Saints are being linked with former Watford boss Marco Silva to replace Mauricio Pellegrino, but how near to the mark are these rumours.

Several media outlets are reporting this morning that Saints are preparing to replace Maurcio Pellegrino with Marco Silva after the now ex Watford boss became unexpectedly available.

It has to be said that with Pellegrino's record it would be strange if the Saints board were not considering options, whilst they have retained faith in their manager, they know it can't go on much longer and after 11 games without a win in the Premier League and indeed only 1 in the last 15, Pellgrino's position is precarious.

The problem for the Saints board is that sacking him without having a replacement lined up could be an even bigger recipe for disaster, there is no one on the coaching staff within the club with any managerial experience at any good level and as much as Kelvin Davis might be a club legend, he has only just been promoted to a first team coach and would be the most senior man left assuming that if Pellegrino left so would his chosen staff.

Likewise finding a quality replacement isn't as easy as it sounds as both Everton and Stoke found out, so as much as the fans have called for the manager to go, there has to be a replacement lined up first.

Silva is linked because he was reputably a target back in the summer when Claude Puel position was uncertain, but Watford moved fast and signed him up before Puel had been sacked by Saints.

But Silva's reputation is tarnished by the events at Watford with allegations that after being refused a move to Everton he "lost interest" and didn't perform to the standards expected meaning that Watford have dropped down the league almost as quickly as Saints over the past few months.

As a manager he appears to have no loyalty and usually leaves a club under a cloud after a short period of time, something that the Saints board would not be enamoured with.

Although his managerial career at Estoril in Portugal started well and lasted three seasons between 2011 & 2014, after that it is a series of short stays, a season at Sporting Lisbon on what was a four year contract ended with him finshing 3rd in the league and winning the Portugese cup, their first silverware in 7 years, but he was sacked four days after that final for apparently not wearing the club suit, a technicality highlighting that something was seriously amiss behind the scenes.

In the summer of 2015 he was off to Greece and Olympiacos, he won the title there, but shortly after he resigned for personal reasons.

He then had a break for a few months until joining Hull City in January 2017, he could not keep them up and within days of relegation resigned and within two days had joined Watford.

Initially it went well, but Everton came in and Silva wanted to go, the Hornets dug in and refused and that lead to his latest sacking with the allegations that he was disruptive, sounding out players to join him at his next club wherever that may be, being late for and missing team meetings and generally not giving any sort of real commitment.

Watford described it as a "significant deterioration in both focus and results to the point where the long-term future of Watford FC has been jeopardised"

So now he is linked with Saints again and whereas many Saints supporters would have been glad to see him a year ago, perhaps the only reason now that they would be glad to see him join is sheer desperation and that is no basis to appoint a manager with his track record.

At best it would be a short term fix and he would surely show no more loyalty than he has done at other clubs should what he considers a better offer come along.

His record in the Premier League is not great, at Hull he took over a club in turmoil and from that point of view his 21 points from 18 games is solid, blighted by heavy defeats in their last three games that sent them down, but his record at Watford is no better 26 points from 24 games and only 1 win in their last 11 games.

So if Saints should make this appointment it would be a panic move and even worse it could be one that upsets the unity in the dressing room, whilst Pellegrino has made mistakes and cannot make many more without it being one too many, he does still seem to have the players behind him and that could count for something in the long run.

Whilst football managers rarely stay long at many clubs these days let alone Saints, there is the need to make the right appointment now and Marco Silva does not seem to be the right appointment on many levels.

So would Saints fans welcome Marco Silva vote now in our poll using the link below.

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/216625/should-saints-ap

Photo: Action Images

arthurfane added 12:30 - Jan 23 Whilst he's an excellent manager, his professionalism has been called into question by the Everton kerfuffle. If we are going to replace Pellegrino, we need to do so with someone who WANTS to be here - I'm not sure Silva would be that man. This is a tricky one, as he does strike me as a Pochettino-like manager the players would love...
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 12:47 - Jan 23 Pellegrino should be given Watford (H), Brighton (H) and WBA (A). If we haven't played well and won a couple of those games then they need to get Silva in to keep us up. He should've been our no.1 target in the summer anyway.
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Sanguin added 12:57 - Jan 23 I think the players still support Pellegrino and are playing for him, even if they’re not playing well. I’m worried that if this is the case then squad morale could drop if Pellegrino is replaced. I don’t think there’s anything in the Silva rumours. I think the media just sees us struggling and the only club struggling that has yet to sack their manager, they know we were linked with Silva before and now that he his free they’re making up easy headlines as clickbait.

3

sidsaint added 13:05 - Jan 23 If he comes it should be until the end of the season with a bonus to keep us up and the promise of a longer contract.He certainly steadied the ship at Hull but ultimately failed. Difficult one for the board if they are interested.
1

Daisy_cutter added 13:23 - Jan 23 I just feel he will be going to Everton in the summer so not really for us, I would like to see Tim Sherwood given a go he has lots of enthusiasm and knows the prem as a player and manager now I'm not saying he's better than Silva but a better fit for Southampton that will interact with the fans
-5

LordDZLucan added 13:38 - Jan 23 Short term fixes to keep a team up often do just that but the same issue then rears its head again the following season e.g. Sunderland, Palace, Swansea. I'd much rather see some stability which means sticking with Pellegrino. It'll leave us in a much better situation for next season whether we're in the Premier League or not.
2

SaintBen added 13:42 - Jan 23 Daisy_Cutter, I'm all for looking at young, enthusiastic, upcoming managers; but Sherwood has only managed 56 professional games and I feel he doesn't have the experience necessary. Do we think that Everton are still interested in Silva, would they try and get him in the summer? Surely keeping Big Sam would make more sense for them moving forward?
2

ItchenNorth added 13:49 - Jan 23 Part of the reason we find yourselves in our current position is that we keep changing managers. Despite poor performances (or lack or entertainment) the board were wrong to sack Puel. They shouldn’t have folded to fan pressure given our final league position and Cup Final run. Look at what Puel is now doing at Leicester. You can argue that the Foxes have a better squad, but I think that debatable. I believe he has Leicester performing because he now has 12 months experience of the Premier League behind him. The Foxes are getting the benefit of this, not Saints ! We went straight back to square one and appointed a new manager with no Premier League experience. It takes time for any new manager to adjust to the league. Continually sacking managers only ever ends up in relegation. Is Silva the answer: well his record says no. There are plenty of points to play for and half of the league are in the dog fight with us anyway, so fans need to hold their nerve and believe in our squad a bit more.

3

BuenosSaint added 14:34 - Jan 23 No. Please no. Lord Lucan and others are right. SFC needs managerial stability. It'll be a short term fix and major grief in 1-2 seasons. I am really hoping and praying MP turns it around and brings success to SFC in the long run. He seems like a decent sort too (as was Puel) . Silva does not (if alleged rumours are true.) COYMP.... COYR
4

smiffdub added 15:04 - Jan 23 If we're not going to sack the manager, we'd better get a couple of new players instead!
5

aceofthebase added 15:07 - Jan 23 Don't sack the manager and stop this talk of him being sacked. Get behind all aspects of Saints and that includes you Nick
4

AirFlorida added 16:19 - Jan 23 Mr Blobby's still looking for work. I'd take his enthusiasm over MP's. His half time team talks would certainly motivate our forwards. That said, maybe we could employ him in a player manager capacity 😂
0

sholingred added 17:55 - Jan 23 Our manager seems like a nice bloke .but he has had enough time .Swansea stoke west brom have all improved after sacking their managers.I wanted silva in the summer and think he would keep us up and maybe revisit it in the summer,i don't think there is any loyalty anymore sadly Nick but now is about staying up and 4 wins all season isn't going to save us.
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Consigliere added 18:33 - Jan 23 In a word, "No". If Marco Silva is the answer then it must have been a damn silly question. What are we thinking of? If we have to make another change let it wait until the end of the season then (say) appoint Benitez or bring back Nigel Adkins.
4

SanMarco added 18:50 - Jan 23 We could try Rednapp again - it nearly worked last time and if we are worried about Silva flitting between clubs and leaving under clouds he's got nothing on Arry. He could bring Jamie along to play occasionally. What could go wrong?
0

skiptonsaint added 18:52 - Jan 23 If we don't get min 3 points from Brighton and West Brom i would switch sides to give it go with Silva I saw effort against Spurs and That must carry on but effort only gets you so far Slight problem with that plan is the window would closed Really ts about spending money rather than the manager now for me
2

NBSaint added 19:11 - Jan 23 Please let’s not keep calling for MP to be sacked. He seems a decent bloke and could come good now that we have an easier run of fixtures. Lawrie McMenemy was relegated in his first season...
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cornishsaint added 19:30 - Jan 23 Please no it’s going from the frying pan to the fryer his record is poor and surely not the answer
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Jesus_02 added 19:46 - Jan 23 well played NBSaint... Fergie almost got the push 6months in. It was nice to see Obafemi get a bow , but that was MP2s only realistic offensive move
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SanMarco added 11:16 - Jan 24 Yes - NBSaint and Jesus. I will cling to the Fergie and Lawrie Mac examples UNLESS there really is someone available now who is not just a quick fix but will be with us next season. Otherwise we will have yet another season starting with a new manager.
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