Southampton finally bit the bullet and called an end to Mark Hughes’ time at St. Mary’s, less than a year after hiring him.
No one wants to be sacking their manager, especially during the season, but Southampton have finally decided that they have no other choice.
Mark Hughes seemed a questionable choice when he arrived at St Mary’s at the start of the year, after struggling with eventually-relegated Stoke City.
He was tasked with saving the club from relegation after Mauricio Pellegrino’s struggles and he managed that, just about, with the job earning him a new three-year deal that he wouldn’t come close to seeing out.
But with results and performances slacking, it’s easy to forgive the Saints board for wanting to see change after yet another lead was allowed to slip at the weekend.
The timing of the dismissal is an interesting one too, as in theory, it gives any new boss a month with plenty of games in which to assess his side ahead of the January transfer window.
Southampton showed faith in Hughes and gave him plenty of time, something you have to do on the back of a new deal like that, but drew the line at influencing a second window.
And as long as they don’t take too big of a risk, things could work out very well.
Last season saw three managers appointed over late November – early January: West Bromwich Albion hired Alan Pardew, Swansea City brought in Carlos Carvalhal, and Stoke City appointed Paul Lambert.
All three were questioned by virtually everybody as managers who were on their way down, much like Hughes, and all three would be relegated by the end of the season.
The previous year saw real success stories, however, as Sam Allardyce and Paul Clement were hired to keep Crystal Palace and Swansea up respectively and did just that. That year also saw the arrival of Marco Silva at 20th place Hull City, and while he couldn’t quite them up, it was clear they’d hired the right guy.
You have to then go to 2014/15 to see more changes at the bottom around Christmas – Tony Pulis at West Brom and Pardew at Palace, with both successfully keeping their sides up.
Southampton have a huge decision to make to preserve their Premier League status – they must appoint someone more on the up than Hughes.
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