Unless you rank high on the scale of lunacy, you’re never sure what goes on in dressing rooms. Though Romeu reveals some intriguing info about Puel.
Southampton manager Claude Puel is not always the laid-back personality we have become accustomed to on the St Mary’s touchline, Oriol Romeu has revealed to The Guardian.
The softly-spoken Frenchman often appears a figure of calm in comparison to the demonstrative outbursts and linesman-baiting of his managerial counterparts, with his post-match interviews more reminiscent for relaxed reflections than insult-laden barks.
However, Romeu admits that there is a more explosive side to Puel even if he only shows it situations of dire need such as during the interval on the opening day, with the sub-par Saints a goal down at home to Watford before Nathan Redmond stole a point in the second half.
“When [Puel] is loud it means there is something wrong,” the La Masia graduate told The Guardian.
“When things are not going well he has to shout and he does it. I remember the first half against Watford it wasn’t really good and at half-time he came and he was noisy.
“We were not playing well and he just wanted us to be braver and to take the responsibility and to be happy out there playing. We were all a bit shy.”
After a slow start to life in the Southampton dugout, a dramatic upturn in form, underpinned by a run of six consecutive clean sheets, has raised hopes that Puel can follow in the footsteps of his eminent predecessors Ronald Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino and maintain the Saints’ progression despite the departures of more key players in the off-season.
Leading unfancied Nice to fourth-place in Ligue 1 last season, Puel has already proven that he shares Southampton’s underpinning characteristic; the ability to overachieve amid challenging financial discrepancies.
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