‘It is frustrating’ – limited Staplewood access and COVID-19 restrictions means more injuries and slower progress for Hasenhuttl

“I cannot tell you. I’m not a doctor.”

It was Monday lunchtime, the 18th of January. In some pockets of the wider world, the particular day is annually referred to as ‘Blue Monday’ – the most depressing 24-hour period within the calendar year.

And at times during his audience with the media over zoom, Ralph Hasenhuttl appeared to add more credence to that desolate perspective. For an effervescent character like Hasenhuttl, who marauds any touchline with a certain magnetism attached, he can sometimes cut a relatively quiet figure during press conferences, especially now they are held digitally.

The question to the aforementioned answer above was in regards to the influx of injuries at the club and the perceived lack of facilitating aid for them. His response carried a different cadence to the others. Hasenhuttl peered into the laptop screen and proceeded to speak with a perceptible frustration. The exasperated intonations were pronounced yet understanding.

Nights are long and days are short. The weather right now provides flawless pathetic fallacy to mirror the current mood. The various crises encompassing society has meant this isolated  ‘Blue Monday’ has called for its darkest shade of colour.

With COVID-19 restrictions tightening, rightly or wrongly, access to some facilities at Staplewood have been shut off and away from use.

Asked whether he was frustrated that the loss of significant members of the squad were only being heightened by not being able to utilise some aspects of the training ground, Hasenhuttl was typically candid.

“We are all not sure how high is the risk when you use this or this. I cannot tell you. I’m not a doctor. I’m not the guy who can tell you so I have to do what I’m asked to do. In the end, you’re right, it’s frustrating because it affects everything.”

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It is understood that some facilities which can play a fundamental role in post-match player recovery are currently not in operation.

The limited provision has meant Hasenhuttl has had to reduce the number of training sessions on the grass at Staplewood, instead opting to get his tactical and technical information across to players in the auditorium.

“The only chance at the moment to prepare the team is not to train on the pitch, its to work on the videos and on the clips you can show them. Tactical work can also happen in the auditorium, so it doesn’t have to happen on the pitch and this is how we develop our game very often, especially now in this time.

“It’s more important to listen to the tactical information, to work on the tactical match plan, then the rest is being as fresh as possible when you step on the pitch and, yes, show a good performance.”

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The Austrian, who also spoke profoundly and honestly about being unable to see his children and close family during these Coronavirus times, is not being helped by the lack of available bodies and the fraught fixture schedule.

Player rehabilitation has undoubtedly slowed this season and despite Hasenhuttl praising Southampton’s medical team, the scarcity of facilities that remain highly essential are beginning to hamper the team’s fortunes on the pitch. You only have to take one quick glance at the substitutes bench against Leicester to know this is not some sort of clandestine story that persists hidden.

Hasenhuttl believes players that had been on the sidelines during the early part of the campaign are finding it tougher to get up to speed, thus becoming more susceptible to injuries. The turbulent misfortunate Mohammed Salisu has suffered provides a cautionary tale for any player who has their 2020/21 season perturbed by injury.

Any transfer incomings are only expected to be through loan deals and even they may be scuppered given the unpleasant reading the club’s financial accounts for the year ending June 2020 made last week. A net loss of £76 million has offered very little hope of Hasenhuttl acquiring depth to his squad.

“Even buying is difficult at the moment so this is a strange situation for every club and tough for us to manage it and then you have long term injuries like we have with Will (Smallbone) now and with Mike (Obafemi) then it’s even worse. Short term injuries you can maybe handle a few weeks.

“We are still competitive and we still do a good job here and have to understand this is a special situation and not every club has the money immediately in the winter to say now we have so many injuries we need now 3 or 4 more players. We are not the club that can do this.”

Hasenhuttl revealed he is set to make five changes in the starting line-up for tonight’s rescheduled third round FA Cup match against Shrewsbury.

Though Hasenhuttl admits the incoming players which are set to feature, and/or even make their debuts, are “not all physically on the level to be a Premier League player,” a chain of unfortunate circumstances intertwined by COVID-19 has forged a unique opportunity for the next crop of talent arriving off Southampton’s academy line.

As entrepreneur Mark Cuban once said, “when there is change, there is opportunity.” For Hasenhuttl and Southampton’s sake, Cuban’s words prove prophetic  and a blue Monday doesn’t become a blue Tuesday either.