Ralph Hasenhuttl is gearing up for his first full season at Southampton, and there is a lot of optimism at St Mary’s.
After taking over a side that had spent the majority of the previous two years in the Premier League wilderness, Ralph Hasenhuttl has not only helped Southampton rediscover their identity within a matter of months, but he now appears to be setting his team up to be one of the surprises of the coming season.
The Saints are now looking stronger than they have done for several years. Claude Puel could not build on the success enjoyed by both Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, while the team was only going in one direction under Mauricio Pellegrino.
Hasenhuttl’s appointment was inspired. It came at a time when the Saints were flirting with the relegation zone, when some pundits were inevitably reeling off the same tired list of managers clubs need to appoint while fighting to stay in the division; names such as Sam Allardyce, David Moyes, Alan Pardew and Mark Hughes – likely ignoring the fact that Hughes would have been going for the role that he had just been sacked from.
Luckily, Hasenhuttl got the job, keeping the side in the division and laying the foundations for what could be their best campaign since the days of Pochettino and Koeman.
The conveyor belt that delivered the brightest talents from the academy into the first-team is back up and running after Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes seemed to be content to shut it down and leave it gathering dust.
The signing of Moussa Djenepo evokes memories of the deal that brought Sadio Mane to the south coast. He could be the real wildcard this season, especially with fellow summer signing Che Adams set to cause all sorts of problems alongside him.
There are still areas for concern. But Hasenhuttl has transformed the likes of Nathan Redmond and James Ward Prowse, so if the likes of Cedric Soares and Wesley Hoedt stick around, there is every reason to believe that they could be different players under the Austrian.
The Premier League is arguably looking more competitive than it has been for a number of years. And yet, Southampton appear to have everything in place to be the surprise of the season.
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