Ralph Hasenhuttl built his reputation in German football and achieved stunning success at Red Bull Leipzig. His time at Southampton was enthralling and painful in roughly equal measure.

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.

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.

Playing career

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

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.

Breakthrough

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.

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

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.

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.

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