Charlie Austin reveals Southampton moment that left him 'fuming' with Claude Puel

Charlie Austin has recalled an incident with Claude Puel from their time together at Southampton

Charlie Austin has revealed a time when he was fuming with former Southampton boss Claude Puel during his stint at St. Mary’s.

The 37-year-old spent three-and-a-half years with the Saints, arriving in 2016 from QPR in the aftermath of their relegation from the Premier League.

While injuries hampered his time with the Hampshire outfit, he still managed 71 appearances in the top flight for the club.

In that time, the striker contributed 16 goals and three assists, and helped the team qualify for the Europa League under Ronald Koeman.

Puel took charge in 2017 to oversee their European campaign after the Dutchman made the switch to rivals Everton.

Southampton finished eighth, 17th and 16th in Austin’s remaining years at St. Mary’s, with the club also suffering elimination in the group stage of the Europa League in 2016/17.

Charlie Austin opens up on Claude Puel dispute

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Austin has recalled an incident involving himself and Puel from his time at Southampton, where he was dropped for a Premier League clash against Swansea despite scoring a brace in the Europa League just a few days before.

He claimed that he was fuming at being dropped, and that his winner off the bench was his attempt at showing two fingers to the Frenchman, but that the issue ended there.

“I remember it happened to me once in two different competitions,” said Austin, via the Charlie Austin Football Channel podcast.

“It was Europa League, I scored two for against Sparta Prague for Southampton, and on the Sunday I was on the bench in the Prem.

“I was fuming, I was fuming.

“But then I came on and scored the winner against Swansea and we won 1-0, and I was almost like to Claude Puel that’s two fingers to you.

“But then I got in and I played, it was fine.”

Southampton hosted Sparta Prague on 15 September 2016, winning 3-0 thanks to a brace from Austin and a stoppage time strike from Jay Rodriguez.

The 37-year-old’s first goal came in the opening minutes from the penalty spot, before he added a second before the half hour mark.

But he had to wait until the 53rd minute before coming off the bench in the 1-0 win against Swansea just a few days later, with his goal arriving in the 64th minute.

Charlie Austin’s Southampton highlights

The brace against Sparta Prague was the beginning of a strong run of form for Austin, who scored in four consecutive appearances across three competitions.

He also scored in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup on 21 September, having started, and then provided another goal, and an assist, as the Saints won 3-0 against West Ham in the Premier League on 25 September.

Austin failed to score in their next game, which was a 0-0 draw against champions Leicester City, but he again bagged a brace in his next appearance against Burnley on 16 October.

The 37-year-old scored just twice more in the remainder of the campaign, finding the back of the net a total of nine times in 2016/17, making it his most prolific season with the club.

Charlie Austin offers an insight into the mentality of a top striker

Austin has provided an interesting insight into life at Southampton, as well as the mentality required to be a top striker.

He was able to use the rage he felt of being dropped to lead a strong run of scoring goals for the Saints.

While he didn’t hit the same heights again for the club after this streak ended, he still provided plenty of memorable moments during his time at St. Mary’s.

Puel was not the most popular figure as Southampton manager, and fans of the Championship side may not be surprised to discover that he sometimes rubbed the players the wrong way.