The bookies wasted no time in opening the books on Mauricio Pellegrino's replacement, but ho accurate are they going to be.

First name being mentioned is Marco Silva, although with rumours rife that he is lined up to replace Sam Allardyce at Everton in the summer, it is likely that Saints might gamble on Silva as a short term option to lead them to safety allowing for a more thorough search in the summer.

Another favourite with the bookmakers although not neccessarily the fans is Mark Hughes, certainly Hughes knows what is needed to drag a team clear of relegation and has a lot of experience, however his reputation for putting out physical teams does not make him a favourite with the fans who would question as to whether Saints have a physical enough squad for him to be able to implement his usual tactics.

Slavan Bilic is probably third favourite, he was highly rated for a while at West Ham and lead them to 7th and 11th in his two full seasons, but clearly this season there have been issues at the Hammers and he seemed to have lost the faith of the owners.

After that the candidates get a bit less of an attraction, Gordon Strachan would be an outside punt for Saints fans who think that their side lack fitness and passion, something that Strachan seemed to instill in his side when he joined the club in 2001.

Then is the real outsiders, Brendan Rodgers is being mentioned even Martin O'Neil and Harry Redknapp, strangely also Frank De Boer, but most of these merely because they have been in the frame before.

Perhaps it could be a real coup, someone like Thomas Tuchel, linked with the club before and still out of work, perhaps this could be something that appeals to hi.

One thing is for sure Saints have to do something fast, there is noone at the club with the credentials and experience to manage the team, Kelvin Davis and Raidi Jaidhi have been mentioned but neither have the track record and the job needs someone who has been there and done it at the highest level.

Hopefully Saints have not fired Pellegrino without being fairly sure they have his successor lined up, but then again this is Saints !

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 11:00 - Mar 13 Those pushing for Strachan want the 2002-3 Strachan. He doesn't exist anymore. It is pure romance - someone will similarly suggest a Le Tiss-Benali dream team soon. And lansdown jokes about big Lawrie but just as soon him as Wee 'did well with us for 18 months years ago' Gordon Strachan. We remember WGS fondly - let's keep it that way: memory.
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SaintBrock added 12:05 - Mar 13 Gus Huddinck would be a great fit if he's still around these days. Hughes won't get me back into St Mary's that's for sure.
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saintjf added 12:39 - Mar 13 I am not sure that we are in any position to be that choosy. If Hughes experience can keeps Saints up and makes the club stable again that will do for me. He would be useful in getting Saints back up if needed. I cant say I am that enthusiastic (like many) at the prospect but we are in serious trouble. Wanting exciting football (yes it was dull under Puel) is what we all want but not the relegation kind of excitement.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 12:40 - Mar 13 The bookies have it down as a two horse race. Hughes and Silva. Personally I think Bilic would also be a good choice, but at 14/1 I guess Saints aren't looking at him. Before West Ham moved to the London Stadium they were doing brilliantly and finished 7th. He also worked miracles with Croatia. Marco Silva did a great job at Hull. They only had 16 players when he joined and they'd just sold thier two best players. He took over, got them motivated and playing some decent stuff and they almost stayed up! At Watford they were flying, sat in 4th position in October, then the Everton approach came and thier form fell away, but they were only 10th when they sacked him in January. He's definitely the man for the job. The impact he had at Hull was huge and I imagine it would be the same at Saints. I think it will most likely be Hughes who's appointed though. He's readily available and will give the squad a massive kick up the arse. He'll get them motivated and up for it again. He was a world class player and has a lot of managerial experience so the players should respect him. He did a great job at Stoke with 3 consecutive 9th place finishes with a squad lacking in talent. We need to remember that we have good players. If Romeu/Hoijberg/Lemina can find thier form then we can dominate most midfields. I expect Hughes will know to play 2 up front though in order to get the best out of Gabbi & Carrillo. They both need players to play off of. If Gabbi gets games and finds form then he will score, hopefully Austin will be back soon too. Tadic, the assist king has been rubbish for two seasons but prior to that he was quality. If the new manager can get the best from him then it'll be like having a new player. Sims is coming good just at the right time. We have enough ability in the squad to stay up. Now Pellegrino is gone we at least have a chance of staying up. The change and boost the players will get from a new manager will be huge and hopefully we'll suddenly become a decent side again.

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helpineedsomebody added 12:49 - Mar 13 mark huges has had his chance he is not a top ten manager sacked last year for what reason plays the same system as dave merrington & we have not got the players who play championship type of football. how an earth the owner is allowing reed / krueger to pick the new manager is amazing over the last 2 years they have or will cost the club millions of pounds for simple mistakes

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bstokesaint added 12:49 - Mar 13 I’m biased obviously, but take away the fact that we’re teetering on the brink of relegation, this club remains an excellent proposition for any aspiring manager. The foundations are there for the club to grow and our squad isn’t bad. Despite some woeful team performances of late, there are still some quality players in our team, who are quite frankly letting us and themselves down. Many of them come from top European clubs and in years gone by we couldn’t have brought the likes of these players to St. Mary’s. Compare the current squad to the dross that got relegated to the Championship previously. The problem is like others have mentioned there is a serious lack of leadership and too many players look comfortable getting paid huge sums of money to put in at-best-average performance. There’s no togetherness like the teams under Strachan and Pochettino. I think the right candidate for the job needs to have a proven track record in a top league to get the respect from the players and the balls to shake things up and get angry, like the rest of us poor fans. I’m just hoping that candidate is out there. We are still safe from relegation (just) so it’s not an impossible task for the right person.

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the_saint added 13:04 - Mar 13 I reckon they sacked mp because season tickets renewal is soon or am I just being cynical
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 13:07 - Mar 13 Well said bstokesaint. The odds on Hughes are dropping rapidly. I would expect an announcment in the next 24 hours. It very much looks like Hughes is our man. Let's not go all negative on this appointment. He is what we need at this moment in time. He'll give the squad a massive boost. We'll start competing again and we'll be a lot more attacking than under Puel and Pellegrino. As long as we start scoring some goals then we'll be ok. People will say he's not a master tactician and they'd probably be right but we don't need that right now. We need to get that togetherness back again and start fighting for each other and working as a team. I think Hughes will acheive that. Getting the basics right in a more attacking system will bring more results than Pellegrino ever acheived.

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BoondockSaint added 13:19 - Mar 13 The big worry is that the board will repeat the past. We were all posting the name of good managers who knew the game and would attract quality players when Koeman left. The board went after none of them and got Puel-cheaper and wiling to work with no quality signingsl. Under pressure of season ticket sales (not us ranters on the internet) they get rid of him. Do they go for someone they should have signed in the first place instead of Puel? No, they get Pellegrino, who is Puel 2.0. As before, any decent manager is going to demand big money for himself and to spend in the future if he is going to step into this mess. No one wants relegation on their CV. So will the board splash the cash now?

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BoondockSaint added 13:19 - Mar 13 The big worry is that the board will repeat the past. We were all posting the name of good managers who knew the game and would attract quality players when Koeman left. The board went after none of them and got Puel-cheaper and wiling to work with no quality signingsl. Under pressure of season ticket sales (not us ranters on the internet) they get rid of him. Do they go for someone they should have signed in the first place instead of Puel? No, they get Pellegrino, who is Puel 2.0. As before, any decent manager is going to demand big money for himself and to spend in the future if he is going to step into this mess. No one wants relegation on their CV. So will the board splash the cash now?

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BoondockSaint added 13:21 - Mar 13 Sorry! Only clicked "Add Comment" once.....see if it happens this time....
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DorsetIan added 13:52 - Mar 13 Shouts for Strachan are not all nostalgia. He left Scotland only last October with a 47.5% win percentage across 4 years and 40 games. He might have learnt an additional trick or two since 2002-03.
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Consigliere added 13:53 - Mar 13 I changed my mind about Pellegrino after the Newcastle game (probably one of the last to do so) and ate a large slice of humble pie so was pleased to see action taken yesterday, but the discussion we are having here was the one I always feared namely "What next?" I strongly suspect that it will have to be a short term measure in the hope of keeping us up and it will be an expensive exercise as anyone decent coming in now will more or less be able to name his own price but the carrot to be offered is plainly the prospect of a long term contract if we do stay up. That for me suggests Silva rather than Hughes or any of the other contenders, if we are serious about having a better season next year.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 14:00 - Mar 13 The trouble with Strachan is he last managed in the Premiership 14 years ago! He is a legend and worked miracles with Saints all those years ago but do you not think he'll be a bit out of touch with what's required in the Premiership in 2018? I'm not sure Saints will go for him. We need someone to come in and hit the ground running.
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DorsetIan added 14:09 - Mar 13 My guess would be that he knows all about the modern game, having managed at international level so recently. But more importantly, I think he would know how to turn this bunch into a football team...and he woundn't half generate a buzz.
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 14:17 - Mar 13 The fans would definitely be buzzing a lot more having Strachan rather than Hughes. He'd get a hero's reception coming back.
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