5 realistic replacements for Slaven Bilic at West Ham United

#3 Claude Puel

Claude Puel may have been a victim of unfair expectations at Southampton

Okay, so it’s definitely true that Frenchman Claude Puel’s run at Southampton didn’t exactly see the Saints play the world’s most attractive style of football. That, if anything, was the main reason that Saints fans didn’t shed many tears when he was surprisingly fired in the summer. But in reality, he didn’t do a bad job at all.

Puel guided Southampton to a very respectable 8th place Premier League finish, and even took them to a cup final – the 2017 League Cup, which was eventually lost to Manchester United. Puel’s side didn’t collect as many points as Southampton did under Ronald Koeman in 2015/16, but that season was also markedly weaker in terms of overall league strength than 2016/17.

Puel was brought to Southampton partly due to his reputation for helping young players improve their game, and there can be no denying that he succeeded in that area – the likes of Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse and Oriel Romeu had their best seasons yet under the Frenchman. And that was of course after selling Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane, two of the Saints’ best players.

Prior to his time at Southampton, Puel proved he’s capable of leading a team to a trophy by winning France’s Ligue 1 with Monaco, back in 1999/00. He also led Lyon to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2009/10, a first for the club and a massive achievement given the strength of the competition his side faced.

At West Ham, Puel would be working with a relatively solid squad including the likes of Marko Arnautovic, Joe Hart and Andy Carroll – there’s no reason why he couldn’t do as well there as he did at Southampton – perhaps with more realistic expectations.