Southampton make managerial decision of their own ahead of clash with Javi Gracia at Leeds United
Southampton have made a managerial decision of their own ahead of the meeting with Leeds United as they are set to continue with Ruben Selles, talkSPORT reports.
The Whites finally appointed Javi Gracia on Tuesday (21 February) in haste ahead of the relegation six-pointer on Saturday (25 February), after suffering a worrying 1-0 defeat at Everton under Michael Skubala.
Assuming there is no issue with a work permit the Spaniard will be in the dug-out for the Saints game, with the hope that he can provide a new-manager bounce and some much-needed stability.
Skubala had been left in caretaker charge for longer than originally expected, and the positive signs from the two Manchester United matches disappearing at Goodison Park.
Southampton now appear to be going down the same road of sticking of their interim boss, with Seles stepping in after Nathan Jones was sacked on 12 February.
In contrast to Skubala, 39-year-old Selles does want the top job according to talkSPORT, and boosted his prospects with a 1-0 win at Chelsea on Saturday.
Unfamiliar
Both sides will walk out at Elland Road at the weekend with their third managers of the season in charge, and it is no coincidence that they are each in desperate need of the points in those circumstances.
Leeds United made a dreadful mess of sacking Jesse Marsch before scrambling through numerous potential candidates, hoping for the best with under-21s boss Skubala, then being forced to up their search again to get in former Watford boss Gracia.
Southampton arguably got it more wrong in replacing Ralph Hasenhuttl with Nathan Jones for what proved to be an embarrassing three month stint.
But Selles has got off to a good start, although Leeds’ recent record shows that a caretaker can’t always maintain that, so it is going to be instructive to see which managerial stance comes out on top on Saturday.
It is no secret that Gracia is a long way from first choice for the Whites board, but he is experienced and has had success elsewhere so the hope now has to be that belatedly, and after attempting to go in various other directions, the club have settled on the right answer.
Premier League survival is clearly under threat with the club currently in the relegation zone, so at this stage it doesn’t matter who it is as long as they can match Marsch at a minimum, with the American securing survival on the final day last season.
In other Leeds United news, the 49ers takeover is currently in jeopardy as Gracia comes in.