Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl insisted Saints have made “good progress” since their infamous 9-0 Premier League defeat against Leicester City and added: “I don’t have it in my mind anymore.” The St Mary’s side are set to face Everton in the top flight on Sunday, a year to the day since their home humiliation at the hands of the Foxes. Leicester secured the biggest ever away win in the Premier League on that painful night for Hasenhuttl – and matched the overall competition record set when Manchester United beat Ipswich Town 9-0 at home in 1995. But despite conceding the loss was part of his team’s “story” the Austrian, who the club stuck by to deliver an 11th-place finish last season, insisted making the “right decisions” had been key since then.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said “Thanks that you remember me! It’s okay. I don’t have a problem with this because, as you know, I’m still sitting here and since then a lot of things have happened – not in a bad way I think. It was a new experience for me definitely. But, meanwhile, I have seen those strange results in the league. When Liverpool lose 7-2 against Aston Villa. Anything is possible in the Premier League. You have to make this experience maybe once in your life. I don’t need to do it or want to have it more often to be honest but for this one time, it was not the worst – if you make the right decisions afterwards. If you want, yes, it’s part of our story. It’s part of our history. But when you see the whole story, I think the big picture shows you that also a 9-0 defeat is not the end of the world. It’s also sometimes the start for something new, something better. Since then I think we have made good progress so far. I don’t have it in my mind anymore. If you wouldn’t speak about it again, I would have forgotten it maybe. When you look at them. How they play and how they have played the first rounds, it’s not a coincidence that they are unbeaten at the moment – they did a fantastic job,” said Hasenhuttl, when asked about Carlo Ancelotti’s team. They made a few good signings in the summer but also seem better organised and they are definitely a very strong side. But we also played last week against a team that had a lot of quality on the pitch and we showed we are not scared. We know on a good day we will have chances against every team in the Premier League. This is the goal for the weekend.”
