Southampton FC told Will Still factor could unlock "a lot of goals" for Ross Stewart | OneFootball

FLW's Southampton fan pundit has been discussing the potential impact Ross Stewart could have for Saints in the Championship next season.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Southampton will be hoping their return to the Championship in 2025/26 will simply be a passing visit, with the remit for the Saints next season being an immediate return to the Premier League.

But, the Championship can be a tough division to escape from, as many clubs have discovered over the years.

As such, Saints will require as many proven second tier performers and quality players as they can in order to ensure they don't become second tier regulars.

A vitally important summer transfer window awaits the club, as they look to move on from those who are deemed surplus to requirements or have no interest in playing Championship football, whilst replenishing their ranks with some strong acquisitions.

"Really, really important" - Southampton handed Ross Stewart, Will Still claim

We asked our Southampton fan pundit, Martin Sanders: 'Do you think Ross Stewart could have a big season for Saints next season, or does his injury record concern you?'

Sanders said: "Yes, Ross Stewart's injury concerns - will he get injured in pre-season?

"He's worked extremely hard. On a recent podcast, one of the local journalists was saying how hard he's worked over the last few summers, and he'll probably get an opportunity to have a little bit of rest this year.

"But, I think Stewart needs to hit the ground running next year. I think he could be really important. He looked a real handful when he came on against Everton at the weekend in the final game at Goodison Park.

"He was the spark when he came off the bench. He had Southampton's first shot after about 65 minutes - it took him to come on and do that.

"I think with Will Still as the manager, and getting crosses into the box, I think he could get a lot of goals next year.

"I think he's really, really important."

Will Still's style of play could suit Ross Stewart perfectly

As per a report from The Athletic on 20 May, Southampton and Will Still are in advanced talks over agreeing a deal for the 32-year-old to become the Saints' new head coach for next season.

It was announced on 18 May that he would be stepping down from his position at French Ligue 1 side Lens in order to be closer to his partner in England.

Still is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and talented young coaches in the game, and remarkably, he became the youngest manager in Europe's top five leagues when taking charge of Reims in October 2022, aged just 30.

Much of Still's tactical philosophy is centered around aggressive pressing, quick transitions, and intelligent movement to manipulate and take advantage of space available on the pitch.

Stewart has shown throughout his career that he's a highly intelligent centre-forward when it comes to making intelligent runs, and being in the right place at the right time to score plenty of goals.

One thing that his Lens side did extremely well in 2024/25 was putting crosses into the box, with his 3-4-2-1 formation enabling many opportunities for wing-backs and midfielders to make runs into the box, before picking out a teammate.

As such, given all of Stewart's 10 Championship goals in the 2022/23 season as a Sunderland player came from inside the box (per FotMob), the 28-year-old striker could thrive in Still's system should he take over as Southampton's new manager.