- Planet Sport writer
- 19 March 2024
Former Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl makes coaching comeback with Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg have appointed former Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl as manager following the axing of Nico Kovac.
A successful journeyman club playing career and brief international stint with Austria opened the door for Hasenhuttl to step into coaching when he hung up his boots.
His big break as a head coach came when guiding FC Ingolstadt 04 into the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. He also led RB Leipzig to a second-place finish in the German top flight, before taking the reins of Southampton in the Premier League.
He struck up an immediate affinity with the Southampton fans through his effervescent personality and saved Saints from relegation after arriving midway through 2018/19.
However, Hasenhuttl bore the brunt of owner Gao Jisheng wanting to sell up which placed the club in choppy waters as big players left and cheaper replacements came in.
Eleventh place was the highest Southampton finished under Hasenhuttl, and despite surviving two 9-0 defeats during his nearly four years in charge he was finally sacked following a poor recent run of results in early November 2022.
Playing career
Hasenhuttl was an international striker who won three straight Austrian Bundesliga titles with Austria Wien (1991, 92 and 93) and another the following year with Salzburg. He also has two Austrian Cup winner's medals and one Austrian Supercup to his name.
He later had spells in Belgium and in Germany, where his biggest career move, to Cologne, saw them promoted straight back into the Bundesliga. He stayed in the second tier though by moving to Greuther Furth. He wound up his playing career in Bayern Munich's second team.
Hasenhuttl scored three goals for the Austrian national team in his eight appearances.
Eight years as a coach
After leaving Bayern, Hasenhuttl remained in Munich by taking the reins at Unterhaching in Germany's third division, advancing rapidly from youth team coach to assistant then head coach aged 40.
Sacked three years later, his next stop was at Aalen, whom he initially rescued from relegation, then led to promotion in his first full season. After they had finished ninth in 2.
After they had finished ninth in 2. Bundesliga in 2012/13, the club were in financial difficulties and the boss was on the move again.
Breakthrough
It was at Ingosladt where the young Austrian would begin his ascent in earnest. They were bottom of 2. Bundesliga when he arrived in October 2013. By season's end they were 10th and the following campaign saw them go up as champions into the Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history.
Far from clinging on to survival, their debut top-flight season saw Ingosladt finish 11th with Pascal Gross, later of Brighton, among their standout players.
Joining Red Bull Leipzig
Hasenhuttl's achievements in Bavaria saw newly-promoted, fizzy drink-backed Red Bull Leipzig make their move for the Bundesliga's hottest young property.
He was an instant success. RB Leipzig were undefeated in their first 13 league games - the longest ever such sequence for a promoted team in the Bundesliga.
They finished second in their first ever top-flight campaign, dazzling opponents with their high-tempo gegenpressing which brought inevitable comparisons with the style of
Jurgen Klopp.
Although they were eliminated in the group stage of the following season's Champions League, Leipzig dropped into the Europa League and reached the quarter-finals before losing to Marseille. They finished sixth in the Bundesliga in Hasenhuttl's second season.
Whilst at Leipzig he also earned a reputation for developing young players who at that time included Sweden international Emil Forsberg and a certain Timo Werner.
Southampton
Hasenhuttl fell out with the Leipzig board over a new contract and left in May 2018. It wasn't until the December that he got the call from Southampton to rescue them from the relegation zone.
Immediately his positive attitude and engaging personality - a pleasing contrast to his dour predecessor Mark Hughes - endeared him to fans. His 'three cheers' salute to all four stands at St Mary's after every home win won him huge popularity.
The first of those home wins came instantly - a 3-2 defeat of Arsenal who at the time were on a run of 22 matches without defeat. The next game, away at Huddersfield, brought a 3-1 win just before Christmas and it was full steam ahead for the Ralph Express. Safety was secured with two games to spare.
Because who doesn't want to start their day with a Ralph Hasenhüttl goal celebration! 😇 #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/EoZsPFbwbE
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 28, 2019
It has been a bumpy ride since then, however. The infamous 9-0 defeat on a soaking wet Friday night of 25 October 2019 will go down as one of the lowest points in the club's history.
Ryan Bertrand was given a straight red card after only 12 minutes but that could not excuse the lamentable collapse that followed. It equalled the Premier League record for the heaviest defeat and was the biggest home loss in the top flight ever.
Despite the Leicester City humiliation, Saints finished that season (which ended in front of empty stands due to coronavirus) very strongly, going unbeaten in their last seven games to finish 11th.
Losing 9-0 once is bad enough, but for it to happen again the very next season, at Manchester United, goes down as a big black mark against Hasenhuttl's name.
Again, there was an early red card - after just one minute this time - and the capitulation which followed at was almost as horrendous. A second red card later in the game, a ridiculous penalty decision and a wrongly disallowed goal at least gave the manager a few excuses this time around.
A month earlier, Southampton had beaten champions Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary's and Hasenhuttl had sunk to his knees in tears at the final whistle.
It was a slightly odd moment, but showed the coach's sensitivity and perhaps hinted at the pressures of the job starting to show.
Saints were woeful for the second half of the season as injuries took their toll on a small squad. Hasenhuttl's beard grew longer and his wrinkles deeper. A pathetic 3-0 defeat at West Ham on the season's final day encapsulated fans' concerns. Many highlighted his slowness at changing tactics in-game as a weakness.
The 2021/22 season served up more of the same, with a 6-0 thumping to Chelsea one of the low points. However, the Saints did reach the lofty heights of tenth in February after a 2-0 win over Norwich.
But they collapsed after that and after a brief flirt with the relegation dogfight settled for 15th place despite four straight defeats at the end of the season.
The Austrian was finally sacked after almost four years in charge following a poor run of results in November 2022.
The Saints swung the axe in the wake of their 4-1 Premier League home defeat by Newcastle, which left Hasenhuttl with just one win in his last nine matches.
Net worth
Hassenhuttl reportedly earned £6m a year at Southampton, making him (unofficially) the eighth highest-earning manager in the Premier League in 2020/21.
Personal life
Hasenhuttl is married to Sandra and their son Patrick plays for Ralph's old club SpVgg Unterhaching, having previously been at another former employer of his father, Ingolstadt. Patrick has played for Austria at several junior age-group levels.
