Southampton 2018-2019: Mid-Table Aspirations

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton news...

In:

Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) - £7m on four-year

• Attacking Midfielder : Had a fantastic/breakout '16-'17 season, however, but struggled this past season with injuries '17-'18. Not expecting much, but tidy player.

Nearly in:

Mohamed Elyounoussi (Basel) - £16m 

• Attacking Midfielder : pretty excited about this one, 23 years old, star of a team in a lesser league, has all the earmarks of a future Liverpool player at 3 times the price.

Out:

Dusan Tadic (Ajax) - £16m 

• Pretty upset about losing Tadic, as he was my favorite Saint on the squad. He'll be missed, but £16m for a 30 year old is not bad business

Being shopped:

Fraser Forster 

• GK. Looks like Alex McCarthy is Number 1. 

[yoladu 4094]

 

[Schulz2.0 28951]

[yoladu 4094]

Mohamed Elyounoussi is officially signed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5900831/Southampton-sign-Norway-international-Mohamed-Elyounoussi-five-year-deal.html

 

[yoladu 4094]

CB rumors

Jannik Vestergaard - CB 6'-7" 25 y.o.  Borussia Monchengladbach  £12.6million

https://readsouthampton.com/2018/06/27/southampton-reportedly-lodge-bid-for-jannik-vestergaard/

• West Ham and Everton also interested

Marlon - CB , 22 y.o. BarcelonaFC  €12m

https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/06/30/spanish-report-claims-southampton-are-close-finalising-deal-barcelona-defender-marlon

Edited June 30, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

Turns out it was Vestergaard for a huge chunk of change !   £18mil

 

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/vestergaard-completes-18m-southampton-move/1ikn3len9kaz1470emi0w8jtc

[mdmost 43001]

Take a seat, yola. Appears Liverpool have done something unprecedented. We have sold a player to Southampton. Get ready for the Danny Ings era. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by mdmost

[mdmost 43001]

Well loan with a buy option. But still, we added to your roster for once.

[yoladu 4094]

reports are he is at Staplewood for his medical.

[yoladu 4094]

In all seriousness, i don't think too many supporters believe this is some huge gamechanger, but...

It's good to get some more competition up front

With his injury history, it is good it is not a permanent deal and only a loan. We'll get to kick the tires this season with little risk.

We are no worse for having him, so if he scores a handful of goals it is all gravy. If he doesn't, oh well, we didn't put ourselves at huge financial risk.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

FWIW, he'll give you 100% (until he blows his knee out). 

[yoladu 4094]

it's official.

 

[yoladu 4094]

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

With his injury history, it is good it is not a permanent deal and only a loan. We'll get to kick the tires this season with little risk.

We are no worse for having him, so if he scores a handful of goals it is all gravy. If he doesn't, oh well, we didn't put ourselves at huge financial risk.

meh... looks like i was just a bit off. I was wondering how we were going to be able to afford to buy him. Our coffers were bare, we couldn't afford to splash £18 million around with out selling someone.. Deferring payment until after the 108-2019 season.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/08/09/danny-ings-completes-20m-southampton-move/

 

 

Quote

Although his first year will be on loan, Southampton have committed to buy the striker on July 1, 2019. Liverpool are guaranteed £18 million, with a further £2 million based on appearances.

Despite both clubs insisting his next 12 months is part of a loan deal, the 26-year-old has signed a four-year contract until 2022.

Liverpool will also receive 20 per cent of any future sale of Ings.

 

Edited August 9, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

so in the end Southampton really splashed around the cash.  

£56.3m   WOW!

IN

Jannik Vestergaard  CB £22.5m

Mohamed Elyounoussi LW £16.2m

Angus Gunn GK £10.17m

Stuart Armstrong CM £7.16m

Danny Ings F Loan

 

OUT

Dusan Tadic AM £10.26m

Guido Carrilo F Loan

Sofiane Boufal AM Loan

Jordy Clasie DM Loan

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton 0 - 0 Burnley

Awful first half / Encouraging second half after formation change and substitutions

Hopefully Hughes learned some things.

We are firmly in the mid table!!!! 11th place and on pace for 38points. i will take it.

[Jograves 357]

I watched a little of the Ajax match earlier. Tadic was captain. 

[yoladu 4094]

Tadic was my favorite player during Southampton's glory years.

He definitely landed on his feet at Ajax.

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton at Anfield this Saturday:

Pros : first weekend game this season on TV and not on NBC SportGold!

Cons: we are going to get mudholed in glorious HD

[yoladu 4094]

On 9/20/2018 at 3:48 PM, yoladu said:

Cons: we are going to get mudholed in glorious HD

Yep. Not even a contest. Unsurprising result.

first goal : own goal

2nd goal : bad marking

3rd goal : laziness

could have been 6 goals, but Liverpool took their foot off the gas.

Not so fun facts:

• Last Southampton player to score a league goal against Liverpool? Sadio Mane.
• Since VVD left Southampton, only 4 league wins for Southampton.

No surprise, we suck because we can't keep our best players. Not sure how to change that dynamic.

-- it was nice to finally see them on TV and not on my laptop. So there is that --

Edited September 22, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

5 wins in the last 38 league matches.

this team need to be put out of it's misery

[yoladu 4094]

Since November 29, 2017, Leicester has won more games at St. Mary's than Southampton has.

Leicester 2-0-0

Southampton 1-7-7

15 home games.

-----

Just not good enough today.

DEFENSE : Gave up 3 goals last week, gave up 3 goals this week.

OFFENSE: Southampton missed two absolute sitters that quality players (ie: Chelsea players) would have put in the back of the net today. Chelsea goalkeeper with 2 really world class saves today.

Southampton 0 - 3 Chelsea

---

The question is: are there 3 teams in the league worse than us? Almost 75% of the season still to be played and that is our ambition at this point in the season. Be better than 3 other teams.

Edited October 7, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

i know no one really follows Southampton on here, but Les Reed (head of football operations) is out.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/southampton-fc-les-reed-sacked-mark-hughes-premier-league-news-latest-a8623566.html

Southampton force out Les Reed citing the need to take 'constructive action' as their slide continues

[yoladu 4094]

Mark Hughes sacked. I cherish those 3 wins in 22 league matches during the Hughes era error.

I think we have the players to stay up. I am not saying we can compete with the big boys ever, but we should have been able to muster 45 points with the squad we have.

Now considering we are on 8 points after 14 matches, 45 points seem unrealistic.  The real goal is to just find away to be better than 3 other teams in the league.

Oh what a time to be a fan!! Scintillating stuff!

 

 

 

[yoladu 4094]

the next 7 matches are crucial.

Tottenham

Cardiff

Arsenal

Huddersfield

West Ham

Manchester City

Chelsea

We must take 9 points from that. We are not going to get points from Spurs, Gunners, City, or the Blues. Don't even dream.

but we must take max points from Cardiff, Huddersfield, and West Ham. That is the path forward.

We need to be at 18 points by the New Year. That is the dream scenario.

Edited December 3, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11700/11570958/ralph-hasenhuttl-agrees-in-principle-to-take-southampton-job

Ralph Hasenhuttl agrees in principle to take Southampton job

If true, this would be a great hire. Better than i would have thought possible. **

Also rumours of Paul Mitchell, returning to take the open head of football position, which would be doubly awesome. Mitchell was head of recruiting at Southampton in 2012-2014 before going to Spurs. (think : Pelle, Mane, Alderwiereld, Dele Alli,  Wanyama, Tadic, Trippier, yes Lovren) **

 

.

 

** the fact that these would be great moves, likely means it's not gonna happen.

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

sounds like Hasenhuttl is all put confirmed as Southampton's next manager.

Jurgen Klopp's 2 cents on him + how to pronounce his name on link below.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11571562/klopp-explains-hasenhuttl-name

 

[yoladu 4094]

Confirmed. Ralph Hasenhüttl is the new Southampton Manager - 2 1/2 year contract. The general sense among supporters is that this is a good hire in the mold of Pochettino or Koeman (and hopefully not Puel* or Pellegrino)

HIring Mark Hughes really was a departure from the way Southampton normally operates, but they got a bit panicky after Pellegrino was a bust, bringing the club to the brink of relegation. (Options for a new manager in March for a team flirting with relegation are a bit limited, so at the time the Hughes hire did seem to make sense).

https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-12-05/announcement-ralph-hasenhuttl-southampton-football-club-first-team-manager

 

 

*In retrospect, Puel was not a bad hire.

• He couldn't live up to the lofty expectations after Koeman left. 
• unlike Koeman - he was dull, his style was dull, and he couldn't speak English.
• He also had key departures (Mane, Pelle, Wanyama),
• was juggling a Europa League group stage, and
• still managed to get us to the EFL Cup Final and finish 8th.

Now, Pelligrino.. that was a bad hire.

Edited December 5, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

JFC, i hope this is rock bottom.

[yoladu 4094]

Cardiff 1 -0 Southampton. I cant think of one singular joyful moment at all this season.

I hope this is rock bottom.

 

 

..

oh, fuck me, Arsenal next week.

[yoladu 4094]

better. unexpected.

i forgotten what it felt like to win a game.

Out of the relegation zone. Get a win at Huddersfield and keep it that way.

[yoladu 4094]

It only took 3 managers and 953 days, but we finally beat a Top 6 side in the League.

Edited December 16, 2018 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton was never going to win that game today. We don't have one player on the squad that would make Man City's bench.

we are on 15 points with 18 matches left.

the good thing is.. something like 34 points might be enough to stay up this season.

the BIG Question : is 5 wins 4 draws and 8 losses realistic the rest of the way?

[Bone3421 716]

Hang in there saints for yoladu...he needs this point against chelsea

[Bone3421 716]

Big point for ya today

[yoladu 4094]

17 hours ago, Bone3421 said:

Big point for ya today

Very big point, but pretty boring game. Any points from a Big 6 club is going to be gravy. But to stay up, we need to start winning 3 points from matches against bottom 14 clubs.

I think we will stay up with Hasenhüttl in charge, but Southampton slipped back into the relegation zone this week.

[yoladu 4094]

Big 3 points again today. Again, it wasn't pretty, but somehow Hasenhüttl is doing it.

Saints under Hughes: 9pts from 15 games
Saints under Hasenhüttl: 10pts from 7 games

6 Academy Players on the pitch today.

[yoladu 4094]

a HUGE three points today against a really good top 10 side!!! moved up to 15th!

Saints under Hughes: 9pts from 15 games
Saints under Hasenhüttl: 13pts from 8 games

especially big win because 4 of our next 5 matches are against:

Palace, Burnley, Cardiff, and Fulham

 

[yoladu 4094]

After drawing in two very winnable matches against Place and  Burnley (giving up 2 points in stoppage time), we find ourselves in the game of the season this week

Southampton v. Cardiff

win? we go 5 points clear of the relegation zone

lose? we fall back into the relegation zone (18th)

a true 6 pointer.

We haven't lost yet in 2019, but the last two matches were a bit lackluster. Really need 3 points Saturday.

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton 1 - 2 Cardiff

01) Devastating result yesterday. (a 6 pointer)

02) Back into the Relegation Zone. (18th Place)

03) Added NO players in the transfer window (shipped players out, in fact)

04) Top goal scorer Danny Ings injured (who would have thunk?)

05) Shane Long is a our starting Striker (Yes, this is our best option!)

06) 1 clean sheet in 15 league matches (have dropped 17 points from winning positions - league leaders )

07) no resolve (earned only 1 point in 12 matches where we fell behind)

08) A squad full of Championship caliber players (Liverpool never calls anymore)

[yoladu 4094]

that was piss poor.

we have only Championship talent in squad.

Which is where we will be next year, if we don't beat Fulham on Wednesday.

Edited February 24, 2019 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

that was a much needed 3 points, especially with sure losses to Man U and Spurs coming up.

[yoladu 4094]

let me have my moment... few and far between in the last 2 years...

01) 3 points out of nowhere.

02) that might have been the worst 1st half the Saints have played all year. It could have/should have been 0-3 going into half.

03) Spurs should have had two red cards against them. (K. Friend did Saints no favors the whole match)

04) Saint haven't had back to back wins at home since 2016. Jesus.

05) Josh Sims is so underrated, i don't understand why he hasn't been able to crack into the Top XI these past two years.

06) Credit Hasenhüttl  for the 2nd half adjustments. I wonder if the Poch sideline ban had any impact on this match.

07) JWProwse with two beautiful free kicks for goal in two successive weeks.

08) 8 matches left : Only one more Top 6 team left on our schedule (Liverpool). Cardiff has Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U and Man City in their last 8.

09) 3 weeks off (weird). Still lots of work to do.

10) Danny Ings will be back in April after 3 months out with an injury.

11) hell Yes! COYS!!!

Edited March 9, 2019 by yoladu

[yoladu 4094]

another massive 3 points.. safety is looking more and more likely. (keeping fingers crossed)

Since  Hasenhüttl has taken over for Hughes..

P16 W7 D3 L6 Pts 24

that kind of form all season would have us in 7th place right now.

[yoladu 4094]

nice Sky Article on Hasenhüttl and an interview with Le Tissier.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11700/11682244/ralph-hasenhuttls-southampton-turnaround-how-has-he-done-it

I am not going to get too excited about him, because he won't be with Southampton for more than a year or two.

He seems to have "it".

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton 1 - 3 Liverpool

Disappointed, but not unexpected.

The difference in quality on the pitch was stark (fairly surprising it was still even at the 80th minute in that respect)

[Jograves 357]

I thought your guys were fantastic yesterday. You’re probably safe and your remaining fixtures are fairly easy, so it felt like a free hit. 

Thought you played with a real verve and tenacity and were really organized. We steamrolled you last year in this fixture and in the reverse fixture earlier this season, but I think we just outlasted you yesterday and we were probably lucky your leading goal scorer couldn’t play. It was a tough match. You should be positive with the club’s direction. Hassenhüttl is a class manager.

[Schulz2.0 28951]

Ralph Krueger will be leaving the club this summer.

[yoladu 4094]

On 4/6/2019 at 7:09 AM, Jograves said:

I thought your guys were fantastic yesterday. You’re probably safe and your remaining fixtures are fairly easy, so it felt like a free hit. 

Thought you played with a real verve and tenacity and were really organized. We steamrolled you last year in this fixture and in the reverse fixture earlier this season, but I think we just outlasted you yesterday and we were probably lucky your leading goal scorer couldn’t play. It was a tough match. You should be positive with the club’s direction. Hassenhüttl is a class manager.

Cheers. I agree.

I figure we got one more season with him and then he will be courted away.

[yoladu 4094]

13 hours ago, Schulz2.0 said:

Ralph Krueger will be leaving the club this summer.

i liked Krueger, a bit sad to see him go. Southampton are going to have to have a massive summer. Chairman out. Vice Chairman/Head of Scouting out in November. Need to strengthen the squad. However, i I don't have much confidence that our owner/Chinese overlords have any aspirations other than staying up..

[yoladu 4094]

Southampton 3 - 1 Wolves

massive win today. Puts Southampton 8 points clear with 5 matches to go.

We were in deep dodo in December, and had no transfers come in during the winter. Hassenhüttl has done wonders in the second half.

Since he has come on... P18 W8 D3 L8 Pts 27 (that kind of form all season would lock up 7th place)