The new billboard on the way into Southampton tells you much about the vast difference that 50 days can make. ‘Welcome to Ralphampton,’ it confidently says. The last known Southampton employee who prompted a sponsor to commission something quite so bold was Matthew Le Tissier. ‘You are now entering God’s country,’ read the 1994 version.

No-one is ever likely to provoke more affection in these parts than Le Tissier, but an hour this week with Ralph Hasenhüttl still made it easy to understand why the club suddenly feels galvanised.

Impact was what Southampton so desperately needed after winning only one league match all season under Mark Hughes. And impact is what Hasenhüttl has delivered, not just in a quadrupling of victories, but in many intriguingly subtle changes through every facet of the club. Go to the megastore, for example, and you might suddenly find yourself greeted by a first-team player. Internal fines are now not paid in money but in time spent doing some sort of job around the club.

Speak to one of the groundsmen and they will tell you about Hasenhüttl’s first request: a series of new markings on the training pitch to ensure players have a precise understanding of where they should be in specific situations. It was to be acted upon that day.

Double daily training sessions were a feature of the first two weeks and, in direct contrast to most incoming managers, the players know full well that Hasenhüttl had prioritised reducing their numbers. Reputation is counting for little, and replacements have simply been coming from an academy that can suddenly see a less cluttered pathway to the first-team. It is a strategy that is not without risk, but the rewards so far have been both the tangible accumulation of 13 points from seven games and the more intangible transformation of mood.

Hasenhüttl is an expressive presence on the Southampton touchline credit: REUTERS

A touchline presence that has more than a passing resemblance to Jurgen Klopp has ensured a connection with supporters that, even after only three games, ended with him being serenaded to the tune of ‘Last Christmas’. Hasenhüttl looked genuinely moved. “I am a very emotional guy,” he says, smiling. “It costs me a lot to stay calm during a game. Sometimes I forget to shake hands with the other manager. I apologise. I’m learning, but I have a very good relationship with my players and also the crowd. They feel there is a team on the pitch they identify with. That is the most important step we made in the first seven weeks because it helps us to get support if we are not winning. They know we are giving everything.”

But how have the players responded to a style that has been every bit as ruthless and decisive (just ask Cedric, Wesley Hoedt, Manolo Gabbiadini and Charlie Austin) as it has been energetic? “I think the players like it,” says Hasenhüttl. “To be honest helps you a lot to not waste time. It’s also the way I help the players most. It doesn’t matter if it is the captain or the last reserve player, I try to be honest.

“I have to take 50 decisions every day. I don’t think it is possible to make 50 decisions right. Sometimes the decisions are not popular, but it is not my way to be popular. It is my way to be successful. I think the brave guys have their success.” The urgent desire to instil his ideas has ensured long working days. Hasenhüttl’s piano, a Bluthner grand which is one of his great sources of relaxation, has yet to arrive from Germany and, despite identifying a running route that takes him down to the nearby Solent water, a past daily routine of “torturous” yoga and strength exercises has yet to take hold. He only moved out of a hotel and into an apartment last week. “The first priority was to have a face-to-face meeting with every player to put our philosophy in their mind,” he says. “It is something very different. More space orientated. We talked to every player for nearly 30 minutes to show exactly what we demand.”

On his iPad, Hasenhüttl had prepared a mass of tailored clips to demonstrate exactly where he wanted every player in specific situations. “We told them that, in one year, we want to show the same clips of them in a Southampton shirt,” he says. “There is not a chance to stay even for one or two seconds outside of this and we try to build also a commitment off the pitch. We put a lot of new rules about living together in this building. If you want discipline on the pitch, you need discipline off it. Having both together is the difference between a good team and one team that wants to be a good team.”

'I have to take 50 decisions every day. I don’t think it is possible to make 50 decisions right.' credit: CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER

Hasenhüttl will not reveal every internal rule - although he does mention the need for a clean and tidy dressing-room - but most interesting is the novel consequences for any infringement. “They decide, but it’s not a money fine,” he says. “The learning is not so good then. So, for example, working in the fan shop or making a training session for the youth team. It’s one small part of this whole puzzle.”

It is a puzzle that Hasenhüttl has been studying since starting as a youth team coach at SpVgg Unterhaching when his playing career ended in 2004. He became manager in 2007 before winning promotions at both VfR Aalen and Ingolstadt 04. He then finished second and sixth during two seasons in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig. Before starting work at Ingolstadt in the summer of 2013, he would cycle between the training grounds of Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach with binoculars to watch how Klopp and Lucien Favre worked. “It’s not so easy now - in the beginning no-one knew me,” he says. “I started in the regional league in Germany, then third league, second league, Bundesliga, Champions League and now Premier League. I never stopped learning. It’s crazy a guy from Austria is in the Premier League.” This is the fourth country in which he has played or worked but he still very much regards Austria as home. “I think I am European,” he adds, before preempting any Brexit discussion with the diplomatic wish of “a good solution for both sides”.

Hasenhüttl might be an imposing 6ft 3ins physical presence, but he also represents further evidence of English football’s move from the dictatorial style ‘director of football’ manager towards those with a narrow and obsessive focus on nurturing their squad. Hasenhüttl ideally wants only to work with between 18 and 20 first-team players and is not outwardly pushing this week for signings. “I know supporters always want to see new players,” he says. “The best thing is if it’s a star. £50 million. That’s what they like. I also like it. I had players like Naby Keita and it was not a surprise that a club paid a lot of money for him.

“I think for Southampton that is not our way. We want to create the stars. There is a small tree. We give water. Try to let it grow and, if it is a really beautiful tree, another will come and take it.

“I think this was the way in Southampton for a long time. I think they lost a little bit that direction and now we want to come back.” Hasenhüttl then delivers what is the crux of his philosophy. “I am not the guy who screams at players,” he says. “I want to give them arguments, make them better, be respectful, open-minded and have an ear for every player every day.

“The player is the most important person in a football club. Not the manager. I am part of this team which is working to do everything so that the player is in the best situation physically, mentally and tactically. That’s my position. Like a butler.” He again smiles, before adding: “But a demanding butler.”