Ralph Hasenhuttl

[SKD]

40 minutes ago, Nemi said:

I’m saying there’s no manager who over the course of the season would get us higher than 14th/15th place. That’s where we are as a club. But if it’s more satisfactory for you I’m sure they’d do it in a more consistent way where we don’t win loads of games at the start and lose loads of games at the end. We’d just win a few here and there over the course of the season, but we’re still not gonna end up much higher than where we are now.
 

We were a far more attractive club when Pochettino joined and when Koeman joined compared to where we are now. But I think even those two would struggle to do better than 11th and 52 points with this squad and I think those two would especially struggle with this squad in a season like this.

I think you’re missing the point. Finishing 14th/15th, whilst disappointing (I personally think we should be in that next bracket of 14th-10th) isn’t the end of the world. I think most would accept that with limited resources out side of our starting 11-15 were pretty weak. 

However, we’re bottom of the table over half a season, on course to finish 17th with only 2 wins in that time. We’ve had more embarrassing drubbings than wins this year. Just think about that. 

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that we will turn things around next season (unless something with the back room staff changes, some fresh ideas or some very unlikely investment into the squad). In fact, we’re going to lose our best player, who history tells, under Ralph without him we don’t score goals. 

You can try and justify things by saying our squad isn’t very good. But it’s absolutely better than 7 points in 16 games. That, is absolutely pathetic and a run any manager is very lucky to survive. Especially one who is reluctant to change a thing. 

Edited 27 April, 2021 by SKD

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

10 minutes ago, Nemi said:

I’m saying there’s no manager who over the course of the season would get us higher than 14th/15th place. That’s where we are as a club. But if it’s more satisfactory for you I’m sure they’d do it in a more consistent way where we don’t win loads of games at the start and lose loads of games at the end. We’d just win a few here and there over the course of the season, but we’re still not gonna end up much higher than where we are now.
 

We were a far more attractive club when Pochettino joined and when Koeman joined compared to where we are now. But I think even those two would struggle to do better than 11th and 52 points with this squad and I think those two would especially struggle with this squad in a season like this.

We were a bit better than we are now perhaps but Poch inherited a newly promoted team and we were sitting just 3 points above the relegation zone when he arrived. For Koeman, he had to deal with immediately losing Lambert, Lallana, Shaw, Lovren and Chambers which isn't exactly ideal for a new manager but I digress as that doesn't really have any impact on the subject of this thread which is Ralphs performance.

If no manager can get us higher than 14th/15th over the space of a season then why is Ralph the man to keep on? Past performance isn't necessarily an indicator of future performance and the current poor run is yet to end. He's had 2 pre-seasons and 5 transfer windows already to set the team up in his image and bring in at least some players to help improve us. Who's to say that another manager given the same time and resources couldn't also get us higher up the table or are we just meant to accept that this is as good as it gets now and forever more?

Don't get me wrong he did well last season getting us to 52 points but i'm sure Ings having the season of his life helped greatly with that. He did well the first half of this season as well to be fair and as shown that when he is willing to make changes that he can have a positive affect on results - he did it last season switching from 3 at the back to his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation, he even did it the start of this season - he began with an absolutely suicidal high defensive line that got us beaten by Palace, knocked out of the League Cup by Brentford and then spanked by Spurs which convinced him to change it back and lo and behold we started getting good results again.

This run though all i'm seeing is the same ineffective tactics being trotted out over and over and over again and Ralph being shocked when it doesn't work. Now i'm no manager but I could make some suggestions - if your fullbacks are knackered or just don't have then fitness to do the overlapping runs (looking at Bertrand here) then change to a formation that doesn't use them in that way so they can focus on the defensive side more (alternatively don't let both of your backups leave in January so you have to weaken other parts of the team just to fill a position). Perhaps bench a player like Bednarek for a while as he's in the worst form of his career with us. Stop Vestergaard from trying to act as a playmaker every game making runs past the midfield and leaving the likes of Diallo to cover for him. Get the 2 players behind the strikers to actually look for the runs in behind and try a pass rather than ignoring them like I tend to see happen at least 3 times a game. When a striker scores 3 goals in 4 games don't immediately bench him for 3 games including an important cup semi-final. When we're chasing a game maybe don't bring on Djenepo who has 1 goal, no assists, only 2 shots on target and a 0% crossing success rate over 25 appearances this season - maybe bring on Minamino who has scored 2 goals in 6 appearances before he was for whatever reason shut out completely. Perhaps stick with a single goalie rather than swapping them on a whim every couple of games.

There's probably more I could think of but you get the point, the idea that there this is just a bad run with bad players and there's nothing the manager can do just doesn't sit right with me and neither does the idea that we can just accept writing off the rest of the season and then giving him more money to potentially continue in the same form next season.

[Nemi]

19 minutes ago, Singapore Saint said:

One of the worst squads or one of the worst managers? Can you argue Aston Villa has a better squad (Saints reject Matt Targett is a regular starter for them) or West Ham (bar Jesse Lingard) or Leeds?

You really think McCarthy/Forster is better than Martinez? You think Bednarek and Vestergaard who conceded nearly 20 goals more than Konsa and Mings are better? I don’t think either of their full-backs would be worse than our current offering. Target was never terrible for us and since then he’s progressed while Bertrand has regressed. I prefer Douglas Luiz over our CMs and I think McGinn would be as good as Armstrong. Even Barkley wouldn’t make this team worse. Grealish isn’t even a argument. And the there is El Ghazi (7 goals), Trezuguet (2 goals) and Traore (5 goals) v Redmond (2 goals), Djenepo (1 goal) and Walcott (2 goals). As good as Ings is Watkins has got more goals than him this season (in his first PL season), and stays fit. And we’re better? 

Leeds are a bigger club than us. With a better manager. And still a better squad. Let’s not pretend that JWP is better than Phillips. Even Southgate who loves JWP knows it. Any of their CBs would be better than ours. It was on here people were desperate to sign Jansson not long ago, and he got dropped by them after promotion. Again neither of their full-backs would do any worse. Raphinha would walk into a lot of PL teams. And Bamford has 14 goals this season. He’d walk into our team too.
 

And West Ham ffs! You think this squad should be competing with a team who could get Champions League?!! I literally can’t believe how deluded that is? Yeah they’re overachieving but you think we could get anywhere near them? You think that Moyes could take us to 5th? Honestly it’s mental. 
 

If we’re so good why aren’t teams queuing up to buy players? Like Hojbjerg, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Lovren, Alderweireld, Van Dijk, Mane, Lallana, Clyne, Shaw? Only Ings has any sort of firm interest. And with his injury record there’s still questions there.

[nta786]

23 minutes ago, Nemi said:

You really think McCarthy/Forster is better than Martinez? You think Bednarek and Vestergaard who conceded nearly 20 goals more than Konsa and Mings are better? I don’t think either of their full-backs would be worse than our current offering. Target was never terrible for us and since then he’s progressed while Bertrand has regressed. I prefer Douglas Luiz over our CMs and I think McGinn would be as good as Armstrong. Even Barkley wouldn’t make this team worse. Grealish isn’t even a argument. And the there is El Ghazi (7 goals), Trezuguet (2 goals) and Traore (5 goals) v Redmond (2 goals), Djenepo (1 goal) and Walcott (2 goals). As good as Ings is Watkins has got more goals than him this season (in his first PL season), and stays fit. And we’re better? 

Leeds are a bigger club than us. With a better manager. And still a better squad. Let’s not pretend that JWP is better than Phillips. Even Southgate who loves JWP knows it. Any of their CBs would be better than ours. It was on here people were desperate to sign Jansson not long ago, and he got dropped by them after promotion. Again neither of their full-backs would do any worse. Raphinha would walk into a lot of PL teams. And Bamford has 14 goals this season. He’d walk into our team too.
 

And West Ham ffs! You think this squad should be competing with a team who could get Champions League?!! I literally can’t believe how deluded that is? Yeah they’re overachieving but you think we could get anywhere near them? You think that Moyes could take us to 5th? Honestly it’s mental. 
 

If we’re so good why aren’t teams queuing up to buy players? Like Hojbjerg, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Lovren, Alderweireld, Van Dijk, Mane, Lallana, Clyne, Shaw? Only Ings has any sort of firm interest. And with his injury record there’s still questions there.

The argument is that a good coach is the reason why Mings/Konsa look better than Bednarek/Vestergaard, or why El Ghazi has more goals than Redmond etc etc

Perhaps Raphinha/Bamford are having the seasons they are because of Bielsa - he has found a structure for them and it plays to the squad’s strengths. If Raphinha was with us, who knows he might only be on 1 goal too.

A majority of the the players you mentioned above were not the finished article i.e. Shaw, Lallana, Clyne but had successful seasons as the manager got the most out of them

Sadly with Ralph, in the past 4 months almost all our players have regressed. Could another coach/manager improve these players?

The other argument is perhaps not- some of these players will have burnt through 3-4 coaches and haven’t shown any permanent improvement.

Edited 27 April, 2021 by nta786

[The Cat]

1 hour ago, Singapore Saint said:

One of the worst squads or one of the worst managers? Can you argue Aston Villa has a better squad (Saints reject Matt Targett is a regular starter for them) or West Ham (bar Jesse Lingard) or Leeds?

West Ham have got loads of better players than us. In fact there's maybe only 2 of ours that would get in a combined first 11. Do you even watch football?

[Turkish]

Ralph wont be going to Bayern Munich. 

 

Julian Nagelsmann to Bayern Munich: Is he worth a world record fee? (msn.com)

[Nemi]

47 minutes ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

We were a bit better than we are now perhaps but Poch inherited a newly promoted team and we were sitting just 3 points above the relegation zone when he arrived. For Koeman, he had to deal with immediately losing Lambert, Lallana, Shaw, Lovren and Chambers which isn't exactly ideal for a new manager but I digress as that doesn't really have any impact on the subject of this thread which is Ralphs performance.

If no manager can get us higher than 14th/15th over the space of a season then why is Ralph the man to keep on? Past performance isn't necessarily an indicator of future performance and the current poor run is yet to end. He's had 2 pre-seasons and 5 transfer windows already to set the team up in his image and bring in at least some players to help improve us. Who's to say that another manager given the same time and resources couldn't also get us higher up the table or are we just meant to accept that this is as good as it gets now and forever more?

Don't get me wrong he did well last season getting us to 52 points but i'm sure Ings having the season of his life helped greatly with that. He did well the first half of this season as well to be fair and as shown that when he is willing to make changes that he can have a positive affect on results - he did it last season switching from 3 at the back to his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation, he even did it the start of this season - he began with an absolutely suicidal high defensive line that got us beaten by Palace, knocked out of the League Cup by Brentford and then spanked by Spurs which convinced him to change it back and lo and behold we started getting good results again.

This run though all i'm seeing is the same ineffective tactics being trotted out over and over and over again and Ralph being shocked when it doesn't work. Now i'm no manager but I could make some suggestions - if your fullbacks are knackered or just don't have then fitness to do the overlapping runs (looking at Bertrand here) then change to a formation that doesn't use them in that way so they can focus on the defensive side more (alternatively don't let both of your backups leave in January so you have to weaken other parts of the team just to fill a position). Perhaps bench a player like Bednarek for a while as he's in the worst form of his career with us. Stop Vestergaard from trying to act as a playmaker every game making runs past the midfield and leaving the likes of Diallo to cover for him. Get the 2 players behind the strikers to actually look for the runs in behind and try a pass rather than ignoring them like I tend to see happen at least 3 times a game. When a striker scores 3 goals in 4 games don't immediately bench him for 3 games including an important cup semi-final. When we're chasing a game maybe don't bring on Djenepo who has 1 goal, no assists, only 2 shots on target and a 0% crossing success rate over 25 appearances this season - maybe bring on Minamino who has scored 2 goals in 6 appearances before he was for whatever reason shut out completely. Perhaps stick with a single goalie rather than swapping them on a whim every couple of games.

There's probably more I could think of but you get the point, the idea that there this is just a bad run with bad players and there's nothing the manager can do just doesn't sit right with me and neither does the idea that we can just accept writing off the rest of the season and then giving him more money to potentially continue in the same form next season.

47 minutes ago, SKD said:

I think you’re missing the point. Finishing 14th/15th, whilst disappointing (I personally think we should be in that next bracket of 14th-10th) isn’t the end of the world. I think most would accept that with limited resources out side of our starting 11-15 were pretty weak. 

However, we’re bottom of the table over half a season, on course to finish 17th with only 2 wins in that time. We’ve had more embarrassing drubbings than wins this year. Just think about that. 

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that we will turn things around next season (unless something with the back room staff changes, some fresh ideas or some very unlikely investment into the squad). In fact, we’re going to lose our best player, who history tells, under Ralph without him we don’t score goals. 

You can try and justify things by saying our squad isn’t very good. But it’s absolutely better than 7 points in 16 games. That, is absolutely pathetic and a run any manager is very lucky to survive. Especially one who is reluctant to change a thing. 

I’m still not sure why people think I’m saying this isn’t the managers fault or trying to justify it. I really don’t want to have to say it again: he’s an average manager with plenty of flaws. I’m just saying the problems run far, far deeper.

I’m sure short-term we could get someone who change the tactics and formation a bit and do better for the moment but it’s just papering over the cracks. 

No new tactics are going to change the fact our defenders can’t defend. We could drop Bednarek but we only have Stephens who can play RCB as the rest are left-footed. I really think we should go 433 and add a man in midfield but that’s still going to require us playing at the moment Diallo, JWP and Armstrong who play already and the results speak for themselves. Nothing is going to change the fact that are wingers just aren’t very productive, no matter what formation we’re going to be toothless. And Ings is still going to be get injured a lot, so half the time we’re left with someone less potent.

I’d much rather Hasenhuttl focuses on a long-term solution that can sustain us for a bit. That’s not going to happen this season. If he can’t find something my next season though, I agree a change should happen. But this season’s over, we’ve been exposed, we’ve been found out, we’re stuck in a rut and it’s not even just about the quality of the players, it’s the fact there’sa losing mentality at this club. And that’s the big, big problem which isn’t going to be fixed overnight.

Luckly for Hasenhuttl he’s bought himself a bit of time because he registered the points early on. Unfortunately he’s also raised everyone’s expectations far too high. We could just change manager again but that hasn’t worked the last three times has it. At least Hasenhuttl has shown that it seems he can get some sort of improvement, even if he hasn’t worked out how to sustain it yet. I’d much rather give him another pre-season to give it ago than constantly chop and change every year as soon as we hit poor form. 
 

Pochettino and Koeman took over a club with confidence, who were improving and a winning mentality. Hasenhuttl has taken over a club with a losing mentality, who were regressing, with our confidence smashed to pieces. There’s no quick fix for that.

Edited 27 April, 2021 by Nemi

[Nemi]

5 minutes ago, nta786 said:

The argument is that a good coach is the reason why Mings/Konsa look better than Bednarek/Vestergaard, or why El Ghazi has more goals than Redmond etc etc

Perhaps Raphinha/Bamford are having the seasons they are because of Bielsa - he has found a structure for them and it plays to the squad’s strengths. If Raphinha was with us, who knows he might only be on 1 goal too.

A majority of the the players you mentioned above were not the finished article i.e. Shaw, Lallana, Clyne but had successful seasons as the manager got the most out of them

Sadly with Ralph, in the past 4 months almost all our players have regressed. Could another coach/manager improve these players?

The other argument is perhaps not- some of these players will have burnt through 3-4 coaches and haven’t shown any permanent improvement.

Well our players have only regressed from the levels Hasenhuttl got them too. But they were just as bad before he was here: we barely scraped relegation beforehand with basically the same, if not a slightly better squad.

If these players are just coached badly then we aren’t Smith and Bielsa looking at our squad then, if they could just coach them to be better?

Ings aside no-one in the PL wants anyone from our squad. They’ve proved consistently under various managers they’re not very good.

[TWar]

1 hour ago, Singapore Saint said:

One of the worst squads or one of the worst managers? Can you argue Aston Villa has a better squad (Saints reject Matt Targett is a regular starter for them) or West Ham (bar Jesse Lingard) or Leeds?

Villa have one of the best attacking players in the league, arguably in europe. Without him they look shit, but they have him at the moment and he creates more chances than every one of our attacking players put together, on top of the Martinez is class as is Konsa.

Leeds have a better squad than us imo, much more depth, Raphinha creates a tonne of chances and would walk into most teams in the league, rest of the squad is quite similar in quality to us but I think Raphinha is a big difference maker, Ings is probably better than Bamford but Bamford has been fit all season and is better than all our other forwards so that tips things too.

West ham have a much better squad than us. Ings, JWP and maybe Vestergaard are the only players who would start for them plus they have a tonne of depth. In fact in attacking mid they have Lingard, Bowen, Benrahma, Lanzini, Fornals, and Yarmalenko. Literally 6 players who would probably start for us over basically all of our attacking mids except Armstrong. Coufal is quality, Soucek is quality, Antonio is quality, Fabianski is quality, Diop is great, Cresswell is having a great season and that's not to mention their best player, Rice, who probably starts for any team in the country. To say we have an even comparable squad to west ham is kind of hilarious. That's what happens when you spend £50-100m every summer for about 5 years.

[Give it to Ron]

54 minutes ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

We were a bit better than we are now perhaps but Poch inherited a newly promoted team and we were sitting just 3 points above the relegation zone when he arrived. For Koeman, he had to deal with immediately losing Lambert, Lallana, Shaw, Lovren and Chambers which isn't exactly ideal for a new manager but I digress as that doesn't really have any impact on the subject of this thread which is Ralphs performance.

If no manager can get us higher than 14th/15th over the space of a season then why is Ralph the man to keep on? Past performance isn't necessarily an indicator of future performance and the current poor run is yet to end. He's had 2 pre-seasons and 5 transfer windows already to set the team up in his image and bring in at least some players to help improve us. Who's to say that another manager given the same time and resources couldn't also get us higher up the table or are we just meant to accept that this is as good as it gets now and forever more?

Don't get me wrong he did well last season getting us to 52 points but i'm sure Ings having the season of his life helped greatly with that. He did well the first half of this season as well to be fair and as shown that when he is willing to make changes that he can have a positive affect on results - he did it last season switching from 3 at the back to his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation, he even did it the start of this season - he began with an absolutely suicidal high defensive line that got us beaten by Palace, knocked out of the League Cup by Brentford and then spanked by Spurs which convinced him to change it back and lo and behold we started getting good results again.

This run though all i'm seeing is the same ineffective tactics being trotted out over and over and over again and Ralph being shocked when it doesn't work. Now i'm no manager but I could make some suggestions - if your fullbacks are knackered or just don't have then fitness to do the overlapping runs (looking at Bertrand here) then change to a formation that doesn't use them in that way so they can focus on the defensive side more (alternatively don't let both of your backups leave in January so you have to weaken other parts of the team just to fill a position). Perhaps bench a player like Bednarek for a while as he's in the worst form of his career with us. Stop Vestergaard from trying to act as a playmaker every game making runs past the midfield and leaving the likes of Diallo to cover for him. Get the 2 players behind the strikers to actually look for the runs in behind and try a pass rather than ignoring them like I tend to see happen at least 3 times a game. When a striker scores 3 goals in 4 games don't immediately bench him for 3 games including an important cup semi-final. When we're chasing a game maybe don't bring on Djenepo who has 1 goal, no assists, only 2 shots on target and a 0% crossing success rate over 25 appearances this season - maybe bring on Minamino who has scored 2 goals in 6 appearances before he was for whatever reason shut out completely. Perhaps stick with a single goalie rather than swapping them on a whim every couple of games.

There's probably more I could think of but you get the point, the idea that there this is just a bad run with bad players and there's nothing the manager can do just doesn't sit right with me and neither does the idea that we can just accept writing off the rest of the season and then giving him more money to potentially continue in the same form next season.

That’s it in a nut shell and quite simply Ralph and his coaches are clueless when it’s tactically not working or any game management needed .

Your  post is bang on the money and suggestions are what the majority can see but not our management.

Is that arrogance, failure to spot  what other team changes to, blinkered belief in own ability or just plain stupidity but to keep doing the same thing all these months is blatant insanity.

Redmond for Tella 3 minutes left.....nuts!!!

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

24 minutes ago, Nemi said:

I’m still not sure why people think I’m saying this isn’t the managers fault or trying to justify it. I really don’t want to have to say it again: he’s an average manager with plenty of flaws. I’m just saying the problems run far, far deeper.

I’m sure short-term we could get someone who change the tactics and formation a bit and do better for the moment but it’s just papering over the cracks. 

No new tactics are going to change the fact our defenders can’t defend. We could drop Bednarek but we only have Stephens who can play RCB as the rest are left-footed. I really think we should go 433 and add a man in midfield but that’s still going to require us playing at the moment Diallo, JWP and Armstrong who play already and the results speak for themselves. Nothing is going to change the fact that are wingers just aren’t very productive, no matter what formation we’re going to be toothless. And Ings is still going to be get injured a lot, so half the time we’re left with someone less potent.

I’d much rather Hasenhuttl focuses on a long-term solution that can sustain us for a bit. That’s not going to happen this season. If he can’t find something my next season though, I agree a change should happen. But this season’s over, we’ve been exposed, we’ve been found out, we’re stuck in a rut and it’s not even just about the quality of the players, it’s the fact there’sa losing mentality at this club. And that’s the big, big problem which isn’t going to be fixed overnight.

Luckly for Hasenhuttl he’s bought himself a bit of time because he registered the points early on. Unfortunately he’s also raised everyone’s expectations far too high. We could just change manager again but that hasn’t worked the last three times has it. At least Hasenhuttl has shown that it seems he can get some sort of improvement, even if he hasn’t worked out how to sustain it yet. I’d much rather give him another pre-season to give it ago than constantly chop and change every year as soon as we hit poor form. 
 

Pochettino and Koeman took over a club with confidence, who were improving and a winning mentality. Hasenhuttl has taken over a club with a losing mentality, who were regressing, with our confidence smashed to pieces. There’s no quick fix for that.

Think this is my last allowed post of the day so don't be offended if I can't continue this conversation afterwards but the majority of the argument here appears to be about the strength of our squad rather than Ralph himself and this is a thread about the manager and his performance. Again he's had more games than any other recent manager, he's had 2 pre-seasons and 5 transfer windows to improve these players already and bring in his own players so what are the reasons that if this form continues for the rest of the season he should continue and be given even more time and money rather than allowing a new face a chance to improve things?

I assure you this is not meant as a trick question or to validate my points i'm genuinely interested in the reasons why people think this manager - if the poor run continues to the end of the season - is the right man to take us forward, but so far i've not seen any convincing arguments with the best i've seen being 'well give him more money to sign better players and results will improve' as if that doesn't apply to every other manager in existence or that he's got us performing well before to which I agree but he's also got us performing worse than any manager in a decade without an end in sight currently. I've given him the benefit of the doubt through the first 15 games of this run and have said i'll give him to the end of this season to turn things around as I think his previous form has earned him that but for me that good will cannot extend into next season if things don't improve this season.

[Forester]

1 hour ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

We were a bit better than we are now perhaps but Poch inherited a newly promoted team and we were sitting just 3 points above the relegation zone when he arrived. For Koeman, he had to deal with immediately losing Lambert, Lallana, Shaw, Lovren and Chambers which isn't exactly ideal for a new manager but I digress as that doesn't really have any impact on the subject of this thread which is Ralphs performance.

If no manager can get us higher than 14th/15th over the space of a season then why is Ralph the man to keep on? Past performance isn't necessarily an indicator of future performance and the current poor run is yet to end. He's had 2 pre-seasons and 5 transfer windows already to set the team up in his image and bring in at least some players to help improve us. Who's to say that another manager given the same time and resources couldn't also get us higher up the table or are we just meant to accept that this is as good as it gets now and forever more?

Don't get me wrong he did well last season getting us to 52 points but i'm sure Ings having the season of his life helped greatly with that. He did well the first half of this season as well to be fair and as shown that when he is willing to make changes that he can have a positive affect on results - he did it last season switching from 3 at the back to his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation, he even did it the start of this season - he began with an absolutely suicidal high defensive line that got us beaten by Palace, knocked out of the League Cup by Brentford and then spanked by Spurs which convinced him to change it back and lo and behold we started getting good results again.

This run though all i'm seeing is the same ineffective tactics being trotted out over and over and over again and Ralph being shocked when it doesn't work. Now i'm no manager but I could make some suggestions - if your fullbacks are knackered or just don't have then fitness to do the overlapping runs (looking at Bertrand here) then change to a formation that doesn't use them in that way so they can focus on the defensive side more (alternatively don't let both of your backups leave in January so you have to weaken other parts of the team just to fill a position). Perhaps bench a player like Bednarek for a while as he's in the worst form of his career with us. Stop Vestergaard from trying to act as a playmaker every game making runs past the midfield and leaving the likes of Diallo to cover for him. Get the 2 players behind the strikers to actually look for the runs in behind and try a pass rather than ignoring them like I tend to see happen at least 3 times a game. When a striker scores 3 goals in 4 games don't immediately bench him for 3 games including an important cup semi-final. When we're chasing a game maybe don't bring on Djenepo who has 1 goal, no assists, only 2 shots on target and a 0% crossing success rate over 25 appearances this season - maybe bring on Minamino who has scored 2 goals in 6 appearances before he was for whatever reason shut out completely. Perhaps stick with a single goalie rather than swapping them on a whim every couple of games.

There's probably more I could think of but you get the point, the idea that there this is just a bad run with bad players and there's nothing the manager can do just doesn't sit right with me and neither does the idea that we can just accept writing off the rest of the season and then giving him more money to potentially continue in the same form next season.

This is a very good post!

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Nemi said:

Koeman took over a club with confidence, who were improving and a winning mentality

Not a Saints fan back then, then.

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, SKD said:

I think you’re missing the point. Finishing 14th/15th, whilst disappointing (I personally think we should be in that next bracket of 14th-10th) isn’t the end of the world. I think most would accept that with limited resources out side of our starting 11-15 were pretty weak. 

However, we’re bottom of the table over half a season, on course to finish 17th with only 2 wins in that time. We’ve had more embarrassing drubbings than wins this year. Just think about that. 

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that we will turn things around next season (unless something with the back room staff changes, some fresh ideas or some very unlikely investment into the squad). In fact, we’re going to lose our best player, who history tells, under Ralph without him we don’t score goals. 

You can try and justify things by saying our squad isn’t very good. But it’s absolutely better than 7 points in 16 games. That, is absolutely pathetic and a run any manager is very lucky to survive. Especially one who is reluctant to change a thing. 

What is that supposed to mean? A season lasts for 38 games. That’s why it’s called a season.

[Nemi]

22 minutes ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

Think this is my last allowed post of the day so don't be offended if I can't continue this conversation afterwards but the majority of the argument here appears to be about the strength of our squad rather than Ralph himself and this is a thread about the manager and his performance. Again he's had more games than any other recent manager, he's had 2 pre-seasons and 5 transfer windows to improve these players already and bring in his own players so what are the reasons that if this form continues for the rest of the season he should continue and be given even more time and money rather than allowing a new face a chance to improve things?

I assure you this is not meant as a trick question or to validate my points i'm genuinely interested in the reasons why people think this manager - if the poor run continues to the end of the season - is the right man to take us forward, but so far i've not seen any convincing arguments with the best i've seen being 'well give him more money to sign better players and results will improve' as if that doesn't apply to every other manager in existence or that he's got us performing well before to which I agree but he's also got us performing worse than any manager in a decade without an end in sight currently. I've given him the benefit of the doubt through the first 15 games of this run and have said i'll give him to the end of this season to turn things around as I think his previous form has earned him that but for me that good will cannot extend into next season if things don't improve this season.

Because I would rather look at the long-term and I think the Football Club he took over has deep ranging issues that will take a long-time to fix. He’s taken over a Football Club, that, as a whole, was on a rather steep regression, due to various factors. Though the manger has done it in an unconventional manner with lots of highs and lots of lows - which I know we’re stuck in at the moment, I think overall - judging by his spell as a whole rather than certain periods, he’s arrested the regression of the football club - though I see why people find it hard to look past current form.
 

It is a crap, crap run but it’s is also only that bad because it is true other managers would have been sacked by now. I’m glad as a club we’re finally looking more long-term again. But I also accept trying to get a the same manger to improve form will inevitably take longer than a new manager, who may give us a short-term bounce but leaves us with all the long-term problems still.

I don’t have a problem with people criticising Hasenhuttl - there’s a lot to criticise him for. But I think people are over simplifying the issues we have.  For example, in our lowest moments the 9-0 v Man Utd, some people are acting like if we just shut up shop we’d be fine and just lose by a respectable amount instead. But we did shut up shop - we spent the whole game camped in our half and never got out, and given the extremely limited bench that day, we made defensive subs. That result showed that problems run deeper into this Football Club that go far beyond just changing tactics because we did - exactly in the manner people suggest - and it was still an embarrassing disaster. Saying that he was been rightfully criticised for crap against Leeds, Brighton and WBA. But people are acting like if we just changed formation, or just played Jankewitz (who I’m also frustrated that he hasn’t got more chances), the results would be different. These results happened because the whole team didn’t turn up but were made worse by poor management in these games.

I think the criticisms he has received his season are correct but also reflect on the whole team. We’ve been one dimensional and, I agree, his tactics certainly haven’t helped. But looking beyond the lack of quality, the sort of players we have are one-dimensional too, they’re all very same-y and tend to offer and do the same things. That’s why I don’t totally blame him for not be able to change things as I don’t think we have enough variety in the players to do so.

We’re a club in transition and given the sort of club we are with not much investment, transitions will take a long, long time, and that is being proven. I personally expected us to have such lows given where we are as a club. Doesn’t make it good enough and it has got worse than I thought. But, I see us in a position where Hasenhuttl has largely cleared out what he doesn’t want - which this season has affected us because I think it has left us with the problems I mentioned above (lack of variety and quality in the squad). So it has left this season as a bit of a write-off, which is even more frustrating as we started so well and were looking to maybe achieve something. But taking a step back, I never thought, given the scenario with the pandemic also, we’d do very well this season, and we haven’t. So overall I can deal with it.

What I expect now is Hasenhuttl to start building next season. The demolition is complete, it’s revealed a hell of a lot of issues with the squad and manager himself, but thankfully it seems like we’ll still be a PL team next season, and now he has a basis to start build upon again. I just think it would be madness to sack him now when he’s halfway through the job. But this is the big challenge now is for him to start building and improving again. He has made it a bigger challenge for himself by ending this season so badly. And he could very well fail next season.

But it did look even worse in November 2019, and I couldn’t see how he was going to fix it. But somehow he did. Now he’s got to do it again. But I don’t have the answers how, and I find it silly that people on the forum think they have the answers because if it’s was really so easy, do you really think that a PL manager wouldn’t have noticed?

Like I said he could quite easily fail and might, as he is nowhere near perfect, but he was brought here as a long-term solution, and he is managing for the long term, with varying degrees of short-term success. I personally see this as a 4/5 year job and think it would be crazy to sack him halfway through it. If he can’t build upon what he’s done so far next season though, we’ll have no choice but to look elsewhere.

 

[Nemi]

16 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Not a Saints fan back then, then.

?

We’d been promoted, then promoted, again, then came 14th in the PL, then came 8th in the PL. How is that not improving? We lost players, but thankfully retained a strong core, and as demonstrated we’d had the confidence as a club to find players who were better than the ones that left. There might of been panic in the fan base, but there certainly wasn’t any in the ranks of the Football Club. Because we then finished 7th and then 6th.
 

That’s exactly what happened so it’s quite bizarre you’re even trying to make an argument here.

Edited 27 April, 2021 by Nemi

[CB Fry]

17 minutes ago, Nemi said:

?

We’d been promoted, then promoted, again, then came 14th in the PL, then came 8th in the PL. How is that not improving? We lost players, but thankfully retained a strong core, and as demonstrated we’d had the confidence as a club to find players who were better than the ones that left. There might of been panic in the fan base, but there certainly wasn’t any in the ranks of the Football Club. Because we then finished 7th and then 6th.
 

That’s exactly what happened so it’s quite bizarre you’re even trying to make an argument here.

A huge amount of that was due to the manager we appointed, and the players he had a big role in bringing in like Pelle, Tadic and to a large extent Toby and Mane.

It's easy to backfit the narrative.

But by the same token: Isn't it funny that the progress from two consecutive seasons of relegation battles to an 11th place finish isn't seen as "improving"? Especially with a manager with huge job security and support from the fans. Didn't Ralph find himself in a situation where things were growing and improving at the beginning of the season?

Because that's exactly what happened, so bizarre you're making an argument here.

[Nemi]

30 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

A huge amount of that was due to the manager we appointed, and the players he had a big role in bringing in like Pelle, Tadic and to a large extent Toby and Mane.

It's easy to backfit the narrative.

But by the same token: Isn't it funny that the progress from two consecutive seasons of relegation battles to an 11th place finish isn't seen as "improving"? Especially with a manager with huge job security and support from the fans. Didn't Ralph find himself in a situation where things were growing and improving at the beginning of the season?

Because that's exactly what happened, so bizarre you're making an argument here.

Yeah great, but that doesn’t change the fact that joining a club that has just finished 8th, with a lot of very strong set of core players remaining, such as Clyne, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, S Davis with a club who then had a good reputation for recruiting players. That’s a lot more attractive than a club that finished 17th the season before, is in the relegation zone, with a lot weaker of a squad, and by that time our reputation for recruitment is in tatters.

And the second point, sorry, I don’t understand what you mean? Not sure if you’ve confused me with someone else or the wording is just bad, but I’m one of the few people arguing Hasenhuttl has improved us (slightly anyway) with a worse squad and should be given more time. But he joined us when the club was getting worse. If that’s what you’re getting at?

Edited 27 April, 2021 by Nemi

[Lord Duckhunter]

15 hours ago, supersonic said:

JWP, Diallo, Jankewitz, Armstrong. Even Stephens could do a job playing as the holding midfielder 

 

6 hours ago, Greenridge said:

Where does this ridiculous notion about Stephens come from? Comical and based on zero reference. Not a single one of the many managers that’s he played under have thought him worthy of even a try. 

You’re right in one respect. As you say comical. Only a comical manager would play him there. 
 

You’re wrong to say it hasn’t been tried though. One comic did go and try it and only against the best side in the country . Still it was the night we won the “Pep award”for most difficult 5-2 stuffing, so maybe he knows something the others don’t, . 

 

Edited 27 April, 2021 by Lord Duckhunter

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Poch and Koeman both did a great job and improved the team, but it is manifestly true that they inherited a squad that was confident and on the up. I can't see how that is even up for debate.

You see it with clubs that get promoted and take their form with them in a new league for a year or two before it starts to stagnate. Ralph meanwhile took over a mess of a club that was on a downward spiral and (eventually) got us flying. Then we got terrible injury problems this season, confidence plummeted and he's struggling to turn it around again. But we know he has managed to turn things around once before

[supersonic]

20 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Poch and Koeman both did a great job and improved the team, but it is manifestly true that they inherited a squad that was confident and on the up. I can't see how that is even up for debate.

You see it with clubs that get promoted and take their form with them in a new league for a year or two before it starts to stagnate. Ralph meanwhile took over a mess of a club that was on a downward spiral and (eventually) got us flying. Then we got terrible injury problems this season, confidence plummeted and he's struggling to turn it around again. But we know he has managed to turn things around once before

Head in the sand job 

[stevy777_x]

1 hour ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Poch and Koeman both did a great job and improved the team, but it is manifestly true that they inherited a squad that was confident and on the up. I can't see how that is even up for debate.

You see it with clubs that get promoted and take their form with them in a new league for a year or two before it starts to stagnate. Ralph meanwhile took over a mess of a club that was on a downward spiral and (eventually) got us flying. Then we got terrible injury problems this season, confidence plummeted and he's struggling to turn it around again. But we know he has managed to turn things around once before

This one million per cent

[Ex Lion Tamer]

2 hours ago, supersonic said:

Head in the sand job 

I'm not saying he will turn it around. Just that there is a chance

[Hayling Saint]

2 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

This one million per cent

me too

[SKD]

41 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

I'm not saying he will turn it around. Just that there is a chance

I’m not saying we would have won the league under Pellegrino. Just that there was a chance. 

[Charlie Wayman]

20 hours ago, Nemi said:

Again though this is reactionary. Was he clueless when we were winning a lot last year? He’s just a standard manager with strong points and weak points - his strong points helped us in our good run of form, his weak points have exacerbated our poor run of form. It’s all quite normal. 

And overall it’s evened out into a position which reflects the quality of our squad, and has shown he can do a (at the very least slightly) better job than our last two managers - despite, I would say, our squad gradually weakening over that time.

I doubt he’ll find the answers this season - realistically there’s only so much that can be fixed, and it’s not exactly been the ideal season to turn around form. If he can’t next season, then questions will rightly be asked. But even if he fails it definitely doesn’t make him clueless - sometimes things  work out, sometimes they don’t.

And I’m not sure what people mean by having a number 2? We have one, like every other team?

You're easily satisfied. It's not normal at all to lose virtually every PL match since Christmas. No other club would have tolerated such mind-bogglingly poor performance form a manager. He's way past his sell-by date.

[Billy the Kidd]

Yep, like some of our fans.

[JustinSFC]

19 hours ago, Nemi said:

You can’t justify the nonsense you are spouting. He’s stubborn because he doesn’t have a number 2? Every bloody club has a number 2. 
 

No manager who can get to second in the Bundesliga, or 50 points in the PL is clueless. Don’t make him a genius either.
 

You’re ridiculously deluded if you think Southampton are too big to go on bad runs. We’re a small Premier League team and that’s exactly why we are where we are in the table. 
 

And because we’re a small team, inevitably we attract a manager like Hasenhuttl, who has many flaws but if you think he’s clueless god knows how someone so entitled survived under Poortvield or Burley.
 

 

Just out of interest, who do you think our No2 is and what do you think a No2 does?

P.S it doesn't count if you have to Google either of those questions.

Edited 27 April, 2021 by JustinSFC

[Nemi]

2 hours ago, JustinSFC said:

Just out of interest, who do you think our No2 is and what do you think a No2 does?

P.S it doesn't count if you have to Google either of those questions.

 

On 26/12/2019 at 19:17, VectisSaint said:

Perhaps some credit ought to go to Kitzbichler, or at least to having an assistant again. Ralph lost his way, without an assistant (Rohl) to bounce ideas off, eventually Kitzbichler comes in and after a few weeks things start to turn round. Coincidence?

It’s the same bloody thread that credits our assistant for helping get us back on track last season, but apparently now Hasenhuttl’s stubborn, and his assistant doesn’t exist anymore.

[AlexLaw76]

For those defending the manager here, just how many games do we need to lose for him to be under the threat of the chop?

Our form for a very long time has been disgraceful, and Ralph seems to do little to change it.  You watch, against Leicester, it will be the same set up.

[WALK DMC]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

For those defending the manager here, just how many games do we need to lose for him to be under the threat of the chop?

Our form for a very long time has been disgraceful, and Ralph seems to do little to change it.  You watch, against Leicester, it will be the same set up.

I guess Saints have a choice: 

1) Fire him now - will provide more time for a new guy to assess the squad and bring in others. However, losing Ings, Vest & Bertrand will probably mean current plans for replacements will probably need to be progressed as we won't have much of a budget and flexibility to go after brand new targets.... 

2) Fire him in the summer - as above, but less time to shape new squad & style 

3) Give Ralph a few months of the new season and see if things improve with a rest and new recruits (and losing key players probably too)

4) Ralph is too engrained in the DNA of the club, so give him next year and beyond assuming that we don't get relegated. 

 

I'm in the 3) camp on the basis that he has earned some credit for past achievements and still feel that some of the recent issues were originally due to an injury crisis which have now transmitted into a loss of confidence across the whole team. Confidence makes such a huge difference to footballers and football teams. 

However, a few more performances like WBA might mean that 1) & 2) become more compelling for people like me. 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

If we get 0-1 points over the rest of the season then he'll have to go in the summer.

If we get 7+ then he stays.

Anything in between and it is a more difficult judgement call.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

49 minutes ago, WALK DMC said:

I guess Saints have a choice: 

1) Fire him now - will provide more time for a new guy to assess the squad and bring in others. However, losing Ings, Vest & Bertrand will probably mean current plans for replacements will probably need to be progressed as we won't have much of a budget and flexibility to go after brand new targets.... 

2) Fire him in the summer - as above, but less time to shape new squad & style 

3) Give Ralph a few months of the new season and see if things improve with a rest and new recruits (and losing key players probably too)

4) Ralph is too engrained in the DNA of the club, so give him next year and beyond assuming that we don't get relegated. 

 

I'm in the 3) camp on the basis that he has earned some credit for past achievements and still feel that some of the recent issues were originally due to an injury crisis which have now transmitted into a loss of confidence across the whole team. Confidence makes such a huge difference to footballers and football teams. 

However, a few more performances like WBA might mean that 1) & 2) become more compelling for people like me. 

Well put

[Charlie Wayman]

14 hours ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Yep, like some of our fans.

Don't be too hard on yourself, we can tolerate your ramblings.

[rallyboy]

Are we getting close to our worst ever top flight run yet?

It's quite bizarre that had we started the season like this he'd have been gone ages ago.

Yes, Ralph has bought himself time, but we were too generous to Pellegrino, for me he's the great lesson in hanging on too long when the obvious is staring you in the face, we only just got away with that one. 

I'd give Ralph the chance (and some money!) to rebuild in the summer, but if we get to November and nothing has changed, we would have to sack him. 

[Billy the Kidd]

22 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Don't be too hard on yourself, we can tolerate your ramblings.

Thanks Charlie, means a lot to me 😂

[Chapel End]

15 hours ago, SKD said:

I’m not saying we would have won the league under Pellegrino. Just that there was a chance. 

Oh my word!!! 🤣

Which league was that 🤪

[Ex Lion Tamer]

15 hours ago, SKD said:

I’m not saying we would have won the league under Pellegrino. Just that there was a chance. 

 

The difference being that Ralph did take us on a great run and has done at other clubs, so he could feasibly do it again, whereas Pellegrino was and is just crap.

[Kenilworthy]

1 hour ago, rallyboy said:

Are we getting close to our worst ever top flight run yet?

It's quite bizarre that had we started the season like this he'd have been gone ages ago.

Yes, Ralph has bought himself time, but we were too generous to Pellegrino, for me he's the great lesson in hanging on too long when the obvious is staring you in the face, we only just got away with that one. 

I'd give Ralph the chance (and some money!) to rebuild in the summer, but if we get to November and nothing has changed, we would have to sack him. 

I don't know if historically it was our worst ever run. But after beating Villa 3-1 on November 12 1988 we didn't win a league game again until April 1 1989. That was 17 matches including a run of 5 consecutive defeats. Although we did just about keep our heads above water with 8 draws. Really, had we drawn say two or three extra games in this current run we wouldn't be having this debate. Chris Nicholl survived 88/89 and the next season proved to be one of the most fondly remembered in our history.

[saint1977]

17 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

I don't know if historically it was our worst ever run. But after beating Villa 3-1 on November 12 1988 we didn't win a league game again until April 1 1989. That was 17 matches including a run of 5 consecutive defeats. Although we did just about keep our heads above water with 8 draws. Really, had we drawn say two or three extra games in this current run we wouldn't be having this debate. Chris Nicholl survived 88/89 and the next season proved to be one of the most fondly remembered in our history.

Ended by as posted recently on other threads a home win v Newcastle, last minute Ruddock penalty after Rod Wallace was fouled/dived depending on who you listened to in the social club afterwards. What stands out from that season is how many draws there were where Saints had 2 goal leads - remember leads blown at Newcastle and Boro from 3-1. Saints did come back from 2-0 v Coventry at the Dell late on - but also memorable for Russell Osman and Garry Bannister’s running feud where one ran after the other and was sent off for running after them and kicking them up the backside. Can’t remember who was sent off, anyone else remember? 

[JustinSFC]

1 hour ago, Chapel End said:

Oh my word!!! 🤣

Which league was that 🤪

Whoooosssshhhh

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

2 hours ago, rallyboy said:

Are we getting close to our worst ever top flight run yet?

It's quite bizarre that had we started the season like this he'd have been gone ages ago.

Yes, Ralph has bought himself time, but we were too generous to Pellegrino, for me he's the great lesson in hanging on too long when the obvious is staring you in the face, we only just got away with that one. 

I'd give Ralph the chance (and some money!) to rebuild in the summer, but if we get to November and nothing has changed, we would have to sack him. 

Top flight for all time I can't say but i've checked for the Prem era (i.e. since 92/93) just to satisfy my own curiosity. Partly depends on when you talk about the start of our current run but I think starting from post Liverpool win as that was the last time we picked up points in successive games seems a suitable point to look from.

Given that starting point, I can confirm that our haul of 7 pts over the last 15 games is outright the worst form we've had in the Prem over a 15 game period with the other closest runs being 8 pts by Hughes in 2018/19 and 10 pts shared by Pellegrino in 2017/18, Wigley/Redknapp in 2004/05 and under Dave Jones in 1998/99. We're not quite at worst run ever yet though as Hughes worst run ended at 9 pts in 16 games and Dave Jones had a period with only 10 points in 17 games.

In summary, in the Prem era this is our worst run of form over 15 games ever and to avoid it being our definitive worst Prem run ever we need a win in one of our next two games against Leicester and Liverpool.

[WALK DMC]

12 minutes ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

Top flight for all time I can't say but i've checked for the Prem era (i.e. since 92/93) just to satisfy my own curiosity. Partly depends on when you talk about the start of our current run but I think starting from post Liverpool win as that was the last time we picked up points in successive games seems a suitable point to look from.

Given that starting point, I can confirm that our haul of 7 pts over the last 15 games is outright the worst form we've had in the Prem over a 15 game period with the other closest runs being 8 pts by Hughes in 2018/19 and 10 pts shared by Pellegrino in 2017/18, Wigley/Redknapp in 2004/05 and under Dave Jones in 1998/99. We're not quite at worst run ever yet though as Hughes worst run ended at 9 pts in 16 games and Dave Jones had a period with only 10 points in 17 games.

In summary, in the Prem era this is our worst run of form over 15 games ever and to avoid it being our definitive worst Prem run ever we need a win in one of our next two games against Leicester and Liverpool.

Many thanks for a very interesting analysis. A couple of people have mentioned the infamous run in 1988-89 under Chris Nicholl when we had to wait for a last minute Neil Ruddock penalty to get our next win. It was pre-Premier league so before your assessment, however  it lasted 17 games, no wins and gained 8 points. Very similar to our current run from a points perspective. 

Interestingly the following season under Chris Nicholl we finished 7th and then the following season 14th. We then sacked Nicholl and replaced him with Ian Branfoot !   I think that it does highlight that patience can pay dividends and Managers can sometimes recover from the depths of despair.  One of my main concerns is that who could successfully replace Ralph with some of the structural issues (lack of investment, high salaries paid to the likes of Hoedt) we have. None of the names fills me full of confidence (although I think the Brentford manager would be interesting). I wonder what Ian Branfoot is doing these days, maybe he can take over again ? 

[Østerrike]

"Ich werde mir auch irgendwann selber die Frage stellen, und das meine ich mit vollem Ernst, ob ich danach überhaupt noch was machen möchte"

 

"I will have to ask myself if, and i'm serious about that, if i still want to keep on going afterwards (working as a coach in general)" says Hasenhüttl to Sky.

[sadoldgit]

On 28/04/2021 at 11:01, Ex Lion Tamer said:

 

The difference being that Ralph did take us on a great run and has done at other clubs, so he could feasibly do it again, whereas Pellegrino was and is just crap.

He is doing well in Argentina at the moment though.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

50 minutes ago, Østerrike said:

"Ich werde mir auch irgendwann selber die Frage stellen, und das meine ich mit vollem Ernst, ob ich danach überhaupt noch was machen möchte"

 

"I will have to ask myself if, and i'm serious about that, if i still want to keep on going afterwards (working as a coach in general)" says Hasenhüttl to Sky.

After what? This season?

[Badger]

53 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

After what? This season?

Just done a quick Google search and translation and it appears to be after his contract with us. 

 

Taken from one translation:

Quote

"You do without a lot, and it also costs a lot of energy," says Ralph Hasenhüttl, the Styrian coach from Southampton.

After his time with Southampton FC in the Premier League, Ralph Hasenhüttl can imagine saying goodbye to football. "At some point I will ask myself the question, and I mean it in all seriousness, whether I want to do anything afterwards," said the Styrian in an interview with Sky. The 53-year-old has been employed by the southern English club since December 2018 and is still under contract there until the summer of 2024.

"You do without a lot, and it also costs a lot of energy. I don't yet know what will happen afterwards. But it may well be that I might let it be," said Hasenhüttl, who until then was fully on Southampton want to stay focused. "I don't see many scenarios in which I would give this three-year contract, which I still have here, for anything else," he said.

https://www.diepresse.com/5973761/hasenhuttl-denkt-uber-ende-der-trainerkarriere-nach

[Toussaint]

23 minutes ago, Badger said:

Just done a quick Google search and translation and it appears to be after his contract with us. 

 

Taken from one translation:

https://www.diepresse.com/5973761/hasenhuttl-denkt-uber-ende-der-trainerkarriere-nach

Fair comment from Ralph

[Østerrike]

High possibility that he goes for the Austrian squad after Saints.

[Saint86]

Been a lot of comments lately about Ralph's inability to change, to be solid, that there was no effort or battle in the team. For tonight at least, we did all the things that have been missing! Credit where its due.

Edited 4 May, 2021 by Saint86