Ralph Hasenhuttl says weathering tough periods is part of being a football manager as he seeks solutions to Southampton’s alarming slump.
Saints go into the international break second bottom of the Premier League having taken just a single point from the last 21 available.
The struggling south coast club were beaten 2-1 by Everton on Saturday as their lengthy wait for a first home win since April goes on.
Saints boss Hasenhuttl has come under serious pressure on the back of the worrying run of results, which includes a 9-0 thumping by Leicester, but remains defiant.
“In the moment it is not nice but this is also this job,” he said.
“It’s not always nice, it’s not always winning games, it’s not always celebrating with the fans.
“It’s sometimes being out there and a little bit disappointment about what happened in the moment.
“But this is my job to hold the head up and try to find the right decisions.”
Defeat against the Toffees inflicted a fourth successive home league defeat on Southampton for the first time since they moved to St Mary’s in 2001.
Saints’ next game is a trip to Arsenal on November 23, before back-to-back home games against the other two teams in the relegation zone, Watford and Norwich.
Southampton’s record of just eight points from 12 games mirrors their start to last season, form which ultimately led to the sacking of Hasenhuttl’s predecessor Mark Hughes.
The Austrian has plenty to ponder during the next fortnight and is concerned about rectifying results as a whole rather than specifically on home soil.
“I think it’s not a big topic that we didn’t win a game at home because the last games away we also didn’t win. We must take a good result,” said Hasenhuttl.
“If it’s tight – like it was against Man City (a 2-1 loss) – and we still don’t get something then it means we’re not good enough in the moment. Why we’re not good enough, this answer is to find.
“We do a few things good but in a few things when we try this we’re not good enough and this is the problem.”
Victory in Hampshire was Everton’s first on the road since March 30. Richarlison claimed their winner after Danny Ings cancelled out Tom Davies’ early opener.
Toffees boss Marco Silva opted to omit summer signing Moise Kean from his squad for the game because of tactical reasons, preferring 18-year-old academy graduate Anthony Gordon on the bench.
Silva has backed Italy international Kean – without a goal since a reported £27million move from Serie A champions Juventus – to come back stronger and reach a “better level”.
“Moise is working really hard. He is a young boy but with a very good quality as well, doing his best to adapt as fast as he can for a different football as well,” said Silva.
“He has all of my support and my staff and his team-mates to keep growing. For sure he will do that and in some weeks, some months you will see Moise in a better level for sure.”
