EVERY LITTLE ALPS
Saints boss Ralph looks for a peak performance
SOUTHAMPTON v LEEDS
Premier League: 3pm
BY ALEX CROOK
RALPH HASENHUTTL climbed to the top of the mountain to switch off from Southampton’s winless start to the season – and now hopes his team can do the same against Leeds today. Hasenhuttl spent part of the international break in the Austrian Alps trying to escape the pressure of attempting to pilot Saints away from the drop zone.
He said: “You should be able to switch off from time to time, otherwise you will go mad.
“When we have time off at weekends we go home to Austria and to the mountains. It is a good time to relax and to get some energy.
“If you start doing this job, and I have been doing it for a long time, then you know that the wind on the top of the mountain is the strongest.
“You have to stand there and find the decisions and you have to stay there.
“We know this, otherwise you cannot do this job. You must do it in the way you did it all the time in the past years.
“We have a fantastic job. A Premier League manager is an interesting job every day, always different.
“And finally to release the pressure you need wins.
“We have not had one so far but the performances my team have shown have been much better than the result in some games.
“We need a few bits in our game to make it better and then the wins will come, I am sure.”
Saints chief executive Martin Semmens this week insisted Hasenhuttl’s job was not on the line despite a dreadful run of just four wins in 28 Premier League games.
Hasenhuttl said: “He does not need to say this publicly because I feel it every day.
“In the times we have been through together there were definitely more difficult situations than this one and we always find a way to get back to success.”