‘This is what the dressing room need’ – Matt Le Tissier tells Southampton who should be the next manager
Southampton must appoint a new manager who has had a strong career at both playing and managerial level so they command respect from their players.
That is according to Southampton icon Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that the club have had 150 applicants for the vacant role as manager.
Southampton endured a dismal Premier League campaign in 2024-25 but looked to be entering a new dawn under highly-rated boss Will Still after his appointment in May.
He was only able to lead them to two wins in their first 13 league outings of the season, however, and Still was sacked recently with the club languishing in 21st place.
Southampton yet to appoint a new manager as numerous targets linked
Interim boss Tonda Eckert has led the Saints to successive wins against QPR and Sheffield Wednesday since his exit, and has not been ruled out of the running for the full-time job.
Football Insider revealed in-between those two games that Eckert could be appointed as the new Southampton manager if he earns decent results, but other names are also known to be in contention.
Gary O’Neil has been linked to taking over at St Mary’s, but Football Insider have revealed that O’Neil is in talks to become the new Middlesbrough manager as Rob Edwards makes his way to Wolves.
Football Insider revealed last week that Russell Martin was in contention to return to Southampton less than a year after he was sacked while they were in the top-flight, but support for him has lessened in their boardroom since initial reports emerged.
Le Tissier wants experienced boss who can command respect in charge of Southampton
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former England international and Premier League legend Le Tissier insisted that the club need to appoint a manager who, unlike Still, has extensive managerial history and was well-known in their playing days to command respect from the players.
He said: “Firstly, you’ve got to decide on the kind of profile of the manager that you want before you then go looking through. I know they’ve had 150 people apply for the job. It is a good club and there’s great facilities there.
“They’ve had decent financial backing. I mean, you could probably argue that a lot of that money has been spent on people who didn’t fulfil potential, which is one of the reasons why we are where we are at the moment.
“It’s going to be a tricky one for them. I personally feel like, at the moment, given what’s happened to the club in the last two or three years, it needs somebody in there that’s had good experience, (someone) who had a good playing career, who can go in there and command a little bit of respect because of what he’s done in the game previously.
“I feel like that’s what the dressing room needs at the moment. That’s not always the case, but I just feel like at the moment that seems to be what it needs down there.”