Football Daily | Wolves, Saints and the baffling choices made in the search for stability

<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/info/2022/nov/14/football-daily-email-sign-up"><strong>Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!</strong></a></p><p>Last December, Wolves and Southampton were the Premier League’s bottom two clubs, seriously at risk of being cut adrift. Both then hit the panic button within 24 hours of each other, Wolves sacking Gary O’Neil after a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/dec/14/wolves-ipswich-premier-league-match-report">testy late 2-1 home defeat</a> by Ipswich, and Russell Martin getting the boot for an equally <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/dec/15/southampton-tottenham-premier-league-match-report">ominous 5-0 gubbing</a> by Spurs. Both clubs rolled the dice on grizzled, combustible European coaches. In the short term, one appointment worked – Vítor Pereira led <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/may/01/vitor-pereira-wolves-beer-interview">Wolves on a chaotic pub crawl</a> to safety – and the other did not. Ivan Juric earned four points in 14 games and was sacked before achieving his ambitious goal of not leading ‘the worst team in Premier League history’. Southampton were relegated with seven games to play, while Juric vaulted back on to his feet by getting the gig at Atalanta.</p><p>Your Memory Lane picture (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) of Sunderland fans with their car in 1973 stirred some unpleasant memories of the vehicles of that era. I’m not convinced that they have painted stripes on their Morris 1100. More likely to be the duct tape required to hold it together” – David Branch.</p><p>May I be number myself among at least 1,057 others in being horrified at your suggestion that the Muppets in The Muppet Christmas Carol should be considered ‘muppets’ in the derogatory manner intended by the disgruntled Wes