Premier League Preview: Southampton

Last Season: 8th

Pre-Season Prediction: 11th - Far too much being read into the summer exodus. Southampton still have plenty of quality in reserve and a knowledgeable manager in Koeman. Will be leaps and bounds clear of the relegation zone.

It may seem a long way away now to Southampton fans, but last season is one that will live long in the memory. A special campaign saw the Saints sail up to 8th, their highest ever finish in the Premier League but was particularly memorable for the fact that it was acheived with a squad that largely came through their own youth ranks. A solid defence coupled with an attractive attacking unit made for a hugely entertaining side, with many such as Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw and Jay Rodriguez earning themselves international call-ups as a result of their effort.

That must seem a lifetime ago now though for Southampton fans. A turbulent start to the summer saw them lose their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, to the white side of North London. It only got worse as the summer progressed, with their international starlets, Shaw, Lallana and Lambert all heading north to Manchester United and Liverpool whilst Lovren made it a trio of 'L's' at Liverpool. Not to be seen missing out on the action, Chambers went to Arsenal with Schneiderlin and Rodriguez also pining for a move following their former manager to Spurs. The word exodus has been understandably floated around.

Is the situation really as bad as it sounds though? Just as players have gone they have been replaced. Defensively Ryan Bertrand has been brought in on loan to replace Shaw whilst Florin Gardos also arrives at centre-back. Fraser Forster has arrived to hopefully clear up last season's goalkeeper problem whilst both Shane Long and Graziano Pelle have arrived to bolster the front line. Dusan Tadic, the high-scoring winger from Twente arrives as a replacement to Lallana and Saphir Taider has also arrived to strengthen a midfield already littered with young talent. There are still areas which could be strengthened though. Another dominating central defender is needed to replace the void left by Lovren whilst a winger-cum-striker would be useful on loan until the return of Rodriguez in October.

Pre-season has done plenty to relax Saints fans and ensure them that the so-called emergency is merely a media whirlwind. The friendlies were nearly faultless aside from a 1-0 blip against Bayer Leverkusen but the displays of a number of youngsters as well as new signings will have been encouraging for the season ahead. James Ward-Prowse has looked to have taken a notable step up in midfield whilst the likes of Lloyd Isgrove, Harrison Reed and Stephen Gallagher have all been given some playing time to show they can emerge as the next breed of Academy stars. With question marks over the strength of the defence, conceding just two goals will also have been a major boost.

There was probably a few moments of panic over the summer months for Koeman and the team, but the honest truth is that they have emerged with a full squad and a lot more money. Koeman is a manager with plenty of pedigree and is a perfect fit for this Southampton squad. He is famed for giving youth a chance - generally successfully - and will continue to exploit the marvelous pool of young talent at his disposal along the south coast. One quick glance at a squad list should east any worries the fans may have as a side full of depth has slowly and carefully been established over the summer months. This young Saints side will have no worries avoiding the drop and should be right back where they belong, in the echelons of mid-table.

Key Man: Jose Fonte - Now without his partner in crime after Lovren departed to Liverpool, the onus for defensive stability falls solely with the Portuguese centre-back. He will undoubtedly have to strike up a partnership rather quickly with either Hooiveld, Yoshida or Gardos but is enough of a dominating presence to ensure that Southampton remain tight defensively in this period of transition. Fonte also managed three goals last year in the League but will be looking to increase this tally this year after proving himself to be a potent goal threat from set pieces.

One To Watch: James Ward-Prowse - Ward-Prowse may have lost many of his Saints friends to other clubs over the summer but luckily these departures mean we will get to see more of the brilliant young midfielder. At just 19 he is another product of the academy, but his eye for a pass has already earned him great plaudits after featuring heavily last year. He likes to spread the play to the flanks and, as he proved in pre-season against Brighton, has a fearsome shot on him as well. With Lallana gone, Koeman may fancy trying him in a slightly more advanced role in which we may see Ward-Prowse take a step up to a higher level.

Best Summer Signing: Graziano Pelle - Both Pelle and Tadic have followed Koeman from Holland and both come with big expectations. It is the signing of Pelle that really catches my eye though mainly due to his similar goalscoring figures to one Wilfried Bony, who had a pretty special first season after also travelling across the channel the year before. Having seen Pelle play in a pre-season fixture against Bournemouth, I can say he looks not an overly pacey striker but is extremely powerful. He has not had his scoring boots on over pre-season but is new to the side and will take a while to gel with his new team mates. That said, defences will find him a handful and expect him to pick up as the season goes on. Not all transfers from Holland have worked - Mateja Kezman and Jozy Altidore spring to mind - but this might just be one of those great success stories.

Sports Ladder (28th July - 3rd August)

UP - Claudia Fragapane - It's hard to pick just one athlete from the wealth of successful competitors in Glasgow but really its hard to look past the 16-year-old pocket rocket. Becoming the first British gymnast to win four golds in over 80 years, Fragapane won both the team and individual all-round, as well as the individual floor and vault finals. But it was her floor routine which really captured the imagination, combining gymnastics with break-dancing and performing death-defying flips and twits, the Brit will be a national hero for years to come.

UP - Home Nations - That said, I couldn't ignore the fact that in Glasgow, all of the home nations performed exceptionally well. England ran away with the medal table but the performances of Scotland and Wales as well as Northern Ireland were all fantastic. Scottish athletes in particular embraced their home games, smashing their previous all-round medal record of 33 with 52, and that is still with a day of competition left to go! An amazing feat at home but can they replicate it in four years time down on the Gold Coast?


UP - England Cricket - Positive news from the England camp for the first time in, well, a very long time. A victory! England actually won a cricket match this week! In some style as well might I add. Looking freshly confident both with the bat and the ball England claimed a 266-run victory over India in the third test for their first test victory in over a year. Questions still remain over the captaincy of Alastair Cook, but with few others putting themselves about, Cook has definitely bought himself some time.

UP - Usain Bolt - He came, he danced, he conquered. Ever the showman, Bolt lit up the final night of the athletics with a blistering final leg to claim gold for his team in the 4x100m relay final. After a testing week, with reports of him being unhappy (to put it mildly) with Glasgow, Bolt confounded the critics, appearing to savour every moment out on the track. He danced to '500 miles' with the crowd right up until the race and hi-fived at least half of the crowd (slight exaggeration) afterwards. Unquestionably the greatest sporting athlete of our time.

UP - Sabine Lisicki - With all the goings-on in Glasgow it is all too easy to forget that some other sport has actually been happening and something which went disappointingly under the radar was everyone's favourite smiley German, Sabine Lisicki, breaking the record for the fastest serve in womens tennis. Her 131 mph serve trumped the previous record of 129 mph set by Venus Williams back in 2007 and led to a crescendo of 'ooooohs' from the American crowd. We'll just ignore the fact that she went on to lose the match.

DOWN - Yaya Sanogo - You would think that after scoring four goals in just 48 minutes you would be riding sky-high in the public opinion. Alas, poor Yaya Sanogo became the brunt of twitters cruel humour after his 'celebration' following his fourth goal against Benfica. The young Frenchmen, managed to get his legs in a twist, tripping and stumbling off the pitch. The positives are that he scored four goals, and Arsenal fans managed to turn the trip into a mocking of Steven Gerrard. All's well that ends well.

DOWN - England Netball - What a brutal week it was for England's netball girls as they lost by just one goal, not once but twice in heartbreaking circumstances. The first occasion condemned them to second in the group with a gutting 49-48 loss to Australia. Consequentially this left them against New Zealand in the semi-final where they rebuilt their broken heart only to smash it for a second time in a 35-34 loss to leave them contending just a bronze medal. Oh, and they just lost the bronze medal match to Jamaica to top it all off. Awkward.

DOWN - Ashley Cole - Remember this moment because it doesn't happen very often. I have sympathy with Ashley Cole. After turning down a lucrative deal in the USA to ensure he still plays at the highest level, Cole has still found himself ridiculed by the British public. Most players fade from our attention when they move abroad, but not Cole who became the butt of jokes after a team photo at Roma shows him slightly away from the rest of the team. This has led to a whole host of pretty funny edited photos showing Cole lurking in the background of iconic photos. Poor Cole, he just can't catch a break.


DOWN - Phillips Idowu - There was something extremely uncomfortable about seeing such a well established athlete struggle as much as he did in Glasgow and for that reason he makes my list. Idowu has long been a big favourite of mine but has struggled in recent times through injury and a hiatus from the triple jump. At 35 perhaps it is time for Idowu calls it a day as he looked a long way off the competition and is unlikely to challenge for a major medal again.

DOWN - Southampton - What a difference a few months make. At the end of last season Southampton fans were jubilant as their team finished off the season in their highest ever position of 8th. Nowadays they are just praying they have more players than Blackpool at the start of the season. I've been to Southampton plenty of times and love it but clearly it is not a place for professional footballers, with five established first team players departing and another four or five rumoured to leave. Ronald Koeman has a long season ahead of him.

Premier League Preview: Southampton

Southampton made a strong start to their new Premier League era last season, finishing in a respectable 14th and playing attractive football on the way. However the next challenge for a recently promoted side is the dreaded second season. Southampton's aim should be top half football and, although I see them achieving this, I also have a bad feeling they may struggle.

Their summer activity has been quiet but expensive, splashing a reported £21 million on Victor Wanyama and Dejan Lovren. Both are great prospects as they are 22 and 24 respectively but Southampton need to strengthen their attack if they are to really push on in the league. Whilst they boast a gifted midfield and solid enough defence, their strike force is largely reliant on Rickie Lambert. Whilst Jay Rodriguez is a solid enough second striker there is no one to reinforce these two should either suffer an injury. This needs to be strengthened before the end of the transfer window.

Southampton are a nice side to have in the Premier League because they play attractive football and are not afraid to have a go at the big sides. I don't think this philosophy will have changed under Pochettino and I look forward to watching them progress as a side this year. Their aim will be to finish top-half but I think the curse of the second season will unfortunately drag them closer to the relegation zone than they would like. Don't fear though, they will survive.

Key Man: Morgan Schneiderlin - Whilst many argue Lambert is Southampton's star man I would completely disagree. Schneiderlin's work in central midfield went largely unnoticed by neutral fans but with the most tackles and interceptions in the League, the young Frenchman has emerged as one of the most underated players in the Division. Undoubtedly a superb talent, I hope he goes on to have another fantastic season and obtains wider recognition.

One to Watch: Luke Shaw - It's a shame that most of the depth in the England squad lies in the left-back position. Luke Shaw is no exception to this and, at only 17, is one of the hottest prospects in English football. Described by many as the 'next Gareth Bale', this wonderkid will be looking to maintain his regular spot and continue down the path he is going, as that path can only lead to success.

Best Summer Signing: Victor Wanyama - Wanyama, a Scottish Premier League record sale at around £12.5 million, is a great addiction to the Southampton side. A powerfully built player, Pochettino will be looking to slot Wanyama next to Schneiderlin to build a strong midfield to push for top-half football.

Last Season: 14th

Pre-Season Prediction: 15th - As the Premier League goes from strength to strength Southampton will not quite get a foothold in this season.