Southampton boss Ruben Selles doesn’t know what the future holds for him after a 4-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest that put them on the brink of relegation from the Premier League.
The Saints are on the wrong side of the thriller with seven goals at the City Ground and they will lose their top tier status at the weekend if they fail to beat Fulham or the results are against them elsewhere.
On the contrary, Forest climbed out of the bottom three thanks to a vital victory that came with a brace by Taiwo Avoni, a penalty by Morgan Gibbs-White and a brilliant team goal by Danilo, which gave real hope that they could avoid falling back in their first season back to the top grade for 23 years.
Goals from Carlos Alcaraz, Lanco and James Ward-Prowse ensured the Saints would always be in the game, but now they are in danger of being relegated to the Championship.
Selles, who replaced Nathan Jones on a contract until the end of the season, would like to stay at the club, but says it’s not up to him to decide.
“I’m trying my best, and like I said, I expected to win more football matches,” he said.
“This is a decision the club has to make. I would be happy to be here for the next 10 years, as I have said many times.
“But it’s not for me to make that decision. I can only work every day, and of course, in the situation we are in now, there is so much uncertainty for everyone.
“We just have to deal with it in the best possible way, whatever happens, and then keep looking forward, whatever it is.
“And if facing forward – if together, then better.
“The club will present an agenda for the coming days or weeks on how it is going to handle this if it happens. This is the club’s response.
“I can tell you what we’re going to do over the next weeks, we’re just going to keep working as much as we can and leave situations for the future for the people who should be in charge.”
City Ground was incredible.
You were on a really different level tonight pic.twitter.com/BBpRUKVj6L
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) May 8, 2023
Forest took full advantage of Leeds and Leicester’s defeat to move up to 16th place, three points above the relegation zone and three games to go.
Boss Steve Cooper says the fight against the fall is not over yet, but it could be a big deal.
“We feel like we’re playing okay and we’ve won two out of three games,” he said. “You always want to win in a row, and where we are, it’s not easy to do, so winning two out of three is really a positive thing.
“It just gives us a little more confidence and momentum to just move on to the next one. Of course, we need more points and more positive results.
“Today is a big and important victory, but it will be even bigger if we build on it.
“That should be the plan from now on. We will begin a cycle of postponing one game and preparing for the next.
“No days off and the work ethic must be at its peak to give the players everything they need to be ready for the next game.”