West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan refused to be drawn on links to Southampton, preferring to focus on his current side.
Speaking to Birmingham Live, Corberan claimed it would be disrespectful to talk about interest in him when he feels he should be keeping his full attention on the Baggies.
The Saints have been linked with a number of managers since they sacked Russell Martin on Sunday night, with the Premier League's bottom side making the decision to change managers after a humiliating 5-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
Results at St Mary's have been poor since they secured promotion back to the top flight - and the south-coast side's hierarchy will be keen to bring in someone who can work miracles.
Premier League table (17th-20th)
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Both Corberan and Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl have been linked with the Saints, but it looks as though Ivan Juric will be appointed instead, which is a boost for Albion and the Owls.
Carlos Corberan reacts to Southampton links
Corberan didn't give too much away in his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon, but it seemed clear that he was keen to focus on his current team at this point.
When questioned about his links to the Saints, he told Birmingham Live: "For me it is disrespectful for this great club and our amazing fans to be talking about something that is not related to West Bromwich Albion.
"Sometimes I feel that if you cut (my comments) to say 'I only focus on the game' and I don't talk about anything else - there can be speculation about this!
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"I can only tell you that my full focus is to prepare the next game and I don't like that our fans or anyone else at this club can feel any type of disrespect with all of these rumours that can appear.
"I am clear on this, so I am going to speak about Bristol, about what we are going to do in the club, that I can control, because there are things I cannot control and I cannot talk about things I cannot control."
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Albion have richly benefitted from having Corberan in place.
Not only did he lead them out of the drop zone during the early stages of his time at the club, but he has also been able to keep them at the right end of the table for a decent chunk of his stay.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Baggies finish in the play-offs again at the end of the season, with Corberan often squeezing the best out of his squad.
To lose him now would have been painful, especially with the club in a decent position to push for a play-off place at the end of the season.
So the fact that Juric is about to be appointed instead is a massive plus.