Charlie Austin has been giving his version of events regarding Ralph Hasenhuttl’s decision to exile him in the summer.
The experienced forward moved to West Bromwich Albion towards the end of the transfer window but did not play a single minute of pre-season football at Southampton.
Austin was sent to train with the Under-23 side alongside Mario Lemina, with both players having been deemed surplus to Hasenhuttl’s requirements.
The striker recently spoke to Stan Collymore for The Last Word and lifted the lid on his relationship with Hasenhuttl, and how his exit came about.
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He said:
I came in and they’re going on a pre-season tour [to Austria]. The board is on there with the names, and my name’s not on there.
‘Speak to the manager if you want’. ‘Pardon? He hasn’t got the balls to speak to me, then I ain’t f***ing speaking to him’.
He just said ‘report Monday and train with the 23s’. Fine, no problem. I came in the following Monday when the lads are back and I’ve got a bag of stuff there with all my kit.
A message comes through saying ‘you’re training with the 23s, and get changed down the bottom’. Okay, no problem.
He [Hasenhuttl] must have thought I was a bad egg. He must have, he’s got 24 or 25 players. I might not be part of his squad, but he must have thought I was a bad egg.
Read Southampton’s verdict
There are two sides to every story, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a Saints fan who believes Austin’s version.
He behaved, quite frankly, like a child on Twitter throughout the summer as the club attempted to push him out, and he’s visibly still a little uptight about the nature of his exit despite his new role at West Brom.
Hasenhuttl may well have regarded Austin as ‘a bad egg’. But he probably also saw that he was the complete opposite of what is required to suit his style, was likely on a big pay packet, and had continued regressing over the course of his tenure here.
It was absolutely the right call to sell him, and interviews like these only go further in showing just why…
