Danny Murphy has told Southampton manager Ruben Selles he needs to "calm down" after admitting he'd have struggled to play for the Spaniard.
Selles was in the dugout on Monday night as his Saints side fell to a dramatic 4-3 defeat at Nottingham Forest. The loss leaves them on the verge of relegation from the Premier League, with an eight point gap to an Everton team who won at Brighton earlier in the day.
Murphy, who played for the likes of Liverpool and Fulham in the Premier League, worked with former England boss Roy Hodgson at the latter and ex-France manager Gerard Houllier at the former. Neither, he says, had a similar approach to Selles.
“The manager needs to calm down,” Murphy said during his talkSPORT commentary. “He makes me anxious, never mind his players.
“I’ve seen some managers who are up and down on the touchline but he’s kicking every ball, he’s trying to tell every player where to be with every action they take. It would drive me insane being close to him on that pitch.
"I was very lucky. I played under Dario Gradi, Gerard Houllier, Roy Hodgson, very calm managers," Murphy added, before later stressing top manager will show emotion but not in the same way. “Pep Guardiola can be very animated, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta can be but this is quite out there,” he argued.
“There’s a lot going on, he looks nervous, anxious, all those things. I think if you’re a player in a relegation dogfight and you’re seeing him, I think that adds to your woes, it doesn’t help you."
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Selles took over in February - initially in a caretaker role and then permanently - with Southampton bottom of the table. He picked up seven points from his first four games, but seven defeats in the following nine have made relegation a near-certainty.
Forest raced into a 3-1 half-time lead on Monday, with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring twice and Morgan Gibbs-White netting from the penalty spot after Carlos Alcaraz had pulled a goal back. Lyanco also netted in the second period, but Danilo extended Forest's lead to ensure James Ward-Prowse's late spot-kick was too little, too late for Selles' team.
"The challenge was there for us," the Spaniard told Sky Sports after the defeat. "We had enough games to change the situation, get more points and get out of the relegation [zone].
"Let's not make excuses, I am as responsible as anyone here and I thought I'd be able to win more matches. It has been a hard task. We've been competitive but not found the results we needed."
