Three steps Southampton must take to get back to the Premier League

Mistakes have been made on and off the pitch this season with three managers and a bloated squad culminating in a losing culture.

Focus now switches to next season, in the Championship, with the view to an instant return to the Premier League. 

Finances are likely to be strong for the first couple of years with player sales, increased TV revenue in the second division and parachute payments. 

READ MORE: How Southampton's excitement unwrapped to become relegation disaster

But those at the club and, most importantly, the supporters will not want to languish here for longer than needed. Here are the three most important steps to take. 

Appoint a proper manager

One of the clearest reasons Saints have been relegated to the Championship is their failure to appoint Premier League-level managers on two occasions over the season.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is the only top-level coach the club has had this campaign despite Nathan Jones doing a stellar job in the Championship and Ruben Selles’s scholarly nature.

Only 14 games had been played when the Austrian was let go, yet Saints – who had amassed 12 points up to then – have so far failed to better his total in the following 24 fixtures.

Jones was a disaster off the pitch and the results he got were no better despite clear signs of identity and honesty.

Selles completely misunderstood the assignment with a bizarre and fatal focus on the process rather than the dire situation the club found itself in.

Now, as one of the more attractive jobs in the Championship, they can hire a manager who is fit to lead a group that will be expected to win more games than they do not.

You could make the claim that Sport Republic want a coach rather than a manager based on their previous two hires – someone they can perhaps influence or work above.

But ultimately the decisions they have made have been poor and the club would be better served with a confident manager who understands the demands supporters will have.

The very first task must be selecting the right man to sit in the hot seat and doing so quickly will aid with the direction of the transfer window – the January one with a coach in limbo was disastrous.

Adequately reshape the squad

It is a task easier said than done losing the dead weight in a squad, in order to replace it with fresh enthusiasm and profiles that suit the desired playing identity.

Saints have a squad that is far too big with around 30 senior players. They are going to lose a handful of their best players including the likes of Kyle Walker-Peters, James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia.

They will make a decent amount of money off of at least half a dozen such names and that will help to balance the books following the decrease in revenue in the Championship.

The significant reset off the pitch is likely to be matched on the pitch but the club actually already have – even after all of these desired sales – a decent Championship squad.

James Bree and Tino Livramento for example competing in one position, while Will Smallbone will bolster the midfield ranks on return from loan after performing well with Stoke City.

Moi Elyounoussi, Theo Walcott and Willy Caballero are out of contract. Saints must also find a way to shift players such as Mislav Orsic, Ibrahima Diallo and – if they will not play him – Paul Onuachu.

They need to open up space in the squad for marquee signings and top academy prospects, in order to attack the Championship with the right balance of youth and experience.

Players like Che Adams and Adam Armstrong are likely to have interest and despite their previous Championship exploits they could leave to make way for new blood.

Rebuild the connection with the city

As is natural when the club is facing such dire times, it feels like the connection between the club and supporters has been lost a little bit this season.

However, I think it goes beyond the usual frustration with results. And it is always worth saying that the club’s away following remained exceptional until the bitter end.

We have had this season the whole fiasco with Block 1 of the Itchen North being closed and season ticket holders being relocated due to fan trouble.

Toby Steele and Martin Semmens left some supporters feeling frustrated with the slightly tone-deaf way they addressed the situation at the August fans’ forum.

Sport Republic themselves remained largely silent until the second half of the season but made blunders with managerial appointments and January recruitment.

This has led to some supporters harbouring concerns over their ability to bring the club back into the Premier League.

This has been accentuated by an unprecedented number of senior staff and board members resigning and departing the club this season.

For example, director of football Matt Crocker, academy director Matt Hale and managing director Toby Steele are all among those leaving at the end of the campaign.

We have also had managers alienating their fans with post-match press conferences – Jones and Selles both lost any support they had externally during their tenures.

Jones was probably for being too honest and Selles was probably for going too far the other way and attempting to pull the rug over our eyes.

Whatever happens next season, the club need to find a way to rekindle the love of their local support and win everybody over to achieve their objectives and march on.