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Southampton Managerial Appointment Set For Tuesday

Saints seemed to have slowed down in their appointing of a new manager, possibly because they want to avoid the ridicule that would have been thrown in their direction. if they had left the Premier League this afternoon with two managers in charge.

I can understand why Sport Republic have been keen to show to the fanbase that they are in charge of the situation at St Mary's and have been quick to make changes and rectify the issues.

But their pursuit of Russell Martin from Swansea City showed a lack of understanding on their part as they seemed set to try and unveil Martin as the new Saints boss ahead of the game against Liverpool with Ruben Selles still taking charge for that fixture.

That would be embarrassing, not only for the fact that it would be four manager at the club in one season, but also we would bizarrely have had two managers at the same time.

Whilst Ruben Selles might not be the most popular man amongst Saints supporters for the way he has blundered through the last 10 games or so , seemingly not knowing what to do for the best, he still deserved to be treated with dignity and that is something that Sport Republic have failed to realise.

Firstly whilst they might not have been the cause of the leak that Russell Martin is their man, they have done nothing to dampen them down, all the while whilst Ruben Selles was expected to carry on managing the team.

He should not have been asked to take the team for the Liverpool match and face the derision of the fans, for that matter neither should Martin have taken charge, his era should start from the final whistle against Liverpool, he should not have a defeat on his hands before he has even started.

Especially since his imminent arrival is not exactly being greeted with glee by the Southampton supporter base, he does not appear to have the track record for the task in hand next season, it seems to be a Nathan Jones mark 2 appointment, indeed Jones had a far better CV when he joined the club back in November.

I would also suggest that aside from calming down a fanbase in understandable meltdown at the moment, it is hardly likely to entice some of those players we might like to keep into staying with the club next season.

Swansea City fans website PlanetSwans suggest that Martin will be appointed on Tuesday, they say the finer points of the compensation deal with Swansea have now been agreed and the only thing holding it up is the fact that Sport Republic have finally realised the folly of appointing him before the Premier League season has ended.

The Brighton born Saints manager elect is expected to be at this afternoon’s game and has already started his planning for his new role.

He is expected to take Matt Gill and Dean Thornton with him as part of his backroom staff as a bare minimum, again this will not change many supporters minds about the new manager and his methods, I would hope that we start to get some experience in on the coaching staff, that is perhaps the main reason why we collapsed this season, Ruben Selles a man that had never managed a team at adult level, had a coaching staff with no Premier League experience prior to this season and it showed.

Today though is a day to put an end to this season and start again for the next one.

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