Last season Southampton held on as long as they could with Mauricio Pellegrino and gave him all the time they could before they moved with only four games left in the season to appoint Mark “Sparky” Hughes.
Hughes saved the Saints and was handed a multi-year contract as a reward but he has had a tough time so far this season only managing 1 win from their 13 League games with 5 draws and 7 losses.
It has to be said that Southampton were cruelly denied all 3 points vs Watford when they had a genuine Charlie Austin goal disallowed showing how unlucky they have been.
But losing to Fulham last time out could well have been Hughes’ last game in charge so you would have to say a Saints loss to United this weekend could be the end for Sparky.
With so much on the line as Southampton look for their first win in 11 games and they look to save the job of their manager you would expect to see some seriously enhanced odds available from the bookies this weekend for both teams.
Hughes has had a storied playing and managing career, plying his trade as a player at clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Barcelona while also managing Manchester City and playing for Southampton as well as managing them amongst a number of other clubs.
As we know United are notoriously slow starters under Jose Mourinho and have not been travelling well this season only winning 5 games with 3 of those happening in the Champions League and only 2 wins coming in the Premier League against Watford and Bournemouth so the odds for Hughes’ Saints have to be decent.
On a positive note for United has been the play of former Saint Luke Shaw who just got a bumper new pay deal after recovering from that horrific leg break.
Back to his former club though and including last season’s games and the fixtures so far this campaign Mark Hughes’ Southampton sit dead last in the Premier League with a meagre 44 points from the 153 total points available since the beginning of last season.
Hughes’ transfer signings do not seem to have delivered as yet and despite him seeming calm as always a loss at St Mary’s on Saturday could spell the end of Sparky’s tenure on the South coast – we shall see.