Southampton could only muster a 0-0 draw at home to struggling Hull City on Saturday as they bid to record a fourth successive top-half finish in the Premier League.
Claude Puel’s Saints had lost to both Chelsea and Manchester City prior to their meeting with Marco Silva’s men, yet produced an insipid and lacklustre display, summed up by Dusan Tadic’s late penalty miss after Maya Yoshida was brought down by Alfred N’Diaye in the box.
Nonetheless, the draw did maintain the South Coast outfit’s ninth place position in the Premier League table, and with just three games of the campaign remaining, they look set to record a fourth consecutive top ten finish in the top-flight, and first under manager Puel in his first season at the helm.
However, his first season could also turn out to be his last if recent reports are anything to go by, with it believed that the Frenchman may not be Saints boss next term after reported disagreements with players, as well as audible heckling from home supporters at St Mary’s on Saturday.
So this begs the question, should Puel stay on as Southampton boss going into next season, or should the Saints hierarchy look to bring someone else into the club?
Well, it’s fair to say that he has had a decent first season in charge at St Mary’s.
They look set to once again record a top-half finish, which would be their fourth in a row in the top-flight, and they may even be able to be the best placed side outside of the top seven this term should they pick up some victories from their last three matches.
The Saints have never really been in any danger of going down, yet were unlikely to replicate their sixth place finish from last term under Ronald Koeman, not necessarily because of Puel, but because the teams they mingled with last season got better and stronger over the summer.
Ultimately, last season’s Premier League raised expectations to an unrealistic level – Southampton finished above Chelsea and Everton last season, two clubs who brought in new managers and spent big in the summer, and if the Saints were to finish eighth this term, it’d be only those two that have overtaken them. That’s hardly disastrous.
And the South Coast side have once again suffered in the transfer windows, with last summer seeing Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama, and Graziano Pelle leave the club, while captain Jose Fonte also sealed a move away in the January window.
Any club in the division would suffer from seeing players like that leave the club, and when you look at how influential both Mane and Wanyama have been for Liverpool and Tottenham respectively, that’s not quality that is easily replaceable.
And that is why Puel deserves enormous credit for once again maintaining Southampton’s position in and around the lower echelons of the top half this term, and he also did something no Saints boss has managed since 2003 by leading his team to a major final.
The Saints produced an excellent League Cup run to knock out four Premier League oppositions, including Arsenal and Liverpool, en route to a Wembley final with Manchester United, and on another day, they could quite easily have beaten Jose Mourinho’s men.
Southampton are in a situation whereby they probably won’t go down, but probably won’t consistently break into the top six, so cup competitions are integral – Puel took that on board and led them to Wembley. He may not have won the League Cup, but he gave it a great go.
Yet it’s clear that Saints fans aren’t overly happy with the style of football Puel has produced at times this season, with some supporters heckling and booing in their dour draw with Hull last weekend – the tenth time they have failed to score in a match this term.
And when you consider that they have scored just 39 Premier League goals this season, the joint-least in the top half alongside West Brom, you can see where some of those Saints fans are coming from.
There have been times whereby the Frenchman has been quite negative this season, the Europa League winner-takes-all match with Hapoel Be’er Sheva springs to mind, and with reported unrest amongst some players as a result of this style, it’s difficult to envisage him being able to put forward his style and philosophy to players who aren’t overly happy with it.
However, Puel deserves to remain Southampton manager next season.
He inherited a squad that had to deal with the demands of the Europa League, which took place alongside a cup run to a Wembley final; he has had to deal with injuries to the likes of Tadic, Charlie Austin, and Virgil van Dijk; and he has still managed to lead them to the top half of the table.
He may need to tweak a few things to really get the best out of the squad, but after a first season in English football learning about his team and indeed the Premier League, he is in a position to do that, and thus deserves the chance to lead Southampton next term.