3 Will Still replacements Southampton must consider if Sport Republic make big sack decision | OneFootball

Will Still has won just two of his 12 league games in charge at Southampton so far, with his position under scrutiny

Former Reims and Lens manager Will Still has won just two of his 12 league games in charge at Southampton so far after joining the Saints over the summer, replacing now-Atalanta boss Ivan Juric following the club's relegation from the Premier League.

Upon their immediate relegation back to the Championship, things haven't exactly gone to plan for Southampton or their new head coach, Will Still.

The Saints sit in 20th in the league table, with just two wins, six draws and four defeats, seeing them sit just three points above the relegation zone.

Southampton were largely expected to be competing in and around the top of the table at this stage, possessing, on paper, one of the strongest squads in the division, having invested heavily in it this summer.

However, it has not transpired that way, and after just five months in the job, having undertaken the role in late May this year, Still's role as Saints boss has come under scrutiny, with a late defeat away at Blackburn Rovers, where they led 1-0, compiling misery upon the Englishman.

Still has yet to settle on a preferred lineup or formation, tweaking his side game by game. In France, with both Reims and Lens, the 33-year-old often deploys a 3-4-3 system, which he has tried to implement at St Mary's, but doesn't seem to have settled on it, also using a 4-2-3-1 shape on occasion.

Whilst being tactically flexible and not wedded to one specific style or system has its advantages, Southampton and Still risk becoming a jack of all trades but a master at none, and without finding a settled side and system, it could prove to be his downfall on the South Coast.

Should the Englishman lose his first role in management in his native country, Football League World has looked at three managers who could come in and replace Still in the St Mary's dugout.

Michael Carrick

To date, Michael Carrick has had only one senior management role in football, coming through his two-and-a-half-year stint with Championship side Middlesbrough.

On Teesside, the former Manchester United and England midfielder won 10 of his first 14 games in charge after taking over in October 2022, with Boro in the relegation zone at the time of his arrival, and would help to lift them off the foot of the table towards the play-offs, in a miraculous turnaround of form.

Carrick would go on to help Middlesbrough achieve a fourth-place finish in the Championship in his first seven months in charge after it looked like they could be involved in a relegation battle, but would ultimately lose out to Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals.

His next season in charge was one marred by frustration, as although Boro played some nice stuff at times, they could only manage to finish in eighth, just outside the play-off positions, before a similar story would occur the following season, finishing in tenth and resulting in Carrick losing his role.

The 44-year-old has been out of management since, and could be a potential candidate for the Southampton job, and Saints fans will be hoping he can work some of his similar magic as he did when he first took charge at Boro and lift them up the table.

Steven Gerrard

From one former England midfielder to another, Steven Gerrard has been out of management for nearly a year now after leaving Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq by mutual consent in January 2025.

Having managed each of Rangers, Aston Villa, and Al-Ettifaq, the 45-year-old looked primed for a return to the former this month following the dismissal of former Saints boss Russell Martin at Ibrox, but he would turn it down and is still available.

Gerrard helped Rangers win the Scottish league title in the 2020/21 season, going unbeaten in the process, which led him to get the Villa job in November 2021, although his time in the Midlands was mixed, and the Villains regressed under his leadership, leading him to be replaced by Unai Emery after 11 months in charge.

He would go on to spend one-and-a-half years in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq and has been out of a role ever since, and should Southampton move for the Liverpool legend, it would be his first job in the Championship.

It's unclear whether he would be open to taking a role in the English second tier, having already managed in the Premier League, but he could view the Saints as a long-term job and help rebuild them back to the Premier League.

Ralph Hasenhuttl

A name Southampton fans will already be very familiar with, Ralph Hasenhuttl is available on the market right now, having been sacked from his last role in the German Bundesliga with Wolfsburg.

The Austrian's time at St Mary's was chaotic at best, having initially joined the club in December 2018, replacing Mark Hughes, Hasenhuttl would guide the club to a 16th-place finish in the Premier League in his first season in charge.

In October 2019, Southampton would lose 9-0 at home to Leicester City, in the joint-biggest Premier League defeat of all time, to which he publicly apologised and was backed by the board.

He'd achieve an 11th-place finish in his second season, with signs of progression evident, and would begin the following season strongly, but another 9-0 defeat, this time away to Manchester United, mixed with some dodgy form, saw them ultimately finish 15th.

Hasenhuttl would be sacked in November 2022, with his time on the South Coast largely remembered for those two humiliating defeats.

A return to Southampton would be a blockbuster move, to say the least, and it would be interesting to see how the current squad would adapt to his high-pressing system.

It's unclear whether he would be open to a return or whether the club would even consider it, but he is available and cannot be ruled out at this stage.