Sheffield Wednesday: Owls boss Carlos Carvalhal not in the running for Saints job

Speculation linking Carlos Carvalhal with the vacant Southampton job are believed to be wide of the mark, The Star understands.
Carlos CarvalhalCarlos Carvalhal
Carlos Carvalhal

Reports surfaced yesterday afternoon suggesting that the Owls head coach is on the the Premier League club’s shortlist of potential candidates to replace Ronald Koeman.

With some bookmakers, Carvalhal’s odds have been cut to 8/1.

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The national newspaper report also claimed Carvalhal is poised to speak to the Saints’ hierarchy over the coming days.

But sources south say Carvalhal is not under consideration for the position.

Southampton are understood to be mulling over a variety of candiates, including Claude Puel and Manuel Pellegrini.

Before arriving at Hillsborugh almost a year ago, Carvalhal was a total unknown in this country, managing 14 clubs in as many years across leagues in Portugal, Greece and Turkey.

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But the Portuguese chief silenced the doubters, leading the club to the Championship Play-Off final last season. His Owls side lost 1-0 to Hull City at Wembley.

Carvalhal has been a big hit with Wednesday’s fans, prompting the club’s hierarchy to hand him a three-year contract extension in April.

“If they are happy, I can stay here 10 years,” he said. “If they aren’t, it will be different for me. “But I believe I can stay here a long, long time. The team grew very fast. The club were stuck for more than 15 years.

“We needed a lot of steps to jump to another level. This is a really big club, but there were a lot of things which needed to develop.”