Where do Southampton FC go next after Marsch manager break down?

Saints had hoped to officially appoint Marsch prior to this weekend’s trip to Chelsea but they now will be back on the hunt for a third permanent manager of the season after talks broke down with the prospective new boss due to issues around contract length.

That phrase in itself - ‘third permanent manager of the season’ - speaks to the failure of the Saints hierarchy to properly address the issues from the end of last season and the issues that have plagued this one, leaving them rock-bottom of the Premier League table.

READ MORE: Saints manager hunt set to continue as Jesse Marsch talks break down

And now the mess continues with Marsch out of the equation and coach Ruben Selles set to lead the team out at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and potentially going forward with the club said to be looking at him as a viable longer-term option, whatever that actually means.

After the epic collapse to curtail last season’s promise, many thought it was time for Ralph Hasenhuttl to depart in the summer and give Sport Republic a fresh start ahead of their first full campaign as owners.

Instead, they chose to stick with the Austrian, and despite heavy investment on a number of promising young players, they failed to get him the attacking firepower his team so clearly and so desperately needed. 

Without the tools to succeed and seemingly on thin ice from the start - at least according to reports in the national media - Hasenhuttl retreated into his shell and the aggressive fearlessness that had defined his nearly four years in charge disappeared. 

Ralph Hasenhuttl was sacked by Saints earlier this season. (Image: Stuart Martin)

By November’s 4-1 defeat to Newcastle United, the writing was on the wall for Hasenhuttl as fan sentiment turned against him. And with the World Cup break on the horizon, it seemed the perfect time for a change. Sport Republic obliged and within days of Hasenhuttl clearing out his office at Staplewood, the new man was in place: Nathan Jones.

Handed a three-and-a-half-year contract, the faith in Jones from above was clear. The former Luton boss had been brought in to not only resurrect the current flailing campaign but lead the new era at Southampton Football Club.

That new era lasted less than three months.

From day one, Jones felt like an uncomfortable fit with the club. Perhaps he ticked all the boxes Sport Republic were looking for from a statistical standpoint, but on a human level, he never seemed right.

His underdog nature in itself was admirable but the ways in which he seemed to make up for the associated insecurities by harping extensively on his own achievements left a constant bad taste.

On top of that, Jones struggled to prove he had the tactical ability to get results against better teams at the highest level. The lack of progress following the World Cup break - coupled with the ensuing excuses - was hugely alarming.

And the inability to keep a single clean sheet, despite repeatedly talking about how he had to sacrifice attacking intent in order to shore up the defence, made a slight mockery of the supposed improvements he had seen.

Yet, Jones was part of recruitment discussions in January and he was thoroughly backed by Sport Republic with more than £40m worth of deadline-day attacking talent. It was clear even at that point that Jones was most likely not the right man to back but it certainly raised questions of what would have happened had Hasenhuttl received the same kind of support.

Either way, Jones lasted less than two more weeks following the arrivals of Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana. So, onto the third manager of the season.

As previously discussed that sentence in itself is ugly to read and the statistics back it up with four of the last five teams who had three managers in one season ending the campaign relegated to the Championship.

But truthfully, Sport Republic didn’t have much choice with Jones. The error was in appointing him and trusting him with the immediate and long-term stewardship of the club, not the decision to let him go. That had to happen.

Nathan Jones lasted just eight league games in charge of Saints. (Image: Stuart Martin)

Quickly, Marsch became the favourite for the vacant role. Only sacked by Leeds United last week, Marsch was an attractive candidate thanks to his experience in the Red Bull system - something appreciated by Sport Republic and Rasmus Ankersen - as well as his track record of helping rescue Leeds last season.

Marsch held talks with Saints on Monday and all noises from inside the club suggested he would indeed become the next manager of Southampton Football Club. But as the Saints world awaited an official announcement, the opposite arrived as news broke that the move was off.

In the simplest terms, it’s another embarrassing episode for Sport Republic who already had work to do in order to win back trust following the Jones debacle.

Was Marsch the right person for the job? His failure this season at Leeds as well as his struggles with RB Leipzig make that a fair question to ask. But regardless, the alternatives are looking potentially even more worrying.

Unlike Jones - who the board apparently felt had shown enough to warrant long-term confidence despite failing in his one job away from Luton - Marsch was only deemed worthy of a short-term deal until the end of the season.

The logic behind that is completely understandable. No one knows what Saints will look like in the summer, let alone what division they’ll be in. But it all looks a bit strange when viewed in the context of Jones’s contract and Marsch’s greater experience.

In many ways, Marsch seemed a decent fit for the job. Despite whispers of prickliness with players, the 49-year-old has a largely positive reputation in terms of the relationships he builds with his players, something Saints are desperate for following the turmoil under Hasenhuttl and Jones. 

Marsch’s pressing philosophy and belief in young players also connect with the way Sport Republic want to run the club while his experience managing across three countries in Europe is appealing. But apparently not as appealing as Jones and apparently not worthy of the same confidence.

Jesse Marsch was expected to become the new Saints boss until talks broke down. (Image: PA)

The weaknesses of Marsch’s management - the openness with which his teams operate and the lack of tactical flexibility he has shown - were worryingly similar to many of the problems that destroyed Hasenhuttl’s reign.

But as Leeds themselves display how difficult it is to recruit an experienced manager from a position of uncertainty, the concern now is that Marsch might have been the best Saints could have done.

They must now look elsewhere. And while nothing is confirmed and the future unclear, one of the leading candidates at least in the immediate appears to be Selles. Popular with the players and well-regarded within the club, Selles clearly has a bright future in the game. 

But he’s also never managed a single top-flight league game and going into the final months of the relegation battle with that kind of inexperience leading an already inexperienced group should set alarm bells ringing.

It’s the kind of decision that will make fans believe the Saints hierarchy have become resigned to relegation and with 16 games still to play, that kind of stance is unacceptable.

Selles might work miracles and he might also be gone in favour of someone with more experience as soon as next week. But herein lies the issue. With three-and-a-half months left in Saints’ season, there appears to be more and more questions mounting.

The lack of consistency and the lack of a clear plan from those in charge will worry Saints fans. And it should. Sport Republic have invested heavily and that fact breeds some level of confidence, if not patience. But they’re getting enough of the big decision wrong - and embarrassing the club in the process - to make supporter concerns valid.

But who knows how things will change. A week is a mighty long time in the world of Saints.