Southampton hope to finalise the appointment of Ralph Hasenhüttl before Wednesday night’s match against Tottenham at Wembley in order to allow the new manager to watch his team from the stands.
Saints, who confirmed the sacking of Mark Hughes on Monday after a dismal run of results, have been aware of Hasenhüttl’s work since his time at Ingolstadt; the Austrian was on their longlist when they appointed Ronald Koeman in June 2014.
Southampton have moved quickly over Hasenhüttl, a former RB Leipzig manager, and he is expected to sign a two-and-a-half year contract. If the finer details are not concluded before the Spurs game, it is likely his arrival will be announced on Thursday, which would be in time for him to take the team for Saturday’s crucial trip to Cardiff. Kelvin Davis, the first-team coach, will be in caretaker charge against Spurs.
Hasenhüttl, 51, a former Austria striker, left RB Leipzig at the end of last season after sixth- and second-placed finishes in the Bundesliga. He previously won promotions with Aalen and Ingolstadt. He worked briefly at Leipzig with Paul Mitchell, the former recruitment head at Southampton, but Mitchell did not play a part in getting him to St Mary’s.
Southampton have been attracted by Hasenhüttl’s commitment to a fast, pressing style, his European knowhow and his commitment to developing young players – qualities that appear to have been lost at the club in recent years. They believe that the appointment has certain parallels to those of Mauricio Pochettino – who moved from St Mary’s to Spurs in 2014 – and Koeman; two decisions that worked out extremely positively.
The writing was on the wall for Hughes for some weeks, with Southampton’s Chinese owner, Gao Jisheng, and his family committing to a major restructure at the top of the club at the beginning of last month, when they sacked Les Reed, the vice-chairman, and Martin Hunter, the technical director. That move was widely interpreted as making Hughes more vulnerable.
Hughes signed a three-year contract at the end of last season, having arrived in March and steered the club to Premier League safety, but his overall record made for grim reading: of 22 league games, he won only three.