Puel stays silent over Southampton future
Claude Puel refused to confirm if he would be in charge of Southampton next season after declining to answer questions on his future. A first win in six games at already-relegated Middlesbrough eased the growing pressure on the Frenchman, amid suggestions of dressing-room tensions less than a year into his reign.
Goals in each half from Jay Rodriguez and substitute Nathan Redmond leave the Saints well placed to secure a fourth consecutive top-10 Premier League finish, after stories linking the club with Hull City head coach Marco Silva. Asked if he would be at St Mary’s in August, Puel, who led his side to the EFL Cup final in February, said: “I prefer no answer. It’s my work and my job to develop all the team and the project and I don’t understand the question.”
Rodriguez swept home Shane Long’s 42nd-minute cross before the forward teed-up Redmond to find the top corner 12 minutes after the restart. The visitors could even afford a second-half penalty miss as Long’s shot grazed the bar on the way over after he had been felled by goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
“We can finish as high as eighth, which is a motivation,” added Puel, whose side complete their fixtures with visits this week by Manchester United and Stoke City. He added: “I don’t know where this speculation [about the future] has come from, I’ve not seen anything, so I can’t say anything about it.”
Patrick Bamford gave the division’s lowest scorers brief hope when he headed in a 73rd-minute corner from Viktor Fischer to end a personal goal drought spanning 760 days. Sunderland remain the only Premier League side to have lost to the Teessiders in the past five months and, like his Saints counterpart, Middlesbrough caretaker manager Steve Agnew was left to dodge questions about his future.
Steve Gibson suggested he had an imminent permanent appointment planned to lead the club in the Championship next season, and in a postmatch interview, the chairman said: “I think the world of Steve Agnew but circumstances prevailed against him. We need to look forward because we’ve got a great opportunity to get back into the Premier League.”
Middlesbrough (4-1-4-1): Guzan 4; Fabio 5, Chambers 5, Gibson 5, Friend 5; Clayton 5; Bamford 6, Forshaw 4 (Leadbitter 60, 5), De Roon 5, Downing 3 (Fischer 60, 6); Negredo 4. Subs Konstantopoulos, Bernardo, Barragan, Stuani, Traoré. Booked Clayton, Gibson, De Roon. Southampton (4-4-2): Forster 6; Pied 6, Caceres 6, Yoshida 7, Bertrand 7; Clasie 7, Romeu 7, Hojbjerg 7 (Davis 73, 6), Boufal 5 (Redmond 45, 7); Long 6 (Austin 87, 5), Rodriguez 8. Subs Hassen, Ward-Prowse, Stephens, Targett. Referee A Taylor (Greater Manchester)