Nigel Adkins to be new Saints Manager

It has been widely reported today that Nigel Adkins is to become the new Southampton Manager and that a deal is on the brink of being done. Okay it is not the big name that was hoped for and he is not my ideal candidate for a new manager, but we have to realise that we are in League One - even if we do have Premiership ambitions. He does however have good record at Scunthorpe and if he is appointed in the next couple of days it is extremley important to get behing him, so we can start moving up that table.

Odds Slashed on O'Neil

Today has seen two major bookmakers, Victor Chandler and Paddy Power cut the odds on Martin O'Neil becoming the new Southampton manager dramatically. Martin O'Neil would be my dream candidate(I suppose Mouriniho is out of the question),and if we could get him it would be a major coup, but I fear it is out of the question. However the news today that Victor Chandler has slashed the odds from 33/1 to 5/1 and that Paddy Power have the odds at 2/1 give me renewed hope. I am sure it won't be too long now until we know.

Managerial Rumours

According to news reports there have been over 30 applications for the vacant managerial position. The tittle of this post is deliberate in the use of the word rumours, but according to sources Jurgen Klinsman has had a second interview; you heard it here first. Do I believe it? Well I won't rule it out but I heard the same about Martin O'Neil. We will have to wait and wonder a little more but this blog will be on top of all the stories. For now all I can leave you with is the fact that Phil Brown has once again become favourite, after many bets have been taken on him over the last few days. Does the market tell the story?

Tip of the Day

Every Friday I will be be offering a tip of the day for you to in your weekend accumulator coupons. Obviously there is no gurantee they will be correct. I am no Derren Brown but it is a bit of fun. Tomorrow's tip of the day is Aldershot to beat Northampton at home. In this League 2 fixture, the Shots will be too strong for the Cobblers.

A wait for a new Manager

It is being reported in the Daily Echo this evening that it may take some time before a permanent Saints manager is appointed. Cortese has said he his prepared to wait "however long it takes" to get the right man. There have so far been over 30applications. Undoubtedly there will be some exciting names amongst those names. Phil Brown is so far the only man to publicly throw his hat in the ring.

Lallana Injured

Today we have been met with the bad news that Southampton's influential playmaker and last seasons 20 goal hero is out for 6 weeks. He saw a surgeon yesterday and has had an operation on his knee problem. This is a serious blow for the team. What do you think? How will this influence our performance in the next month or so?

Saints Crash out of JPT

It went in a flash. Our defence of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy was over before it really began. Full credit to Swindon, they looked a class outfit; they took their chances well and defended solidly. Which is more than can be said for Saints, but that is what instability does to the team. It disrupts the routine, it knocks the confidence and it produces shocking results like we saw last night.

The fans showed their appreciation to Alan Pardew last night and this wasn’t just a reaction to the score line, his name was being sung at 0-0. It did a job in getting the message to Cortese though, and showing the depth of feeling amongst Saints fans to that decision he made on Monday.

Where do we go from here? Despite the chants last night we are not going to get Pardew back. So we have to move on, we need a manager and fast and we need to get behind that manager. It may take the new manager time to get the squad playing like they did under Pardew but with the fans vocal support this can happen quicker. It is all about the League now – promotion is the only target.