Will Still departed St Mary's over two weeks ago, but there is still no sign of a replacement being named, are Saints, leading some fans to claim the club is not in control of the situation, but are they dithering or just hedging their bets ?

Many thought that Southampton FC had waited too long to sack Will Still, that it was obvious to all but the club itself, that it wasn't working out, rumours were emanating from St Mary's that the manager had lost the dressing room, that he was not forceful enough in the way he was managing the squad and that he had alienated the bulk of his coaching squad, instead of using the knowledge of his assistant manager Paul Trollope & coach Adam Lallana, he was not consulting with them on major decisions.

That was largely unseen by the supporters although they could see the body language on the bench was not all it should be, they were more concerned about why with his baffling team selections and even more puzzling scattergun substitutions, that what was on paper one of the biggest and best squads in the Championship was so badly underperforming.

The one hope that Saints fans clung to was that Johannes Spors had waited before acting as he was lining up Still's successor first.

But here we are two weeks later and no nearer a replacement being named, although bizarrely that has not affected the bookies view of where Saints will be at the end of the season, they are still 7th favourites for promotion.

So have Saints been dithering over a replacement and if so why ?

One theory is that although they are wary of repeating the mistake of keeping Ruben Selles in charge 3 years ago after winning two out of his first three games, they are impressed by Tonda Eckert's work in the last fortnight and as we go into the 3rd week of his tenure as caretaker manager, they are holding on to see if his two wins were a flash in the pan against two sides who were either in the bottom 3 or lower mid table or he really has something.

Between now and the end of the month, Saints face 3 tough games, Charlton away on Saturday, Leicester at home next Tuesday and then a trip to Millwall, what happens in those 3 games could determine whether Eckert is given the chance to take on the job or whether they appoint a new man.

In essence this is Southampton FC hedging their bets, they are not giving Eckert the job on a permanent basis, they are waiting to see what happens next, and if he keeps winning then they will make it permanent

Southampton fans probably won't be too impressed by this, they see the club of lacking experienced leadership both on and off the pitch, they want to see someone who has a presence in the dressing room born from having done the job and done it well at other clubs.

The last 3 years have see too much turmoil, too much indecision and too many managers, the fans want to see stability, not another experiment with a young relatively inexperienced manager.

So by 2.30pm on Saturday we should have a good idea where Saints intentions lie, one one hand the travelling Saints fans may well be applauding a third victory in a row and starting to believe that Tonda could be the man, or they could have just witnessed another car crash defeat and will be singing "You don't know what your'e doing" to the board or perhaps in the next few days Johannes Spors will shock us all and make a decisive appointment.

The bookies seem to feel that Eckert will be the man, his odds are now 4/7 and he is the favourite, Gary O'Neil is hanging in there in 2nd at 3/1, Brendan Rodgers at 4/1 and fans favourite Michael Carrick who has gone out to 8/1.

Worryingly Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is moving up the betting, most will have forgotten just how experienced that he is as a manager, he has overseen 471 matches across Molde, Cardiff City, Manchester United and recently Besiktas, but is he the right man, all but Cardiff where clubs who were big in their own Leagues, it was a different task to the one that he will face at St Mary's.

So we will wait and see what happens, that is all we can do.

All Photos Via Reuters

DorsetIan added 09:31 - Nov 17 I'm very happy to see Eckert given at least one more game. We will know a lot more about him once he has pitted his wits against tactical magician and all-round footballing genius, Nathan Jones.
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landsdownsaint added 09:40 - Nov 17 I was wondering if WS was consulting Lallana a while back as I couldn’t understand how bad Azziz was playing with a coach like Lallana at the club
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davidargyll added 09:44 - Nov 17 Surely a much more reasonable explanation is that THERE ARE NO QUALITY MANAGERS AROUND AT THE MOMENT THAT WILL FIT THE BILL? So Spors and Co are taking the view that Eckert will be fine as a fill-in for a week, a month, even the rest of the season, which he no doubt has been made aware of. Furthermore I think you should credit most fans with rather more intelligence; ie I think you are wrong about the lack of decision not impressing the fans; what will impress them is that in the end we get the right man, not how long it takes to get him.

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saintmark1976 added 09:58 - Nov 17 If you are primarily running a Player Trading and Fun Fair Business, does it really matter who the head coach of your football team is ? After all, we’ve had so many since they appeared I’ve lost count.
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Bowlercow added 11:35 - Nov 17 Ever the optimist I believe they have targeted a top man and are busy negotiating a release fee I'm sure that most of us expected a replacement by now but none of the managerless 4 clubs appear to be in a hurry
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highfield49 added 14:19 - Nov 17 As one of those supporters who has a live and let live attitude to most things, but has a particular dislike for the betting industry, I have no clue who places bets on these outcomes. If Carrick is the fans favourite at 8/1 then I presume Eckert is backed by non fans or Carrick fans willing to chuck £20 or whatever on a probable loser? I've heard these things called a fun bet, but having never got much fun out of losing money I actually don't give a toss. At least if you put a few quid into the national lottery or whatever some benefit will go to those in need of support in life. Mini rant over, thank you, and fingers crossed for another win whoever might be in charge of the team.

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StRipper added 16:20 - Nov 17 Once Eckert gets sacked for being the Selles like one trick pony that he is and being unable to get results. Why don't we just give the manager job to a fan to have a go by drawing them in a tombola? Like we do for the Saints mascot? Then we can just take turns through Managers on the basis that eventually we will find one who can win enough games to keep the job? Thats pretty ,much what the club strategy is anyway, isn't it?

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underweststand added 17:26 - Nov 17 " The Board " (who obviously rely on Spors for the final word), are likely " scared sh*tless " of making yet another mistake by appointing "who knows" as next manager. Our squad is a mismatch of square pegs signed under 4 different managers (or is it 5?) who no-one seems to combine in secure manner. In addition to which we are missing two vital players namely; a reliable goalkeeper and a decent centre forward ( I know - an old world name) but a decent striker who can battle defences and still score goals. None of the names so far quoted are " certs" otherwise he would be filling his desk drawers at Staplewood. Thankfully, no second chance for Hasenhuttl or Martin. Sadly, Gary O'Neil is disqualified from the start (not his fault), and most of the others are not interested and don't want to have their name linked with a struggling Championship side, or are merely waiting for the next Prem. manager to get the push. There is nothing to say we MUST appoint a permanent man before the weekend, or even the end of the month / year. The fact that Eckert has achieved a feat that few others have managed (two wins on the trot) maybe luck, but has the advantage over "others" in that he has been with the club for a while and long enough to recognise the majority of players by sight, and doesn't need a taxi, or GPS to find his way to "the workplace" (Staplewood). I'd give him a more time to prove his worth, and not have to be compared to Selles or Rusk meanwhile allowing "The Board" a longer time to make that vital decision.

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Jesus_02 added 23:25 - Nov 18 Why should WS be getting advice from Lallana? Its his first season as a coach. Come to think of it why is he even sat on the bench. Saints need to show some ambition and get a Manager in who Tonda would be happy to support as number 2 otherwise we will be in a situaltion where we bring some random in and he decideds to leave as well.He seems to have potential but I cant see how he would command any more respect than WS

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DellBoyWally added 01:32 - Nov 21 With Pep leaving Man City next summer and looking for a new project.................!!!
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