four on one each.

American Damion Downs has looked low on confidence and is yet to score since arriving on a four-year contract in July from Wolfsburg.

Towards the end of his time in charge, Still also spoke of a lack of accountability within the dressing room and whether certain individuals were adequately questioning themselves over the team’s poor form.

“The players need to put in the effort levels required. To name one – Taylor Harwood-Bellis has had a great week and put in good performances but why wasn’t he playing with that much tenacity under Will Still?” Saints supporter Maddox added.

“I do think that some of the players pick and choose who they play for a bit, not all of them but some of them are quite guilty of that.

Whoever the next appointment may be, Saints have already given plenty of reason for optimism after the past week.

They spent significant money on Azaz and Fellows over the summer – two players who at the time were proven at Championship level, and have now started to show signs of kicking on.

Midfielder Shea Charles was excellent in the second tier last season while on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, Scienza has displayed his qualities after arriving late in the window, while Harwood-Bellis and Nathan Wood have the ability to be among the Championship’s best centre-backs.

While there is undoubted talent throughout the squad, it will probably require the right coach to unearth it.

“While every appointment is a risk, I would like to see Saints mitigate some of that risk by choosing a manager who has delivered the Championship, who has good knowledge of the English game and market, and as importantly, can command a dressing room because of what they’ve achieved in the game,” Blackmore said.

“Whether it’s Michael Carrick or Carlos Corberan or anyone else who may be available soon, they will need to get a guarantee that they’ll get money for a proven goalscorer in January to give them a shot at recovering the season.

“Maybe, though, Eckert will get the job. If so, he better hope he gets the backing of the board and the players quickly because taking the easy cheap option rarely works and Sport Republic are better off backing him in the transfer market to give him a chance.