Tony Adams has made a surprising claim about a conversation he had with Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl... 

What's the talk?

Arsenal legend Tony Adams has revealed that he was offered the chance to become Ralph Hasenhuttl's assistant at Southampton when Danny Rohl left in 2019.

Adams did not go into detail about why the move ended up failing, with Kelvin Davis eventually being named as one of Hasenhuttl's assistants.

He told Sky Sports, via The Evening Standard:

"Ralph called me a couple of years ago... I'd just had a knee operation.
"His assistant had just left and he called me and asked me to give him a hand at Southampton."

Relief

Southampton fans will surely be feeling a sense of relief after reading these quotes from Adams. The appointment of Adams as assistant manager at the club could have been a major blunder, given his record as a coach throughout his career since his illustrious playing days ended

Adams managed Wycombe for 50 games in the early 2000's and won 1.03 points per game on average. He then moved on to Southampton's rivals Portsmouth, where he managed 0.86 points per game across 21 matches, which may have endeared him to Saints fans at the time. His best spell came as manager of Azerbaijan side FK Qabala, where he averaged 1.50 points per game across 44 matches.

His most recent spell as a head coach, however, was a disaster as he was sacked by Granada in 2017 after failing to pick up a single point from seven La Liga games. He has not had a recognised coaching or management role since his departure from the Spanish outfit.

Although he would not have come in to be the outright head coach, his appalling record as a manager suggests that he may have been a poor appointment as an assistant at St. Mary's. His coaching methods failed to help him pick up results at several of the clubs he managed and there is nothing to suggest that his efforts would have improved Southampton's Premier League performances.

Therefore, Hasenhuttl avoided a potential blunder by eventually opting to go with Davis ahead of Adams. Fans will be delighted that they went with an in-house appointment and did not bring Adams in.

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