What ex Chelsea and West Ham managers have said about Premier League return amid Southampton job links

Former West Ham and Chelsea managers David Moyes, Frank Lampard and Graham Potter have all emerged as contenders to replace Russell Martin at struggling Southampton as pressure grows on the 38-year-old.

The Saints sit 19th in the Premier League table with just one point to their name after the opening six matches. That came in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town towards the end of September.

Southampton were beaten 3-1 on their travels to Bournemouth on Monday night, with the manner of that defeat particularly painful for the recently promoted club. Speaking after the game, Martin said he was 'hurt' by the performance of his players as some begin to call for change at St. Mary's Stadium.

He said: "They make 20 fouls to our 10 or whatever it is - I think that sums up the whole game.

"We were soft. Whatever personnel you have on the pitch, whatever way you play, if you lack the fight and aggression and spirit and togetherness and courage that we lacked in the first half, you're going to have a big, big problem.

"I didn't recognise our team.I didn't like a lot of what I saw, and I was hurt by the lack of spirit and fight. Normally I'm proud of them for the courage they show, but there was no aggression, no courage, no intensity to play."

David Moyes open to ‘right opportunity’

Should former Swansea City man Martin be dismissed by Southampton, it is David Moyes who has emerged as an early frontrunner. The ex Everton and Manchester United manager has been out of work since leaving West Ham on his contract's expiry this summer.

Moyes has been linked with a return to Everton in recent weeks having hinted at a desire to manage at the top level again. Speaking about his love for the Premier League and a potential return to management, the Scotsman said: "If the right opportunity comes up and it suits me and the family, I might do. I'm really keen to make sure British managers get opportunities to manage in other countries.

“If you look at the Premier League, we bring in all the best managers from different countries.We're not exporting enough British managers to work in the other leagues. But we're quite happy to bring in all the other managers here, which is limiting a lot of the British managers to manage some of the top jobs. The Championship was once full of young British coaches, but it's similar to the Premier League now.

“I want to try and make sure we're pushing young British coaches to get jobs in overseas countries. It's easy to say we've got people working in Norway or Thailand, but in the top big five leagues in Europe we have very few working there."

Frank Lampard ‘ready’ for management return

Both Frank Lampard and Graham Potter are also early rumoured candidates. The former Chelsea men both haven't worked in a management role since leaving Stamford Bridge in 2023 and are regularly linked with potentially vacant Premier League jobs.

Former Brighton man Potter has recently spoken out about his readiness to return, and knows the south coast well. Meanwhile, Lampard spoke about his future in January.

Lampard told talkSPORT: "Some opportunities have come my way, they didn't feel right for the time. So I've kind of taken that decision a bit at times.

"But now I feel ready so we will see what opportunities come up. I'm certainly ready to work. I love doing what I do, so we will see."

He added: "I'd like to find the right opportunity. I've enjoyed the break in a sense because football management takes over your life. That is the beauty of it and also sometimes you realise when you're out of it, it is about spending time with your family. I have got a young family too, that is important. So that has been nice."