Southampton: Five alternatives to Jardim if Saints sack Mark Hughes

Sam Allardyce

There’s no way that Southampton – a mid-tier Premier League club – will be able to sack their manager without Allardyce’s hat being thrown into the ring. It wouldn’t be pretty, but it almost certainly ensure safety in the top flight.

Big Sam has divided the crowd over his years in the league as very often his teams play slow, counter-attacking, long-ball football which often results in very few goals being scored at both ends. With the Saints struggling for goals already, Allardyce doesn’t really seem like the answer.

But one interesting flip side to that is the former-England boss often installs great confidence in his defences and they often end up as the strongest part of his teams. With Southampton’s back-line seemingly very mentally fragile at the moment, they could take massive steps forward under a manager like Allardyce even if it was only until next summer.

While it’s still not going to be anyone’s first choice, it does make you think whether it’s something the Southampton board should consider.