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RALPH HASENHUTTL breezed into Southampton promising “mind-blowing” ideas.

But this opening defeat was a real eye-opener for Saints’ new Austrian boss.

His radical masterplan to transform Southampton’s struggles post-Mark Hughes may see the south coast club get worse before they get better – if indeed they do at all.

The former Ingolstadt and RB Leipzig coach, 51, admitted he learned a lot from his debut defeat at promoted Cardiff.

Not least that defenders like Jannik Vestergaard cannot afford to make the kind of schoolboy mistake which gifted Callum Paterson a 74th-minute winner.

But perhaps Hasenhuttl may also have to resist the temptation to introduce all his ideas at once to a fragile out-of-form team low on confidence and only hovering above bottom spot on goal difference. He made six changes here and introduced a new 4-2-2-2 formation focused on high pressing.

His side enjoyed more possession but only had one shot on target and looked hugely vulnerable to the counter-attack. Cardiff could have been two or three up at the break before Southampton improved when they hauled off young full-back Yan Valery and moved the ball quicker in the second half.

Stuart Armstrong appealed in vain for a 59th-minute penalty