Southampton fires manager Claude Puel

Nearly a month after the Premier League season ended, the Saints make a change.

Next season, Southampton will have their fourth manager in five years. They fired Claude Puel on Wednesday, deciding to move in a different direction after a slightly disappointing season. The Southampton board apparently struggled to come to this decision quickly — the season ended nearly a month ago — and now looks likely to end up behind schedule in the transfer market and preseason preparation.

While Southampton finished the campaign with a negative goal differential, their eighth-place standing was far from embarrassing. Puel, who previously had spells in charge of Monaco, Lille, Lyon. and Nice, will depart a job after just one season for the first time in his career.

“We are confident that we will find the right fit in line with the long-term vision of the club,” Southampton said in their release announcing Puel’s sacking, perhaps implying that he didn’t see eye-to-eye with upper management when it came to their philosophies.

Saints chairman Ralph Krueger will be looking for someone who can get the best out of his team’s expensive signings from last summer. Sofiane Boufal, Nathan Redmond and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg all underperformed expectations but showed flashes of brilliance. Southampton’s continued success depends on smart transfer business, and they can’t avoid costly flops if they want to compete for a European place.

Most will expect Krueger’s first call to be to Thomas Tuchel, who recently left Borussia Dortmund. Also expected to be in the running are Reading boss Jaap Stam and Argentine manager Mauricio Pellegrino, who just had a successful season with Alaves. But Southampton is a club that regularly thinks outside the box, so don’t be surprised if their next manager is someone who isn’t currently on anyone’s radar screen.