Le Tiss: No need to panic

28 May 2014 14:32

Matthew Le Tissier has laughed off suggestions that Southampton will go into meltdown following Mauricio Pochettino's exit for Tottenham - a move he believes the former Argentina international may well end up regretting.

Months of speculation finally came to an end on Tuesday when it was announced that Pochettino had swapped St Mary's for White Hart Lane, penning a five-year contract to become Tim Sherwood's successor.

The departure leaves Southampton facing a tough rebuilding job this summer, exacerbated by the vultures circling overhead.

Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren are just some of the players attracting serious interest, but fans' favourite Le Tissier rejected the notion that this is a sink-or-swim summer on the south coast.

"This football club has sold a lot of good talent and people have written us off before," he told Press Association Sport.

"We keep producing players and if you lose a couple, we've got players that can come through and take their places.

"If we do lose a couple, we'll have a lot of money there to go out and spend, so I think, for me, if you appoint a decent manager who is going to use the money wisely, then I don't see any reason why we can't have a similar season to last season.

"We've been doing it for years, back to Alan Shearer's time. I remember people back then saying 'you've sold Shearer, you're going to get relegated'. I don't go with the whole meltdown, panic thing."

So far no outstanding candidates have come to the fore in terms of succeeding Pochettino, who also took his backroom staff with him to Spurs.

Le Tissier mentioned Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe and Steve McClaren as potential British appointments, although he suspects Southampton will again plump for a foreign manager.

"We have to put our faith in the people that choose the managers. The people that make those decisions have more knowledge of that kind of thing than we have got as fans," said Le Tissier at an event with Vauxhall, the England team sponsor.

"We have to put our trust in them and hopefully they make the right decision."

Murat Yakin and Ronald Koeman are the current bookmakers' favourites to take the St Mary's hotseat, while former Swansea manager Michael Laudrup is said to be in the running.

Press Association Sport understands Sunderland will resist any moves for Gus Poyet. while a number of other candidates have been given short prices by the bookies.

Saints chairman Ralph Krueger has pledged to find a "high-calibre manager" to fill the void left by Pochettino, whose departure Le Tissier believes could return to haunt the new Spurs head coach.

"I probably wouldn't have made the same move, to be honest," he said.

"I think in his position, his stock is very high. I maybe would have waited for a different club.

"The managers in the last few years at Spurs have not been given a fair crack of the whip and the pressure is on there.

"If he is not in the top four by Christmas, he will be under pressure.

"It is not a club that I would have said was the best one he could have maybe done for his career prospects."

Source: PA