A national newspaper has claimed that the Saints squad believe that the departure of Danny Rohl has been key in the issues this season.

I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I had suspicions that the problems Saints were having were down to the departure of Danny Rohl to Bayern Munich, I said at the time that although Ralph Hasenhuttl is his own man, every manager needs a good assistant, someone to not only supervise and arrange the training but also to act as a foil.

After the departure of Rohl, Hasenhuttl's coaching staff consisted of three men in Kelvin Davis, Dave Watson & Craig Fleming, all good club men over the past years, but ultimately with little experience of coaching n the Premier League.

The body language between Rohl and Hasenhuttl during games was clear to see, they would confer and discuss, now Hasenhuttl cuts a lone figure these days with his coaching staff sitting impassive.

Even the addition of Richard Kitzbichler doesn't seem to have helped in that the Austrian does not have much more experience than the other members of the coaching staff.

The Daily Mail are carrying a story that backs up my theories, they say;

"Southampton players believe the sudden departure of assistant manager Danny Rohl has been a key factor in the club’s alarming slide into the relegation zone."

"Sportsmail understands a core group of Southampton players feel that the squad, who face a daunting Carabao Cup clash at champions Manchester on Tuesday night, have suffered significantly following Rohl’s exit to Bayern Munich in August. "

"Rohl played a key role following Hasenhuttl’s appointment last December - the pair successfully leading the club to Premier League safety."

"The coach had a hands on role during training, with players largely enjoying his sessions. But his unexpected departure in the summer has impacted significantly on the team’s preparations for games, according to sources."

"Hasenhuttl has been left to shoulder much of the burden during training since Rohl’s departure and there’s a concern among the squad that they are missing their former coach’s influence. "

"Rohl was also considered key as his personality helped balance out Hasenhuttl’s more forthright approach."

"Though some players are understood to have expected more from Austrian Hasenhuttl, an animated manager who arrived dubbed the Alpine Klopp, he remains well-liked by his players who are not pointing the finger at the him for their slide."

This is along the lines of what I had heard although obviously the Daily mail will have better sources than I have.

I have always said that every good manager has a good assistant who can ease the burden in all areas, the manager needs to be aloof, the assistant is the link between players and the manager.

But the real problem I feel is the quality and level of the coaching, at Premier league level it is more than just passing your coaching badges, you have to claim the respect of the players themselves, you have to have proved yourself at the level you are coaching at.

OK you can have the odd coach who are up and coming and not yet proven, but you can't get away with three, four if you include Kitzbchler.

I have the feeling that training sessions have become stale, there is not enough technical knowledge amongst the coaching staff, hence all our defensive problems there is not enough specialist coaching available.

Along the line the club have not kept their eye on the ball, I am all for continuity and bringing through men on the coaching staff who are club stalwarts, but they have to be the exception rather than the rule and there has to be a good balance or respected experienced coaches and those that are learning their trade.

Our playing staff will know this and must be frustrated that they are not getting the level of coaching clearly needed.

The Saints board need to address this very quickly, they need to bring in someone who can work closely with Hasenhuttl and help him rather than add to his problems.

Photo: Action Images

wibbersda added 11:26 - Oct 29 Although this can't be argued with, let's not forget that we weren't winning much even before his departure. An excuss, yes, the full story, no.
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SanMarco added 11:40 - Oct 29 I know a lot of people are saying this (and it isnt wrong just because it is in the Smell) but I tend to agree with wibbersda, this may be a contributing factor but it isn't a primary cause. It seems that backroom staff issues are another problem that the club is not able/willing to deal with. The biggest problem by far is the quality of player recruitment.
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DorsetIan added 11:49 - Oct 29 My instinct has always been that his departure was a major blow and even without these reports, we have been seeing it in tactical naivety on the pitch. It remains a fact that Hassenhuttl's results before his joined Rohl at Leipsig were not as good as when he was with Rohl. The big question for me is why he left? Yes, he was offered a job by Bayern but he was working in the Premier League as a No.2 and with a guy that he had clearly formed a very good working relationship with. Either he was p!ssed off with something or perhaps Saints made no attempt to match much better money. His role at Bayern does not appear to be very high profile, so he has taken a backward step albeit to a much bigger club.

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bstokesaint added 12:49 - Oct 29 Could be something in it, but it's just another area of a concern in a plethora of areas the club seem to be struggling with. So far we're at owners, board, marketing and distribution, manager, coaches and players. We're hardly a well oiled unit moving in the right direction. You can slam Cortese all you like, but at least he left no stone left uncovered and monitored all areas of the club. We miss his influence.

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MytchettSaint added 13:04 - Oct 29 Regardless of how much our players miss Rohl, for them to try and offer this up as some form of an excuse or reason for Fridays gutless performance is astonishing..
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benalisbroom added 13:05 - Oct 29 I'd be very happy to Sammy Lee back. I got the impression that he was influential in a lot of areas around the club, beyond his core role on the training ground eg he'd often be seen in restaurants with potential signings, at the airport etc. He's also clearly quite an energetic, outgoing character - which I think may be needed at the moment.
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RobtheSaint added 13:37 - Oct 29 I agree that the drop off has been since he left although your comment about current coaches lacking premier league experience not relevant as Rohl had none when he came either. My concern is that Ralph has been so poor since and I would have expected more from a good manager, assistant or no assistant.
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Colburn added 13:51 - Oct 29 The players need to buck up. How much do they get paid?? Most of us would spill blood for the shirt for nothing and they're paid £50-80k a week!!! I appreciate they may be a little disheartened by Rohl leaving but are they professionals or what. Friday was a disgrace, not because of the scoreline, because they're paid huge fees to give their ALL and they stole a living that night. One days wages to the foundation is pathetic, it should have been a weeks wages, that might have had a really positive boost for a few charities. A day's wages is an embarrassment to humanity in my book after that.

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SNAILOB added 13:57 - Oct 29 Are our coaches up to it ? Out of the five coaches supporting Ralph, three are ex GK's / GK coaches and one fast tracked from academy
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BoondockSaint added 15:50 - Oct 29 The main problem is lack of talent/character on the field. This is just a lame excuse by the players to shift the spotlight away from them. If you accept the theory that the mess we are in all comes down Rohl leaving, then that means Ralph is a crap manager, and even worse, any of his past success is not because of his talent as a manager, , but him taking the credit for Rohl's work. Although if you follow that line, it would mean Rohl left because he was sick and tired of this..... Anyway, enough of this excuse making....where is the outraged owner ranting in the papers and on TV? How this is situation is a disgrace? Promising heads will roll? Telling the fans he's as ashamed as they are? But I forget.....this is the Saints, not other teams.....

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BoondockSaint added 15:50 - Oct 29 The main problem is lack of talent/character on the field. This is just a lame excuse by the players to shift the spotlight away from them. If you accept the theory that the mess we are in all comes down Rohl leaving, then that means Ralph is a crap manager, and even worse, any of his past success is not because of his talent as a manager, , but him taking the credit for Rohl's work. Although if you follow that line, it would mean Rohl left because he was sick and tired of this..... Anyway, enough of this excuse making....where is the outraged owner ranting in the papers and on TV? How this is situation is a disgrace? Promising heads will roll? Telling the fans he's as ashamed as they are? But I forget.....this is the Saints, not other teams.....

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Saint4Life247 added 15:58 - Oct 29 There is absolutely no excuse for Friday. It will stay with us and our club for many years to come. I'm still completely shell shocked by it. I don't doubt that Rohl leaving has had an effect on the team but I suspect it is more than just that. We have lost a lot of key staff members in a very short time frame with no one yet appointed to cover them (Reed, Kruger, Wilson, Patel and Rohl). Its obvious that Ralph is woefully under supported. His job alone is full time with high demands and stress. On top of that he is covering Rohl's now vacant position (which it appears DR was rather good at) and probably has less Performance Analysis to study since Patel left for NYRB. With all that in mind he also has to be the face of Southampton as we have no DoF or equivalent (head of recruitment) -- Gao seems so slow to do anything. You need to be at the very least reactive in this fast paced business, if you can preempt change then even better. Gao and Co are just so passive it beggars belief. I still think RH is a good manager and with the right support he would do well with us but as it stands I feel he will walk soon enough. If Jan transfer comes and goes with little investment or activity then he'll be off and I don't blame him

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1970 added 17:49 - Oct 29 The club is riddled with rubbish from the very top,the result Friday was coming and as fans we all knew ,if we had lost by 5 the club would of said nothing but instead bumbled along until the end of the season and resume the sell before we buy attitude leaving rubbish behind, the coaches are not good enough the young teams are losing regularly as well I think GAO got rid of Reed and Co was to just free up wages if we were going for an overhaul then we would of started a piece at a time but we know this is a load of rubbish as we now need 2 quality CBs and that wont happen

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