Having kept the club up, its seems that Ralph Hasenhuttl is ready to commit his future to Saints and wants to bring his own men into the coaching set up at St Mary's.

When Ralph Hasenhuttl joined Saints in December there was perhaps a hint of seeing how it goes from both manager and the club itself, although the Austrian clearly had control, the backroom staff remained largely unchanged apart from Danny Rohl coming in as his assistant.

But with safety assured the Club are now willing to commit themselves fully to the Hasenhuttl revolution and it seems that now only will there be changes on the pitch but off it as well.

Speaking to the Daily Echo Hasenhuttl said:

“Me as a manager wants to work with expertise in every part of the club."

“I came here and took the staff and wanted to work with them and we adapted to each other and I know what the strengths of everybody is and I want to put the guys into a position where they have the most quality and other areas with a lack of quality maybe we get new guys in."

“We want to invest in the infrastructure of the club and not only new players because as you see in the winter we try to go a different way and if you do so it keeps a bit longer the quality in the club than short term with a new player for example."

“Sure you can get better in this way from signings very good players, new players."

“The other thing we did so far was getting better with hard working and it should be a signal for the future that Southampton should be a hard working club and that means I have to have guys here inside that do 24-7 a week to make this club and these players better. This is what I want in the future."

“I have it in a lot of positions but I want more and that’s what I want for the future.”

With Saints now safe and having the relative luxury of a full squad and staff to work with for just a little longer before people disappear off for the summer, Hasenhuttl is working hard on next season already.

“We try to build the most important things for the next year in the next week,” .

“Everybody is here - the team and staff. We want to make a few changes for next year and we must think about getting better in every position in the club."

“We have to be clear what was ok and where we have still potential to grow and then make next year a big step forward."

“Signing players is one thing knowing what expertise we more need in the club is the other thing."

“That is the reason we try to scan every part of the club and that’s what we are doing.”

Last December seems to have been about getting in Hasenhuttl, but not trying to change things too fast, the focus was on getting the players performing and points on the board, now having done that it is natural that the Austrian should want his own men in the background.

Whether that will be in addition to his current set up or in place of is unclear.

Certainly the first team coaching squad seem small, Hasenhuttle has Danny Rohl as his assistant and both seem to be hands on at Staplewood, but with Dave Watson looking after the keepers and Alex Gross the sports nutrition and science that leaves only Kelvin Davis and Craig Fleming as first team coaches.

Neither had any coaching experience at First team level prior to just before Hasenhuttl's arrival, Fleming has worked his way up from the academy and his first appearance on the first team bench was in the game at Wembley against Spurs in between Hughes departure and Hasenhuttl's arrival.

Kelvin Davis has only a years more experience being promoted to the first team set up when Eric Black left in December 2017, he was seen then though as more of a an aide to Mauricio Pellegrino in terms of knowledge of Premier League football than as a coach.

So perhaps now Hasenhuttl has seen the limitations in this set up, he would perhaps prefer a more experienced coach in the set up and let Davis and Fleming take a step back and start to learn their trade at a steady pace.

The good news is that all of the signs coing from the club and the manager seem to indicate that both see it as a long term arrangement and that being the case put in place the set up to take the club forward.

Photo: Action Images

saintmark1976 added 17:44 - May 8 He can have as many of his own staff as he wants as far as I am concerned,it matters very little when compared to the big question which is of course, will the owners allow him to spend any proper money during the close season? Should the answer be in the negative,then I'm not even certain that he will be in place when the first ball of next season is kicked.
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halftimeorange added 17:52 - May 8 I hope he brings in a goalkeeping coach who can maintain the players' confidence, seeing as what's happened to Kelvin, Bart, Paulo, Fraser and Alex in recent times. The collective loss of confidence at times has been bewildering.
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Stafford_Saint added 18:31 - May 8 I think the quotes you give and the way I read it would suggest that our attention (as spectators outside) is not on Davis & Fleming and the First Team. I see changes in the Academy and youth teams. I say that as no criticism but I think Hassenhuttl wants to create a conveyor belt of suitable players.
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SaintBrock added 12:33 - May 9 Dave Watson seems to get a lot of abuse over on the other place but is it justified? Critics may like to enlighten us on what it is exactly that he is accused of getting so wrong. All goalkeepers go through phases of good and poor performances even the best of them like de Gea no matter who their coach may be. Maybe it doesn't help that they occupy the one position in a team that a coach prefers not to waste a sub on? If the guy has an off-day he has to stick it out. Outfield players are invariably subbed doff to spare them further embarrassment and consequential loss of confidence.

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SaintBrock added 12:39 - May 9 On another note, do you think Hutch now has a list of players who no longer fit his future vision and plans and that he will soon be calling them in one by one to deliver the news to them? One suspects that's how it should work but contracts can be a messy issue unless Gao's Board are prepared to write down the remaining years of the contracts of the players involved. Obviously it will do nobody any good if there is not a clear cut clear-out strategy and our future depends entirely and only on our ability to find buying clubs for Hutch's unwanted players. When do we have to send a not-retained list to the PL? I'd love to be a fly on the wall at Staplewood in the next couple fo weeks.

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Colburn added 13:15 - May 9 Think we need a defensive coach more than a goalkeeping coach. It's the pressure put on our keepers which doesn't help. Forster is unlucky, hasn't been the same since his injury and Mccarthy had hardly played before being thrust into action. I think Ralph knows who he needs structurally and what he needs player-wise. Can't think we'll sign Mitrovic, he does not fit with the signing blueprint. Whatever and whoever, trust in Ralphy!

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