Ralph Hasenhüttl insisted he is not concerned about his future after Southampton slumped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, a 4-0 drubbing by Manchester City.
The manager was asked if he feared for his job. “I am not thinking in this direction,” Hasenhüttl said. “Never since I have been a manager – this is the first time in my career I get these questions and I have been a manager for 16 years.
“I really don’t use any energy thinking about it. The only way I think is what do I have to do to help my team.”
The Austrian had been the subject of speculation that he could be sacked should his side lose again, but he said he had not been given any indication about his job from the club’s owners, Sport Republic.
“After this game I have no clarity, no,” Hasenhüttl said. “I know the clarity is I come into a game and this is what we prepared for and now we must analyse it very well. Next week we have a tough one against West Ham and three in seven days. It’s intense.
“Since I’ve come here, and it’s been nearly four years now, we have been fighting for results. The problem is not here today, it’s from other weeks where we did not get enough points.”
Despite the loss, Hasenhüttl was pleased with the attitude of his team. “We have seen a tough game for us against a very complete team that showed all their qualities in every minute. In the end, when you lose here, it is better to lose in this way trying something, trying to be brave, than to sit deep, like we have here in the past and still lost.”
For City, who went back to the top of the Premier League at least overnight, Erling Haaland reached 20 goals for the season in all competitions in his 12th game. Pep Guardiola joked that he was disappointed with the Norwegian for scoring only one: “I’m so upset with him – he didn’t score three goals. He scored a brilliant goal. Expectations of him are so high that people expect he is going to score three or four goals every game, but in the end he was there and scored. He has done it and helped us again.
“It’s an incredible weapon for us, a big threat. I am so satisfied. Some players were not at their best but we created a lot of chances. We were solid. It was a good game.”