People suddenly talking about Ralph Hasenhüttl being a great coach as if it’s a new and surprising development

To be honest, I still don’t really understand how Ralph ended up managing Saints in the first place

Impressive track record of results, a great coach and has finally shaken off years of malaise with - let’s be fair - a pretty average squad and one which lacks any genuine depth

My fear with Hasenhüttl has always been that we will end up wondering about ‘what if he was actually backed’ because it may prevent us from seeing the best of his work before another club inevitably moves in on him

He’s been in the job since December 2018 and in that time has only been able to loan in Kevin Danso and sign Che Adams and Moussa Djenepo because of how abominably bad our recruitment had been previously and how much it’s saddled us now (plus an owner who is unwilling to invest)

It’s a bit of a shame because I think the board, the structure of the football department and the coach we’ve currently got is collectively the best it has been in years, but the funding and potential for manoeuvre in the market just isn’t there

Can only enjoy it in the meantime and see how much further he can take this ‘project’ before he gets even more recognition and goes back to managing at the level he should be

(Oh and thank our lucky stars that we don’t have to watch Hughes/Pellegrino/Puel serve up dross anymore)