Ralph saves his skin with timely tweak of tactics

RALPH HASENHUTTL is the fourth longest-serving manager in the Premier League and has experienced plenty in his rollercoaster, near four years in charge. He will no doubt be familiar with the top flight’s ups and downs, as his opposite number Jesse Marsch discussed when offering the Southampton manager some words of comfort. Southampton kicked off on the back of one win in 14 games in all competitions dating back to last season. Then things began looking much, much trickier when Rodrigo’s double for Leeds left them staring another defeat in the face. But credit to Hasenhuttl. He aborted his back-three experiment in the closing stages to revert to a more familiar 4-2-2-2, which saw his team create a string of chances as they carried far greater threat. His substitutes all impacted the game as goals from former Rangers star Joe Aribo and Kyle Walker-Peters salvaged a point. ‘We showed a sensational reaction after a poor start to the second half,’ said Hasenhuttl. ‘We made a few changes and the reaction was amazing.’ Southampton’s comeback allowed Hasenhuttl to come out fighting following Sportsmail’s revelations last week about dressing-room unrest. Marsch, who knows Hasenhuttl well through their association with the Red Bull group, said: ‘I do feel for fellow managers when they are getting stick but we all share misery — it’s a miserable job we have, right? But we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love it.’