Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton exit was no shock, but it wasn’t entirely his fault

Southampton have parted company with Ralph Hasenhuttl. For the man they call the ‘Alpine Klopp’ things went downhill like an off-piste skier in the final weeks of his tenure. Now, as the Austrian moves on with his career after four years in England, the Saints are left with something of a mountain to climb.

The final straw for the man with a name like a Baywatch reject was a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Newcastle United on Sunday. To be fair to him though, there’s no shame in taking a hiding from Eddie Howe’s Magpies these days. The Toon have the meanest defence in the Premier League, and a Ballon d’Or contender in Miggy Almiron.

In truth, the writing had been on the wall for Hasenhuttl some time before last weekend’s rain-soaked capitulation. Southampton languish 18th in the table, having won just one of their last five matches. Their tally of 12 goals scored so far this season is the joint-fourth lowest in the division, and their goal difference of -12 is the outright fourth worst.

To worsen matters still, The Athletic have since reported that the latter days of the Austrian’s tenure were marked by internal power struggles and open rows with senior players. It’s almost a wonder he lasted as long as he did. By the end, Hasenhuttl was like the Dick Van Dyke of the Premier League. Every time you’d see him walk out into the dugout you’d ask yourself, ‘How is he still going?’, and every time he trended on Twitter you’d fear the worst.

Of course, as sour as things became, there were moments to savour during Ralph’s stint on the south coast. Eye-catching wins over the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City will live long in the memory, and there was a point in November 2020 at which Southampton sat top of the table. Even those two 9-0 defeats, one to Leicester City, one to Manchester United, have taken on a kind of perversely historical absurdism. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry and all that, y’know...

And while Hasenhuttl himself will almost certainly not be in the business of making excuses, it is easy to have some sympathy for the relative plight that he found himself in this season. Undoubtedly, his best spells at St. Mary’s came when he had a distinct and potent striker at his disposal. Danny Ings and Armando Broja both spring to mind in that regard. Southampton spent a fairly significant £62 million over the summer, but ended the window with just Che Adams, Adam Armstrong, and Sekou Mara as their recognised centre-forward options. Between them, they have scored just six goals. Adams has five of them.

There have, of course, been other problems besides. Few players have truly lived up to their full potential in recent weeks, and Newcastle’s opening goal on Sunday was emblematic of a defence who, at times, have exhibited the composure and organisational skills of a herd of lemmings. But as the old cliche states, goals win football matches - and sometimes cliches are cliches for a reason. Southampton have not scored two or more goals in a single outing since August 30th. Unsurprisingly, they haven’t won a game since then either.

It may seem like overly simplistic reasoning, but without a reliable goal threat, the Saints - and by extension, Hasenhuttl - were always going to struggle this term. In the end, underwhelming recruitment and the general malaise of stagnation has cost the Austrian dearly. And whoever takes his place in the dugout for the Saints may require a minor miracle, or at least a busy January, to turn things around.