YOU can see why Claude Puel is the latest man to occupy one of the hottest seats in top flight football.

The Frenchman will become the 15th man to manage Saints in their 18 seasons of Premier League action when the 2016/17 campaign kicks off.

That is a worryingly high turnover of bosses, and Puel’s predecessors have all left for differing reasons.

The likes of Ball, Hoddle, Pochettino and Koeman all quit for supposedly brighter lights and bigger clubs.

Gordon Strachan resigned because he wanted a rest from the game.

The likes of Branfoot, Merrington, Gray, Wigley, Sturrock and Adkins left because results weren’t considered good enough.

Graeme Souness resigned and Dave Jones was placed on gardening leave That just leaves Harry Redknapp, and the less said about him the better.

Since Les Reed rocked up at St Mary’s six years or so ago, all Saints’ managerial appointments have followed a similar pattern.

Young-ish bosses not afraid to promote young talent.

Pardew blooded Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at just 16, lest we forget, and Adkins kept him in the tough environment of third division football.

Since the club returned to the Premier League, Saints have brought in two foreigners in Pochettino and Koeman.

While Koeman is known and respected throughout the world, Pochettino less so when he was unveiled at St Mary’s in January 2013.

A few months earlier, he had been sacked by Espanyol with the club bottom of La Liga.

Despite that black mark on his CV, Saints obviously saw something in the Argentine, and their gamble was subsequently rewarded.

Who’d have thought the man sacked by the Spanish League’s bottom club in November 2012 would, within three and a half years, have overseen a serious Premier League title challenge and worked with more than half of the current England team?

Koeman was less of a gamble, due to the gravitas his name carries and the fact he had managed clubs such as Ajax, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

On the face of it, Puel is far more in the Pochettino mould than the man he has replaced at Saints.

Known for promoting youth, he is the man who gave Eden Hazard his competitive debut at Lille.

During his time at Lille, he took them to runners-up spot and into the Champions League.

During his four years at Nice, a period which ended a few weeks ago, the club twice finished fourth in the French League.

Ok, in another of those seasons at Nice they finished fourth bottom and only just stayed up, and in three seasons with Lyon he failed to deliver the league title that fans and his employers expected.

He has already been rubbished in one national newspaper, which compared him to previous French bosses who have managed in the Premier League.

Jacques Santini lasted just 13 games at Tottenham, while Alain Perrin lasted just eight months at Pompey in 2005 (including the summer months).

There was also mention of Remi Garde, Puel’s fellow Frenchman who he worked with during his time at Lyon.

Garde’s few months in charge at Aston Villa last season were truly disastrous, with just two wins in 20 league games.

But it is mighty unfair to tar Puel’s name in that manner, and it’s safe to say Saints have been run far better in the last few years than Aston Villa.

Is appointing Claude Puel, therefore, a gamble, a risk?

Of course, but name me a managerial appointment that doesn’t come with some sort of risk.

Puel has taken a club to the semi finals of the Champions League. He has worked with Eden Hazard.

He is not Jan Poortvliet, the Dutchman who was appointed Saints head coach in the summer of 2008 and given the youngest squad in the club’s history to work with.

It was claimed Poortvliet had a good track record of working with youngsters, as does Puel.

But Poortvliet had never managed at the level Puel has, and he inherited a squad that had just avoided the drop to the third division.

Puel inherits a squad packed with internationals, one that has just finished sixth in the Premier League – just three points adrift of a Champions League place.

His CV is certainly better than Pochettino’s when the latter arrived at St Mary’s.

Koeman’s record in the transfer market was very good, with some impressive signings from the Dutch League that he knew well.

Perhaps Puel can make some similarly impressive signings from the French League that he knows well?

Riyad Mahrez cost Leicester £400,000 when they signed him from Le Havre two years ago, and he hasn’t done badly, has he?

Perhaps there are more like him in France? You don’t have to spend £15m plus on every single player. Leicester haven’t, or West Ham.

No-one can criticise those employed by Saints to scout potential signings.

Pochettino was so happy with head of recruitment Paul Mitchell he recommended Spurs sweet-talk him to White Hart Lane, and so they did.

Liverpool, meanwhile, would surely save themselves several million if they just signed Saints’ entire scouting network and be done with it.

As we have seen with Nathan Redmond, Saints are able to sign players when they haven’t even got a manager in situ.

Who is to say the club cannot continue to attract good players from home and abroad, just because Claude Puel is not so well known as Ronald Koeman?

Saints remain a very attractive club to sign for, given their league positions in the last few seasons and the forthcoming Europa League campaign.

Who is to say Puel cannot continue to build on the foundations Pochettino and Koeman put in place?

He might turn out to be as good as his predecessors, he might turn out to be a Remi Garde.

We do not know, and we cannot know.

All we know is that he is at a club who have made a habit of successful managerial appointments in recent times.

That is a nice habit to have. I can think of a lot of clubs – hello Manchester United! – who patently haven’t had that habit.

Saints’ success with these appointments cannot go on forever – what does? – and Puel will have to plug some significant gaps in his squad left by the likes of Wanyama and Mane.

Fans will be worried that he might have to plug even more, if other star names leave this summer.

But if they do, it would be unfair to lay the blame at the new manager’s door.

At this moment in time, we can only wish him the best of luck.

Do that, and keep some of our fingers crossed that the club’s managerial appointment alchemy continues.

And keep some of our other fingers crossed that Saints can do what they haven’t been good at doing recently – keeping their best players.