The Premier League witnessed the first sacking of the season on Wednesday after Fulham sent Slavisa Jokanovic packing, a decision that could well trigger a reaction from one or two of the Cottagers’ relegation rivals.
The new favourite for the chop is, unsurprisingly, Southampton boss Mark Hughes. The Welshman is clinging onto his job for dear life following a shambolic start to the campaign, during which his band of sorry strugglers have scraped a solitary win from their opening 12 games, leaving them 17th.
The Saints axed vice-chairman Les Reed last week, and now Hughes could well suffer the same fate, whether that’s during the current international break or in a weeks time should his troops come up short against Fulham and their new boss Claudio Ranieri.
The next Southampton manager market has been open for a couple of months now, although Southampton supporters have been left desperately uninspired by the calibre of names in the frame.
We’re talking Steve Bruce, David Moyes, and Sam Allardyce – you get the picture.
However, a brand spanking new name has now surprisingly burst into contention in Leonardo Jardim who can be backed at a sizzling 6/1 to jet over to the south coast, in what would be a huge managerial coup for the Saints.
Jardim, who has recently been linked with both Man Utd and Real Madrid, was sent packing by Monaco last month, but it’s so far not proved to have been the wisest move by the French side, with his replacement Thierry Henry yet to win any of his six games at the helm, losing four.
While Monaco endured a poor start to the season under Jardim, the Portuguese coach previously led The Monégasques to Ligue 1 glory in 2016/17, and the Champions League semi-final in the same season, during which he employed a dazzling brand of pulsating football with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar, Fabinho and Benjamin Mendy all since bagging big money moves away.
Should Saints sack Hughes and somehow lure Jardim over in the other direction, they will hope he can sprinkle his magic over at St Mary’s, although in truth he’d have his work cut out with a squad overall desperately needed – but if he can get goal-shy Shane Long firing then the FIFA Manager of the Year award will be his.