Ralph Hasenhüttl has been confirmed as the manager of Southampton on a two-and-a-half-year contract, with the club hoping the appointment will enable them to recover the identity they have lost.
The modern Southampton have been built on the development of players, often from their academy, shrewdness in the transfer market and attractive, front-foot football but those values appear to have been lost over the past two and a half years, since Ronald Koeman left to take over at Everton.
Mauricio Pellegrino was a disastrous choice to replace Claude Puel at the start of last season and, although Mark Hughes arrived in March to save the club from relegation, he paid with his job on Monday for a dismal run of results. Hughes won just three times in 22 Premier League games.
Hasenhüttl, the 51-year-old Austrian, who is best known for leading RB Leipzig to a second-placed finish in the Bundesliga in 2016-17, is committed to a high-octane pressing style and to giving young players their chance. Southampton believe that his appointment has certain parallels to those of Mauricio Pochettino, who moved from St Mary’s to Tottenham in 2014, and Koeman.
Hasenhüttlwill take charge on Thursday, before the crucial visit to Cardiff on Saturday. He will be supported by the existing first-team assistant coach, Kelvin Davis, the head of goalkeeping, Dave Watson, and the head of sports science, Alek Gross.
The chairman, Ralph Krueger, said: “Southampton football club’s past success was built on a clear identity. The foundation of this identity was a focus on developing players, whether from within our academy or after joining from other clubs. Ralph’s ability to teach the game and to develop talent is evident in his past and is a centrepiece of why he is the perfect choice to be the new Saints manager.
“The urgency to find a path back to our potential and to the results that we expect cannot be underestimated. For that reason, we are extremely pleased that Ralph has agreed to become our new manager and do all he can to help guide us back on that path.”
