Pellegrino Approval Rating: Gameweek 4

Please note, Twitter polls are hardly an exact science—we realise this. The Pellegrino Approval Rating is merely a bit of fun in canvassing fan opinion on the current manager in direct response to how quickly Saints supporters turned on Puel last season. All results by each gameweek are chronicled at the bottom of the article.

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.

Four games in, Pellegrino now has an approval rating of just 15% after Saturday’s lacklustre 2-0 loss at home to Watford. This is an 18% drop down from gameweek three, which saw Pellegrino muster 33% of those polled in support of his appointment.

For context, 33% approval rating from gameweek three followed the 0-0 draw away at Huddersfield Town and the 2-0 home to the Championship’s Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup and was an alarming drop of 38% from the approval rating of 71% given the week previous.

Another interesting note is the fact now 14% of those polled are unhappy with Pellegrino’s appointment—an increase of 6%—and now 71% say they’re undecided on the Argentine.

Again, it’s worth remembering that 71% of those polled were in favour of Pellegrino just two league games ago with only 28% undecided. Now, 71% is undecided and just 15% are happy about Pellegrino’s appointment.

Was Puel ever given the same courtesy during the early stages of his tenure as Saints boss?

For the sake of context, St. Mary’s Musings put up a poll asking what they thought about Puel’s reign as coach with the benefit of hindsight. 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, it would appear most Saints fans are now reserving judgement on Pellegrino’s appointment. 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%

Mauricio Pellegrino Approval Rating for Gameweek 3: 33%

Mauricio Pellegrino Approval Rating for Gameweek 4: 15%