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Southampton: Former Saints captain has his doubts about Hasenhuttl

By Marc Walker

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Jose Fonte of Southampton celebrates as he scores their third goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary's Stadium on December 26, 2015 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Jose Fonte of Southampton celebrates as he scores their third goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary's Stadium on December 26, 2015 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images) /
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Former Southampton captain Jose Fonte has admitted that he has doubts about whether Ralph Hasenhuttl can save the club from relegation this season.

Fonte left Saints back in January 2017 and has had spells with West Ham, Dalian Yifang and now Lille but is unconvinced that his former side are in the right hands.

Saints are currently 19th in the Premier League and two points adrift of Aston Villa in 17th ahead after their 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Saturday.

Speaking to talkSPORT recently, Fonte said:

"“It’s difficult to watch them struggle. It’s painful. Southampton was in such great shape two or three years ago. We were consistently achieving top ten. What can I say? They’re in a bad way, it’s easy for everyone to see that their confidence is not big.The manager, I don’t know, he doesn’t look like he’s capable of turning things round. I’m not sure if he can do the job to be honest.”"

GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS – JULY 18: Jose Fonte of FC Southampton runs with the ball during the friendly match between FC Groningen and FC Southampton at Euroborg Arena on July 18, 2015 in Groningen, Netherlands. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS – JULY 18: Jose Fonte of FC Southampton runs with the ball during the friendly match between FC Groningen and FC Southampton at Euroborg Arena on July 18, 2015 in Groningen, Netherlands. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) /

Some of the problem that Saints are facing these days is the fact that there are no leaders in the current playing squad.

Fonte used to lead from defence and built a real connection with the club after two successive promotions between 2010 and 2012.

Then when Saints had reached another new high point with European qualification, he was messed around by then manager Claude Puel and wasn’t selected to play in any of the Europa League games in 2016/17.

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Refusing to sign a new deal and then leaving for West Ham was seen as disrespectful by the Saints fans, but perhaps there should have been a bigger commitment to a player that had given so much.

Besides, he still had more to offer at that stage.

Overall, Fonte made 286 appearances for Saints and chipped in with 15 goals along the way whilst playing with a number of partners at centre-back.

He and Radhi Jaidi were the rock that the League One promotion team was built around, Jos Hooiveld arrived from Celtic to help with another promotion and then the likes of Dejan Lovren and Virgil van-Dijk followed.

After Saints, Fonte moved on to short but lucrative spells with West Ham and Dalian Yifang and is now with Lille in France.

At 35 years-old, he is still a regular starter and has player the full 90 minutes in their four Champions League group-stage games this season.

With an important squad revamp needed at Saints, they will be targeting a leader in defence in the style of their former captain.

Next. Arsenal 2-2 Saints: Three Match Takeaways. dark

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