Former Southampton manager Will Still, who was sacked in November 2025 with the club just three points above the Championship relegation zone, has spoken out about his time on the south coast.
In an interview with The Overlap Breakdown, Still gave his honest thoughts on why he failed at Southampton, the struggles he faced, and the style of play he tried to implement.
Still explains Southampton failure
Southampton parted ways with Will Still just 13 games into the 2025/26 Championship season, with the club lingering in 21st place - just three points off the relegation zone.
Since his departure, the Saints have risen as high as fourth in the table and are currently on an 18-game unbeaten run in the league.
Will Still told The Overlap’s Breakdown show about his time at the club, “I didn’t bring any staff with me [to Southampton]. I was building a relationship with them [coaches Trollope & Lallana], the players and the board. Ultimately, I just ran out of time.”
“I can think of a load of reasons that it didn’t work out. Our playing squad was massive and we had to skim through that, and they’ve finally got to a place where they’ve got the squad that they needed and want.”
Still continued, "There were a lot of things that I did wrong, I will hold my hands up to that. But there were a few really good performances, away to Liverpool in the cup, Swansea at home, played well. But when you wanted to click, it never quite did."
The 33-year-old also made a surprising admission about his team selection, as a manager who used many combinations of centre backs, "I should probably have used Jack Stephens, and a load of players, in a different way, but there were so many players that you just kind of got overloaded.
"It's just football, they made a decision they had to make, and it's worked out."
It’s a respectable and honest admission from Still to say the decision of Sporting Director Johannes Spors to sack him turned out well for the club, however obvious a take it is.
But the interview was missing one statement that Still was never going to publicly admit.
An interview missing one big admission
The biggest issue for Will Still at Southampton was not the style of play. However poor they were in games, the formation, or the way the Saints were set up, was never the resulting factor.
"I wanted to play vertical & attract people with runs, but the team were used to playing Russell Martin football. I got to a stage where, 'Ok, we're not playing into midfield in the first phase.' It's extreme and I didn't want that to happen," said Still.
While Still can talk about systems as much as he likes, the reason he failed was not because of the players wanting to play ‘Russell Martin football’ - that’s a complete cop out.
He may be right that it was a factor, but the players never bought into what Will Still wanted to do - and that is only his fault, not anyone else's.
Since Still’s departure, Southampton have gone on a third-longest league unbeaten run in their history, and remain on it to this day - currently 18 games without defeat in the Championship.
While Still defended himself in the interview, he respectfully said, “I’m delighted that they are where they are because the club deserves to go back up and the supporters deserve it. I’ll always have this part of regret that I didn’t get it right.”
All parties would have wanted it to work out for Will Still and Southampton, but it just wasn’t to be.
The arrival of Tonda Eckert has seen the players buy into their new manager both tactically and in their hard work on the pitch - that’s what Still was missing.
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