AN AVALANCHE!
Hasenhuttl says ‘I’m responsible’ as Saints come tumbling down
NOT a great end to the season if your name is Ralph and you are pining for the Alpine mountains.
Ralph Hasenhuttl was not expected to take Southampton to the same high peaks of achievement as namesake Rangnick at Manchester United.
But like his German counterpart at Old Trafford, Austrian Hasenhuttl is in danger of leaving a bad odour behind, rather than overseeing the freshness of new beginnings.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” sang disgruntled Saints fans after they were overwhelmed by a Brentford team with more drive, power and cohesion.
That followed a chorus telling him he didn’t know what he was doing after he sent on Oriol Romeu at 3-0 down in the 83rd minute.
Pontus Jansson, the impressive Yoane Wissa and Kristoffer Ajer scored the goals which ensured beyond any doubt that the Bees will be in the Premier League again next season.
Southampton should also be as they have an eight-point cushion over 18thplaced Everton, but stranger things have happened than teams being relegated who already have 40 points.
And strange things do happen to Southampton, under Hasenhuttl – such as the occasional 9-0 thrashing and collapses in form like the one they are now suffering.
When Saints won three games on the bounce from
February into
March,
Hasenhuttl was even being mooted as a possible successor to Rangnick at
United.
He was upbeat and claimed the only thing wrong with life on the south coast was that he missed the air and the mountains of home. Since then, he has overseen one win in 10 games, a slide that looks unlikely to be halted in their two remaining fixtures – at home to title-chasing Liverpool and away to Leicester.
“The fans are absolutely frustrated and I understand this completely,” said Hasenhuttl. “I have no problem with them because I am responsible for the results. I will always be responsible for every mistake my players make.
“At the moment, we are not playing like a Premier League team.”
Asked if the fan reaction hurt, he added: “It’s not something that should hurt as this is the business we are in.”
In contrast, Brentford boss Thomas Frank said this was a
The fans were absolutely frustrated and I understand. At the moment, we are not playing like a Premier League team match to savour within a season to cherish.
His remarkable side are finishing as strongly as any side apart from the titlechasers, with six wins in their last nine.
The stadium’s atmosphere was as buoyant and raucous as anywhere and their pacy counter-attacking style can be ruthless when Ivan Toney, Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo bear down on goal.
They now have the same number of points, 43, as the other newbies combined, who are going back down.
“Every year, one of the promoted teams are fine and stay, but it’s often only one out of three,” said Frank.
“You cannot predict if it’s number one from the Championship, or two, or the team who won the play-offs.
We were confident but humble and we have put a lot of hard work into every single day.”
The game was put beyond doubt when Brentford scored two in 77 seconds, after Toney’s opener was given all the time and space he needed to gather a corner beyond the far post and set up skipper Jansson after 13 minutes.