‘Hasenhuttl called me’: Adams makes shock Saints admission
Arsenal legend Tony Adams has said Ralph Hasenhuttl asked him to join Southampton after the Austrian’s assistant coach, Danny Rohl, left in 2019.
Rohl left the Hampshire club when Bayern Munich came calling after spending seven months in England.
And Adams has said Hasenhuttl gave him a call asking for the Gunners icon to take on a role at St Mary’s Stadium.
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Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of Southampton’s clash with Wolves on Sunday, the 54-year-old said: “Ralph [Hasenhuttl] called me a couple of years ago… I’d just had a knee operation.
“His assistant [Rohl] had just left and he called me and asked me to give him a hand at Southampton.”
Adams worked with Southampton’s arch-rivals Portsmouth between 2006 and 2009, managing 16 matches for Pompey in 2008/09.
He has also worked with Feyenoord in the Netherlands, with Gabala in Azerbaijan and Spanish side Granada.
His stay in Spain was a short one, as he was sacked following the club’s relegation from La Liga in 2017.
Since his role with Granada, Adams has concentrated on punditry.
Southampton fans were disappointed on Sunday as they were beaten 1-0 by Wolves at home.
Wolves striker Raul Jimenez scored his first goal of the season, ending his 336-day wait for a goal.
Jimenez feared he would never play again in the aftermath of his horrific head injury at the Emirates Stadium almost 10 months ago and only returned to the field at the start of this campaign.
Defeat for the Saints leaves them eight games without a win dating back to last season and three successive outings without finding the net.
Hasenhuttl insisted that “we are all disappointed” after fans booed the players off the pitch following the defeat.
“We are all disappointed. At the moment we are struggling to find the way to score. This is frustrating, to be honest,” he said.
“The chances were there today but we just do not get a big chance against a team who defends this deep.
“We had the best of the play but did not score – and then they scored from a very naive situation.”
