The manager's perch in the dugout at St Mary's has barely gone cold and already former Saints boss Will Still is reportedly in talks with a rival Championship club. In Sport Republic's haste to cover for their own mistakes, have they let a really good manager go too soon?
Norwich City parted ways with Liam Manning after a disastrous start to the season and the Canaries have wasted no time in hunting for a replacement. According to BBC Sport reporter, Nick Mashiter, Still is just one of at least three names that Sporting Director Ben Knapper has been sounding out.
New names going into the story with Will Still and Jon Dahl Tomasson having also been spoken to. #ncfc https://t.co/NptRGqkWxj https://t.co/BI3M0vF7mY
— Nick Mashiter (@nickmashiter) November 12, 2025
Apparently Norwich have also held face-to-face talks with Gary O'Neil, another manager on Southampton's radar, and former Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson.
A cowardly way out for Sport Republic
In the weeks leading up to Will Still's dismissal, the Southampton crowd were turning against Sport Republic in the main. With the team doing so poorly and the manager not having the expected impact, something had to give. That something was always going to be Will Still.
Perhaps a braver group than Sport Republic might have given Still a little more time, at least up to the international break, to see if he could turn things around. A trip to inconsistent QPR and a home match against struggling Sheffield Wednesday were always likely to be winnable games and maybe Southampton would have won them under Still.
Clearly Still is not a bad manager and this could be a case of letting him go before he could really make his mark. If he is successful in securing a job at another Championship team it could really come back to bite Johannes Spors on the rump.
Southampton may not have been struggling quite as badly as Norwich City have been under Liam Manning, but fortunes can change quickly in football. If Still does end up at Carrow Road and gets Norwich moving up the table, it could put Saints back in deep trouble.
On the other hand, if he goes to one of the Championship teams who are actively seeking a manager, like Swansea or Middlesbrough, he could end up doing a far better job with less resources than he had at Southampton. What would that say about Sport Republic's squad building?
Southampton have hit the panic button way too soon
If sacking Will Still was the right thing to do and not just a face saving exercise on Sport Republic's part, surely they would have started putting plans for Still's replacement in place sooner. Still's sacking was a knee-jerk reaction. It was like hitting the panic button before the lift doors had even finished closing. Tonda Eckert is hardly the person anybody would want to come to their rescue!
Southampton have been led from one terrible appointment to another under Sport Republic. Now, they need to get the next appointment spot on. Southampton are not out of relegation trouble just yet and Spors can hardly afford to get the manager recruitment wrong again.
Sport Republic may have earned themselves a very temporary reprieve from Saints fans. Unless things continue to improve and they recruit an established manager with Championship experience, that reprieve won't last long.