A bad day for the Saints with a good man badly let down, hope all you feckers who wanted him out now get your just reward, be careful what you wish for.

Great news, can only hope Black goes as well.

Nice bloke crap manager I wished for it and I know next season will be better
Anybody who thought he was good can't of watched us much last season

I do hope we have someone lined up and are not really starting the search now .......

Why has this taken so long? If the club were simply going to sack CP then they should have done so within a week of the end of the season. The only reason to drag it out was to have a replacement lined up but there is no suggestion of that in the statement. Once again the club are dithering!

I wish Claude well, seemed like an honourable guy but wasn't right for the Saints job. Les and co better get it right this time.

I feel sorry for him. He's an excellent coach who improved a lot of the players. A shame he was robbed of the honour of leading Saints to a cup win. I thought he deserved another season and that we needed stability and continuity. Hopefully we'll get someone in who everyone can unite behind.

To the outsider fan puel is massively the victim. But 17 home goals is pathetic. 6 points from relegation. Wimped out of an easy europa group.

We've obviously got someone lined up and the takeover must be sorted. They wouldn't do this otherwise.

They could of sacked him 3 weeks ago but they've obviously waited for something. I'm excited now!

I know its late but the beers out. I just had to celebrate this good news.

Nick you must be ecstatic. Judging from your article you clearly got what you wished for.

If we don't get someone on the same level as Tuchel then the board are a bunch of bell-ends! I'm increasingly getting more and more frustrated by the madness of this club. When will this endless merry-go-round of managers come to an end?

JOY

Unlike the last two end of season managerial exits, this time at least the club were in charge of events. Puel's record was one of extremes. A cup final at one end, boring and goalless (from Saints) games and a limp exit from Europe at the other. His team selections and substitutions were becoming more bizarre and were the only unpredictable thing in our football. Thank goodness he's gone, otherwise another season with him in charge and the prospect of Championship football in the following season would have be become a real possibility.

I pity anyone who thinks this is news to be celebrated. Both the club and a large percentage of fans have let the manager down. He got screwed over badly in two transfer windows and thus was massively handicapped in the players he had at his disposal. A lot of fans were also unaccepting of him from the word go, as his profile didn't fit some deluded expectations. Yet despite all this we had a cup final and a top 10 finish. And here we are again, managerless and with no clear indication of where ownership is heading. It's like some of us enjoy being in a constant state of flux (crisis) rather than being prepared to weather the storm for a bit of stability. I'm just disappointed Puel hasn't turned out to be that hidden gem we sought and I wish him all the best.

On the one positive side it looks like someone has made a real effort on delivering a properly decent throwback kit for next season!

Great News hope he takes Black and JWP with him. The Clown has gone.

I'm with bstokesaint on this one, I thought Puel was hamstrung by player sales/ recruitment and unlucky with injuries. In his defence he never had the quality of squad that Poch and Koeman had and played deep to cover perceived deficiencies in defence.
On the flipside his selections and substitutons often had me scratching my head. Overall though felt he deserved another season.

Harsh at best. 8th and a cup final (in which we outplayed MUTD). Let down by fans and poor finishing from players who should have done better. Fans disappointed at the lack of expansive and extravagant attacking football whilst having 3rd and 4th choice CBs in the team for the second half of the season, through no fault of his own. Really feel for him. Judging by the comments and votes on here most of you seem to be deluded. Ancellotti, Guardiola, whoever would have, at best, got us to 7th and a cup final. I'm actually shamed to be a Saints fan at the moment.

The last time we played the sort of football you guys are after, in the top flight, was with Chris Nicholl, and we had to perform miracles in the last month of every season without fail.

I fear for next season now, I really do.

I agree with those people saying the club have treated Puel badly and we - on paper - had as good a season as we had any right to hope for (8th and cup final where we deserved to win). However Puel was too unpopular with too many fans and if there is any truth in the rumours over players then it's better to break now than midway through next season. I'm still surprised he's been sacked (thought he'd get a second season to try to turn it around) so it looks likely this will be the first of a series of announcements on the lander investment and a new coaching team. I just hope the new controlling shareholders don't change too much about how the club operates. Would love stadium improvements / personalisation / expansion!

Feeling it might be Staam.

He was hampered by the usual dithering by Les to start the season. But on the other hand, as no7Saint says, his substitutions were baffling: needing a goal he takes a forward off and puts in a back. As was his team selections: any player scoring a goal was almost guaranteed to sit the next game.

Still, seemed a decent sort and wish him well. I think they waited this long because Les thought he was stupid enough to quit and let the Saints out of the contract-that's one tactic he got spot on!

If we all think back to the options we could have potentially pursued last season no one had heard of or mooted CP. IMO it was not a cheap option but an inexpensive option that didn't work out. I actually thought initially he was playing a reasonably good style of football from watching on TV out here however the more he chopped and changed I grew more cautious. While some point to 8th in his first season I think it is super misleading in that we were 17 points off 7th and 6 off 17th. I remain confident in the board and they've effectively admitted their mistake however I think the proof of the pudding becomes who they appoint next - if it's another "never heard of that developed talent" it will be a less fulfilling season. If there's a certain German with a point to prove it could be very exciting especially when the under armoir store have a full window of saints gear in soho again...

I'm surprised to be honest. I agree with all the points for and against him above. I'll never forget the Cup final but equally I'll never remember a lot of our home games this season.

It's Adkins-gate again really isn't it. A shabby way to behave but is it ultimately for the good of the club......anyway........
NEXT!

Depending on how the next bloke turns out, this could be a win-win for everyone. Puel can point to the stats of a decent Premier League season and a cup final. His stint at Saints may well have enhanced his career.

He (naturally) took a while to get the team playing to his system, which unfortunately coincided with the European games. After that, the team seemed OK, he seemed to be making the right tactical decisions and I particularly remember Man City away when the home fans were booing their own team. He lost his way in the second half of the season though, and the trajectory has definitely been downhill. Not sure whether he knew what was going to happen (and therefore lost interest), or whether he had run out of ideas and lost the team; but the last few games were diabolical.

His English-speaking and communication skills (a bit like Poch) were always going to make it difficult to win over the fans. Once they turned against him, that was probably the sealer.

Not quite an Adkins repeat because Adkins was adored by the fans whereas Puel was hated by so many before the team kicked a ball and after his first droll, boring, word searching interview. His English improved and so did his interviews but despite what some fans think you do not score goals or win matches with interviews.

His rotation policy was strangely disliked when in reality we were able to slot into the team players with match practise when players were injured or overplayed because of the multitude of fixtures pre Xmas.

We dropped players who scored a rare goal but a player like Clasie was only ever a standby player and no-one in the forward line was a must play player.

As many have said our best players Mane and Pelle were sold and Puel had to make do with some good but not great players with only Gabby added. VVD injury was a great loss.

His multi team change won a game and he gets criticised. He then plays the 'A' team next match and he gets criticised.

His team could not score at home and this has been his downfall, Those mentioned in the first para made their voices heard and the real supporters were silent because they had little to cheer.

Puel, you have been unlucky, you have been mistreated not so much by the management but by some of those season ticket holders who think we should be a top four side. You achieved wonders last season with what was at your disposal and deserved a second season I wish you all the best for the future and I'm sure a top European side will appreciate your management.

Now that Puel has left who do we want as manager? I wonder if Conte or the chosen one took over could he improve on 8th with the same squad of players.

I'd be amazed if the club hasn't already got a replacement in place, surely that's what the delay has been about. But I'm not sure what qualifies us to attract any of the top European manager that are available??...and why the board will be letting us down if we don't get one?? Hopefully it will be Tuchel..who sounds exciting. However.. how long will we keep any decent manager (or player) when no matter how well they are doing there are 5000 empty seats on 85 minutes?