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Journalist David Ornstein has claimed that Southampton could appoint a more experienced coach to help Ruben Selles.
The Lowdown: Selles set for the Saints job
It has been a pretty hectic week or so at Southampton, with the club relieving Nathan Jones of his duties after just 14 games at the helm and then failing to appoint Jesse Marsch as his successor.
The former Leeds United boss had reportedly verbally agreed to become the new Saints manager, only for talks to collapse at the final hurdle due to a disagreement on the length of the contract which was being offered.
Therefore, it appears as though Sport Republic are set to keep caretaker manager Ruben Selles in charge until the end of the season, which is a huge challenge for someone that’s never been a first-team manager.
The Latest: Southampton may bring in more experience
Given Selles’ inexperience, Ornstein has claimed on the NBC Sports YouTube channel that the Saints could well recruit a more experienced and tested coach to assist the Spaniard this season.
He said: “They’re going to have to look elsewhere, and in the meantime, they’re going to stick with Ruben Selles as coach. He’s said to be quite impressive – maybe they’ll bring in an experienced head alongside him.”
The Verdict: It’s a big ask for Selles
If Southampton believe handing Selles their vacant managerial role with no other help around him is a good idea, then they may well be better off preparing for the Championship right now.
The Saints find themselves rooted to the foot of the table, having won just once in their last 11 Premier League games, with a raft of young players signed across the two previous transfer windows possessing very little top-flight experience.
Since the summer recruitment drive, it seems as though the plan at Southampton has been all over the place, as they are on the hunt for their third permanent manager of the season and having spent in excess of £120m on 15 new faces, so regardless of any help Selles may get while in the Saints hotseat, anything other than relegation would be a miracle at this stage.
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