Southampton: Would a defeat to Fulham the final straw for Pellegrino?
By Chris Hughes
Despite the board’s apparent backing of him, Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino will know that tomorrow’s encounter with Fulham is a must-win.
The Saints bowed out of the Carabao Cup at the first attempt back in August, with Pellegrino excused due to it being early days with Wolves being a dominant Championship side.
However, four months later the Argentine has just four wins to his name in all competitions, with the majority of the Southampton fanbase calling for his sacking.
This weekend Pellegrino and his Saints side face off against Fulham side who are tenth in the Championship – but the supporters aren’t full of confidence.
With three first-team defenders out and strikers who can’t score, the relegation-threatened side could be on the end of an upset this weekend. If the Saints do lose, can Pellegrino be excused any more?
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Despite Wolves’ impressive season, the Saints should still of dispatched them but it was early days for Pellegrino and he was forgiven – a loss to Fulham would be totally inexcusable.
The London side are still within a shout of reaching the playoffs but they’re also sitting mid-table in the Championship – despite injuries, there’s no way the Saints can’t win, on paper at least.
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A victory wouldn’t do much in terms of prolonging his potential stay on the south coast but a loss would definitely be the final straw. Two cup exits to Championship sides with the Saints also flirting with relegation makes for a pretty poor first half of a campaign in English football.
The board have come out to back the 46-year-old but with the fans booing every poor result, how much longer than they hold out? Pellegrino has been coy on transfer rumours but with £75 million in the bank and a week of January nearly already having passed, the Saints haven’t seemed to have got close to signing anyone.
Suitable reinforcement is perhaps the only thing that would give the Southampton manager extra time in charge, with limited signings over summer it’s hard to judge this as a ‘Pellegrino’ side just yet.
But with over half the season gone and the jury already out, would a loss to Fulham in the FA Cup tomorrow be the final straw for the man who has been branded ‘tactically naive’ and ‘totally incompetent’ by his own fanbase?