Daily Echo:

Saints have rolled the dice on a few managerial appointments in recent years, and it appears they have done it again. Les Reed will be banking on Mauricio Pellegrino being more Pochettino than Puel.

Make no mistake, the decision to hand the key job at St Mary’s to Pellegrino is a considerable risk.

After a season of, at times, underwhelming football under Claude Puel, but still an eight place finish and a cup final, this is a decision the club need to get right.

With some wavering in the dressing room, a sense that the big targets and ambitions of the club have become words but without a clear direction in recent times, it needs a strong hand to steady the ship and put Saints back firmly on course to progress.

While any managerial appointment is inevitably a punt to some degree, you can take a certain amount of risk factor away when you go for an established big name.

At the very least if they don’t work out as you hoped you tend to be given a bit more leeway, as the majority of people will be surprised it turned out that way.

Puel’s tenure was far from perfect for reasons discussed in great depth over the last month or so. Saints obviously agreed, hence they took an un-Saints like decision to sack him.

And so do you then go for the antithesis of Puel? A bigger name, a strong hand on the tiller, an ‘exciting’ appointment that screams ambition.

Well, no, it turns out.

Saints have, in essence, gone for another Puel.

They have, either admirably or foolishly, time will tell, gone for somebody that fits their blueprint.

The statement to announce Pellegrino’s appointment contained hints at all the key elements – working with the squad, which means not requiring loads of spending, bringing through young players, the ‘Southampton Way’, which nobody seems able to really explain in any kind of practical sense.

The initial reaction of supporters has been interesting. People weren’t happy with Puel, but why get rid of him to bring in another Puel?

Only this one has vastly less experience and success to his name as a manager.

It’s not to say Saints have got it wrong. Hopefully quite the opposite is true.

But it is a big risk, and one that Reed needs to get right.

Pellegrino was, we assume, a very compelling candidate in interview, though presumably Puel was too a year ago.

He sold a vision that Saints bought into.

Of course, it doesn’t harm that it brings back memories of Pochettino, not just in name and nationality, but in spirit too by all accounts.

That was another major gamble, which paid dividends. For all his faults we can thank Nicola Cortese for that gem.

Ronald Koeman was less a gamble, and was terrific, but his ever growing control over things in the background didn’t sit well with the club’s hierarchy.

Puel was the opposite character, an antidote to that if you like, but it didn’t work out.

Having spoken over the past few days to people who know and have worked with Pellegrino in the past, the noises are positive.

He communicates well, something you could never accuse Puel of, he is affable, the players tend to warm to him, and he is adaptable when it comes to style of play.

He will need all those attributes at St Mary’s, and has considerable work to do.

Pellegrino will need to inspire a squad that have just fallen a little flat, and some players who have started to get frustrated.

Ultimately, it is hard for Saints. They are banging their heads on a glass ceiling that really is almost impossible to break through without significant spending.

Nevertheless, football never stops demanding progress, and the players, as well as the fans, want to buy into that. They want to have a target, and a clear way to achieve it.

Pellegrino is going to be the front man to all of this and he will need to ensure buy-in from the beginning with players, media and fans. Puel’s understated and private start to life got him off on a bad footing and it never really picked up much.

If Pellegrino can prove another inspired appointment then everybody connected with the club will be happy, but he will need to get up and running quickly to convince that Saints were right to stick to largely the principles and recruitment criteria that delivered a manager they sacked after just one season.