Saints have removed Eddie Howe from their shortlist as they sound out potential replacements for Ronald Koeman in the St Mary's hot seat.

Eddie Howe has been taken off the shortlist compiled by Southampton Football Club according to the Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson, who as a journalist who made his name covering Saints for the Echo is closer than most to the club in the national press.

Although Howe's achievements at Bournemouth are impressive, after informal discussions both Saints & Howe himself are understood to be uneasy about the issues that might arise should Howe make the short journey East to St Mary's, he has attained god like status at the Cherries and unlike Koeman seems to be prepared to stick to his morals.

That is not to say that he will not be considered at some point in the future, but at the moment, the issues mentioned plus the fact that Saints felt thatat the meoment he just lacked that bit more experience in the European market means that he is now not under consideration.

Rudi Garcia is understood to be on that shortlist as is Frank De Boer, the first advantage of either being that they are currently not in employment meaning no compensation deals would have to be struck.

Garcia is the outsider at present although he has emerged as the bookies favourite, you get the feeling though that De Boer has the track record that Saints want, however they are looking for long term stability and the Koeman situation has perhaps unfairly made them wary of employing another coach from Holland who would arrive with a similar record to Koeman.

The list is understood to be completed by a third as yet un named foreign coach who could come from a number of names mentioned so far including Emery, Villas Boas, Pellegrini, Pereira and a new name who has moved up the list Ernesto Valverde.

Valverde has a decent track record in both his native Spain and with Olympiacos in Greece, he is currently with Athletico Bilbao where he has been since 2013.

He is now 10/1 with Sky bet and his odds are coming in fast.

Jeremy Wilson reports that Saints are keen to make an appointment by the end of next week at the latest, with the players or at least those who did not take part in the Euros in France, returning on Tuesday 28th June for preliminary fitness training, they want the new man in place by then.

Wilson goes on to state that the new man should have European experience and that the club are focusing on the Europa League as a big target this season and that he should also be very much a coach who gets out on the training ground.

All of the three men who are on the short list fit this profile, it is now only a case of deciding who is the first target and persuading him that joining Southampton Football Club offers a great opportunity, the reality is that in the last few years we have really progressed and that it truly does make an attractive proposition for all but the very elite managers in World football.

Photo: Action Images

Zambucco added 13:44 - Jun 16 I think he will make an excellent coach given time. The perfect scenario would be to have him as an assistant for a couple of seasons, so he can learn and be part of the system. Then be tailor made to take over when the new man does the inevitable and moves on.
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Consigliere added 21:53 - Jun 16 Good. We should not be targeting Eddie Howe for a quite different reason, and that is to do with honour and integrity. Since the earliest rumours of Koeman's departure I have observed much and posted nothing, until the facts emerged. Now they are, we know several things, starting with Koeman's price for his integrity. Unless he is poor or desperate, to a man of honour and respect, integrity is priceless. A man of honour (provided he is not financially embarrassed) says "You may be able to threaten me but you can never buy me, not for all the money in this world or any other". Koeman was already being paid a King's ransom. Most people would struggle to even spend the interest. A rich man who can be bought for even more riches does not deserve respect. The second fact about him is that he is cheap. A very old friend who sadly passed away earlier this year, a man of honour and respect despite his inexplicable allegiance to West Ham, once showed me a complicated calculation for the price of the loss of respect he might be prepared to accept. I won't bore you with the details but it came to £7.5m. I knew he was joking though because when he faced adversity himself, he took the honourable course and did sell his soul, he stood by his family and friends. Koeman sold out for half this. The third fact is that he is stupid. A man who has lost his respect has lost everything. No-one will ever really trust him again. Once respect is lost it can never be recovered. Moreover if you act like a shark and you swim with the sharks, one day a bigger shark will come along and bite off your tail. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about that. Not for nothing is there folk wisdom about "What comes around goes around". It is an iron rule of business and the professions. So, we are better off without him and should not be looking to replicate similar behaviour by encouraging dishonour from another local manager. Do not mistake this blog for "mere" naive high principles, though we should uphold those. It is also a matter of self-interest. Reputation for high principle will always be more valuable in the long run, even if low cunning may advance the cause in the short term. Here endeth the lesson!

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Consigliere added 21:55 - Jun 16 Sorry that should have been "didn't" in para 5!
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JohnT added 22:01 - Jun 16 I agree it would be totally wrong to approach Eddie Howe.
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SanMarco added 22:56 - Jun 16 One thing that strikes me as I reach the end of Consigliere's lesson is how the idea of Koeman as a man of integrity and honour actually took root in the hearts of Saints supporters. I probably read it first on here but it certainly seemed to become an established fact very quickly. Could it be that we needed such a figure after the pantomine villain MoPo and several players shattered our sense of fair play? Did we write on the blank page of those ruddy Dutch features the things that we were desperate for? Where was the real evidence? Looking back it was wishful thinking on our part and, od course, the fact that he unequivocally said he was staying. Now both of those are just puffs of dust dispersing north-west I would conclude that he never had any integrity and we feel foolish because we allowed ourselves to believe otherwise. He is a ruthless man who does what he wants to further his own career. Consigliere's third fact is certainly morally true although if it really is an iron rule I await the falls of 'Sir' Philip Green and Boris 'post-truth' Johnson with the hope that they may come soon. As for Ronald I do hope that "What comes around goes around". As happened with Hoddle it would be lovely if it happened due to a couple of thumping defeats against the Saints, and let's face it, Hoddle's treachery was nothing compared to Ron's. We are indeed better off without him and unlike after Alan Ball, Hoddle and MoPo, I am genuinely pleased that he has gone.

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zonehead added 23:06 - Jun 16 Well said consigliere I thought we'd paid the price of sacking Nigel with Mopo leaving and our debt to the karma bank was paid so I suppose were in credit at the moment....onwards
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Consigliere added 23:42 - Jun 16 You are right, SanMarco, we should have suspended judgment on Koeman, though my point remains a good one because he led us to believe that he was committed to the Saints for the duration of his contract. For "Sir" Philip Green there is no recovery from Frank Field's acid question "When did you first come to realise that Monaco had certain tax advantages?" As for Boris "£350 million" Johnson, he has the same desperate look I see in the eyes of that other low-life braggart Donald "lets build a wall and get the Mexicans to pay for it" Trump, a man panicking that he might actually get away with fooling the electorate for the time being, but then having to deliver on his stupid lies. If it wasn't so bloody serious I might even vote for him just to have a good laugh when he falls on his backside, the Royal Navy is fishing migrants out of the English channel because the French have taken the barriers down on their side, the pound is tanking and we still have to abide by all those irksome EU regulations in order to export anything, but it is bloody serious and we are grown ups. Revenge reshuffle would be nice on 24th though..

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SanMarco added 23:59 - Jun 16 Yes - that was a wonderful question on Monaco. Perhaps we can get Frank to question Ron...
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