The Daily Mirror is reporting that Mauricio Pellegrino will be sacked in the summer whether Saints stay up or not, the big question Saints fans will ask is why do they not do it now then ?
The Mirror has claimed that Mauricio Pellegrino has not met the target that he was set when he joined Saints after the departure of Claude Puel and the club will sack him at the end of the season whether we stay up or what.They are also suggesting that Saints are already lining up his replacement and have a short list of candidates.
Just what those targets are is anyones guess, but there are several puzzling questions about the Mirrors claimes.
Firstly there is as to why if he is not meeting the standards set that the club do not sack him now, certainly 88% of the fans in our online poll (Vote Now Using The Link At The Bottom Of The Page) think that has has failed and the only option left if we are to stay up is to sack him.
Secondly there is still the possibility, smaller as it becomes each week that Pellegrino could actually finish the season in the top ten and could add to that with a Wembley CupFinal appearance and even a trophy, so why rock the boat now by leaking rumours to the press.
That perhaps suggests that the Mirror story is based on pure speculation and could be more down to agents trying to put their clients in the frame for the job and others that could become available.
As the Mirror also name potential successors in Fulham's Slavisa Jokanovic and Ostersund 's Graham Potter who spent a season as a player at St Mary's 20 years ago.
Jokanovic looks a better bet than Potter, he has a decent playing record as a player including a couple of seasons at Chelsea and as a manager has learn't his trade slowly but surely including taking Watford to promotion to the Premier League in 2015 and now turning Fulham into promotion contenders.
Jokanovic is not likely to leave Fulham if they are promoted so at this moment does not look to be a realistic option
Potter looks less a good bet with his only managerial experience being at Ostersund and that in a totally different enviroment and standard than the Premier League, with respect to the Danish League it is not strong and it is not a good grounding for the Saints job.
On one hand Saints fans will be glad to hear that the club know there is a problem and are dealing with it, on the other they will be disappointed that they do not have the successor ready to step in now.
There must be a point where Saints press the panic button, Palace's last minute defeat at home to Manchester United did Saints a favour, at one stage with the Eagles 2-0 up Saints were back in the relegation zone, but Matic's goal now effectively means that although Palace are only a point behind, their far inferiour goal difference means that they would need to beatSaints points total rather than equal it to stay up, however that could change in the final 9 games.
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