Amongst the widely speculated impending departures of hugely talented young left back Luke Shaw and complete midfielder Adam Lallana, the one loss that Southampton may shortly come to feel worse than any other is that of manager Mauricio Pochettino. Having arrived under a cloud of suspicion and bad blood barely over a year ago after the seemingly misjudged sacking of predecessor Nigel Adkins, Pochettino has come to be a greatly loved and admired figure among the St. Mary's faithful. Now his success at building a relegation battling team into a comfortably top half side, playing good to watch football and beating the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, has resulted in Pochettino's departure for Tottenham this week. Southampton will have to move swiftly and decisively to find a replacement that can maintain the optimism of this year's campaign and prevent a mass exodus of young talent. The more conservative pundits have suggested Southampton look to their past with Glenn Hoddle and Alan Pardew, managers who did a reasonable job for the Saints but have suffered mixed fortunes at best since, both apparently in the running, as is the unreliable and uninspiring Steve McClaren off the back of one good year with Derby. Fortunately, Pochettino has left a legacy of a club in largely good health, whose roster of quality young players emerging from an ever-productive academy (James Ward-Prowse, Harrison Reed, Calum Chambers, Sam Gallagher) and established top class talent (Dejan Lovren, Morgan Schneiderlin) should make them an attractive prospect for many ambitious young managers with an eye on a Premier League future. Here are six of the best up and coming managers that Saints could turn to before they resort to anyone who has tried and failed at a higher level.
