How former Portsmouth midfielder and Bournemouth caretaker boss Gary O'Neil could be part of chain reaction to Ralph Hassenhuttl's Southampton sacking

National reports claim the ex-Blues midfielder, who is currently in temporary charge of Premier League Bournemouth, will not be offered the permanent manager’s job at the Vitality Stadium.

That raises the possibility of the 39-year-old coach parting ways with the Cherries, whom he’s been with since February 2021.

And it’s been reported that Championship Luton could offer him his next challenge as they look poised to lose Nathan Jones to the managerless Saints, who took the decision to remove Hassenhuttl on Monday after a 4-1 home loss to Newcastle.

Jones has been hotly-tipped to move to St Mary’s as the Austrian’s replacement, with sources claiming a verbal agreement has been reached for him to take charge of the Premier League strugglers, who sit 18th in the table.

That’s one place below Bournemouth, who sacked Scott Parker at the end of August following a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool.

First-team coach O’Neil was called upon to fill the void left by the former Chelsea and Fulham midfielder.

But after going unbeaten in his first six games in charge, the Cherries have lost their past four matches – all of which have come in the Premier League.

Two of those defeats have come after Bournemouth raced into 2-0 leads, only for Spurs and Leeds respectively to fight back and claim unlikely victories.

As a consequence, O’Neil – who spent seven years at Pompey, making 192 appearances and scoring 17 goals – is set to be overlooked for the main job at the Vitality.

Luton, who currently sit eighth in the Championship, are reportedly keen to make a move once the formalities of Jones’ expected Southampton switch are completed.

However, O’Neil could find himself on a short-list of contenders for the Hatters positions, with former Blackpool boss Neil Critchley and Cambridge United manager Mark Bonner also supposedly being considered.