How Southampton recovered from historic defeat by Leicester to earn their stripes under Ralph Hasenhuttl

“He would have been taken into the boardroom and sacked as soon as the final whistle blew,” says Jason Dodd, Southampton’s record Premier League appearance-maker, when asked how other clubs would have reacted to a biggest home defeat in the competition’s history.

He’s not wrong. Precious few fans remained to the bitter end of Southampton’s 9-0 reverse to Leicester City back in October 2019. A lot of them hadn’t even made it through to half-time, with the driving rain on a foul south coast evening encouraging a fair proportion of those in the ground to either watch the second half from the comfort of a nearby pub or from behind the sofa.

“You actually had to queue to get out of the ground at half-time,” says Southampton season ticket holder Kevin Baker. “There was a sense of inevitability about it all. My son told me he was going once we went three down, so he was on the train home after 20 minutes.

“No one blamed the manager, it was the players. As soon as [Ryan] Betrand got sent off [after 12 minutes], there was no fight. It was terrible. Absolutely terrible.”

When an ashen-faced Ralph Hasenhuttl faced the cameras after the club’s worst ever loss, he wasted no time in apologising to supporters who were already readying their sat-navs for trips to Reading and Bristol City in the Championship the following season.

“It was not easy to watch for everybody who was a Southampton fan,” said Hasenhuttl. “They did well to stay with us. We have to apologise for what happened today and stand up again.”

Francis Benali, who ironically scored his one Saints goal in 311 League appearances against Leicester back in 1997, witnessed the capitulation.

“It was a huge low, it was a horrendous day for any Saints supporter,” he says. “I’ve been on the wrong end of some heavy defeats in my time as a player, but nothing like that.

“It’s an obvious game for everyone to use as a marker. The fact is that game has been used as a positive. It would have been easy for it to go the other way. The club could have made a decision based purely on those 90 minutes. They could have parted ways with Ralph, but they kept the faith – and that’s now being repaid by everyone at the club.”

A win for Southampton against Newcastle at St Mary’s on Friday evening would see Hasenhuttl’s side go top of the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history. No one expects them to stay there – not even the supporters who have witnessed this side’s incredible about-turn in fortunes since that damp night 12 months ago – but it’s a measure of the Austrian’s influence that talk of European football next season isn’t dismissed as an outlandish notion.

So what has been the key to a revival that few saw coming?

“He stopped tinkering with the side,” says Dodd. “All of a sudden, you had the same players playing together week-in, week-out. You had attacking players getting to know each other’s games far better, the link-up play improved, the goals started coming. He also didn’t seem to know his best centre-half pairing, he was unsure about his team. Now he has nailed it down, you’re seeing the results.

“All credit to Southampton that they have given him the time to do it.”

Most Saints fans simply refer to their manager as ‘Ralph’, which gives you an indication of the warmth of the relationship between the supporters and the former RB Leipzig boss. And if there were more than a few question marks over whether the players were buying into his philosophy after that Foxes humbling, they have been swept aside.

“I think you saw the difference in the team almost immediately,” says Baker. “I went to the Etihad the following weekend and there was a completely different attitude from the players. There was a real sense of togetherness.”

Southampton lost that match 2-1 to Manchester City – with goals from Sergio Aguero and Kyle Walker cancelling out a James Ward-Prowse opener – but the performance was the polar opposite of the one proceeding it.

After New Year dawned, Hasenhuttl’s reborn side lost six matches – post-lockdown they suffered just one. From nailed-on certainties for relegation, the club finished the season in 11th place, 18 points clear of the drop.

It’s form that they’ve carried into the new campaign, and three points against Steve Bruce’s side would carry Southampton’s fans – regrettably absent from the ground – into dreamland.

,“There were a few times when we broke into the top three but I can’t honestly remember the last time the club was top,” says Dodd. “The turnaround has been incredible. It’s not just the results, though, it’s the performances, too. In the last two matches, they’ve been fantastic.”

In many ways, the football introduced by Hasenhuttl is a throwback to the days when the likes of Matt Le Tissier, Rod Wallace and, fleetingly, Alan Shearer, used to pulverise sides within the tight and intimidating confines of the Dell. It’s certainly light years away from the stultifying performances witnessed under the likes of Claude Puel and Mauricio Pellegrino.  

“It’s the kind of football that a lot of Southampton supporters were brought up on,” says Benali. “I remember us beating Liverpool 4-1 in 1989 and then Manchester United 6-3 [in 1996]. They were the kind of performances that stick in the mind of a lot of Southampton fans.”

The visit of any Newcastle side also brings to mind Le Tissier’s bewitching double-strike against the same side in October 1993.

Most Saints supporters would probably settle for a tight 1-0 win against the same opposition on Friday night. Whatever happens, one thing is clear: since that defeat against the Foxes, this Southampton side have earned their stripes.

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