A week or two ago some Southampton fans were relishing the fact that Ralph Hasenhuttl was now in pole position to be sacked by Saints, however he has now dropped back in the ratings.

I can understand why some Saints supporters would want to see the back of Ralph Hasenhuttl, what I can't understand though is the vitriol aimed at him by a minority of the supporter base on social media.

The petty name calling and how some think that they are in line for a National Comedy Award for calling him things like "Hassengotaclue" baffles me, whilst our form has been patchy over the past four years since he arrived, he has done the job on a low budget through no fault of his own and more to the point kept us out of relegation trouble.

At the end of the season individual results count for nothing, it is all about where you are at the end of the season.

However even I don't think Ralph should be unaccountable, I give him credit where it is due for the job he has done in the past few years, but now the situation has changed with new owners, he is and should be expected to turn us into a team that is less prone to extraordinary scorelines and one that has consistency throughout the season.

He deserves his chance to show the new owners that he is the man for them, but 8 or 9 games in my opinion isn't the time scale he should be reviewed on, especially since he has had to bed in virtually an entire team in that period.

But the reality of modern football is that it is a result's given game, 40 years ago teams like Saints looked at stability, now if a manager hasn't taken a team to a higher league position every year then a section of the fans will demand his sacking.

Hence Ralph Hasenhuttl was odds on favourite for the chop at St Mary's with the bookies a week or two ago.

Now he has been replaced by Steven Gerrard, a man that has been at Aston Villa for only 11 months, back in November he was a manager with a good reputation forged in Scotland with Rangers, now he is under fire for not taking Villa into the top 10 but starting the season only a place above Saints going into this weekend.

He hasn't given them instant success and it looks like he could pay the price, his odds for the sack are now shorter than even Ralph's and he is the new favourite to be sacked with Brendan Rodgers in 4th place and even more bizarrely Jurgen Klopp in 4th.

Perhaps we should all look at Arsenal for inspiration this season, when Mikel Arteta took over in December 2019, they were in 5th place yet Unai Emery was still sacked, Arteta eventually finished 8th and the following season he finished 8th again, for a team like Arsenal that is the equivalent of Saints finishing 17th each season and just escaping relegation.

Last season saw them move up to 5th, but it wasn't a Champions League spot and more to the point they had been pipped at the post by Spurs, there are some who thought that Arteta had taken the club as far as he could.

But the Arsenal board kept faith with Arteta and now they are reaping the benefits sitting on the top of the Premier League and perhaps from a truly realistic level 9 points above that 5th spot that does not get a Champions League place.

So I am not asking people to change their opinions of Ralph Hasenhuttl, if you feel that his time is up then that is your right to have that opinion, all I ask is that people are respectful for what he has done at this club in a difficult situation, whether he takes us forward or not, he deserves the respect for the job he has done in the 3 1/2 years since his arrival.

Photo: Action Images

darthvader added 09:54 - Oct 14 Something needs to change. Either he gets more coaching staff to assist him or we have a clear out as currently the situation between the club and our fans is toxic at best. A few good results would change this in the short term but lose the next two in the league then there will be carnage
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RobtheSaint added 10:11 - Oct 14 Totally agree with the sentiment regarding respect and insults. Sadly some of the contributors to this site do not allow people to have differing views without getting abusive. If they were to meet Ralph in the pub would they use the same language or would they be able to debate and discuss in a civilised Manor. On the question of Ralph I think we have not progressed over his tenure and we've had a couple of nine nils to to cope with. His constant formation changes excessive team changes and the first half against Everton finally did it for me.

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I_would added 10:32 - Oct 14 If we met him in the pub I doubt we would understand what he was on about.
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andoverpedro added 11:20 - Oct 14 The major problem was we didnt get that centre forward in the summer to replace Broja and Long that is criminal and not Ralphs fault , once the dutch guy didnt happen should have gone and got INGS or someone with some presence up front like Goykeres at coventry to not get anyone is just wrong and we are now seeing the affects with only one striker on the books hardly prolific Che Adams .

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WestSussexSaint added 11:55 - Oct 14 I agree with the point about the unnecessary and unfounded abuse that Ralph (or anyone) gets subjected to when things aren’t working. I also agree that Ralph has, on the whole, been a decent servant to the club. But I disagree he deserves more time. Saying he has only had 8 or 9 games is being selective in the extreme. You cannot disregard his past record (particularly the second half of last season) even if the circumstances around the club were different. Realistically if he doesn’t get 2 positive results this week then he has to go.

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WestSussexSaint added 12:05 - Oct 14 Forgot to add, the comparison to Arteta is also misplaced. Arteta has had a few missteps but has generally shown progress with the team. Ralph has had 4 years and there has been as much decline as there has been progress. If anything we are further away from being the projected top 10 side now than we have ever been in the past 4 years. There is also no obvious plan to arrest the current decline as who knows what team and formation we will play this week. One thing is for sure is that it will be different to last week.

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Monksway added 12:54 - Oct 14 I've always supported Ralph and when he has got it RIGHT Saints have played some great football, albeit generally for 45 minutes per game and half a season. His attitude has been great, I find him very honest and he certainly shouldn't be subject to personal abuse. But I do feel that a change is needed. The defensive weaknesses inherent in 4-2-2-2 have meant a change in approach, coaching staff and players and I'm not sure that Ralph is the right person to take us forward. Whilst the PL has undoubtedly got increasingly difficult to be competitive Saints should realistically be aiming for a 13-15 finish given their general levels of finance.

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HythePeer added 13:29 - Oct 14 "Ralph Hasenhuttl Drops Down To 2nd Place In Sack Race Odds" - he can't even win that race!
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Ifonly added 13:37 - Oct 14 I agree with the stuff about insults. RH is a decent bloke trying his best and deserves respect. But I do think his time is up. I pray he'll prove me wrong and he starts to put out a settled side that attacks with purpose, but that's unlikely. People say he didn't get the striker he needed and that's very true, but it's not the reason for where we are. If that was the cause of our problems we'd be seeing a well organised Saints side dominating the opposition and creating lots of chances that we don't finish. That's not what I'm seeing. A good manager would overcome the limitation of not having a top striker by organising the team differently. People like Aribo can contribute enough goals that we shouldn't have to rely on one man.

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saintmark1976 added 14:30 - Oct 14 Nick, the point here is not about bad mouthing Ralph ( something with which I concur with you should not occur) it’s about the evidence of our results under his recent tenure. Twelve points from the last Sixty Three available speaks volumes as to him staying or going. Frankly the evidence is there for all to see. He has to go on the facts alone, wether or not he is a nice guy is of no interest to me ( and I suspect the vast majority of fans ) whatsoever.

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SAINTSNIL added 14:50 - Oct 14 Is he £6million a year nice?? For that sort of money people can call me anything they want!!
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JoeEgg added 15:12 - Oct 14 With respect, and speaking respectfully; I would respectfully suggest that Ralph should be given the chop. But please lets do it respectfully.
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wessexman added 15:16 - Oct 14 What baffles me is that any sort of criticism is now deemed blasphemy and needs to be stamped out. We have garnered 12 points from the last 63 available. Football is a results business...so I understand.
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NigD added 16:21 - Oct 14 Decent post. Without adding at least one quality striker to the squad in the summer and a like for like replacement of Romeo, it was always going to be a huge gamble piecing together the squad to perform at Premiership level. A young Lavia seems to be our only hope that we can get to January with a few more points added. (Imo I am certain we would already have a few more points on the board if he did not pick up that horrid injury) And then we must spend money on real quality to supplement the young talent that we have. Importantly the fans and the club have to be stick together and keep the faith. Realistically does anybody really believe this current squad would perform any better under a new Manager? Without a decent striker in the squad it just seems a bit of an impossible task currently.

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TissLeGod added 20:34 - Oct 14 As many are on here, as a life long fan we have seen it all. I don’t dislike our manager, and would not want the pressure he finds himself under. It seems odd that he is reported as loosing some of the dressing room, with a lot of new faces, that seems hard to believe. The performances have not been anywhere near good enough, and I think the owners would have replaced him, except they can’t attract anyone. So like the current PM and her team, we are treading water. Win against Wet Spam and he gets some breathing space. As a fan I want to see attractive progressive football. We are not deluded by glory. We like being in the Prem and want to stay there. Watching Brentford and Brighton tonight shows you what is possible on smaller budgets. So I hope Ralf can turn it around or we start again with another bright young thing.

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Kenm added 23:32 - Oct 14 last season Saints went on an beaten run of 12 games, but I believe he then changed the formation because HE didn't like it ?, so he changed it WHY, since then the team has flopped badly, When he came to Southampton the papers called he the Austrian Klopp, to me the K should be change to an F !, He needs to go, I can't see Saints surviving another relegation battle !
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Smudgeman23 added 02:43 - Oct 15 The problem I have, isn't the constant team tactical changes, the lack of a preferred first 11, or even the failure to gain any consistency over the years, it's the fact that he never takes ownership of a failure. It's always 'We....weren't quick enough' or 'We didn't get it right'! An occasional 'Well, I got it wrong on that one' would go a long way to make me believe he learns things from individual matches we lose badly in, but he never gives that impression, which is why I think he's had his time.

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Colburn added 10:37 - Oct 15 Comparisons to Arteta show more of a delusion than those fans you accused of being short sighted and having a knee jerk reaction. The fact that this argument amongst the fans has been going on for well over a year now shows that some are just plain stubborn and don't want to admit they are wrong when you consider another poor run of 12 points in 21 games. You always bang on about money. Money doesn't guarantee anything if you have the wrong manager and with the right manager, money becomes less relevant.. Look at the successes of other clubs our size like Brighton and Brentford. It's not about being able to buy the most expensive players, it's about building a team and Ralph has had more than enough time to do this within his philosophy and style of play... And we are sliding to the bottom. It's obvious to all non saints fans I speak to but we HAVE to maintain this pathetic mentality of we are little southampton, lucky to be in the Prem, doing incredibly with the resources we have.. What a load of bollocks and all perpetually propagandised by this website scriber..

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