Southampton sack Nigel Adkins, appoint Mauricio Pochettino

Southampton FC have announced via official channels that they have relieved manager Nigel Adkins of his duties, and appointed Mauricio Pochettino as his replacement. This comes as a shock to many, considering how Adkins had lead the Saints to consecutive promotions from the League One to the Premier League in two years.

Coming as it does just days after Southampton came from behind to snatch a draw against Chelsea, after having recently dragged the club out of the relegation zone, it makes fans and neutrals alike wonder why the board may have lost faith in Adkins’ five-year plan for the club.

This is what the official Twitter channel had to say:

Now, even with the appointment of Pochettino as the first team manager, rumours are floating around linking former West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea boss, Robeto Di Matteo with the job. RDM seems to be hot property this time of the season, with the bosses at Aston Villa also wanting him in the hot seat at their club.

Pochettino, whose most famous incident has to be when he brought down Michael Owen to concede a penalty in the World Cup of 2002, where his Argentinian team exited at the group stages, was in charge of Espanyol from ’09 – ’12, and will take over responsibilities immediately.