Ralph Hasenhuttl is building an empire at Southampton and he wants nothing stopping them

Southampton have never really been a club that’s the final goal for any footballer. If anything, as their transfers to Liverpool, so aptly prove, players and even managers have almost always viewed them as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Yet, as their recent history proves, it hasn’t stopped the Saints from trying to achieve or even become that bigger and better thing. It’s why they took a risk and appointed Claude Puel but the Frenchman barely lasted a year before he was sacked.

He was sacked less than six months later and suddenly a once shrewd club was in disarray because their history of finding managerial gems had gone down the drain. Suddenly, the focus was on the board with their poor transfer strategy affecting their managerial choices with a lot of pressure placed on their next choice. But before they did that, Southampton underwent a spring-clean behind the scenes. 

It meant that mistakes like Guido Carillo, Mohammed Elyounoussi, Sofiane Boufal, Jordy Clasie and many others would be reduced. But more importantly, Southampton finally found their man as former RB Leipzig boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, aka the Alpine Klopp, walked in. The Austrian had a tough start to his time at St Mary’s but still managed to etch out a few incredible results. That includes a 3-2 win over Arsenal, a 2-1 win over Tottenham, Leicester City and Everton along the way. 

For a Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and even Arsenal fans? That puts a smile on their face for a few hours. But for a Southampton fan? That transforms their entire outlook on life, it may have even made many fan’s years in what was a hellish 2020. The mere fact that a club from the South Coast and a team with the 14th most valuable squad in England behind West Ham and Newcastle United had somehow managed to make it to the top is incredible.

The fact that they look capable of challenging and maybe even achieving more? Is insane. Especially when you take into consideration “that loss” and the state that Southampton were in just about a year and two months ago. Then reiterated their faith in Hasenhuttl again this June with a brand new four-year deal and if he finishes out the current season, as he should, then Hasenhuttl will become Southampton’s longest-serving manager since the start of the Premier League.

"But what have the Saints really done?"

Also, Southampton’s 9-man bench today had 8 players who have come through/played for the #SaintsFC academy:



Harry Lewis

Yan Valery

Will Smallbone

Nathan Tella

Jake Vokins

Kayne Ramsay

Daniel N’Lundulu

Kgaogelo Chauke

— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) January 5, 2021

It’s simple because they’ve done what Manchester United have done with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, what Arsenal have done with Mikel Arteta and what Manchester City have done with Pep Guardiola. They’ve done what Chelsea should be doing with Frank Lampard and that’s putting their faith in the process and trusting that they’ve got the right man. Effectively, the Saints have handed the reins to Ralph Hasenhuttl and asked him to lead the team forward, which the Austrian is not just doing but proving that money doesn’t do everything. 

That has seen the Ralph Hasenhuttl way become the Southampton way. From future signings to next-gen Southampton players, everyone will not just learn the Ralph Hasenhuttl method of football but, in the words of Carl Anka, they will be "schooled using a new coaching regime the manager created himself". For those unsure of what this is called; it's been referred to as a long-term vision in the past with the Saints now a team to be jealous of.

It proves that he isn’t just another elite coach that can turn good players into great ones, he’s somebody that wants to truly build an empire at Southampton and is someone who is doing a pretty damn good job of helping the Saints become the bigger and better thing. And if that isn’t lovely to watch, then nothing ever will be.