Ronald Koeman makes Southampton pledge

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has dismissed speculation about him taking over as Dutch national team boss

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has revealed he hopes to see out his three-year contract with the club, despite speculation that the Netherlands national team are interested in appointing him as a replacement for under-pressure veteran boss Gus Hiddink.

Wait

On the speculation Koeman said: “I hope to stay here for my whole contract, but it’s football.

“There’s certainly no chance to move now out of Southampton. I was interested in that job, because when I left Feyenoord I was nominated to be the national coach but the federation chose for Hiddink in that moment.

“But not now, I’m the coach and manager of Southampton and they have to wait if they want me as their coach.

“Ronald de Boer said the same thing one year ago, because a lot of people in Holland were surprised about the final decision from the federation.”

Under-pressure

Current Dutch boss Hiddink has made a woeful start to his second spell in charge of his national team. It was revealed in March that Hiddink would replace Louis van Gaal after the World Cup. The Dutch have lost two of their first three Euro 2016 qualifiers and 67-year-old Hiddink is now believed to be under major pressure.

It seems that the veteran’s appointment was not a universally popular one with his compatriots and some believed that Koeman would have been a better choice to succeed Van Gaal.

Start

Southampton was expected to struggle this season after Argentinian boss Mauricio Pochettino, plus key players Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw left the club. Some were even predicting a relegation battle for the Saints.

Their demise was greatly exaggerated though, as Koeman brought in the likes of Fraser Forster, Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle, who have all made bright starts to their careers on the south coast. In fact they made such bright starts that the Saints are sitting third in the Premier League table.

The Saints have enjoyed a near seamless transition from Pochettino to Koeman this season and that is largely down to the Dutch boss.

He seems to have endeared himself to everybody at the south coast club. His style of play is slightly different to that of Pochettino, but is still easy on the eye and brings results. With every good result Koeman achieves at Southampton his stock will rise and his performance will attract interest from elsewhere.

It is slightly early for Koeman’s managerial career at Southampton to be considered a success. However, his managerial career in his homeland saw him pick-up three domestic titles and he has also won a trophy in Spain and a trophy in Portugal.

Helping the Saints better their eighth place Premier League finish from last season would have to be considered a success for Koeman in his debut Premier League season.

Bosses

The Southampton hierarchy seems to be developing a knack of picking managers who move the club forward. First they choose Nigel Adkins who helped the club to two promotions and was sacked, which at the time was considered to be a harsh decision.

However, the decision to sack the former-Scunthorpe boss and hire Pochettino turned out to be a masterstroke. The Argentinian kept the Saints in the Premier League and imprinted his football philosophy on the team in his first half a season in charge.

In his first full season he helped the team achieve an eight place finish in the top-flight, which was their highest ever finish in the Premier League era.

When Pochettino moved on to supposedly bigger and better things at Tottenham, the Saints board then appointed Koeman, who looks set to be yet another inspired choice of boss.

Happy

Ronald Koeman seems to be happy at Southampton. His football philosophy seems to fit with that of the club and he seems to be enjoying his time on the south coast.

If Koeman continues in his current vein then there is likely to be more interest in the former-Feyenoord boss, but for now though everybody should be happy that he is the Saints boss, as he is doing a very decent job.

Should Ronald Koeman even consider leaving Southampton?