Southampton set course for era of change with Pellegrino

To predict who a club might appoint as their next manager, a good place to start is often the man they have just discarded. And then expect the opposite.

Think Jose Mourinho to Avram Grant. Steve McClaren to Fabio Capello. Harry Redknapp to Andre Villas-Boas or Sam Allardyce to Gareth Southgate. The desire for change invariably prompts a swing to a different sort of personality and that theory, by all accounts, holds true in Southampton’s decision this summer to trade Claude Puel for Mauricio Pellegrino.

While Puel was quiet, low-key and either unable (due to the language) or unwilling to offer any real insight into his feelings or opinion, the first thing that anyone tells you about Pellegrino is how personable he is. The same descriptions come up again and again. “He has a presence. A communicator. Inclusive.” He speaks fluent English and his time spent working and briefly playing in the Premier League was a factor in his appointment.

Pellegrino’s one previous appearance as a player at St Mary’s, for Liverpool in 2005, certainly merits retelling. He was 33 at the time and his defensive performance – described in these pages as “a liability” in a Peter Crouchinspired 2-0 defeat – was ultimately significant for two reasons. By the start of the following season, Liverpool had bought Crouch and Pellegrino had been released before returning as assistant to manager Rafael Benítez.

Known as Flaco (the skinny one) during his career, few former team-mates were surprised by his decision to pursue coaching. He was a genial and popular member of staff at Liverpool.

Pellegrino was also a deep thinker, particularly with respect to player psychology, and Benítez was sufficiently impressed to take him to Inter Milan before his first big break as a manager at Valencia. It was a romantic fit. Pellegrino’s centre-back partnership with Roberto Ayala had coincided with the greatest years in Valencia’s history and he was part of teams who won La Liga twice in three years and who also lifted the Uefa Cup and reached successive Champions League finals.

Valencia had beaten David O’Leary’s Leeds United in the semi-finals of 2001, although Pellegrino missed the decisive penalty in losing the final against Bayern Munich in a shoot-out. His managerial tenure was unhappy but he was given little time and dismissed before Christmas of his first season. Jobs back in Argentina at Estudiantes and Independiente followed, before he returned to Spain last summer at Alavés.

Yes, from a distance it might seem strange to think Southampton are replacing a manager who has just finished eighth in the league and reached a cup final with a man who finished ninth in La Liga and also reached a cup final. The caveat is that Alavés were playing in only the second cup final in their history and it was also their first season in Spain’s top flight since 2006.

It was duly noted by Southampton’s recruitment chiefs, Les Reed and Ross Wilson, and his status as first-choice candidate was only reinforced during an impressive interview.