Back in 1986 Ron Atkinson brought his Manchester United team to the Dell and the heavy defeat saw him sacked and be replaced by Alex Ferguson, could history repeat itself at St Mary's .

The fireworks came a day early on 4th November 1986 when Manchester United arrived at the Dell for a League Cup replay, manager Ron Atkinson was under fire from the fans, a high profile name, he had won trophies but failed to deliver the League title and that is how United and their fans judged things.

They were routed. Danny Wallace, George Lawrence and two late goals from an unknown youngster called Matt Le Tissier who came off the bench and hammered the final nail into Atkinson's coffin, he was sacked the next day and soon his replacement was in place.

It is here that on behalf of Southampton Football Club and it's supporters that I must apologise for the result on that night, if we had lost then Atkinson might have kept his job and Ales Ferguson would not have arrived at Old Trafford.

We all know what happened in the next 27 years or so until his retirement in 2013.

Ironically since he handed over the reigns to David Moyes, in the six year since United have had four managers, five if you include the month Ryan Giggs did as a caretaker.

None have lasted much more than two years, indeed only Jose Mourinho managed to get over than landmark before he was sacked in December 2018 to be replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær as a temporary replacement.

Back then it was assumed that United would flex their muscles and take Mauricio Pochettino from Spurs, but a run of good results saw the heartstrings of the fanbase pulled and the Norwegian was handed the job on a permanent basis, a job he was not equipped of experienced enough to handle

Solskjær is a legend at Old Trafford and therefore the situation is delicate, but as he heads towards his second anniversary in the hot seat and with United in 13th place in the table, it could be an unlucky number for Solskjær.

If Saints repeat their victory of 1986 and do so with a flourish it could be the end of the road for the likeable Dane and there is the feeling that his replacement is already waiting in the wings.

Mauricio Pochettino has strangely not taken another job since his departure from Tottenham Hotspur a year ago, the whisper is he is hanging on for the United job to become available and he will be watching his old club take on his prospective new employers with interest.

Indeed a Saints victory could be celebrated by the Argentinian with a lot more joy than he felt at any of his wins when in charge at St Mary's.

Like Ron Atkinson 34 years ago, Ole Gunnar Solskjær's job is hanging by a thread and it could be Southampton Football Club who again decide the fate of Manchester United, hopefully though if we do our part of the bargain, it won't have the long term success at Old Trafford as a result.

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 10:45 - Nov 29 OGS is not the problem at Man United. The board have mismanaged the club for years now and there is no clear direction or philosophy at the club. Until there is a change at the top there will never be sustained success at the club.
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underweststand added 11:39 - Nov 29 Matt Le Tissier's role in Ron Atkinson's demise as United manager is well-documented ..he was a teenage kid out of our Youth side who single-handedly put United out of a cup competition they felt sure they would win. Saints' reputation of getting opposition managers the sack was seldom sweeter than after Glenn Hoddle deserted the Saints managership to return to his beloved Spurs, we went to White Hart Lane the following season and turned them over, and he went too. It's surely not my imagination to think that some " Big Ego clubs " somehow feel getting beaten by Saints is " the bottom of the barrel " instead of admitting that, on the day they may have been beaten by a better side. Saints have proven that they don't need 75,000 fans to cheer them onto a win and a good result today may well be another nail in the coffin of Ole's managership. A pity because he seems a nice fellow, but that doesn't cut it in the United boardroom who will have to dig deep to replace him and meet the demands of a new manager who wants big money players brought in ASAP. They say it's tough at the top, but it's also tough for those who "think " they should be there , but can't make it.

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SaintNick added 11:39 - Nov 29 I think OGS is part of the problem he is not a strong enough manager and doesn't command the respect that experience gives a manager, the Norwegian league and a short spell at Cardiff won't sit well with United's overpaid superstars, they want to see a name manager If United lose today, it is clear that after two years things have got worse at old trafford not better, they have a club legend as manager, but he has no real experience of managing at the levels that United want. I think if United lose today by any score and are sat 14th in the league come this evening Solskjaer will be lucky to last the week and Mauricio Pochettino will be in charge by next weekend

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saintmark1976 added 13:02 - Nov 29 I’m reminded of that old expression Nick, “be careful in what you wish for”.
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