Ralph Hasenhuttl turned down a return to the Premier League with Everton in January while Crystal Palace are now weighing up whether or not to hand the former Southampton manager a fresh start in England.
That is according to Austrian reporter Peter Linden, speaking at a time in which the future of some of the country’s most recognisable tacticians are very much up in the air.
Once a Europa League semi-finalist with Eintracht Frankfurt, Hutter is making no secret of his interest in taking a Premier League post. Crystal Palace and Leicester City are reportedly admirers of the unattached 53-year-old.
(The Premier League is) the most interesting league in the world,” Hutter tells Kicker. I could develop further there. There is no boring football, it goes up and down.
“I think my idea of football is very good in this league could fit. My big goal is the Premier League. (My agent and I) are working on that.”
Hasenhuttl, London World add, is an option for Crystal Palace too. The Eagles, who sent Brendan Rodgers packing following Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Leicester at Selhurst Park, will be in the market for a new head coach when Roy Hodgson’s short-term deal expires in two months’ time.
Crystal Palace eyeing former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl
It remains to be seen if Hasenhuttl would consider another shot at a club operating on a limited budget and used to spending most of their time in the lower regions of the division.
55-year-old Hasenhuttl was sacked by Southampton in November. He also ‘turned down an offer from Everton‘ in January’. Perhaps the one-time RB Leipzig boss felt that the Toffees was the wrong job at the wrong job; his reputation already diminished by a traumatic final 18 months in charge at St Mary’s.
Hasenhuttl was once nicknamed the ‘Alpine (Jurgen) Klopp’; his high-pressing principles drawing comparisons with Liverpool’s former Borussia Dortmund boss. Hasenhuttl’s aggressive, energetic, up-and-at-’em approach may be welcomed by a portion of Crystal Palace supporters.
Some at Selhurst Park are praying for an end to the pragmatism and the introduction of a more ‘pro-active’ gameplan.
“I like Ralph. I really like Ralph,” former England international Darren Bent tells talkSPORT.
“When you look at Ralph’s record (at Southampton), and the things he had to deal with in that time… He lost people like Danny Ings, his goalscorer. (Jannick) Vestergaard, (Pierre-Emile) Hojbjerg. Good players! And the investment that came into these players wasn’t really there.
“He lost key players and he still kept them afloat.”
