Following the sacking of Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday morning, The Athletic put forward a list of coaches Southampton had, at one point or another, considered as potential replacements for the 55-year-old Austrian.
Steve Cooper has since signed a new three-year deal with Nottingham Forest. Thomas Frank remains committed to Brentford. Roberto de Zerbi, meanwhile, put pen to paper with Southampton’s local rivals Brighton and Hove Albion a couple of weeks ago.
That leaves Bruno Lage; the only member the aforementioned quartet currently without a club. The nature of his 16-month spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, however, looks to have cost the 46-year-old any chance of an immediate return to the Premier League stage, with Southampton instead setting their sights on Luton Town boss Nathan Jones.
Many of the problems that followed Hasenhuttl like a bad smell during his final few months at Southampton, after all, are eerily reminiscent of the issues that undermined Lage’s authority at Molineux. A questionable approach to man-management. A distant relationship with his players. And a style of play which failed to rouse a fanbase disillusioned by an absence of excitement and an ever-diminishing goals’ return.
Wolves are one of only three sides who have scored fewer goals this season than Southampton’s 12, after all.
Southampton want Luton Town’s Nathan Jones after sacking Ralph Hasenhuttl
“(Lage’s) man management, I think, could be improved,” former Wolves goalkeeper John Ruddy tells The Athletic. “I think he can be a little more approachable, if you like.
“But he’s very passionate as well and he’s very emotional. He wears his heart on his sleeve. You know exactly what he’s thinking, which is sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. At this level of management, you need to find a balance very quickly.”
You could almost copy and paste Ruddy’s claims, and apply them to Hasenhuttl too. As The Athletic points out, some members of the Saints squad grew frustrated with the 55-year-old’s unwillingness to engage with his players on an emotional level, while many also felt Hasenhuttl was prone to letting his emotions get the better of him, particularly with regards to his in-game management.
Nathan Jones, then, should represent a welcome change of tack.
Jones’ man-management is ‘brilliant’
“For me, he was great personally in developing players and bringing them through,” former Luton defender Jack Stacey tells BBC Radio Solent of the 49-year-old Welshman, who took an unfancied Hatters side into the play-offs while improving many a player beyond all recognition at Kenilworth Road.
“If you look at the job he has done at Luton; when he joined, they were mid-table in League Two and he’s turned them into a top Championship side. They are really punching above their weight.
“In terms of man-management, he was brilliant. When he first signed me, he sat me down and he said; ‘this is my two-year plan, this is the system we’re going to play. This is how I see you fitting in and in two years’ time. We’re going to be in the Championship and you’ll be playing every game for us’.
“Everything he said came true.”
