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Article by Sam Wallace @ Telegraph

Discussion in 'Southampton' started by Brixham Saint, Feb 25, 2021.

  1. Brixham Saint

    Brixham Saint Well-Known Member

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    Ralph Hasenhuttl, the Southampton manager, has a release clause in his contract which is different in value according to the club that might seek to poach him, reaching as high as £20 million should it be one of the Premier League’s biggest names.

    It was agreed when Hasenhuttl signed his recent deal last June, although many feel that the politics of managing a big club would not suit the Austrian. He runs the football side at Southampton with complete authority and is one of a small group of key figures at the club. Alongside chief executive Martin Semmens, Hasenhuttl enjoys the kind of pre-eminence that is rare among his Premier League managerial peers higher up the table.

    It has been a remarkable ride since he arrived in Dec 2018. From last season’s resurgence to finish 11th, in November they wenttop of the league for the first time in 32 years of the club’s history. Hasenhuttlwept in the technical areawhen Southampton beat Liverpool on Jan 4. Since then they have drawn one and lost seven in the league, the most recentdefeat to Leeds United on Tuesday night.

    Yet there is a different dynamic at play to what would be the more conventional gathering of pressure on an embattled manager. The club have placed Hasenhuttl at the centre of their future, backing him unreservedly after the 9-0 defeat to Leicester City in Oct 2019 and generally he has repaid that. The question being asked now is not whether he will have to go but whether they can give Hasenhuttl the resources to keep him long enough to find a new owner who will nourish the club.

    In the meantime what is it that Hasenhuttl presides over? For a period, Southampton were the greatest trading club in the Premier League with young players and shrewd signings sold on for huge fees. They defined the art of renewal in their early years back in the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, but now they are locked in a much more difficult battle for survival.Their faith in the manager is total, but the sale of the club hangs over everything and the crash in league form since the first game of the new year has been spectacular.

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    Such is their current form, the Saints are not really marching anywhereCREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
    The club have an absentee ownership in China, the businessman Gao Jisheng, who is eager to sell. The day-to-day running is left to the executive team who have the power to make major decisions and also face down the owners if they feel it necessary. Gao is reliant upon the likes of Semmens and managing director Toby Steele, as well as Hasenhuttl, to run the club, and keep them in the league. That gives them leverage over the Chinese owners insisting on player sales or blocking acquisitions.

    Now 14th, the team’s form, FA Cup run aside, has been alarming even if 30 points should be the basis for safety. The performances have not been uniformly dire over this slump but the players, unsurprisingly, lack confidence. The squad is thin in places, with just two senior full-backs of which one – Kyle Walker-Peters - is injured. The January window yielded the exciting loan signing of Takumi Minamino from Liverpool but no defensive back-up. If the injury to midfielder Oriol Romeu on Tuesday is serious then that will add another concern.

    The demands of Hasenhuttl’s system, a narrow 4-2-2-2 formation which requires the players to run hard and press hard exacts a high physical price on a relatively small squad. The two9-0 defeats to Leicesterandthen Manchester United14 months apart have shown the side’s volatility. The squad is being pushed to its limits.

    Under the Covid-19 fan lockout Southampton are losing around £3 million to £5 million a month and have agreed a £75 million loan facility with MSD Holdings, currently the financier of choice in the Premier League. It allows them to cope with an extremely difficult situation and try to invest in players to move forward. The loan has a five-year repayment cycle which the club hope will give them time to find the right new owner - no easy task.

    There have been around five interested parties, some more publicity-hungry than others including those who are suspected of attempting to agree a deal in order that they can then attract backers. The club are also wary of heavily leveraged buy-outs. Katharina Liebherr, daughter of the late former owner Markus, retains 20 per cent of Southampton which is another bulwark against Gao forcing a sale through.

    Southampton are valued at around £230 million to interested bidders – more than Crystal Palace, less than West Ham. The club comes with the benefit of owning St Mary’s stadium and the Staplewood training ground and all the usual jeopardy of keeping a club of that status in the Premier League.

    Come the summer Southampton, like many clubs of their size, believe a strong free agent market will work to their benefit. Top goalscorer Danny Ings is holding off signing a new deal and with one year left on his contract this summerhis ambition is a Champions League club.Ryan Bertrand’s contract expires in the summer. He is the club’s only senior specialist left-back.

    It comes back again to the club retaining what it considers to be its greatest asset - the manager - who is now overseeing his third Premier League survival season. Can Southampton keep Hasenhuttl happy for long enough for them to find the owners that will allow the club to move forward? The release clause is a deterrent against his departure although it would most likely be right to say that in the wider football world his stock fluctuates with his team’s fortunes.

    “A disaster” was how Hasenhuttl described the second half against Leeds, although for Southampton a disaster would constitute their manager leaving. Covid-19 has changed many of the old rules in football but never more so than at Southampton – a club in a slump trying to keep their manager, not jettison him
     
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  2. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

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    Every day at work, I see the Liebherr name displayed on the pantographs of the new Siemens trains, and give a little prayer of thanks; but I also wonder where we'd be if Marcus was still with us.

    Very Saints that, to somehow acquire - alright, be acquired by - one of the best owners in the game, only for him to drop dead. Hope Ralph is looking after himself in mind, body and spirit.
     
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  3. fatletiss

    fatletiss Well-Known Member

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    Lots of that delights me
     
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  4. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

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    Reiterates how much we need, if not a progressive owner, at least one that does even a little bit.
     
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  5. Schad

    Schad Well-Known Member

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    It's certainly an odd situation where our football ops people apparently have a free-ish hand simply because they know the owner cannot fire them, because he doesn't know enough about football to find someone to take their jobs if he did.
     
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  6. Lovelocum

    Lovelocum Well-Known Member

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    It’s like he literally doesn’t give a ****. We’ve seen and heard absolutely nothing of him since he came in.
     
    #6
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  7. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

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    It's an asset to keep money in. That's pretty much it.
     
    #7
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  8. SaintinNZ

    SaintinNZ Well-Known Member

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    My anxiety was a rollercoaster reading through that. Overall, reassuring ..but can we keep Ralph? How long does he want to work under the current conditions of COVID, unbalanced squad, weak 2nd string and no money... tough times.
     
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  9. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

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    I suspect it was bought as an asset to get money out (of China). And the Chinese government won’t allow that to happen.
     
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  10. Lovelocum

    Lovelocum Well-Known Member

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    Risky though. The PL is tight and if we’re relegated he loses so much money
     
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  11. Libby

    Libby 9-0

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    But he's a good owner, and it's xenophobic to claim otherwise. Or something.
     
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  12. ......loading......

    ......loading...... 25 undefeated

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    And being fat is a disease...

    Too far?
     
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  13. fatletiss

    fatletiss Well-Known Member

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    “Well we’ve both lost a lot of weight since then.”

    * copyright four weddings and a funeral
     
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  14. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

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    I think that Covid is the principle issue at the moment. It has made the club unsellable at the moment, ensured that there is reduced income through the turnstiles, social distancing makes normal training difficult which has contributed to the injury situation, led to a hectic and out of kilter playing schedule and also mentally fatigued the players. What we have is a semblance of a football season. The speeding up of the vaccination process is the key which will unlock all this.

    For me there are two areas where I think Ralph has "failed." I am sure sure letting Long and Valery go out on loan was a good idea. He was right to let the fringe players who were never going to feature go. The other issue is with the academy. I would like to know what no one ever seems to establishment themselves when they come up. There seems to be an issue with attitude as exemplified by Valerie and Obafemi. The academy has been a disappointment since Koeman's expression of dissatisfaction but the situation does not appear (externally) to have improved on Ralph's watch.

    With regard to keeping Ralph, I am in half a mind about this. I am beginning to think that, after Covid, he will be looking for a clean break just to freshen up his ideas. The results since Christmas have ben shocking but I am more convinced that this is due to mental fatigue more than anything else. I would not necessarily say that Ralph is culpable. The end of last season and beginning of this season have shown what he is capable of achieving and, for this reason, I hope he stays. Our fortunes will improve. In my opinion, I have to say that Ralph's full potential has not ben allowed to materialise at Southampton. His first and second seasons have been a reflection as to how he has been handcuffed by the transfer situation where the money is not there for the rebuild that is necessary. This season he has been totally undermined by the consequences of Covid. Either he will be reinvigorated by the return of fans next season or he will be off to another club to recharge his batteries.
     
    #14
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  15. fatletiss

    fatletiss Well-Known Member

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    I think it takes a lot longer than a couple of seasons to see an improvement in an academy. I’d say it would take many years. It involves starting at the beginning with correct staff, scouts, philosophy, coaching, training, etc.

    it’s not been 12 months since Ralph started writing his coaching manual for the club. We really shouldn’t be judging anyone on the success of that at academy level for 5 years.
     
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  16. GoSaint

    GoSaint Active Member

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    Thankfully the owner isn’t interfering much.

    Not investing either, so hardly great praise, but we could have and owner who sells the stadium and training ground. At least that’s something.
     
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  17. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

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    It’s glandular
     
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  18. mowgli

    mowgli Well-Known Member

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    Gao leaves the talking to Semmens as Markus left the talking to Cortese. Not sure what your point is really.
     
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  19. mowgli

    mowgli Well-Known Member

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    I still believe he is focused - unlike the fans demanding immediate results - on a longer term project. Much as I would like us to have qualified for Europe this year there is no point unless you can sustain it year on year. Ralph is right when he says we need a bigger squad but not yet. Not until we’re sure about regular European football and we can rotate thereby keeping more players happy with regular game time. Right now we are stuck in no mans land - we want back ups in every position but if it’s a decent back up he won’t be happy waiting. So we lose players like Targett and Reed who are more than capable of getting a regular game with another Premier League club. We’re left taking a risk with untried academy players or playing someone out of position. Keep the faith. We will get there. It’s a long term project.
     
    #19
  20. Lovelocum

    Lovelocum Well-Known Member

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    I’ve heard nothing about the direction we’re going or the aims. Nothing from gao or semmens.
     
    #20

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