Middlesbrough and Southampton fans may unite over one thing in their manager search - it involves Gary O’Neil | OneFootball

The former Wolves boss has been linked with managerial posts at both clubs, which hasn't gone down well with the fans.

There's a major managerial struggle in the Championship at the moment, as three of the traditionally bigger sides in the division, Middlesbrough, Southampton and Norwich City, are all searching for a new man in the dugout.

After turning down a return to Wolves, Gary O'Neil is one of the names who is seemingly being linked with all three clubs.

talkSPORT linked the former Wolves and Bournemouth boss to St Mary's, whilst Football Insider reported that O'Neil had opened talks with Boro.

Then Sky Sports stated that Norwich had shortlisted both O'Neil and fellow former Canary Russell Martin as candidates to replace Liam Manning.

O'Neil has yet to manage in a league below the Premier League so far in his short managerial career, so from the outside, any Championship club would be excited at the prospect of bringing him in.

From a Southampton and Middlesbrough perspective, however, they're urging their respective owners to look elsewhere and avoid bringing in the 42-year-old.

Why Southampton and Middlesbrough fans may not want Gary O'Neil as their manager

Gary O'Neil spent three-and-a-half years as a Middlesbrough player between 2007-2011, making 120 appearances, 55 of which came in the Premier League.

Usually, when a manager has ties to a club from his playing days, it makes them a popular candidate to one day find themselves in the dugout there, similarly to how Rob Edwards departed Boro for a return to Molineux to manage a Wolves side he spent four years as a player at.

However, O'Neil blotted his copybook with Middlesbrough supporters somewhat during his second campaign at the club, when Boro were relegated from the Premier League.

Whilst in the midst of a relegation dogfight at the start of April, O'Neil was booked for the 10th time that campaign during a 4-1 defeat away at Bolton Wanderers, resulting in a two-match suspension.

The 42-year-old since admitted that he picked up that booking on purpose, so he could have a couple of weekends off to watch golf at home.

Given the state of the club at the time amid their battle against impending relegation, this was seen as an insulting decision by a lot of Boro fans, and despite going on to play a further two seasons at the Riverside in the Championship, a lot of Middlesbrough supporters still don't have him in their good books to this day.

Middlesbrough's boardroom appear to be wise to the feelings of Boro fans towards O'Neil too, as revealed by TeessideLive, who claim that whilst he does have some admirers within the club, they are very much aware of the potential discontent appointing him could cause, and as such, there is a 'reluctance' to hire him.

As for Southampton, it's the ties that O'Neil has to their bitter rivals, Portsmouth, which is steering them away from wanting to bring the former Wolves boss to St Mary's.

The 42-year-old began his career at Fratton Park, spending nine years at Portsmouth and making 193 appearances.

O'Neil has gone on record to say how much he loves the club and never really wanted to leave back in 2007, so to go and manage at Southampton doesn't sit right with a lot of Saints fans.

During their recent 3-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday, their second win in as many games under caretaker boss Tonda Eckert, Southampton fans shared their opinions on the rumours linking O'Neil to the vacant post at St Mary's, and they weren't exactly in favour of them.

Gary O'Neil would have a lot of making up to do in the Middlesbrough or Southampton dugouts

Ultimately, it isn't a rare occurrence for a manager to turn the opinions of fans around if they come into the job with a bad reputation amongst the more vocal parts of the fanbase.

For O'Neil, however, this means that the pressure would be on for him immediately to get some good results if he were to end up in the dugouts at The Riverside or St Mary's.

The short-term goals are clear for both sides. For Boro, it's about maintaining the strong start that they made under Rob Edwards, and in Southampton's case, it's ensuring that the quality of this side is on show more often en route to making a run into the top six at the very least.

If O'Neil can come in and deliver for either side, it'll go a long way in repairing some of the bad rep he has at the two clubs, but having now gone almost a year out of management since he left Wolves last December.

Joining an immediate hostile environment could be too much of a risk though.

In the end, Norwich could be the side to benefit from this if they increase their pursuit of their former defender to replace Liam Manning, as Canaries' fans are seemingly apathetic towards him, giving him more time to turn things around at Carrow Road.