From what I heard, we as a club were happy to let him leave - He'd fallen out with a number of players, and was not embracing our ambition to utilise youth in the first team... We offered him a new contract knowing that it would never be accepted (and he'd ultimately leave).

Yes I would have him back in a heartbeat

Koeman coming back would signal several transfer requests.

I remember Koeman for always selecting the wrong starting eleven. Big changes at halftime, defending on the edge of our box and being bailed out by Mane and Pelle followed by a wonderfully smiling interview afterwards.

I'd take him but can't see it happening.

I think that Koeman felt the writing was on the wall at Saints when he left, he departed on a high before any potential crash. I’m also not convinced that he’d be able to turn things round, if both Pellegrino and Puel can’t get us scoring then that suggests the manager isn’t the problem, we need signings.

It seems Koeman fell out with certain players, notably Tadic. I think there is also bad blood between him and Les Reed, it seemed to be that Saints didn’t want him to enter the final year of his contract but he suggested he wanted to get to the end of it before deciding what to do. Ultimately, I’m sure Everton’s salary was a huge draw but being pressured to sign a new contract was also a factor.

Strange that the first few posts seem to not want Koeman back, but the poll saw over 100 people vote in the first 20 minutes and so far its 55% Yes unreservedly, 29% say Yes we need him, leaving 9% saying maybe 5% saying we should never go back in football and 2% saying No they cant forgive him.

That is a big mandate so far

I think if the club and Koeman can make it public that bygones and bygone then perhaps. But looking at Mourinho with Chelsea I'm not sure if it's a good idea.

We should be looking at Tuchel, Marcelino (Valencia), Nagelsmann, Bosz and O'Neill. I don't understand why we haven't got anyone in the pipeline. We're already halfway through the transfer window so it's highly unlikely the new manager will have much time time to agree on new targets!

I'd definitely welcome him back, but I cannot see it happening. Even putting aside issues with him and the club/players/fans, I'm pretty sure he'll be getting the Netherlands job soon.

No. Boring tactics. Did not get on with most players. Also went 10 games without a win even with better forward options to choose from. Only saved the season by a combination of finally getting the hint to drop the misfiring Pelle for Long who then went on a scoring run, and the rest of the mid table teams faltering.

If any previous manager can rescue the season for us and add a shot of personality into this group of players, it is Gordon Strachan. Not boring Koeman.

Bring back wee Gordon !

BY the way, you are missing an important category in your Poll.. “No, he is dull and a failure as a manager”

Koeman is not a yes man, he didn't play youth players because they where not up to scratch. Les fell out with him because Koeman did not align with his vision.

We now have Les vision.

My predictions (stupid to do I know) : Les will not accept that he was wrong, We wont sack MP2, We will not make any "big" signings in Jan. We will survive... just. We will change things in the Summer

SaintNick the problem with democracy is that the majority is not always right

tubby thought the world of him
the chairman & mr dof perhaps felt he had no respect for them , after all they did interview him & gave him a 3 year contract plus a huge amount of money to invest in new players.
here in asia where i live they have a saying NEVER WALK BACKWARDS
my opinion i loved his playing system he played football in the opponents halve the ball allways went forward NEVER WENT IN THE DUGOUT & won games of football.
but why didnt southampton match evertons offer

SFC should take him back

Have him back in a heartbeat, never wanted him to go in the first place but believe the club didn’t match his ambition sadly

As we seem to have little ambition and a number of players he fell out with have left, i'd say bring him back. Eddie Howe went back to Bournemouth and pushed on, also some supposedly ITK guys were saying he didn't actually want to leave in the first place. The issue was more with his agent.

Would absolutely have him, his brother and Jan the coach back in a heartbeat. We played wonderful football under him and he had to virtually rebuild a whole team. He’s a born winner and deserves respect. For those who remember his long run without a win, have you forgotten that he also beat all of the traditional ‘top 6 clubs’ that season? Something I can never remember before. For all of those suggesting he never gave youth a chance, have you forgotten we sold all of our best youngsters and considered the current crop aren’t up to scratch? You can’t just make youth work. Remember the relegation season? And finally, as for falling out with players, who cares if he falls out with the likes of Tadic, who has fallen out with just about every coach he has ever played for, including the national coach. At the end of the day Koeman has achieved far more than any of our players are likely to achieve in their careers. He’s been there done that, and I can’t see him getting the national job or Barca job any time soon. Just give him a rolling contract and time to save our backsides whilst we can work on a contingency plan for the future.

As a fan, yes it would be great but not sure all players would feel the same. He wouldn't come back if Les Reed was around

He's the only person who might keep us up. However, the board having sacked a manager who got us to Wembley and 8th place in the Premiership and had to pay compensation, the sacking of MP would be an admission of failure to appoint the right manager two seasons on the trot and even worse more compensation pay out
money, plus a big money contract for the Koeman brothers. It's all about money. There again Koeman's imminent arrival might be why we don't see any movement from Saints in the transfer window.

Big mistake to have him back. I have different reasons. At Christmas 2015, we were dropping down the table like a stone, nearly as bad as this season. He was getting flak from supporters about his stubbornness...much the same as MP.
Our season was eventually saved by Pelle's injury which forced him to bring in Long and change his method. He and we got lucky and we finished sixth. Many people have short memories and are in denial over this, because our plight is so desperate.
I can't see the powers that be admitting they've screwed up again so it seems we're stuck with MP. Long has livened up our attacking since coming back in. The best we can hope for is that Lady luck returns, and lightning does strike twice?

I would have him back tomorrow and as I said at the start of the month I believe he will be here by the end of the month.

We need strong leadership at this time. We cannot pin our hopes on a signing or two who could take half a season to bed in. We need to get the full 100% out of who we have at present. Koeman can do this. He has the charisma, personality, presence and direction to get us out of this spot of bother. No organisation in this world has achieved success without a convincing leader at the helm. That is what we lack. We need Ronald back now.

I'd take him back on 120% but it is unrealistic, I think. Koeman will never back.

He won't come back. He was right when he said the club lacks ambition, just look at the players we have sold since he left and the crap that have replaced them (and him!).

Martin O'Neil for me, but they need to get on with it.

To answer this question I remind myself of what happened before, during and after Koeman’s arrival.

Koeman arrived in 2014 after we lost Pochettino. Before then, he had success at Ajax – winning two Eredivisie titles between 2001 and 2004. However, his time at Ajax (who are, by all means, expected to win the Eredivisie 99% of the time) was consider to be one of continual decline for the Dutch giants. He left the club in early 2005 after ‘unacceptably’ seeing Ajax fall 8 points behind arch rivals PSV and being knocked out of the UEFA cup.

He then had a relatively positive season with Benefica: solid if unspectacular with Benefica (being similar to Ajax in terms of expectation) only coming 3rd in the Portuguese league. Many critics note that a fortuitous offer from PSV was the only thing that separated Koeman from another sacking.

Koeman joined PSV in 2006-7 season and a similar issue occurred: a good start followed by worrying decline (admittedly caused by injuries) that saw PSV’s dominant lead in the league cut down. PSV eventually won the league on the last day of the season.
Koeman didn’t hang around and went off to ply his trade in La Liga in what is widely known as a disastrous season at Valencia. Despite winning the Copa del Rey, Koeman’s Valencia had an appalling league campaign and were close to relegation (as well as a humiliating Champions League campaign). Off and on field nightmares hindered Koeman’s grip on discipline and performance and a 5-1 kicking by Atheletic Bilbao saw Koeman once again seen as a ‘one season’ manager.

His next job at AZ was also a disaster; lasting just 7 months. He took a AZ team who won the Eredivisie the season and made them into a mid-table shambles. He was sacked on December 2009.

After a 17 months sabbatical, Koeman returned to the Dutch league – this time with Feyenoord. He made a solid-but-unspectacular impression before deciding to leave.
And then came Southampton. Koeman inherited a team that had really begun to shine under Pochettino, but was rocked with his departure – along with Lambert, Shaw, Lovern and Lallana.

Koeman’s start was (in Saint’s terms) blistering: 4 wins in 6 games and 2nd place in the EPL. I recall much was said of “Pochettino who?” but I also recall MP stating that Koeman was essentially living off the good work/structure that he had put in (I also recall MP was struggling at Spurs at that time – does this ring any bells for our current predicament?). At the time, I thought MP had an attack of the sour grapes, but with hindsight I think he was being very honest: Koeman had inherited a very successful set-up, which also saw Mane, Pelle and Tadic join the fray. Koeman would have had a hand in Pelle and Tadic, but it is also clear these would have been names the Black Box had identified too.

First season saw us finish 7th. The next season didn’t start as well; by Christmas Saints were struggling for form. A 4-0 tonking of Arsenal on Boxing day 2015 was then followed up with a disappointing loss (to West Ham?). I recall that there were some Saints Fans then who were suggesting that Koeman may be on his last legs.

However, something clicked and Saints went on the rampage for the remainder of the season. By the last game, you didn’t want the season to end: victory against Spurs being a notable notch. We finished 6th and Europa beckoned.

Yet not everything was rosy in the garden. Koeman’s notable penchant for being seen as the ‘alpha male’ had ingrained itself at Saints - with Mane being a key recipient of Koeman’s no nonsense style. Interestingly, it was Koeman’s over-the-top man management that saw unrest at Valencia (and ultimately the team stopped playing form him) and rumours had started to circulate that Koeman’s personality (along with his undoubted pedigree as a player) had caused him to display ‘Fergie like’ qualities. If the rumours are to be believed, some squad unrest was brewing at Saints, although Koeman’s success to date would perhaps overshadow that. Yet, there was a familiar pattern emerging about squad morale and stability.

During the summer of 2016, rumours were abound that Koeman saw himself as something of a genius. His two seasons with Saints were perfect, although not without signs of fault (and the nagging feeling that Koeman had hitched onto the work of Pochettino). Some journalists did report on whether Saint’s success was down solely to Koeman’s management, or whether it was the fact that the Southampton Way was really having an impact on bringing success for a smaller club in the EPL.

If the rumours are true, then you sense that Koeman knew this too: he is said to have demanded more money as he felt Saints had perhaps ‘overachieved’ with what they had. Yet the Saints Board were not for taking risks with finances, and wanted to take the longer route to success (something that has been a big issue for Fans since Cortese’s experiment was put to bed).

Koeman changed agents – and that agent complemented Koeman’s arrogance (and greed). As we know, Everton offered untold riches and Koeman was seduced on two different levels: a) more money for him and b) more money for the squad. You also cannot rule out that Koeman genuinely believed he was one club step away from getting his chance to manage his beloved Barcelona.

Yet old habits die hard and Koeman’s reign at Everton took a familiar path. His initial season at Everton was positive (Europa qualification) and many thought his success at Saints was not a fluke or co-incidence, but the sign of a quality manager. Again, Barcelona was mooted.

Then the wheels fell off (as they have tended to do in Koeman’s career). Last summer Koeman was supposedly given a huge war chest to spend, but he famously didn’t spend it on replacing Lukaku. Koeman’s public utterances then started to lay blame at the door of the Board. Rumours were also abound that Koeman’s usual arrogance/ego problem had started to surface again. These got stronger – and then started to manifest themselves on the pitch, with Everton’s performance this season taking an absolute nose dive – resulting in his sacking. Like Valencia, it appeared the squad stopped playing for him. Did Saints dodge that particular bullet? Who knows.

So, would I welcome him back? No. I think Koeman is a good manager, but he is not a great manager. I also think he did inherit a solid squad/set up at Saints, which perhaps flattered him at times. There was worry that Koeman’s luck had run out in the first half of his second season at Saints, although the squad kicked in to superb effect to finish 6th. Did that paper over the cracks? It’s all conjecture, but I believe it did.

What worries me the most is the precedent Koeman has shown . Firstly, his career as manager (pre-Saints) is hardly stellar. What is key is that there are several instances/rumours that his ego dominates his squads – leading to squad unrest if things are not going well. I therefore don’t think he is ideally suited to coming into Saints at this time.

Just my thoughts, but I think Koeman is now part of Saints history. I thank him for the good times, but I don’t 100% believe he was the sole cause of our success. Ultimately, I think his worrying man management style would be the constant thorn in his crown.

We should move on.