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SAINTS fans have spoken in an online poll of Daily Echo readers.
The majority want Claude Puel out of Southampton Football Club.
The result of an online poll run by the Daily Echo revealed that 68 per cent of supporters who voted would like to see the under pressure boss head for the St Mary’s exit door, while 32 per cent say he should stay.
Puel led Saints to an eighth place Premier League finish and the EFL Cup final at Wembley, but, despite that, the crowd has been displeased with the manager’s leadership of the team.
A drab style of play, chronic lack of goals, poor recent results and a non-existent relationship with the support base have all contributed to the boss’s popularity sinking lower and lower.
Now, as Saints conduct an inquest into the season just gone, the St Mary’s faithful have let their voices heard.
The boos and chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ in Saints’ last day defeat to Stoke was enough to suggest that the supporters had turned on their manager.
But, now, the Daily Echo can reveal that of 8,000 fans surveyed, around 5,440 of them are eager to see the back of Puel.
Around 2,560 want the 55-year-old to stay on and give it another crack next season, but they are significantly outnumbered by those who want change.
Currently, Saints are going through the process of deciding their manager’s future and part of that will likely take in to account the supporters’ feelings on the issue.
An internal end of season review is taking place, with vice-chairman of football Les Reed and director of recruitment and scouting Ross Wilson taking the lead during the process.
Puel will be present himself at the meetings with the end result of the Frenchman either keeping his job or heading for the exit door.
There are several sore subjects that have caused unrest among fans, especially in the closing weeks of the season.
Saints won just one of their final eight matches and did not score in any of their last five games at St Mary’s, which only added fuel to the flames over the lack of goals throughout the campaign.
In all, Puel’s men managed just 17 strikes in 19 home fixtures in the league.
That, combined with Saints’ often unattractive style of play, led to some very boring performances at St Mary’s.
That displeasure is also partly a result of events earlier in the season, with Saints exiting the Europa League in disappointing fashion and an embarrassing FA Cup elimination, which saw Saints defeated 5-0 by Arsenal at home in the fourth round.
The constant rotation and lack of entertainment has fed into these ill feelings too.
But there can be no arguing that the Frenchman has delivered a very respectable eighth place finish in the Premier League and a Wembley final in the EFL Cup.
All of that came amid a backdrop of an arduous 53-game campaign and long-term injuries to talisman Virgil van Dijk and top-scorer Charlie Austin.
These topics are likely to be at the forefront of the debrief that is currently under way in the bowels of St Mary’s.
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