“It’s not bad, eh?” Claude Puel said, with a wry smile, of Southampton’s feat of reaching a major final for the first time in 14 years. Although it is not job done just yet, a sturdy showing over 180 minutes against Liverpool answered many of the Frenchman’s critics – if he still has any.
It has taken time for Saints supporters to warm to Puel, who has had to put on a brave face at times, but he could yet go down in history alongside Lawrie McMenemy, the only manager to have won a major trophy with the club.
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