Southampton coach Ralph Hasenhuttl hints quitting football in two years and doesn’t want to become another Hodgson
RALPH HASENHUTTL has hinted he is planning on quitting management in two years.
The Southampton boss, 54, says he does not want to be a veteran gaffer like Roy Hodgson.
Speaking to German publication Kicker, Hasenhuttl has revealed he wants to leave Saints on a “very healthy footing by 2024” and then walk away.
He said: “I always wanted to prove to myself that I could very well work for a club for a longer period of time.
“Hopefully, it will be five-and-a-half years here, that’s a damn long time in modern football, and then that’s probably it.
“Five-and-a-half years in the Premier League, that’s a lot of energy, regardless of job satisfaction. I can’t imagine that I want to do anything else in the coaching job after that.”
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Should Hasenhuttl stay in his current role for another two years, he would be Southampton’s longest-serving manager since Chris Nicholl, who was in post from 1985-91.
He is said to have already informed Saints’ new owners Sport Republic of his ambitions.
Hasenhuttl added: “Saying no to everything else is also a yes to yourself, and I want that.
“That’s the solid plan and I hope I have the strength to pull it off. [I want to] put Southampton on a very healthy footing by 2024, but then that was it.
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“Then I’ll be 57 years old. I’d like to experience other things and not sit on the bench like Roy Hodgson at 74. Definitely not.”
Southampton endured a difficult campaign last season – finishing in 15th spot.
They begin the 2022-23 season at home to Leeds United.
