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Mark Hughes has the lowest win percentage (21.7) of any Southampton manager in their history who has had at least 20 games in charge.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) November 4, 2018
With just five wins from 23 matches in all competitions, Southampton manager Mark Hughes has the worst win percentage among his peers who have managed at least 20 games for Saints.
Even Mauricio Pellegrino, who mustered eight wins from 34 matches, edges Hughes at this point.
The above tweet came after Saints were smashed 6-1 away at Manchester City yesterday afternoon. Annoyance, disappointment, apathy, anger - all emotions are rife among the Southampton fanbase as their team looks to set to sink in the Premier League.
Win percentages aren’t totally indicative of a manager’s success. Wins need context. However, facts are facts and in Hughes’ case, that record of five wins from 23 games is an indicator of where Saints are and where they could be heading.
To make things a bit fair, here are the records of the last five Saints managers to have only coached the club in the Premier League.
Southampton manager win percentages (best to worst)
| Name | From | To | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | From | To | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % |
| Ronald Koeman | Jun-14 | Jun-16 | 91 | 44 | 17 | 30 | 48.35 |
| Mauricio Pochettino | Jan-13 | May-14 | 60 | 23 | 18 | 19 | 38.33 |
| Claude Puel | Jun-16 | Jun-17 | 53 | 20 | 13 | 20 | 37.74 |
| Mauricio Pellegrino | Jun-17 | Mar-18 | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 23.53 |
| Mark Hughes | Mar-18 | Present | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 21.74 |
Given the circumstances Ronald Koeman had to face when he joined Southampton, his record is pretty remarkable over two seasons.
Mauricio Pochettino helped consolidate the club in his first half-season in charge, before improving the team in his second season, taking a solid win percentage of 38.33% in the process.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I think a few Southampton fans will be less quick to spew hate about Claude Puel now we’ve had Pellegrino and Hughes in charge. A win percentage of 37.74% and a League Cup Final (not to forget that INCREDIBLE two-leg win over Liverpool in the semi-finals) adds a little more punch to Puel’s only season in charge.
As for Pellegrino and Hughes, the less said the better.