Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed that reputation counts for nothing, under him it is all about who is playing well and that some of the established stars will not get back in automatically after injury.

The Austrian has already shown in his first games in charge that he is no respecter of reputation, the players he pick will be on their current form and application and not what they have done in the past.

Already we have seen some of the youngsters come in and do well under the Austrian Cedric Soares, Wesley Hoedt and Manolo Gabbiadini are all currently being overlooked and Ryan Bertrand seems unlikely to walk straight back in when he is fit again.

The manager reported.

“Cedric was injured and we played against Cardiff and Arsenal he wasn’t part of the team.

“After his injury it’s always the same if the guys who play in your position do it well you are out and you have to wait.

“We have Ramsay as a substitute on the bench and we only need one for this position as he can play both sides like Cedric also does.

“We want to give the young players a chance and (Yan) Valery and Matt (Targett) made a very good game in recent games and are very much sprinting and running deep and Matt had a few assists also so at the moment he (Cedric) stands behind, he has to wait and if he gets a chance he must show he deserves to play.”

“Our philosophy is to give the young player a chance for the future because they are our future.

“I want them to be part of the squad and it can happen with Ramsay in the next game against Man City he can get a chance to play.

“I’m looking to build something here and new players are the future for this club.

“We have a few jewels in the academy and my challenge is to work with them and make them better and that is only possible if you give them a chance against good teams. Why not?”

But Hasenhuttl batted away talk of whether some of these senior players could be sold in January.

"It’s not about being happy, it’s about being successful,” he insisted. “At the moment the only goal is to be successful.

“Last week showed the guys are on this train now and working hard for this team.

“They had earned two successful games so for the others it means they have to wait and when they come back they have to show us they are as sharp as the others and try to put everything on the pitch like the guys did the two games before.

“The first 14 games we made nine points which is not enough in the Premier League and if we had won (against West Ham) that would have been nine points from four matches.

We didn’t and it’s a long way.

“I can’t have a view on the personality and the future of every player.

“For me it’s important to build something up and bring the squad back to a successful period.

“That will be hard enough and I need the guys who are really working towards that for sure.”

Hasenhuttl is aware that the demands of the tougher training regime along with a busy Xmas period will be hard on the players and he will need to keep tabs on who is coping better than others when asked if he needed to freshen up the squad.

“I must say yes because we don’t need only freshness but also quality as we’re against Man City but I’m looking forward and am not so pessimistic about not finding them,” he insisted.

“We play at home and the supporters know exactly what will happen as we face one of the best teams in Europe on Sunday and it can be a big experience for young players and I’m not afraid to put one or the other in from the beginning. Why not?”

Again Hasenhuttl has impressed the fans with what he is saying, he has already shown his squad that no one is guaranteed a place or a washing machine for that matter and that in turn will hopefully contribute to a new positive attitude within the squad.

He is looking at how players react to situations, who will relish a challenge and step up to the plate and who will not !

It will not be an overnight success, but now we seem to be taking a couple of steps forward for every step back and not vice versa.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 18:09 - Dec 29 No-one can say that Ralph isn't afraid of innovation. Having dropped most of the experienced players in favour of " second choice" / Academy players he (appears) to be considering bringing in even more young players. Perhaps he's avoiding Davis, Gabbiadini, Hoedt, JWP, Elyounoussi & Co. with a view to moving them out in January- (and avoiding injuries beforehand), but it really is a daring move to put out such what is ( on paper) a very inexperienced squad in a game v. Man. C. Of course we'd all like to see some good performances - even if it doesn't bring in all 3 points, but if it goes "pear-shaped", then it will be like "the slaughter of the innocents" and he'll need to rapidly re-think the whole process again. Kids or no kids. I think he will be a good managerfor us - in the long term - but his greatest achievement will surely be to keep us up this season. Anything else - will be a bonus.

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janecook added 18:37 - Dec 29 As Graham Souness once said You don't win anything with kids.
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1970 added 19:15 - Dec 29 I don't think he has much choice we are being done week in week out by simple lapses in concentration from senior players and the fact we are alarmingly slow must be addressed in Jan ,West ham were the bench mark of where we should be at the very least with the players we have had, but as you saw on Thurs we are quite a way behind after cashing in the family silver, as 'underweststand' says keeping us up is the priority coyr

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davidargyll added 22:14 - Dec 29 Alan Hansen rather than Graham Souness re not winning with kids...
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aceofthebase added 00:37 - Dec 30 Others say if you're good enough you're old enough. I prefer this phrase
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KriSaint added 04:04 - Dec 30 The only reason to prefer youngster Ramsay over Cedric in the match squad in a game vs Man. C. can ONLY be, that Cedric is for sale in january. So - RH´s statement about Ramsay being on the bench as cover for both full back positions vs City means: Cedric IS for sale in the coming window. I don´t like that. This is no time for playing games. We need Cedric´s experience from the relegation dog fight last season. We can sell Cedric in the summer - definetely not now, halfway through the season Cedric would not have made the same school boy mistake as Valery, when Wet Spam scored the counter attack goal after we had had a corner. Oh, and let Cedric take some of the free kicks outside the box.

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Bettwsresident added 10:17 - Dec 30 Krisaint, I agree completely. Targett is our best crosser by far, but never goes past anybody/overlaps, Bertrand has been our best player for 18months. On the other side Valery looks like a rabbit in the headlights and is going to be destroyed by Sane. The one plyus point is Obafemi over Long. Shane was brilliant in teh Koeman team, but his days are numbered now and I failed to see why Hassenhutl brought in on against west ham. The only way we are not going to get hammered this afternoon is if we score first and Man City feel the pressure.

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underweststand added 11:26 - Dec 30 to: Bettwsresident... you are not the only person to make the comment about the "Shane Long substitution" , but perhaps also it was a final chance for him to make some impact (which he did not) .. "....before the train leaves the station" . Like many fans I've wished Long (and Gabbiadini ) more luck in front of goal but they really appear to have run their course, and should be looking for a career elsewhere. Having said that ...if Shane Long comes off the bench and scores the winning goal today, that thought may need a major re-think.

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