Former CEO Semmens opens up on Southampton relegation season

The St Mary's side now sit third in the Championship and have made big strides towards an immediate return to the top flight.

However, managed by Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles last season, the club finished dead bottom in the league. 

Semmens, who departed Saints in May following a restructuring of the club's leadership, has opened up in a new talkSPORT interview. 

Semmens said: "I try to look at my time at Southampton across all of the years rather than one to help me sleep at night.

"It is so important for a football club to have a plan and a clear identity to where we are going, with everyone going in the same direction.

"We produced that for a while under Ralph, we had a very clear and narrow view of what he wanted to achieve and I think he did it very well.

"Southampton in that last year failed to do that, I think they tried to change the plan and it got confused.

"They have now got back to something interesting that is working out but there is evidence you need a clear plan to be successful.

"We had it and then we lost it and we seem to have it back now. Ralph was an unbelievable guy to work with every day.

"He would probably say he ran out of steam. There is only so long you can do the job and deliver what you want every day without softening."

Media reports were already coming elsewhere in August that Hasenhuttl was under pressure to deliver immediate results.

Semmens continued: "There was not pressure on his job as we were making that decision and knew it was fine, but from the media and fans - definitely.

"The one thing to say about Ralph, which doesn't mean anything to the media and fans, is that I have never met anyone who worked harder.

"You do meet people in football who are passing through to get to the next place, certain players gave you the feeling they wanted to be at Liverpool.

"Ralph was there to build a legacy and to help the club get better every day and that meant a huge amount to us.

"It doesn't mean a lot when you're not winning games but we didn't have any investment and Ralph managed to manufacture that, losing players. 

"It is a good achievement but it did get harder."

Saints had already made changes to Hasenhuttl's backroom staff in the summer preceding the season starting.

Kelvin Davis, Dave Watson and Craig Fleming all departed while Ruben Selles was hired as assistant and Carl Martin was promoted from the academy. 

Semmens admitted the club were at a crossroads and had the choice to make sweeping changes elsewhere or sack Hasenhuttl himself. 

He said: "We had a very clear plan about where we wanted to go and you cannot run the same team with the same people every year.

"Sir Alex Ferguson used to talk about changing one or two players every year and we had the belief that we needed to change the environment.

"Being honest, we had a straightforward choice between saying it's time up for Ralph and going in a different direction or changing the backroom staff.

"We had a new way of playing, we changed the way we trained and we set up differently but it didn't really work so we went back to the old way.

"It wasn't a stupid decision like we just came up with it one day, there was a good process. Whether it was a good idea or not, it was thought through.

"Southampton were set up slightly different and the people who ran the backroom did work for the club and did not come with the manager.

"Therefore, some of those people had come through the academy and we wanted a different influence.

"The evidence shows it did not work but I don't think it did not work because of that, Ruben Selles did a great job.

"Maybe it didn't work because we had too many new voices in the room and we got a little bit distracted I think." 

Hasenhuttl was sacked following four years of service in November 2022, with Jones appointed as his replacement less than a week later.

The former Luton Town boss, who was the current Championship manager of the year, was sacked after one win in just eight league games.

Semmens accepts the appointment - credited to Rasmus Ankersen by contemporary media reports - did not work but defends it, stating he was not given a chance.

Saints turned to sacked Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch to return to a high-press model - before the American changed his mind on joining after negotiations. 

Semmens explained: "We wanted to go back to who we were, the pressing style which Jesse came from.

"We were in a time critical and we needed to do something instantly and I felt Jesse would have an instant impact.

"Whether he could manage the club for five years was not the point, I felt he could come in on day one with an American attitude of 'I can get this done'.

"I felt he would be brilliant for the atmosphere but I think Jesse saw the club was starting to go in different directions and looked beyond that season.

"It was disappointing to me but I understood it. He was ready to go but at the last minute decided it was not the opportunity for him.

"The ownership wanted to go in a different direction, Jason Wilcox was coming in and that has worked but I think Jesse felt that." 

Saints instead hired assistant manager Selles as the new boss, following a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. 

Semmens said: "Ruben is a fantastic guy and it's not his fault he did not have experience or had managed 400 Premier League games.

"Winning at Chelsea was a huge emotional release and there were such near moments, like going 3-1 up at Arsenal.

"Ruben built a close relationship with the players and had them training well so we couldn't have been happier with his work.

"It was the right time to try and bring the players together for one last throw of the dice. It didn't work but I am sure Ruben will be a fantastic coach."

Saints finished the season in 20th in the Premier League, relegated to the Championship with six wins from 38 matches.