A Southampton man who makes twice as much as Smallbone might soon lose his job.

On Saturday, Southampton barely managed to overcome Birmingham City, emerging victorious 4-3 thanks to a late goal from substitute Joe Aribo.

When one of his final roll-of-the-dice substitutes buried their late chance, Russell Martin would have been the happiest man in St Andrew’s. The stuttering automatic promotion prospects were overjoyed to secure the three points after losing three of their previous four games coming into this match.

In the thrilling match against the Blues, Will Smallbone also made an impressive showing in the midfield, recording two assists to help Southampton win the thrilling match at the end.

Even though they have only appeared once this season, one character in Martin’s St. Mary’s camp is currently making twice as much money as Smallbone.

This might result in the 38-year-old manager being fired shortly, clearing up a sizable amount of cash from the payroll.

The salary of Alex McCarthy at Southampton
Alex McCarthy has only made one appearance in the EFL Cup this season, scoring three goals against Gillingham Town of League Two. It’s safe to argue that his £50k weekly salary with the Saints is a bit excessive.

McCarthy was only present for nine of Southampton’s games in all competitions the previous season, which contributed to the South Coast club’s relegation and further exposed the goalkeeper’s astronomically high wage.

McCarthy has only kept 35 clean sheets in 139 appearances for the Saints. Given that, it could be wise to sell McCarthy quickly and use the proceeds to strengthen the Southampton team, particularly if promotion is won.

Many players in Martin’s team that is vying for a promotion may also be looking for pay increases; Smallbone, for example, is just one player who may be demanding more money given his meager £25k weekly salary in comparison to the backup goalkeeper.

The salary of Alex McCarthy in relation to the Southampton team
Looking at the Championship team’s salary structure, McCarthy is currently the joint fifth-highest paid employee; the Saints exile is outperformed by players like Adam Armstrong, Jan Bednarek, Stuart Armstrong, and goal-scoring star Joe Aribo.

However, in contrast to the 34-year-old who hasn’t played a minute in the league under Martin this season, those four are regular first-team players.

Remarkably, McCarthy earns more than Martin’s first-choice goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu, a former Manchester City keeper who has ten clean sheets under his belt and is a mainstay in his manager’s starting lineups in the second division.

The Saints manager would rather give Joe Lumley spot starts here and there as a backup than the £50k per week outsider, so the 34-year-old was pushed aside and isn’t even on the bench anymore.

McCarthy might still be a holdover from Southampton’s glory days in the Premier League, when players like Danny Ings and Theo Walcott demanded attractive weekly salaries of £75,000 each while contributing little to the Saints.