SAINTS legend Matt Le Tissier reveals how he offered to manage his struggling former side back in 2005, admitting: “I did offer my services at one point.”

Obviously, it never came to fruition and Le Tissier went instead into broadcasting, and into a lengthy role as a Sky Sports pundit on Soccer Saturday.

In an interview with Dorset Echo, Le Tiss tells how he never really had the aim of going into management, but how he thought “the club couldn’t get any worse” even if he was in charge.

After qualifying for the UEFA Cup during 2003-04, Saints then suffered relegation from the Premier League in 04-05 with Harry Redknapp at the helm – and then struggling again in the Championship, before George Burley rescued the club to a midtable finish in the division.

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It was when Redknapp departed that Le Tissier thought he’d fancy a go, saying: “It was never really an ambition of mine to do any kind of managing.

“I did offer my services at one point to Southampton, back in 2005 when they were struggling halfway down the Championship.

“We’d been relegated, Harry Redknapp left and that’s when I kind of said: ‘If you’re desperate, I’ll have a go’.

Daily Echo: Saints legend Matt Le Tissier (Pic: PA)Saints legend Matt Le Tissier (Pic: PA)

“I didn’t think the club could get any worse, it was in a bad way at that stage. But I never had a great ambition to become a manager, it’s never bothered me that that hasn’t transpired.”

Burley eventually led Saints to the playoffs in 06-07 before penalty heartbreak following a thrilling 4-4 aggregate draw with Derby County.

But he then resigned midway through the next campaign and the serious instability left Saints in danger of relegation on the final day of the season, relegation that would then eventually come in May 2009 anyway.

If Le Tiss had got the Saints job, how different would the club look now?

Explaining his decision to go into broadcasting, Le Tiss continued: “Some players just leave the game altogether and don’t want to know.”

Daily Echo: Matt Le Tissier became a broadcaster after retiring from football (Pic: PA)Matt Le Tissier became a broadcaster after retiring from football (Pic: PA)

He added: “I was never going to be that kind of person, I love my football too much to not be involved in some way.

“When the media opportunities started cropping up, I jumped at the chance.

“Yes, it was my job for 17 years but really I was just a kid who loved football. To talk about it and get paid for it was pretty cool.

“We had great fun (on Soccer Saturday). We built up a really good camaraderie over a lot of years. We were there for probably the best part of 15 years.

“We knew each other like the back of our hand, what wound each other up and what we could say just to annoy the other one a little bit.

“For all the debates we had – sometimes they got a bit heated, we were strongly opinionated – it was great.

“You could disagree, move on to the next subject and it was forgotten. Everyone was mates again and it was fine. That’s the way it should be.”