Jose Mourinho, the self-anointed 'Special One', has been hailed as the man who convinced Mauricio Pochettino to make the move to the Premier League and take the reins at Southampton.

Real Madrid manager Mourinho, who enjoyed a hugely successful time with Chelsea, gave Pochettino a few words of wisdom on life in the Premier League.

The Argentine, who was appointed Friday following the removal of Nigel Adkins, has previously managed Espanyol in Spain and will take charge of his first game against Everton on Monday.

"I am very passionate about the Premier League," the 40-year-old told reporters.

"I have seen many games, the Premier League is an attractive league and I have spoken to people at length about it, people such as Jose Mourinho, who is a good friend of mine.

"He told me the best football in the world is being played here. How the league is structured there's a lot of respect towards the other clubs and that has only convinced me to come here, aside from the project that Southampton have offered me, the chance to work in this league I am very happy about."

The move comes as something as a surprise given Southampton's recent good form, which included a fine comeback to draw 2-2 at Chelsea in its last match.

Adkins, 47, arrived at the club when it was second bottom in the third tier before winning successive promotions to reach the Premier League.

The club is currently 15th with a three-point lead over the teams in the relegation zone.

Executive chairman Nicola Cortese has been criticized by supporters for the ousting of Adkins with fans taking to Twitter to register their disgust.

But journalist Gordon Simpson, who covers the club for the Southampton Echo newspaper, says Cortese's decision will ultimately be judged on results.

"The decision to sack Nigel Adkins has obviously come as a shock to many Saints fans," Simpson told CNN.

"It is not a complete surprise, however. It has been rumoured for some time that the chairman, Nicola Cortese, has been considering a change and there has been a sense for a while at St Mary's that Adkins has been living on borrowed time.

"Adkins is an enormously popular figure with the supporters here, and as you can imagine the news has been largely met with a degree of hostility and sadness.

"The timing is certainly strange, with the club having enjoyed a fine series of results and performances in recent months -- two defeats in 12 Premier League games tells its own story.

"Obviously, Cortese's decision will ultimately be judged on results. If the club continues to move forward under new manager Mauricio Pochettino's guidance then he will feel vindicated and supporters will quickly come to accept the change.

"But Saints' season is delicately balanced right now, and if results start to regress then the anger and frustration emanating from much of the fan base will only heighten."

Bielsa

Pochettino, who represented Espanyol and Paris Saint-Germain as a player, won 20 caps for Argentina at international level.

Known for his readiness to use young players, he learnt his trade as a 16-year-old under the watchful eye of current Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa during their time together at Newell's Old Boys in his native Argentina.