Some Saints fans greeted the supposedly leaked story that Ralph Hasenhuttl has lost the trust of several of his players with glee, but whether it is Southampton of Manchester United, if you pander to player power then it never ends well.

News emerged from the media this week that Ralph Hasenhuttl has lost the trust of several of his players

Football players being unhappy with their manager and that there was surprise within the dressing room that he was not sacked over the summer.

The Daily Mail had this to say:

"Sportsmail understands that some players spoke to members of the club’s hierarchy at the end of last season and expressed concern over Hasenhuttl’s management.

"The response was to change the entirety of his coaching staff, with the manager remaining in place, much to the surprise and disappointment of some within the squad. Hasenhuttl’s contract runs until 2024 and club sources insist there is no appetite to change manager at present.

"However, there is now said to be increased tension behind the scenes, with some of the newly-formed backroom team even harbouring misgivings over Hasenhuttl and his strategies.

"Several sources have spoken to Sportsmail about what they believe is a situation that will only be resolved by a change in the dugout.

"Ralph just doesn’t really talk to people any more,’ said one source. ‘He drops players without any real thought and has no relationship with them if they have an issue.

"There is a real defensive focus and they’re going into games just trying not to lose. Players are used out of position and there is no consistency – a lot of them are very unhappy.

"When they sacked the coaching staff, there was a feeling it should have been Ralph who went. The club say they have full faith in him, but it looks like he knows the game is nearly up."

Interesting the Mail don't elaborate on these sources it could be players, it could even be those coaching staff who lost their job in the summer, who will still be in touch with some of the players in the dressing room.

One thing is for sure though, so called player power is never a good thing and never leads to harmony in the club if it is listened to.

Some of the things reported don't ring true, saying there is a real defensive focus is not something that sounds familiar to most Saints fans, in fact the complete opposite, Saints lost at Spurs not because they were trying not to lose the game, but because of poor defending end of, likewise defeats at the end of last season, we lost because we kept getting caught out on the break and poor defending, not because we were trying not to lose, but on the other hand tell me a team that goes out there "trying to lose"

Someone is making mischief and there are two ways forward, firstly the club will succumb to player power and this is a bad road to take, not just for Ralph Hasenhuttl who would lose his job, but for his successor, how many games would he have before those in the dressing room decide they don't like him either.

Rasmus Ankersen and Sport Republic build their football clubs not on individuals but the collective and they are not going to want to see that threatened.

The likelihood is that there will be some players in our squad who don't like the manager or his methods, but that is normal in football clubs indeed in any walk of life, truth is in football it is a professional game, players are paid to do a job, if they are effectively saying they are not giving their all, then I know who I would want to leave and it is not the manager whoever he is.

Anyone who has played at any level of football be it Sunday League or professional tends to judge their manager on how the manager judges them, if you are picked week in week out then the manager is a footballing genius who certainly knows a good player when he sees one and his tactics are spot on.

But if he doesn't play you or leaves you on the bench, then he is a clueless buffoon whose footballing knowledge could be written on a postage stamp and tactically he couldn't manager a subbuteo team.

Griping in dressing rooms goes on at all levels and perhaps much more the higher up the footballing pyramid you go, indeed some of the greatest managers didn't talk to their players much or have any relationship with them off the training pitch or dressing room.

That is not to say that is the right approach, but every manager has a different style.

The second thing that can happen here is that the owners see what is happening at the club and know they have to weed out those not committed, some of the fans have been quick to blame the manager for the end of the last two seasons when we have collapsed and finished 15th when in both we could have finished near to the top 10 if not in it.

They have been quick to blame Ralph Hasenhuttl, but we have to also ask the question if he could get them playing to a high standard that put the team in and around the top 10 in January/February, why did they then collapse ?

That is a question that we have to ask of the players not the manager, why did we go last season from a 13 game run in the Premier League that has seen us beaten just twice and risen to the edge of the top 10, plus a run in the FA Cup to the quarter finals, to suddenly be beaten by a poor Aston Villa side which started a run of 12 Premier League games where we would win just once and lose nine.

Did our tactics change drastically ? Did the manager tell the players to go out there and lose ? where players dropped inexplicably ? Truth is not many players were playing well at this point, the only real issue I could see is why Hasenhuttl stuck with Armando Broja and left Che Adams on the bench so often.

Players are quick to take credit for a good run, but although the Ralph haters like to pin the entire blame on him, it also beggars a horrible question and perhaps a more ugly answer, the fact is that some of our players were happy to go through the motions for whatever their own reasons.

The real irony is that those who are allegedly stabbing the manager in the back are more likely to be those who are not getting a game and who the very fans now applauding them have been demanding their very departure.

Again who would you want at a football club, someone who would play when they want to and is quite happy to ask for a manager to lose his job because of that, or an honest man in charge and let's be blunt here when Ralph joined if you told any Saints fan that in 3 1/2 years he would still be here, but more to the point we would not be in relegation trouble and would finish 11th & 15th twice in his three full seasons, they would have been delighted.

So Rasmus Ankersen has work to do now and to be blunt this outburst will perhaps have stiffened his resolve to back the manager, even if sacking Hasenhuttl was on the boardroom table, they know that if they do it now they will have been seen to have given in to player power and a football club cannot be seen to do that.

The hope is that these rumours are not the widespread opinions within our squad, that in the main the squad is united in it's aims and this is just a small minority, indeed perhaps even one player or even one of the ex coaching staff who are behind this so called "leak".

If that is the case then it will be easy for Ralph to turn around, I am not going to point fingers as I haven't clue where these rumours come from, It would be easy to look at those not in Hasenhuttl's starting XI and put two and two together, but that isn't always the case.

The only way forward now is for Southampton Football Club to deal with the issue it has and if the media reports are accurate then it is within their own dressing room, ultimately it is the players who determine whether a game is won or lost & in doing so they determine the fate of any manager.

This is not an article in praise of Ralph Hasenhuttl or sticking up for him, it is about what makes a football club strong or weak and run in the right way.

A manager should rightly lose his job if he is not doing it, but not because certain factions decide he is not the man for them, sack the manager and the cancer remains in the club.

Photo: Action Images

Bawdrip added 09:11 - Aug 12 Really disappointing to read these rumours. Not helpful to anyone. Does need sorting somehow. Ralph needs results for sure but pushing to get rid of someone now is crazy. If needed review things at the World Cup break but don't make decisions after one tough away game.
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Block8 added 09:15 - Aug 12 There is definitely truth in the point you make about the manager being great if you are playing and a complete peanut if you are not. However the question here is are the team selections being driven by the unrest or is the unrest due to the team selections, and lets be honest there have been some very strange ones! There is probably no one on this site that would be able to accurately predict a Team selection on any given Saturday (or whatever day TV dictates) which is strange considering our squad. This is why so many question the managers ability, we could almost run a guess the weird choice lottery each game.

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Bawdrip added 09:16 - Aug 12 The other rumour still persisting is Adams going to Everton. The club deny it will happen but then the papers 'quote' that Che wants to go to Everton. Someone is stirring things up unless Che did actually say that which I find hard to believe. I do hope Che isn't the source of comments re Ralph and is trying to force a way out.
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SaintNick added 09:26 - Aug 12 I take the points about team selections but a couple of points 1. Last season the team selection in 8/9 places of the 11 was pretty much nailed on, 2. We have only had one game this season and I would say that perhaps 7 of the starting 11 would not have been argued with by anyone
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StAnt added 09:36 - Aug 12 Clearly the camp is not a happy one. If Ralph is contributing to that then I'm afraid he will have to go and that is before we look at his horrendous record over the past 14 games. You say no fans have heard that Ralph has decided to adopt a more defensive approach to games - that is just nonsense and he has clearly been saying these things publicly. SR must be extremely concerned that their project is going to go up in smoke before it's hardly started so they must make some hard decisions and quickly because unless this dressing room unrest is resolved soon we will continue to under perform and lose matches. Ralph tends o do his dirty washing in public - to deflect criticism away from himself he will name players and throw them under the bus. That is poor man management especially as he rarely accepts blame himself. Even at the fans forum on the one hand he said he accepts blame then on the other hand he said we lost a game because the players did not do what they were asked to do. Good managers do not criticise their players in public but rather they deal with things in a strong manner behind closed doors. If it is true that the new coaches are already expressing concerns about Ralph then that is very telling - obviously we don't know the truth behind these allegations. For me Ralph has had a fair crack of the whip and many other managers have been sacked for presiding over far better performances and there is also the question of two 9 nil defeats , many other hammerings and the inability to hang on to a lead. Time to bring in a new manager with fresh ideas and a clean slate because Ralph is carrying too much baggage.

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Bazza added 09:36 - Aug 12 Not just irrational team selection but player positioning and also substitutes have been strange eg bringing on defenders when a goal down and only 10 mins to go
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Block8 added 09:57 - Aug 12 Sorry Nick I think you missed the point, most of us could possibly guess the bulk of the side but it was the curveball choices, which were quite frequent, players dropped after a run of good games, played out of position etc... Also if these are true rumours then we need to clear out the culprits, if they're still here, regardless of who they are! Purely because if Ralph goes (which I don't believe will happen short term) then whoever comes in may well have the same problem. Unrest develops through senior players or coaching staff. If it is the coaching staff, they're gone, if it's a senior player/players look for the dip in form where their mindset wasn't concentrated on football.

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Rossm2006 added 09:59 - Aug 12 If you have listened to the BBC Solent forum, interesting to hear the manager say many went off the boil in march after being tapped up. Broja, Salisu and Bednarek were all linked away at that time. I wouldn't believe too much of that the daily mail writes, after all I think you have written numerous stories yourself on here about how they are out to do us harm. I would imagine any who have had a conversation are those not playing or being allowed to leave. Nothing new here. Adams won't be allowed to go until at the very least we sign someone else, that would be suicide. If he wants to go in the not too distant future he will, that is football these days . If you haven't, give the BBC forum a listen, we are lucky to have these collected and smart people running the day to day of the club. I'm sure they will make the right call on the manager if and when it is necessary. That isn't after one game of the season, away, at a top four club for me .

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Colburn added 10:24 - Aug 12 I also think you have missed the point Nick, possibly because of the Rose tinted specs you view Ralph through. How can you say that we haven't gone defensive when this is the reason for our slump at the end of last season, starting with Broja up front on his own at home to Watford! There WAS a drastic change in tactics from two strikers and high press, which brought us success against City, Utd, Spurs and W Ham in the cup as we finished the season with negative mindsets, hence 1 win in 14 now as he started at Spurs last week with 9 defenders and 2 attacking minded players, Adams didn't feature. Word gets around and this is why I believe that we have struggled in the window to bring in positive minded attackers, because players don't want to play for Ralph with his weird tactics, selections, substitutions and overall man management, which was particularly poor during the lockdown and bubbles with the fringe and younger players. The writing is on the wall and you blame the players Nick for being rightfully unhappy..? So desperate are you to keep Ralph, even though you constantly criticise decisions he makes with the players you don't rate, I find it quite staggering and more likely that you just don't want to admit that you're wrong as I was with JWP when I thought he wouldn't make it to the level he is now at.. We're not always right..

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GRIM added 10:31 - Aug 12 I've said it before, Ralph's is to dictatorial. He's very a arrogant man. He doesn't want help & doesn't consider other people's opinions. He never used to consult or communicate with his previous bunch of coaches & I don't think he values the opinions of the new team of coaches. Also he tries to be best friends with players by addressing them by their nicknames (ie. Redders/ Stuey/ Arma / Prowsy etc). For God sake he's their boss & should command respect from his players & staff. But being too familiar with them doesn't encourage respect. Ralph needs managing & not be managing others. He needs to remember "No one person is bigger than the club". Get real Ralph's or lose your job.

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Colburn added 10:51 - Aug 12 GRIM you are spot on, a great manager uses the brains and ideas of all who work under them, empowering them. Not being bloody minded and stubborn. The rumours of the new backroom staff questioning Ralph's ways certainly suggest this is a major part of the problem with Ralph.
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SaintNick added 10:59 - Aug 12 Colburn I have said in this article it wasn't a defence of Ralph, I have tried to look upon it from a neutral perspective, you say there was a change in tactics, the rot started at Villa away, there were only two changes from the team he had played up till then, Stephens came in for Salisu who was injured and a the only real surprise was Perraud for KWP. We got beaten 4-0 , next game Newcastle Salisu back and our strogest side and we got beaten 2-1, 3rd game you are right, he tried something different and it didn't work. The real turning point was the Chelsea game, no baffling changes, our first choice back 4, our first choice midfield 4, Adams up front alongside Adam Armstrong (Broja unable to play against parent club) exactly the line up that 99% of Saints fans would have picked , Watford game aside up till now we have pretty much played the same side and system, yet we collapse to a 6-0 defeat. You tell me !! In truth looking back after the Villa game there were 3 games we collapsed, Chelsea, Brentford & Leicester, all the rest were close. I don't blame the players for being unhappy, I blame the players for playing badly, for making schoolboy errors, for failing to mark people at key times, for failing to do what they are well paid for. If any player was doing that because he was unhappy with the manager then I would not want them at the club end of. You tell me why you would want someone playing for Southampton FC who is not 100% committed and why you would be happy that that player could get a manager sacked on a whim.

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livsgrandad added 11:08 - Aug 12 as all latest comments , i too am surprised with latest rumours being spread about unrest in our dressing room[if to be believed]....????? . personally i take whats written by so called soccer pundits with a pinch of salt....if its true;then the players concerned should behave with the professionalism they get payed for.......and let their employers do their jobs; AND DO THEIRS... we get the same old hasbeens giving us the kiss of death every season ,so we should all be used too it by now.. BRING ON LEEDS ......

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Jesus_02 added 11:48 - Aug 12 Doesn't look great to be honest. I don't think people have been quick to judge Ralph. I think people have been extremely patient. There was a point when we went into most games with a feeling that we had a chance. Now its a fear that we are going to lose more by more than 3, we need someone to bring the belief back, whether that's an inspired signing or an inspiring manager. Ralph does not fit the bill for the later for me and we have just spent 50m on young fringe players.

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slimcarto added 11:59 - Aug 12 This started with the Daily Mail - a scurrilous rag at the best of times. The media always wants something controversial to grab readers’ attention, we’re all familiar with the expression “Never let the facts get in the way of a good story”. Knives out for Saints this season. We have an honest club to support unlike the dubious benefactors of many clubs around us, let’s celebrate that and not panic if things don’t go our way within the first few games. Remember the club has had a radical overhaul since last season, something we’ve all been clamouring for.

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IanRC added 12:09 - Aug 12 It bears scrutiny but after all this is the Daily Mail (and their friends the Express have leapt on it too). Both papers are very adept at spreading lies and misinformation so I am not convinced that this is a serious issue as yet.
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landsdownsaint added 12:17 - Aug 12 Very complex all this , on one hand I agree now with the people who think Ralph’s had his time but none us would be surprised if RH put a run of good results together , there’s no doubt he’s a very capable manager , all I see is exactly the same old problems of individual errors , we ain’t a bad team too watch & we have had some good times under RH , he does deserve a few more games … but that’s it

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EasyToger added 12:46 - Aug 12 I hated reading the reports but I guess I wasn’t surprised. My biggest concern is our ability to attract the 2 players pretty much most people agree we need (experienced CB and a more proven striker) with such a poor run of form and now rumoured unrest. Who wants to come for that! One last point, I’d put Che up front tomorrow with some decent support and get him to show us how hungry he is.

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halftimeorange added 12:52 - Aug 12 Who was it said that losing football matches often becomes a habit. It certainly seems to have become a regular practice for the Saints. The board has brought in new coaches. I cannot believe that already they are saying Ralph ignores them. Ralph can't possibly be coaching all of our squad on his own. It may well be that our failure to dispose of dead wood or faces that no longer fit influences the dressing room and the board should be addressing that. There are a lot of new faces to fit into the system. That will take some time. Some leeway must be allowed for transition. The real problems are no leader in defence and nobody opposition teams fear upfront. These weaknesses have been apparent to all of us for some time. Why this situation has been allowed to drag on is not Ralph's fault. You can't fix any problem without access to the right tools. If we had Ings and Fonte in the side and this was happening we should be screaming for Ralph's head. In the meantime, Ralph will continue to shuffle his pack. For the moment good luck to him.

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WestSussexSaint added 12:58 - Aug 12 The fact is that is fans can only really go on what we see in the pitch each week. The Leeds game will be really telling. Is the team set up to attack I.e 2 recognised strikers or too defensively - that will answer the “set up not to lose” point. Those who play will show how they are feeling through the body language on the pitch. If they play positive football and give it a go then the player revolt is a non story or at least confined to those in the squad who aren’t getting a game but think they should be. If too many are playing in their shells, pointing the finger at others or generally sulking if things aren’t going well then we know there is an issue.

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GRIM added 12:59 - Aug 12 Why on earth would good young players want to come & play for Saints whilst we have a moron as a 1st team manager. He might give them game time but then he knocks the stuffing out of them by getting to play out of their comfort zone in positions they are not familiar with, it does nothing for their confidence. Ralph does not epitomise the philosophy of Saints as a great club to nature young talent. He's tactically naive & most players will not improve their game playing Ralph dubious systems. It's so obvious that he's had fall outs with certain players, when they go missing for periods of time under the smokescreen of supposed injuries. Us fans are not stupid we can see through that. It happened with Ingsy & Armstrong & Forster & Bertrand. We all know that Ralph is passionate about what he does but he doesn't realize he's not very good at it. He overthinks everything, keep it simple Ralph & you may then be able to win back your disillusioned players & fans. But it looks like you won't be given time to reincarnate yourself.

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saintmark1976 added 13:03 - Aug 12 Frankly Nick I’m not remotely interested in wether X Likes Y and all the trivia which goes with it. I want Ralph to go purely on the basis of the evidence. He has had three seasons during which we are now the club which owns the record home defeat in English first class football, together with joint holders of the biggest away defeat. In addition we have had the longest run of defeats in the history of the club and played in a Cup Semi Final where we never had one attempt on goal. Not forgetting consistently losing more points from winning positions than any of the other teams we have played against. The facts above detailed above speak for themselves. Your (together with Adam Blackmore’s) increasingly desperate attempts to “ spin “ the situation differently are only adding to our problems. Ralph has had his time and the vast majority of our fans recognise that the only way forward is now for him to go.

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underweststand added 13:18 - Aug 12 Players upset and complaining. When did they stop doing that ? We can only have 11 men on the field at one time and even if your best player is off form, he still gets first call in the next game. Those who sit on the bench every game, or get 10 minutes late on on the game will always complain - everyone want to play all the time. So surely there are some who feel they have a grievance. Ralph is always talking about someone to fill a no.10 role, or a 6 and it's clear that the experiments haven't worked so well up until now, and players tend to be vocal if they are forced to play in an unusual formation / position. Until now Ralph has had to utilise the players who are still under contract, and few of them were his choice from the start. Finding good players cost money; a quick look at the Chelsea staff, or even Man City, United or Tottenham shows that they rarely but under £30 million and many of their top players cost £50 million plus, whilst we have bought 6 players for around that figure. Years go by and players get older and time is at a premium for those who are past 25 when 30 year olds are grateful of every game at this level. Even those on " more modest" Prem. salaries are pretty well-paid and they have a job to do and only have themselves to blame if results go wrong. I can guess that a few are " not happy " but I doubt if the entire squad is up in arms

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GRIM added 13:25 - Aug 12 Talking of records we could soon be the proud holders of a couple more records. A) First premier lge manager to be sacked after just 2nd game of new season. B) First Premier lge Club to be relegated with Lowest ever points scored in season. I hope we get (A) but we certainly don't want (B).
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DellBoyWally added 14:00 - Aug 12 I've never read so much nonesense, well...total crap....before! Idiots here talking as tho they know Ralph personally (GRIM!) who probably whined when we finished 8th and a cup final about the manager. We are a small club. We are in the Premier League. STILL, After a decade. Bigger clubs than ours (Newcastle, West Ham) have been relegated. We are still here!! Since our fun days finishing high up in the league the big clubs have become obscenely rich. We can't match them. Yet we are still here!! Ralph has kept us in the greatest sporting league in the world. Be grateful. Sack him now, who comes in? Some unproven unknown? Then we get relegated! Who are you going to blame?? Will you admit your error. No, of course not. You are always right and know better than all the professional staff at the club. The fascists at the Mail Group have for years been anti-Saints. Stories about Saints no-one else has heard often come out in The Mail. And then disappear as they are total lies. They have an agend altho why I have no idea. Perhaps some hack at The Mail got rejected for a media job at Saints. CRAIG HOPE and ADRIAN KAJUMBA? Who are they? "I understand there is unrest at the Mail as fellow staff hate working with those 2. Managemant has been approached by several colleagues!!!!" See I can do it too!! I've been going to Saints' games for 64 years. Seen it all; heard it all. Nothing is new. We are still a PL club. Clubs with greater histories and records than ours have diappeared totally. WE ARE STILL HERE

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