Will Still is a name on everyone’s lips at the moment, and EFL Analysis can exclusively reveal where the highly-rated manager is likely headed this summer.
After forging a successful career for himself out in France, Still has been linked with a number of jobs in England over the last year or so.
It seems the young coach is now destined to end up in the Championship, with the latest reports on his future suggesting he is in line for either the Hull City or Southampton jobs.
Those reports suggested Still was ready to move to England to be closer to his partner, who is suffering with illness at the moment.
Now, in an EFL Analysis exclusive, we can reveal that one of those jobs is not going to happen for Still, while the other avenue is expected to develop quickly in the coming days.
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
Will Still is not in the running for Hull City, but Southampton want talks
Thanks to information from our Chief Football Correspondent, Graeme Bailey, we can confirm that Will Still is not actually in the running for the Hull City job. In fact, he has not even been mentioned when it comes to the Tigers’ search for a new manager.
We believe Hull had not pushed in Still’s direction after suggestions that he was not interested in the role. Instead, Southampton has always been his preference.
As for Southampton, they are seemingly very keen to hire Still. We are told the 32-year-old has always been on their radar; they’re fans of the football he plays, and the way he can develop players.
Now, the Saints are believed to be planning to hold talks with Still in the coming days to discuss the role.
We first broke the news of Still being linked with Southampton back at the start of April, and that interest from the South Coast club has not gone away.
For Hull, the search goes on. Emre Belozoglu was under consideration but his advisors have raised doubts and he will now move away from the Hull job.
Plymouth boss Miron Muslic is also on Hull’s list, but we are now told there are concerns among the Hull hierarchy as to whether his football would be suited for the direction they want to go in.
Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Will Still’s incredible career in France
Will Still may be English, but he was born and raised in Belgium, and it’s there that his career really started to take shape, with analyst and scouting roles for Standard Liege and Lierse.
He was then promoted to assistant manager at Lierse, before taking on the top job on a caretaker basis in 2017 for eight games.
From there, Still took the assistant manager role at Beerschot and was again handed the managerial reins for 15 games in 2021.
He then moved to France to work with Stade Reims, where he really came to prominence. Despite not having his full UEFA coaching badges, Still led Reims on an incredible 17-match unbeaten run in 2023.
Club Games W D L Win %
Lens 37 16 7 14 43.24
Reims 64 25 17 22 39.06
Beerschot 15 6 2 7 40.00
Lierse 8 7 0 1 87.50
Will Still’s managerial stats
That attracted attention from England, of course. Still nearly joined Sunderland last summer, before the Black Cats hired Regis Le Bris.
Instead, he took over at RC Lens, and has led them to eighth place in the Ligue 1 table this year. He even found time to make an appearance on Sky Sports this season, but viewers actually branded Still as ‘boring’ on the night.
Let’s hope his football can do the talking if and when he comes to the EFL.