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Mauricio Pellegrino SACKED: Matt Le Tissier asked about vacant Southampton post
MATT LE TISSIER has ruled himself out of the running to replace Mauricio Pellegrino at Southampton - after a fan called on the club legend to step up.
Le Tissier isn't up for replacing Pellegrino at St Mary's
Argentine Pellegrino was sacked as Saints boss on Monday night with the south coast club languishing in 17th and only a point above the Premier League relegation zone.
But club legend Le Tissier isn’t up for stepping into Pellegrino’s shoes.
Asked on Twitter whether he felt it was time for him to step in, the 49-year-old joked: “With all my coaching experience, I think not!”
Southampton suffered a dire 3-0 defeat away at Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon, leaving them with just one win in their last 17 league games.
Pellegrino said after that loss: "I observed some players who gave up and we cannot show this, to be honest.
"When you are losing 2-0, you have to try. I think we tried to be in the game, to score one, but we were never a threat for Newcastle.
“You can have good players, you can have a budget, but without personality and spirit, it’s really difficult to compete at this level.”
With all my coaching experience i think not! https://t.co/tjHGRzESYm
— Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) March 12, 2018
The Saints face League One side Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend. They are look to reach the last four of the competition for the first time since finishing as runners up to Arsenal in 2003.
Pellegrino was appointed last June after Claude Puel's departure but endured a difficult campaign, with Southampton's run of five straight seasons finishing 14th or above almost guaranteed to come to an end this year.
He leaves having won just five of 30 Premier League games.
His successor will become the third manager at St Mary's in 18 months after Ronald Koeman left in June 2016.
Mauricio Pellegrino was sacked on Monday
Pellegrino appeared to have lost his players at Southampton
Former Stoke City and Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is the bookmakers' latest favourite for the post.
Slaven Bilic, Marco Silva and Martin O'Neill are the other likely candidates according to Oddschecker.
But unsurprisingly former midfielder Le Tissier, who scored 212 goals in 465 games for Southampton, is not among the names linked.
Until a replacement is appointed, coaches Kelvin Davis and Dave Watson will take training.