Saints are likely to use the breathing space afforded by the strange goings on surrounding Ronald Koeman's departure from St Mary's to consider all the aspects of the next appointment.

Two years ago when Mauricio Pochettino left it is fair to say that the club were caught on the hop, there had been major upheaval behind the scenes at St Mary's and the likes of Ralph Krueger and Gareth Rogers had yet to find their feet in their new positions.

But they thought on their feet and within two weeks had appointed Ronald Koeman.

Koeman fitted the profile that the club wanted, a still young but experienced manager at the levels the club wanted o compete at, but whilst those at the club and indeed the supporters accepted that Koeman would move on to bigger things, all indications were that when he did so he would do so with honour and integrity as he had done when leaving Feyenoord.

This turned out not to be the case and although this saga continues to rumble on at the moment, it does allow the club breathing space to consider their next move.

Of course a similar type of manager to both Koeman & Pochettino will be considered, Frank De Boer, Unai Emery & Andres Villas Boas etc, ie a young ambitious foreign coach, but the experiences of the past two years has made the club re think its strategy, although they like the profile that the last two managers fitted they do not like the way that they move on with no apparent loyalty.

That means Saints may opt for a different type of manager, that is why Manuel Pellegrini and Eddie Howe feature in the running.

It is fair to say tha neither is probably the fans favourite for the job, but the club could feel if they are to avoid the issues with the past two appointments then a different type of manager is required.

In the case of Pellegrini that means an older manager who does not need to further his career with every offer that comes along and who is more likely to see out his contract.

Pellegrini has been successful both as a manager with money to spend as at Manchester City and also on the same type of budget that Saints have, with spells at both Villareal & Malaga being on the scale that Saints want to emulate.

Eddie Howe has long been linked with Saints and indeed was rumoured to have turned down the Saints job in 2010 before Nigel Adkins was appointed, the feeling amongst supporters is that Howe does not have the profile needed or the experience to take over at St Mary's in a difficult situation.

But the club themselves are considering Howe for the continuity that he would offer, they are looking for stability and think that going forward they want a anager who is focussed on the task and will see through his contract and not jump ship at the first big cheque waved at him.

Whilst Saints are not ruling out anyone at the moment and may still opt for a Villas Boas or Emery type, they are carefully considering a different approach this time around.

Although the Koeman situation came out of the blue it was not completely a shock to the club, they had doubts about his commitment after sitting down with him and as I pointed out in an article on this website over a week ago, the club appeared to have briefed the Echo regarding the commitment and ambition they had given Koeman, they were almost setting the scene for what did actually happen.

This means that they will hit the ground running, they would have been sounding out the market long before the Everton issue emerged and they will be using the time that the delays are now causing to start contacting potential replacements.

It is not clear why this delay in Koeman actually leaving has happened, it could be that Saints are playing hardball, certainly Everton showed their desperation too early meaning that Saints ae not budging on their demands and they have the financial clout to pay Koeman his salary and put him on gardening leave should Everton not agree each and every term they want, they will not want to do that, but hey are not going to b a push over.

The delay could also be on Koeman's side, certainly it is unprecedented not just in football but in any major business for a key person who has been headhunted to suddenly up sticks and go on holiday mid negotiations/

Everton themselves might be the cause of the delay, perhaps they are not as sue about Koeman as they once where given his behaviour this week.

Whatever the reasons it gives Saints breathing space and hopefully they will use that time well.

Photo: Action Images

law101 added 09:32 - Jun 8 Koeman has obviously decided he wants to be out of the country and away from it all when the announcement is made, thus hoping it all dampens down on his return. Emery has now gone, De Boer 'not interested' so they say. AVB is a joke right?
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FaroSaint added 10:10 - Jun 8 I have listened again to RKs comments about staying at SAINTS next year after the last game of the season and whilst he said he liked the club the fans and the players and that he wished to stay, he said that although his and the clubs ambition were the same the ability to achieve that would depend on money. This was why MC left because Spurs offered him the money to invest in players which SAINTS were not prepared to do. RK has obviously decided that Everton are prepared to invest more than SAINTS to achieve their goals together with a bumper pay packet. Regrettably in the short term Saints do not seem willing to commit as the business model doesnt allow for it. Obviously I would rather we stayed in the premiership and not go bust again but it does mean that it is highly unlikely that we will ever reach the champions league because we will repeatedly see our managers and our best players leave for the richer clubs . Having said that we are in Europe for the second season running , we remain a very attractive stepping stone and we should be able to secure a top manager to continue our progress. I Am very sad that RK is apparently leaving but equally I thought NA was harshly treated by us when he was sacked so I suppose what goes around comes around.

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Toussaint added 10:19 - Jun 8 Breathe ......it will be someone we never expected
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SanMarco added 11:21 - Jun 8 Not sure that Koeman will give a toss either way about the reaction to his departure law101. Good point about NA Faro. The 'stepping-stone' idea will be nearly as often mentioned as 'ambition' as the ashes of this are endlessly raked over. Remember that when MoPo left we were in no position to match Spuds. Now, two years on we could, I think, in theory match Everton but that's not who we are - and I think that is a good thing. Everton having the sixth highest paid manager in the world is ridiculous and the same would have applied to the Saints. We are the victims of our own steady progress - as someone on here pointed out the other day Leicester only won because they had come at the bottom the season before. The big clubs had no time to cut them down to size and were complacent in January. If Wenger had bought Vardy and Mahrez in January Arsenal would now be champions. Re the new manager - the choice morsels will disappear quickly and there is no point lecturing Everton on morality if we are going to casually do the same to Bournemouth. If we wait too long certain players may start making other plans. Forster and Bertrand will be meeting up with some old friends as we speak...

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squidofdespair added 12:24 - Jun 8 So, it's confirmed then?? Or are the FACTS still missing ??
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landerwal added 12:28 - Jun 8 Saints are in a good position for choosing a new manager. European football and a squad that came second only to Leicester in the 2016 part of the season make them a very attractive team to manage for an ambitious coach. I would imagine that there mangers already sending in their cvs to Les Reed, as Raneiri did with Leicester at the start of last season. No, I feel that Saints are in the driving seat on this and can afford to take their time. Even the pressure of unsettled players is offset with the Euros , other international committments and holidays occupying most of them.Taking their time so getting the right man is the priority of a successful 2016/17 season for the board's new appointment.

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SaintPaulVW added 12:43 - Jun 8 I'm sure the lack of any confirmation after post season meetings (or even meetings) between RK and SFC meant Saints have been keeping an eye on who is/or is likely to be available. Koeman was appointed when late June? I would anticipate the same time frame again so it's all in place by early July.
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Ali_Diarea added 13:15 - Jun 8 Completely agree with everything you said 'FaroSaint'. My question is why do we all assume Eddie Howe would turn down the chance to double his money and would therefore be a long term appointment?! The last two managers have shown we are a stepping stone club, but the main thing is we are still on an upward trajectory. I think it's a bizarre decision by RK, the squad he is inheriting requires major upheaval, £100m will merely scratch the surface, but expectations will be high. Good luck to him, thanks for 2 amazing seasons. Now the board needs to stop any players with more than 12m left on their contracts from leaving the club.

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IWOZTHERE added 15:46 - Jun 8 How can you cite Eddie Howe as someone who is 'focussed and won't jump ship' when to join us that's exactly what he'd have to do?
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SanMarco added 16:04 - Jun 8 Very good point IWOZ - the paradox is that if he comes he proves he's not suitable...
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JohnT added 19:26 - Jun 8 If Saints approach Eddie Howe they will be as bad as Everton & can you imagine the bad feeling should he accept?
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bstokesaint added 21:29 - Jun 8 I still don't get why all the pro Eddie supporters think he'd be right for us. Probably more than half of the current team came to us to play for Koeman. They have/had huge respect for the man. I really can't see Eddie demanding that respect. Players on the continent will be like who?!! Don't get me wrong I really like Howe and I think he's done a brilliant job at Bournemouth. I just think there's a big gulf there at the moment which we've been building since we came back up.

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