This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Southampton are set to stick by Ralph Hasenhuttl despite their 9-0 thumping at the hands of Leicester City on Friday evening, per The Daily Echo.
What’s the word?
Both Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy scored hat-tricks as Brendan Rodgers’ side ran riot at St Mary’s Stadium.
The Saints had a man sent off in the first half with the score at 1-0 but capitulated shortly after, leading to The Daily Mail claiming that he is set to be sacked.
However, The Daily Echo reports that the Saints see no benefit to sacking their fourth manager in two years.
Perhaps unfortunately for Hasenhuttl, his next two games are both against Manchester City, with one coming in the Carabao Cup and the other in the Premier League.
Cooler heads
This is sensible from Southampton.
The defeat grabbed headlines, naturally, but there is nothing to be gained by making a reactionary decision.
The Saints may have ended up in 18th place following their defeat but they have shown signs of promise at times, recording a battling 1-1 draw with Manchester United earlier this season, while also beating both Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield United – the latter of which recently masterminded a win over Arsenal.
It has to be stated that Southampton bought four new players in the summer, too, bringing in Danny Ings permanently, Che Adams, Moussa Djenepo and Kevin Danso – but only Ings played in the Leicester loss.
Once the other three are up to speed, one must imagine that the Saints will improve.
At the very least, Hasenhuttl has earned the right to try, having guided the club to safety in 2018/19.
Wielding the axe helps nobody.
