TalkSport reporter Alex Crook has been discussing Ralph Hasenhuttl’s future at Southampton following his recent comments.
Having taken on the role on the south coast back in 2018, Hasenhuttl’s time at the club has been far from stable.
There have been a few highs, such as taking them to the top of the table at one point during the 2020/21 campaign, but that has also been met with two 9-0 losses during that spell, at home to Leicester City and away to Manchester United. That, coupled with a few other poor runs of form, has seen his future occasionally called into question.
He recently spoke to German outlet Kicker (via The Athletic), where he hinted that he could retire from football at the end of his contract in 2024, saying: “Five and a half years in the Premier League, that’s a lot of energy, regardless of job satisfaction. I can’t imagine that I want to do anything else in coaching after that.”
Crook discussed the matter on the TalkSport GameDay podcast, saying he felt that even though the Austrian may move on from the dugout at St. Mary’s, he could still stick around at the club in a different capacity.
Crook said: “What I think will probably happen is that at the end of his contract, if he doesn’t want to stay on as manager, I think he might well be offered a role upstairs at Southampton. He’s very committed to the project and to rebuilding the whole football club. And I think that’s quite admirable in this modern world, where managers changing clubs on a regular basis is the norm.”
TIF Thoughts on Alex Crook’s comments about Ralph Hasenhüttl at Southampton…
Do you agree that Ralph Hasenhuttl is an 'elite manager'?
Yes, it is undeniable
No, he isn't just yet
If this was indeed to be the case, then the timing of things may well work out very well for Southampton.
In such a scenario, Southampton can take their time over their succession plans rather than being rushed into a change over the course of a summer that could end up disrupting the club’s ethos that Hasenhuttl has helped to build from the academy upwards since his appointment.
The Austrian can use these next two years to help mould the team into a certain way, leave his footprint on the club, and then bring in a manager that follows the same philosophy as him so that there isn’t too big a change of direction when the time does come for him to move on.
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