'Very impressed': Simon Jordan names the manager Southampton should hire, more likely than Graham Potter

Today at 08:15 AM

As Premier League strugglers Southampton enter the market for a new manager, it did not take before Graham Potter’s name started doing the rounds as a potential Russell Martin replacement.

Is the former Brighton and Chelsea boss something of an Alan Curbishley for the modern age? A manager always included on the bookies’ lists, albeit while remaining out of the limelight year after year.

TBR understands that Graham Potter rejected Leicester City prior to the arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Guardian, meanwhile, reports that Wolves turned to Vitor Pereira after Potter rebuffed their advances too.

So, while some have suggested that Potter should be sitting right at the top of Southampton’s post-Martin wishlist, Simon Jordan cannot imagine a world in which a coach with his CV, even if his reputation took a beating at Stamford Bridge, will take over a team so seemingly doomed to relegation even before Christmas.

Southampton warned they have no chance of landing Graham Potter

“Someone thats capable of getting some momentum for the remainder of the Premier League season,” Jordan tells talkSPORT when asked what sort of coach Southampton should be prioritising [18 December, 11.45am].

“Someone who might be prepared to work in the Championship and have the capability of dragging them back.

“You are not going to get an elite manager to manage Southampton. You are not going to get a manager who has managed well in the Premier League [like Potter].”

TBR understands that Southampton like former Roma boss Ivan Juric and one-time Denmark tactician Kasper Hjulmand. Both are currently out of work. Unnattached managers are the priority, with Southampton not in any rush to trigger Carlos Corberan’s release clause at West Brom.

Yet, this has not stopped Southampton from expressing an interest in Danny Rohl, it seems.

According to reports, talks have already taken place with a man who has unfancied Sheffield Wednesday sitting only one place behind West Bromwich Albion in ninth.

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan claims to have heard, from his connections that Hillsborough, that 35-year-old Rohl is a coach boasting serious popularity.

The German rescued Sheffield Wednesday from relegation in 2023/24 before guiding The Owls into mid-table. Considering that Southampton are already nine points adrift of safety, the prospect of Rohl repeating such heroics at St Mary’s appears unlikely however.

Yet, his proven track record in England’s second tier should help offset the effects of relegation.

Simon Jordan backs Danny Rohl to replace Russell Martin

“The challenge is to maintain some order so Southampton can recover their poise and get back to the Premier League having learned some lessons,” Jordan adds. “If they can get the boy out of Sheffield Wednesday, he is clearly a capable operator. He navigated Sheffield Wednesday out of trouble last year.

“I know some of the players who are in there and I know they are very impressed with him. They are one point behind West Brom and spent no money to achieve it.

“If you are Carlos Corberan, would you take [the Southampton job]? I think he is a good manager. He did a good job at Huddersfield.

“Would he come from West Brom to Southampton? It depends on what is being pitched. Look, its a difficult one.”

Jordan feels that, whoever gets the gig, the first task must be to add an element of pragmatism to a Saints side who, during the miserable final few months of the Martin reign, gift-wrapped more presents than a Harrod’s employee in December.

“What you want is somebody who is going to be pragmatic and sensible,” he says. “If it isn’t working and it needs to change, then surely its about changing, adapting and finessing rather than scrapping [the plan].

“All we are asking of Southampton is to get rid of the ball when its worth getting rid of. They’ve helped the opposition beat them [this season].”