Today sees Russell Martin facing the biggest test of his managerial career, if he loses to Ipswich Town his position at St Mary's will be very much on the line, few managers lose the first five games of a season and survive.
Russell Martin goes into his fifth Premier League game of the season with the Sword of Damocles hanging over him, all of last seasons achievements count for nothing, having got Saints back into the top flight, his job now is to keep them there and he hasn't made a good start with questions being raised about team selection, tactics and favouritism.
But if reports are to be believed the board at Southampton already have a shortlist of names that they would be looking at, should they need to replace Martin, this is in itself not a surprise, after all most clubs will have such lists should a manager depart.
But the name that is top of the list won't excite Saints supporters, according to footballinsider247 the top target is John Eustace of Blackburn Rovers.
They also go on to claim that it won't just be simply about results, they say that the Saints board are also concerned about the tactics employed, especially that of passing the ball around at the back in every situation, one that has seen a number of errors this season, with literally every goal conceded coming from players being caught on the ball or passing it in tight situations.
Eustace might not be a big name, but the Southampton hierarchy are said to be impressed with his credentials.
He started his playing career with Coventry City and played in the Premier League 47 times, after that he would only grace the top flight again once, that on loan at Middlesbrough, but he played a lot of games in the First Division & Championship for Stoke, Watford & Derby.
His managerial career started at Kidderminster Harriers in 2016 and he had a spell at QPR as assistant manager and also as caretaker, where he kept them in the Championship in the final 7 games of the season.
During that time he was also assistant for the Republic of Ireland, before joining Birmingham City as manager in July 2022 and in his first season he guided the Blues to their highest points total for 7 years.
But that counted for nothing, in October 2023 Birmingham after a good start to the season were in 6th place and looking to be in the fight for promotion, but Eustace was sacked and replaced by Wayne Rooney, this was folly and as we know it would lead to Birmingham being relegated two managers later at the end of the season.
Eustace joined Blackburn in February 2024 and his work there, losing just 6 games of the 24 he has presided over, including 3 wins and 2 draws out of 5 games this season that sees them in 3rd place going into this weekend, has led to Southampton considering him as a replacement should Russell Martin lose another game or two.
Some will not see this as a great replacement, there will be calls for David Moyes or even Graham Potter, experienced Premier League manager, I have to say I think they will have a point, after all Eustace has only managed less than 100 games as a League manager and his last experience even as a player in the Premier League was over 20 years ago. he may be an up and coming manager, but does he have the experience necessary for the fight we are now in ?