Ralph Hasenhuttl made it quite clear after the draw with Huddersfield that he knows his side lacks quality in certain areas and that he will need to spend money to rectify it.

Saints fans will be pleased to hear that Ralph Hasenhuttl like them knows the deficiencies in his team and just what he needs to do to rectify that situation, however the Austrian also knows that there are no guarantees that he will be able to get the players that he wants.

Speaking after the game he said:

“It is a very clear picture for me now what we are still missing in our game.

“Maybe we know that we only win games when we have the perfect commitment and shape and work perfect together.

“If there are a few guys not 100 per cent in the right direction then we are struggling always.

“That means we need more quality next season. We must create more quality but maybe also get quality in from new players. That is what we are looking for in the summer for sure.

“It will be a difficult summer for sure because we have our limits with transfer fees and things like that but we must be clear that we have to make a few new players in the team.

“We have to sign a few new players and work with them exactly the same way as we did with our players now and try to create a new spirit and winning mentality because that was missing after being safe.

“After being safe I missed this winning mentality and to lean back a little bit and that’s what I really don’t like.”

“We know we could make a step in the table because Burnley lost and to lose a game where the opponent doesn’t have a goal chance, not a real one, and we had a lot of them, hurts really. I must say,” he admitted.

“It is a little bit like a picture from this season and it’s what we know we have to change for next season, for sure.

“We see that if you play in an intense way, an aggressive way, we are good, we can score, we can create chances.

“If we are a little bit sloppy every mistake is immediately a goal and that’s something we have to change for next season. It’s a clear message for the team, it’s a clear message for me.

“That means next season we maybe have a few new players next year and also create a new spirit and new mentality because we must give a different picture from the first game day.

“That’s the goal and a clear message for the summer and we will work on this.”

Hasenhuttl knows that he will have to sell to raise some of the transfer money but with a top heavy squad he has scope to lose maybe 7 or 8 players and replace them with 2 or 3 quality signings.

I would imagine the two areas he will be concerned about will be the centre of defence and up front.

Realistically Saints need to raise about £60 million and they already have £10 million of that banked after the sale of Manolo Gabbiadini, I would expect the following players all to be potentially for sale if the money and circumstances were right.

Alex McCarthy, Jack Stephens, Yoshida, Wesley Hoedt, Cedric, Ryan Bertrand, Stuart Armstrong , Mario Lemina, Charlie Austin, Sam Gallagher, Harrison Reed, Jake Hesketh, Moi Elyounoussi, plus the players out on loan like Jordy Claisie, Guido Carrillo, Sofiane Boufal, a total of 16 players who could possibly leave the club next season, I would not expect all of them to go, but certainly I would think that the club would be looking to shirt at least 10 of them if possible, although the last three loanee's might be difficult to do anyything with other than loan out again.

Photo: Action Images

saintmark1976 added 15:30 - May 13 No Fraser Forster on your list Nick? Unsaleable or just his wages being the problem?
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JimmyMeliaPhD added 16:17 - May 13 if you can get shot of Forster it obviously makes more sense to do that than to sell McCarthy
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highfield49 added 16:35 - May 13 The problem being that if a club was looking to sign a goalkeeper and they had a choice between McCarthy and Forster the question is pretty much answered isn't it? On the subject of players listed by Nick the only one I might be inclined to recall would be Carrillo unless a sensible offer was on the table. The little that I saw him playing his attitude looked good but the service he got was dreadful. Some of the others really have not shown the determination or guts worthy of pulling on a Southampton shirt next season.

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davepid added 16:51 - May 13 After Swansea blew up last season and Cardiff this, should we be worried that there’s no Welsh club in next seasons premiership?
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Sanguin added 17:38 - May 13 I can't see Yoshida or Lemina leaving, Yoshida's too old and Lemina's price would never reflect his true value given his long injury this season.
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vanmans added 18:31 - May 13 Nick you haven't got Prowse on your players all to be potentially for sale if the money and circumstances were right? Why not 10 million would be a big bonus for him.
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ElSanto added 21:52 - May 13 Looking forward to see what happens this summer and next season! Thanks to NIck for a great website this season, to his balanced views and sound arguments. Every year I develop more respect for him. It's the small things like waiting an extra day after a bad result to do the write up and reminding us of what it means to be a fan. Also, a great shout out to the brilliant posters - I don't always give them credit, but some of their posts are worthy as articles in themselves. Some posters that come to mind are highfield49, pintsizedsaint, sanmarco, aceofbase etc. I'll try to congratulate them more next season. HAppy to have stayed up this season and I believe we will be much better next season. From out here in Zacatecas, Mexico - have a great summer folks :)

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ElSanto added 21:55 - May 13 Boondocksaint too!
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carolinasaint added 03:57 - May 14 I love the fact that Ralph is upset with the way the team played the last couple of matches after safety was secured. He gave the team a few days off after the B'mouth draw and it seems they really got back to 100% commitment, which was worrisome to me. Less worrisome now that I know he feels the same way. Here's hoping we get at least 2-3 players of real quality in over the summer--assuming we do, I'm quite looking forward to next season!

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bstokesaint added 12:44 - May 14 I’d like to see all of the recalled loan players given another chance by a decent manager! I agree with the comments that some haven’t had a proper chance. I also think Armstrong is a decent prospect. I’d keep him. The most worrying thing for me is that Ralph already seems resigned to tight transfer budgets, mainly through raising funds through player sales. I can see that to an extent, but have we really spunked all of our previous transfers sales to date (so including £115m for Mane and VVD) and all the ridiculous sums of TV money from the past couple of seasons. I was looking on the most recent published rich lists and we come below Burnley. How is that even possible? Are we bleeding money on ridiculous wages for average players or just not reinvesting as we are being told? It still doesn’t add up to me. Jury’s our this summer.

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bstokesaint added 12:47 - May 14 And Nick just to add thanks for another season of contributions. This is still the best fan forum for me, with some good posters.
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helpineedsomebody added 19:22 - May 14 for me frazer is atop keeper put a class defense in front of him then he is just a head of angus put a couple of class forwards with nathan then he reilly could be come a player that the arsenal forward was why he has options 1 spend a hundred million pounds = just above bottom 3 2 spend a bit more may be top 10 3 spend 2 billion pounds may be top 6 4 no investment since 1885 5 please invest like roops did hell of a good youth team he spent money 6 upgrade st marys NOW

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DellHero added 07:38 - May 15 To guide Ralph, the area where we lack quality are on the pitch.
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underweststand added 08:56 - May 19 Ralph's veiled comments on "changes in the summer" maybe much more than we think. Perhaps even beating that of Ronald Koeman who bought in 8 players in his first season. RH suggested that he might bring in 2 or 3 new names,(?) but I think we may see a massive "clear-out" of players; either those presently on long contracts and out on loan, and (regretably) some of those former Academy lads who've reached the crossroads in their careers and won't feature in his future Saints squads. Whatever happens, we're certain to see a few changes in the start line-up come August.

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