Gordon Strachan was officially appointed as Southampton's manager yesterday with the immediate remit of keeping the struggling club in the Premiership.
Some might find this surprising given that the volatile Scot's last managerial achievement was to oversee Coventry's relegation from the top flight last season.
But Southampton's board are confident that the 41-year-old, sacked by Coventry six weeks ago, is the right man to rescue the club from the perilous position they partly created by appointing the untried Stuart Gray to succeed Glenn Hoddle.
In a noticeable twist, it emerged that the Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe, who famously called Tottenham "north London yobbos" for allegedly going behind the club's back to entice Hoddle away, first sounded out Strachan last Tuesday, when Gray was still in his job.
The move emphasises the urgency the board felt with the club second from bottom of the Premiership, with a new stadium to fill and finance.
The original decision to promote Gray from first-team coach to manager has already proved costly. It is understood the pay-offs for Gray and his assistant Mick Wadsworth will amount to about £2 million sterling.
Strachan, meanwhile, was typically bullish. "We'll soon find out whether I'm stronger because of what happened at Coventry, but I feel I'm wiser," he said yesterday. "I'm still sane, I've still got all my hair, I've still got my sense of humour."
His argument is that when he took over at Coventry five years ago they too were in danger of relegation. But he saved them then kept them up for three seasons. "I've proved I can keep teams up and on two occasions take them closer to Europe than relegation.
"But I've also proved that if I take my eye off the ball I can make one or two mistakes that can eventually take a team down." Strachan's contract covers the rest of this season and the two after that.
Meanwhile, Chelsea skipper Graeme le Saux has apologised to Leeds United's Danny Mills for his horrendous two-footed tackle in Sunday's Premiership draw at Elland Road.
"I accept that this type of challenge is not in order and should have no place in the game," Le Saux said.
"Having had the opportunity to view the video . . . I have written today and spoken to Danny Mills and also written to David O'Leary apologising for the tackle and any ongoing problems they may have in connection with the incident."
Leeds boss O'Leary is facing Football Association sanctions after being sent off during the interval of the game for protesting too vigorously at referee Paul Durkin's decision to show Le Saux a yellow card instead of sending him off. The FA confirmed that Le Saux will receive no further punishment.
Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier came out of intensive care of the cardiothoracic centre at Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool at the weekend, little more than a week after the 11-hour operation that followed heart problems during the home match with Leeds on October 13th.
Houllier has also issued a statement praising his players, and assistant boss Phil Thompson, for the two wins against Kiev and Leicester in the past week.
He said: "There are two targets I'd like to set for Jamie Redknapp and the boys. The first is to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League and to build on their unbeaten start in the competition. "Secondly I want them to maintain our form in the league."
