Will Still sacked as Portsmouth's fierce rivals Southampton seek new manager
Will Still has been sacked as manager of Pompey’s fierce rivals Southampton
Pompey’s south-coast rivals Southampton have sacked manager Will Still.
The St Mary’s outfit made the decision to dismiss the former RC Lens boss less than six months into the three-year deal he signed in May after Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Preston North End.
That loss - Saints’ fifth of the Championship season to date and their third in a row - leaves the club 21st in the table and just three points above the relegation zone.
They have won just two of their 13 league games so far this term and four since the beginning of the year, 19 of which came in the Premier League.
At present, Pompey remain one place and a point above their fierce rivals in the Championship table, despite also suffering a third consecutive defeat at the weekend away at Birmingham City.
Southampton confirm Will Still dismissal
Confirming their decision, a statement on the Southampton website read: ‘Southampton Football Club can confirm that we have this evening parted ways with Men’s First Team Manager Will Still.
‘Rubén Martinez, Clément Lemaitre and Carl Martin have also left their positions at the club.
‘Men’s Under-21s Head Coach Tonda Eckert will take charge of the team on an interim basis.’
Group Technical Director Johannes Spors said: ‘Will is a great person who gave everything to try and improve performances and results.
‘Ultimately, that process has taken longer than any of us would have liked. By making a change now we believe it gives us the best chance of turning things around this season and climbing back up the league table.
‘I would like to thank Will, Rubén, Clément and Carl for their efforts and wish them well for the future.’
Mousinho v Still: south-coast derby
One of the Southampton fixtures Still oversaw was the first south-coast derby against Pompey in 13-and-a-half years in September.
Played at St Mary’s, the game ended goalless, with the Blues unlucky not to head home with a win.
At the final whistle, Mousinho produced a lingering and ‘strong’ handshake with his opposite number which was captured by television cameras - and surprised Still.
An amused Mousinho laughed off the moment when asked about it in the post-match press conference, claiming it was ‘nothing’.
But he was adamant the manager of Pompey should never be friends with his Southampton counterpart.
The Blues head coach told The News: ‘The handshake was nothing, me and him good mates, don’t worry about it!
‘It’s fine, it was a strong handshake. I just said good luck for the rest of the season.
‘I honestly don’t know him, I just kept getting peppered in my left ear all game. I try to concentrate on my own side and I clearly badger the fourth official a lot - and sometimes the referees. But I don’t do it to the opposition bench.
‘He made a good sprint onto the pitch early on, that was good, I didn't think you were allowed to do that. But that’s absolutely fine, no problems whatsoever.
‘When you are competing against each other that’s what you expect, I don’t want anyone to come off and be the best of friends after that game, we want that competition.
‘I certainly don’t think the two managers of these football clubs should be mates, there should be a bit of feisty competition between the two of them. I absolutely love it.’
The next soth-coast derby will be held at Fratton Park on Sunday, January 25. Southampton’s next game is away to QPR on Wednesday night.
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