FC Southampton and Ralph Hasenhüttl go unusual ways in the relegation battle. The coach invites all season ticket holders against Arsenal for a beer. Ralph Hasenhüttl tries to get the fans on his side even before his first home game as coach of FC Southampton.
Before the match kick-off against FC Arsenal on Sunday he sent each of the 19,000 season ticket holders a letter with a voucher for a beer in the Saints stadium - CHEERS!
In the letter, the club urged their supporters to launch a "brave new era on the south coast" after winning only one game at their home St. Mary's Stadium in the past 13 months and last booing out.
Hasenhüttl wants to win credit from fans
"I'm a guy who always wants to travel with everyone and it's very important to have a good relationship with the fans. You have to build your credit. It's like an account, if you always take money, it's off at some point. Now we have to put money on the account," the coach explained the unusual action.
After only one victory in the first 15 matches of the season, Hasenhüttl took over FC Southampton two weeks ago. But even with the 51-year-old on the sidelines, the hoped-for turnaround was not achieved. Last matchday, for example, they suffered a bitter 1-0 defeat at the hands of the rising stars Cardiff City.
Southampton already in last year's relegation fight
The former coach of RB Leipzig therefore had intensive discussions with his players last week in order to get to know the team better before the first home game under his direction. "I want to know everything about them, their history and what we want them to do. It's very important to know every player. However, he promised the fans "to take the players to their limits.
Last season Southampton had to tremble to the end of the season to keep their class and finally finished seventeenth in the table, just three points clear of relegated Swansea City.
However, the match against FC Arsenal will be anything but an easy one. After two defeats at the start of the season, the team headed by former Dortmund player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang remained undefeated in the following 14 games and is thus in the middle of the race for the Champions League places.
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