Southampton football chief Les Reed has explained holding back from the transfer market.
Reed says no major decisions will be made until the new manager is installed.
"There is no way that I or the board were going to make any decisions without the new manager having the opportunity to assess those players and their value to the squad, and having the opportunity to talk to them and to try to persuade them that this was the place to be.
"It's a balancing act - it's about keeping players we've got informed, trying to persuade them to be patient and to wait and see.
"That's not always easy when other clubs publicly announce that they're interested in your players because it does destabilise them a bit.
"However, it is very important that our new manager has the opportunity to show them what he might do.
"Also, it's important for them to know who our new manager is because they don't at the moment, so maybe that will have an effect.
"The most important factor in it is whether they factor into his vision for the future, so the decision to sell or recruit will always be based on what he thinks is best for the club."
