Southampton fires coach Claude Puel

Southampton have fired Claude Puel after only one season in charge, with the manager unable to save his job despite leading the Premier League club to its first major final in almost four decades.

In a short statement, the south coast club gave no reason for the decision to terminate the Frenchman’s contract with immediate effect.

In recent years, Southampton has been more accustomed to its managers being prized away by rival clubs, along with its top playing talent.

The fact that Southampton annually cashes in on its prized assets made it even more noteworthy that the team finished eighth in the league and reached a Wembley final. In its first English League Cup final in 38 years, Southampton narrowly lost to Manchester United in February.

The bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Puel was Thomas Tuchel, who was fired by Borussia Dortmund last month after falling out with the German club’s management. Dortmund finished third in the Bundesliga, securing a place in the Champions League, and won the German Cup after an inconsistent season. Portugal is hoping a red-hot Cristiano Ronaldo can continue his sparkling form and help the European champions show that their victory at Euro 2016 wasn’t a fluke.

With Ronaldo looking at the peak of his game, Portugal trained for the first time in Russia yesterday ahead of its Confederations Cup debut against Mexico on Sunday.

Ronaldo, the reigning world player of the year, is enjoying one of his greatest career runs, having scored 18 goals in his last 11 matches, including two in Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over Juventus in the Champions League final. He also scored important goals in the decisive stages of the Spanish league, a competition Madrid