Pellegrino Approval Rating: Gameweek 2

It’s fair to say Claude Puel wasn’t the most popular of figures to have graced the touchline at St. Mary’s as Southampton coach with swathes of Saints fans baying for the Frenchman’s blood at the end of the 2016/17 Premier League campaign.

Mauricio Pellegrino is the man tasked with replacing Puel following a successful season with Spanish side Alaves. It’s early days, but we took to Twitter to poll Saints fans to see what they’re think of the man now trusted to take Southampton forward.

Pellegrino now has an approval rating of 71% after Saturday’s shaky 3-2 win over a 10-man West Ham United, a 7% jump from the 64% polled who were happy with the Argentine last week following the unlucky 0-0 draw to Swansea City.

@RhysThomas2014 even proclaimed his love for the new Saints boss.

28% of those polled are still unsure about Pellegrino in the embryonic stages of the Premier League season, a drop of 6% from last week’s poll.

For the sake of context, St. Mary’s Musings put up a poll asking what they thought about Puel’s reign as coach. Interestingly, 35% of those polled were still undecided about Puel after a whole season—proving how difficult it can be for a manager to make his mark on a team within a year. Though, 58% polled said they were not in favour of Puel and only 7% said they approved of the Frenchman being Southampton manager—numbers which appear to be accurate, given the hostility directed at Puel from the stands at St. Mary’s last season.

So, overall, the appointment of Pellegrino appears to be a popular choice so far. We’ll track his approval rating each gameweek to see how he gets on coaching Southampton.

Mauricio Pellegrino Approval Rating for Gameweek 1: 64%

Mauricio Pellegrino Approval Rating for Gameweek 2: 71%