Southampton are renowned for making eye-opening managerial appointments.
When Nigel Adkins took over in 2010, Southampton were languishing in League One. Two seasons later he had guided them to back-to-back promotions and the top tier of English football.
His surprise sacking, followed by the unexpected appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, did not fill Southampton fans with much glee but the Argentinian took the Saints to new heights, finishing 8th in his first and only full season in charge.
Following his and many big first team player departures, the mood on the South Coast was unsurprisingly bleak once more, but Ronald Koeman worked his magic. They enjoyed a record 8-0 victory against Sunderland as well as an impressive league victory away at Old Trafford on the way to their best ever finish in the Premier League era, coming 7th.
However, this summer, Koeman departed for pastures new with Everton and Southampton have appointed another foreign manager to replace him.
Their past three managers – Nigel Adkins, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman – were all sceptically questioned upon their arrivals but impressive performances and results on the pitch quickly dispelled the doubters.
Now Claude Puel must do the same thing but who actually is he, and do the Saints have reason to believe?
Her we’ve compiled some interesting information regarding the new man…
He spent over 20 years at Monaco
Puel made 601 official appearances for Monaco in the French leagues and yet he only netted on four occasions. However, as a defensive midfielder, scoring goals wasn’t exactly a priority and Puel still won two French Championships and three French Cups with ‘Les Rouges et Blancs.’
After his career as a player, he became the physical trainer and manager of the reserve team before being appointed as the first team manager in January 1999 following Jean Tigana’s departure.
He found immediate success, winning the French Championship in his first full season as a coach with famous names such as Ludovic Giuly in his squad. However, in July 2001 his contract was not renewed and after 24 years in the tiny independent city-state, he left the club.
He became one of the longest serving managers in the French League at Lille
Puel was instated as Lille manager in July 2002 and went on to manage ‘Les Dogues’ for six consecutive seasons. Under his stewardship, they famously beat Manchester United 1-0 in 2005 as well as triumphing over Milan at the San Siro in a 2-0 victory.
Also famously, during a match against Manchester United in which Ryan Giggs scored a quickly taken free-kick, Puel was thought to have encouraged his players to walk off the pitch in protest. The game restarted after a short delay but it was a very controversial moment which Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson later labelled as ‘disgraceful’ in an interview with ITV.
However, despite the period of stability for the club, Puel was not able to win anything as manager before joining Lyon in 2008.
Puel guided Lyon to their first ever Champions League Semi-Final
The Frenchman became Lyon’s 4th different manager in 4 years but was the first of them not to win the league at the French side.
‘Les Gones’ dominance of Ligue 1 had been quashed by Bordeaux and they have not won a title since the 2007-08 season in which they won the League and Cup double.
However, whilst it wasn’t perfect for Puel on the domestic front, he was the first and only manager to guide Lyon to a Champions League Semi-Final in which they were defeated by Bayern Munich 4-0 on aggregate.
He achieved mixed success at Nice
His final job before this summer’s move to Southampton saw him in charge of OGC Nice, where he enjoyed mixed success.
In his first season in charge the team finished fourth, qualifying for Europe through their league standings for the first time in 37 years.
However, things took a bad turn in the 2013-14 season as Nice finished 17th, narrowly avoiding relegation as the club was getting used to its new home.
Puel was allowed to steer the ship however, and guided the club to an 11th place finish the following season before signing off having led the club to another 4th placed finish.
Southampton haven’t enjoyed a magnificent start to their Premier League season, though. Puel will be hoping he can make a quick turnaround and repay the faith the south coast club has shown in him.
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