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Southampton: Dean Jones discusses Ralph Hasenhuttl’s future

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Image for Southampton: Dean Jones discusses Ralph Hasenhuttl’s future

Transfer insider Dean Jones has given his views on the future of Ralph Hasenhuttl following reports surrounding his future.

There have been suggestions in recent days that the Austrian is entering the final stretch of his time at St. Mary’s, with Football Insider reporting that ‘Southampton players are expecting Ralph Hasenhuttl to be sacked in the coming weeks’, with another report from the same publication stating that former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is biding his time for the job to become available.

However, speaking on the latest edition of Touchline Talk, Jones doesn’t think that the Saints will be pulling the trigger just yet when it comes to Hasenhuttl, purely because of the impact that it would have on the club as a whole rather than just the first team:

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“I would be very, very surprised if they were to part ways with him at this stage. I think the only way I really see him leaving is if they are in extreme danger of relegation. And at the moment, we’re so early on in the season, I don’t think you can put them in that frame.

“He’s changed so much around the club, that to get rid of him isn’t just, ‘Okay, somebody comes in to manage the first team’, his philosophy – the pressing style of football – is now ingrained within Southampton.

“So yes, it’s in all the first-team squad and all the developing players around that, but also, they’ve got kids as young as 9, 10 being taught to play this style of football now, being brought up to play within a system.

“And to remove Hasenhuttl would mean you were going to probably change all that as well, and that’s pretty, pretty big, so I don’t think that they would do this overnight.”

TIF Thoughts on Dean Jones’ comments about Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton…

Do you think Howe would be a good replacement for Hasenhuttl?

Yes, he would be ideal

Yes, he would be ideal

No, not good enough

No, not good enough

If Jones is right with his assessment that the sacking of Hasenhuttl would have a knock-on effect all the way down the club, then you can certainly understand why they would be hesitant about getting rid of him so soon into the season.

And as Jones hints, whilst they are currently one point above the dropzone at the moment, after only seven games this season, it’s far too early to put them in the category of relegation candidates just yet.

Plus, the Saints boss has been in this situation before – when he was under pressure early in the season back in 2019 – and he managed to guide them to 11th in the table on that occasion, so he has the benefit of the doubt in that sense.

Based on that, it would probably be best to hold fire on the idea of Howe taking over in the immediate future, as a change like that would probably need to take place over the summer. It will just be interesting to see if Hasenhuttl survives that long.

In other news: ‘Hurt us really badly’ – Southampton CEO reveals ‘hardest’ issue last season

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Freelance sports journalist & broadcaster.