Next Southampton manager odds: Two horse race for St Mary’s hot seat

The sacking of Russell Martin didn’t come as a surprise, it felt like it had been a matter of when not if for a while and their 5-0 thrashing at home by Tottenham, coupled with Wolves’ decision to part company with Gary O’Neil meant the Saints board took action.

That defeat on Sunday left them rock bottom of the Premier League table with just five points from their first 16 games back in the top flight and with 13 defeats.

The most worrying thing though, is that they have scored just 11 goals, which is the lowest in the league, and conceded 36 which is the second-worst record behind Wolves.

The club must now decide which route they want to go down when appointing a replacement. Do they go for someone with Premier League experience and hope they can turn things around fast, or accept that they will be playing back in the Championship next season and appoint a manager for the long-term project?

Former Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand is firmly in contention to replace Martin at Southampton with bookmakers cutting him from 16/1 when the market opened on Sunday night to 5/2.

He is currently unemployed after leaving his position as Denmark national team coach in July meaning there will be no compensation due, and he is free to take over as soon as possible.

The 52-year-old spent four years in charge of the national team, with his biggest achievement undoubtedly guiding them to the semi-finals of Euro 2020, where they were narrowly beaten by England at Wembley.

His last club job was at Danish side Nordsjaelland where he spent two spells from 2011-2014 and 2016-2019 before leaving by mutual consent in March 2019.

His only job outside of Denmark came in 2014 when he replaced Thomas Tuchel at Mainz but he lasted just 24 matches before he was sacked for winning just five matches.

Hjulmand is just behind current Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl, who is odds-on for the job with some football betting sites after catching the eye at Wednesday, a team currently sat ninth in the Championship and five points off the play-off places.

He also has history at Southampton, after spending eight months at the club in 2019 as assistant manager to Ralph Hasenhuttl before leaving to join Bayern Munich, working as assistant to Hansi Flick who he followed to the national team for two years.

The 35-year-old took charge at Hillsborough in October 2023 with the club seven points from safety and he kept them up with wins over Blackburn Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland in their last three matches of the season.

With the German manager attracting interest from other clubs, including Sunderland, he signed a new three-year contract with the Owls in May so he will require some hefty compensation.

West Brom boss Carlos Corberan is currently third favourite with the betting sites at 13/2 and his side sit one place and three points above Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship table.

The Spaniard has plenty of experience in England, working as a coach at Leeds United, alongside Marcelo Bielsa before he took charge at Huddersfield Town.

He took them to the play-off final in 2022 when they were beaten to a place in the Premier League by Nottingham Forest.

After a brief spell in charge of Olympiacos, he returned to England to take charge of the Baggies. Again, he would require compensation as he is contracted to the club until 2027 and how excited Southampton fans would be about the appointment remains to be seen.

He is known as the draw specialist and hardly surprising when you check out his record! At Huddersfield, he drew 28 of his 108 games and 29 of his 106 at West Brom.

They currently have the joint highest number of draws in the Championship, alongside Preston North End, with 11. Although draws would be better than the defeats the Saints fans have endured so far it won’t be enough to keep them in the league.

It seems that Graham Potter and David Moyes are always in contention, according to the betting apps, with the pair both currently out of work.

Potter’s price fluctuates between 7s and 20/1, but after being linked with more high-profile jobs, he might feel he can get something better, either here or abroad.

David Moyes has been out of work, since leaving West Ham in the summer and would be an option if the club is going to back the manager in January to give themselves a fighting chance of staying in the Premier League.

Moyes might see that as a challenge he would be willing to try, but he’s unlikely to want to take on a team who have one eye on relegation and you can get 16/1 on him.

A surprise name on the list is Steve Gerrard, who is currently enduring a tough time in charge of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq. He is priced at 33/1 for the role but again an unlikely candidate with another two years left on his contract.

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