Premiership: Southampton fans want Keegan back

Kevin Keegan is the fans' favourite to replace Glenn Hoddle as manager of Southampton.

The former Saints player is rumoured to be keen for a return to club management.

And he has emerged as the high-profile figure supporters want to see lead the club into a new era.

Southampton move to their new 32,500-capacity stadium in time for next season.

They will have the potential for increased revenue, having competed with the Premiership big guns on gates of just over 15,000.

Former England boss Hoddle's move to Tottenham has left a potential vacancy for his international successor Keegan at the club the latter graced in the early 1980s.

Stuart Gray is in temporary charge - until the end of the season - but he started his nine-match stint with a 3-0 home reverse by Ipswich.

And it is Keegan, who led Newcastle from the brink of relegation to the old Third Division to consecutive runners-up finishes in the Premiership, who is seen as the most logical answer by Nick Illingsworth, chairman of the Southampton Independent Supporters Association.

"Most people want Keegan," said Illingsworth. "The one thing that everyone is aware of is the need to find 17,000 more fans to fill the new stadium and the only way we are going to find them is with another big name appointment.

"He might not have been good enough for England but he wasn't a bad Premiership manager.

"He took Newcastle to a certain point and realistically we don't have any aspirations to go further than that - we are not geared for the championship.

"There are only three clubs that can win the title nowadays and the top six and a good run in the cups are our goals."

Keegan's popularity is in stark contrast to the view of Hoddle around The Dell after his 14-month spell in charge officially ended on Monday evening.

"Hoddle was very much admired here but not necessarily liked. He didn't really communicate with the fans," Illingsworth added. "Someone like Kevin Keegan is probably admired and liked."