As it is revealed that both Mario Lemina and Charlie Austin have been removed from the Saints squad for pre season, it is clear that Ralph Hasenhuttl is standing no nonsense.

This summer has already seen several high profile players across the continent refuse to play for their clubs in order to try and force a move away when they have had their heads turned and indeed two years ago Saints found themselves in the same position with Virgil Van Dyke throwing his toys out of the prams.

Back then Saints stood their ground but ultimately had to concede defeat, now things have changed though and in Ralph Hasenhuttl they have a manager strong enough to impose his will on the squad and not be backed down.

That has been shown by the way he has removed both Charlie Austin and Mario Lemina from the squad and refused to let them upset hire season plans.

Although it has to be said that they are both in different situations.

Lemina has clearly been a problem player for the club, stories of his off the field lifestyle have circulated and now after having his head turned by rumoured big club interest he has behaved badly making ill advised statements and clearly Ralph feels he is better away from the squad.

I do have some sympathy though for Charlie Austin, he has turned down a drop to the Championship with West Brom and that is fair enough as he wants Premier League football, he has stated that he is prepared to stay and fight for his place, but clearly there is something that Hasenhuttl doesn't like and he too is isolated.

There is probably no going back for either of them now, hopefully we will get a decent fee for both, Charlie Austin should be wished well, perhaps a lot less so Mario Lemina who is not turningput to be either a class midfielder or anything classy off it either.

Photo: Action Images

schatfield added 14:14 - Jul 18 Jordy Clasie seems to be the third person here too... Although we want all 3 off the wage bill, fair enough that Austin didnt want to go to west brom....cant force him. I wouldnt be surprised if Villa came in for him. btw, the endless ads and old articles have now gone - thanks, if this had anything to do with you!
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ericofarabia added 14:19 - Jul 18 Not much chance of any decent fees being offered now that we've shown our cards and want shot of them :-(
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SanMarco added 14:41 - Jul 18 Comments right below the article - just like the old days! Lemina is simply not good enough to get away with behaving like this. VVD had the distinct advantage of being one of the best players in the world. Lemina will have to lower his expectations a lot. As for Charlie, his behaviour at least has better motivations (I think). I hope he gets somewhere. Neither deserves a share of the fee we receive for them - Lemina's behaviour is effectively a transfer request...

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EasyToger added 16:06 - Jul 18 What’s happening about central defence?! Nick, I know you said to be patient, but continued lack of activity or even any rumours is concerning. I’m not being hysterical, just anxious for the addition everyone must realise we need..
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saintmark1976 added 16:47 - Jul 18 In the case of Austin, if he has a contract which says SFC will pay him say 80 grand a week but WBA only say 50 grand a week, is he wrong to turn WBA down? How many of us posters would simply say "sod that, I'll stay where I am? I would suggest pretty much everybody. Reference Lamina, who knows what assurances were given to him when he signed in regard to the future? Given Les's dealings in the past I would not be surprised if he suggested that Lemina could have a seat on the board after a couple of seasons. Like you EastToger I'm beginning to get concerned about central defence. Perhaps the manager is simply going to run with what we've got,hoping if the opposition score four then we'll score five.

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beynali73 added 17:12 - Jul 18 The CB issue is a cause for concern - embedding one in pre season would be ideal. Unless Ralph has or can work minor miricles with what he has I'd be happy with the non 'Saints way' of getting Cahill in for a couple of seasons - wages permitting of course which I'm assuming would be silly. Lemina needs to be kicked out and wages stopped for giving the frank interview about wanting out. Surly that is a breach on contract. However spoilt brats like him have all the dice loaded in their favour. If Austin stays it's not the end fo the world - he knows where the goal is and deos not rely on fitness to perform.

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NYC_Saint added 00:16 - Jul 19 I wondered if Austin’s deactivation of his Twitter was in response to a contract breach/warning? I somewhat agree with Saint Nick that he’s largely been a good player for us and as others above point out most of us wouldn’t take a lower wage whilst on a contract (although not many have the luxury of tens of thousands per week as their measure). RH has mentioned before summer the shape he expects players to maintain over the break and commented some disappointed him when they came back - a bit of a stretch but the likes of Slattery that were seemingly on RH list of up and coming May have fallen into the discipline bucket too? Lemina IMO is just acting like a spoilt kid - he’s a good but not great player. We have supposedly put a 30 mn price on him and transfers his squad number - can’t see him playing again but also can’t see anyone paying up for him

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redandwhitedee added 00:16 - Jul 19 Austin being frozen out is obvious. He is in last year of contract and too old to be offered another. If we are to get any money at all for him we have to sell now. Austin knows he is more likely to get a premier league club paying him decent wages if he can leave on a ‘free’ next summer. That’s why he says he wants to “fight for his place”. It’s all about his next move.

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Jesus_02 added 10:34 - Jul 19 Looks to me like they are trying every trick to clear the decks. Transfer business is a bit of a pantomime. Austin is a highly paid player who "wears his heart on his sleeve" . If a club think that they can get him on the cheap then its good business for all. Lamina and Boufal are the strange ones here. ML is oneday going to anyone that will take him for £15m the next he is going nowhere fore less than 30m, then he is frozen out of the team ? And Boufal £6m? Surely he is worth a sub role for a season... or at least till Christmas?

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NewburySaint added 10:45 - Jul 19 Why do you feel sorry for Austin? I can assure you, living in the area that Austin spends most of his spare time in / at, he is about as unprofessional as they come-always has been and will always continue to be. Also, as NYC alluded to, i'm not sure anybody that earns 10's of thousands of pounds a week deserves too much sympathy.
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sidsaint added 10:58 - Jul 19 It's all money motivated that makes players stay at a club and "fight for a place" rather than move on and play regular football, and in many cases who can blame them. It's because clubs have paid over the odds and too high wages. Unfortunately Saints seem to have done this more than most with the likes of Carillo, Boufal, Lemina etc showing our poor or desperate transfer activity in the past. Let's hope, and it looks likely, we make better transfer moves under the new management.

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darthvader added 11:19 - Jul 19 Talking of off the wage bill. Let's add Forster to the list. He's not going to go anywhere when he's earning 90+k a week at saints. Is he? So one of the other keepers has to go
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underweststand added 16:01 - Jul 19 Remembering Steve Bruce as a "hard-knocks" type of player, he might well take a look at Charlie Austin who is his type of "grity CF" who would cost a pittance in comparison to the "suggested " £90 million transfer budget he is purported to have been given by Ashley. Either way - Geordie fans would appreciate the type of striker (ala MacDonald, Carroll, Cole) who can " put himself about" even if CA doesn't have a long career in front of him.

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SaintBrock added 16:50 - Jul 19 Some context needed here. Ross Wilson attended a transfer seminar in London this week and he confirmed that this year's market is very quiet; that all clubs need to sell big money players before they can proceed with new purchases so their is a glut of expensive experienced players on the market that (really) nobody wants or can afford to buy. So it's not just us! As for Austin, the problem might be that either he just cannot be bothered to get fit enough or maybe less controversially he isn't able to and so he will never pass Hutch's "sprint test" or have the stamina for 90 minutes, so he really does not fit in with Hutch's plan. Of course Hutch will have told him so which no doubt - with Chas being Chas - he just couldn't handle the truth and feels rejected and hurt. Strange how many people who claim to tell it as it is, can't handle the same degree of directness addressed to them. I am sure Lemina's fitness is an issue which he too finds it difficult to accept. Good question for everyone is " Are you good enough to do the job you are currently doing?" I'll leave readers to ponder on that especially if a new boss has or is about to arrive....

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darthvader added 17:13 - Jul 19 I'm my own boss and ask myself daily if I'm good enough . If the answer is no I have a chat with myself do a good cop bad cop routine on me and then perform admirably . .. Till the next time
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darthvader added 17:14 - Jul 19 Pretty sure id perform well on 50k a week though
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Big_T added 13:37 - Jul 21 I love the assumption that CA " puts himself about" . He has been at Saints for what 3 years? I can't remember the last time he won a ball in the air or out muscled a defender to get ahead !! If it was up to me I'd let him go for free, just to get him off the wage bill.
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