The announcement most Saints fans have been waiting for ! Mark Hughes has finally been announced as the new Saints manager.
In typical Saints style it hit the club website at 10pm on Friday evening and the statement read:
Southampton Football Club can today confirm that Mark Hughes has signed a new three-year contract as First Team Manager.
The 54-year-old, who guided Saints to safety in the Premier League earlier this month, has been appointed to lead the club into the new season and beyond.
Mark and his team had a massive impact from the first day on the players, staff and fans alike, and was able to pull together everyone involved with the club to deliver the results needed.
It is important now, under Mark’s leadership, for everyone to move into the new season with a renewed focus and energy alongside the continued and valuable support of our fans.
"IT WAS THE ONLY OPTION WE CONSIDERED, HAVING SPENT THE LAST EIGHT WEEKS WITH THE CLUB."
Assistant First Team Manager Mark Bowen and First Team Coach Eddie Niedzwiecki have also signed long-term contracts.
Hughes said:
"Mark, Eddie and I are thrilled to have signed long-term contracts with the club. It was the only option we considered, having spent the last eight weeks with the club.
"Now it is vital that we take the unbelievable support we received from the fans during the last few games into next season. The staff and the players will work hard every day to deliver the success this club deserves, and with everyone pulling together we will achieve our goals.”
Social media over the past few days has been going into meltdown with Saints fans demanding to know what was going on and questioning why the deal wasn't announced minutes after the final whistle against Manchester City.
If the last four years have taught us anything it is that patience is a virtue, when it comes to signing players and managers it is vital that the club keeps it's dealings private to ensure that things are not compromised, that is the right way to do things, although some fans seem to thing that the club should publicise and make announcements on a daily perhaps hourly basis.
But it now seems that the club has done it's business quietly and efficiently and it has been all done and dusted in only 12 days since the end of the season.
Now comes the real work for Mark Hughes, he has to take the momentum he has built in the final weeks of the season forward, certainly he has the track record to suggest that he can do so, in his four full seasons at Stoke he finished 9th in three consecutive seasons and although in his final full season he finished 13th the Premier League was so condensed he was only 2 points off of Saints in 8th.
Hughes has asked the supporters to get behind him and back the club, this is the appointment that most fans wanted, the club have listened and Hughes is excited about the task in hand, now it is the fans turn to back the club.
It is easy to support a team when it is going well, not so easy when bad times come around, the Saints supporters where amazing in the final five games, we need that support going forward next season.