Saints chairman Ralph Krueger has insisted Saints will continue to grow despite the departure of Mauricio Pochettino.

Pochettino has resigned from Saints and signed a five year deal to take over as manager of Tottenham.

The Saints board are coming in for criticism of their handling of the affair and that may intensify after Krueger's statement which has not addressed why this has happened, rather tried to put a brave face on it.

He said: "The Club has been on a constant path of growth since the arrival of Markus Liebherr in 2009.

"This growth took place before Mauricio came, it continued strongly under his leadership, and it will continue into the next season.

"The Board’s job is to find opportunity in this challenge and to continue to move the Club forward.

“We have begun the search for a new high-calibre manager

"We will be looking for a manager that shares our values, our principles and our philosophy; a manager who can continue to grow the First Team and build on our strong foundation – a foundation led by an ambitious vision and plan that continues to build on our world-class academy, our amazing 129-year heritage and our excellent staff, and rewards our loyal and passionate fan base."