Southampton became the fifth club already this season to sack their manager after parting ways with Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday (November 7).
The Austrian was relieved of his duties on the back of Sunday’s 4-1 home defeat by Newcastle, with the Saints languishing in 18th and one point off safety following just three wins from their first 14 games of the season.
Ruben Selles has stepped up as interim manager for the time being, but Luton boss Nathan Jones is already the front runner after Southampton were given permission to speak to the Welshman just hours after Hasenhuttl was sacked.
Mirror Football takes a look at some of the early favourites for the job at St Mary’s Stadium.
Nathan Jones
Jones has become the early favourite to take over from Hasenhuttl as Southampton manager after the Championship outfit released a club statement to confirm that they had given permission for the Saints to speak with the 49-year-old.
The Welshman has done a stellar job with the Bedfordshire side over two spells with the club, beginning with his first between 2016-2019 as he guided them to promotion from League Two as runners-up during the 2017/18 campaign.
Following an unsuccessful 10-month spell with Stoke City in 2019, he returned to Luton in May 2020. After helping to save them from relegation, he then took them to the play-offs last season, before being handed the Manager of the Season award as a result of his efforts.
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Marcelo Gallardo
Marcelo Gallardo is also high up on the list of potential candidates to take over at St Mary’s but Southampton fans can be excused if they raise an eyebrow or two at the prospect of appointing the relatively-unknown Argentine manager.
Gallardo is the boss of South American giants River Plate, where he has been at the helm since 2014. During his time at his homeland club, the 46-year-old has scooped up 14 trophies, including the league title in 2021 and the Copa Libertadores on three occasions.
The former Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder also won the South American Coach of the Year award three years running (2018, 2019, 2020). Napoleon, as he is called by River Plate fans, would be Southampton’s third Argentine manager after Mauricio Pochettino and Manuel Pellegrini.
Kjetil Knutsen
Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen is third on the list of favourites to become the next Southampton manager after making a name for himself with the Norwegian champions.
The 54-year-old has been with Bodo/Glimt since 2018 and in that time has guided them to consecutive league titles in 2020 and 2021, while taking them to the quarter-finals of the inaugural Europa Conference League last season.
That included a famous 6-1 defeat of Jose Mourinho's Roma in the group stage, before going one further this season and sealing Bodo’s place in the Europa League. Knutsen, who has been linked with a number of Premier League jobs this year, has won the Eliteserien Coach of the Year award in the past three seasons.
Next manager odds
Nathan Jones - 1/3
Marcelo Gallardo - 5/1
Kjetil Knutsen - 16/1
Domenico Tedesco - 20/1
Sean Dyche - 20/1
*Via oddschecker, odds subject to change.
