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Manno
Anyway... onto the good stuff! So I've gone with Southampton as I saw them as an interesting project and the fact I lived right next to the ground for two years whilst at university! I'm midway into my second season so I will give you updates as to what has happened up until now.
As you will see, my first season in charge was a very frustrating one for me. I struggled horrendously in the Premier League and domestic competitions but managed to do rather well in the Europe League. The initial aim was to stay in the top half of the league and I only just held on to my job in the middle part of the season. This is how we ended up and I've included my signings from the first season.
On the whole it was a very disappointing campaign. It was one of those seasons where I just knew I would get nothing from games against the big guns and when it came to playing the smaller teams we were very dominant but we were also very open to a collapse that would cost us. I was very happy with the Europa League campaign and we should have got through against Nice but we really didn't take our chances.
In terms of the transfers, I will show you the most important ones. I won't include Grujic because he was simply a loan deal, but did a great job. I brought in Willi Orban to take up the berth next to Virgil Van Dijk at CB and he's proved to be a very good addition to the team. Milinkovic Savic is my most important signing and has taken up the role as my key midfielder in the box to box role and even grabbed himself 10 goals in his first season at the club. Rajkovic has come in to take over from Fraser Forster and did so towards the end of the season, he's got a lot to learn but the early signs are promising. Finally, Burkardt is one for the future but looks to be an excellent signing.
Manno
So after a very underwhelming and essentially frustrating season I made some big moves in the transfer market to try and combat it. There may be a few strange decisions in here but those that left really deserved to leave.
Lets start with the outgoing players. Boufal left for £6 million, which was a fee I had to take in the end but really wanted more. I tried so many times to try and get him to work in my system but he was very poor so I let him leave. Pied was injured all season and then with the incoming Orban and the fact Van Dijk wanted to stay it left him surplus to requirements and brought in a tidy £2.4 million. Charlie Austin was a strange one, he was very inconsistent in the first season and when a £10 million fee came in I had to take it. Considering Gabiadinni scored 27 goals in the first season and the fact I have some younger strikers to bed in to first team football I felt it was the right move. Hojbjerg really disappointed me. He has the potential to be a world class midfielder but after not getting enough game time in the first season he demanded a transfer and I had no choice, but I felt for a player with his potential I deserved more than £10 million.
Onto the incomings. As I said it was a big window for me as I needed to strengthen a lot to be competing for Europe. The first incoming was Rafa Soares, who comes in to replace Ryan Bertrand at left back. Bertrand promised so much but his performances at left back were below par and he struggled offensively, so I brought in Soares to take over and maybe urge Bertrand on to perform better. Peralata was a steal for just over £1 million. The 21 year old has the potential to become a world class striker and I'm hoping to get him integrated into first team action this season. Malcom is a big risk at £20 million but at a 3 star rating already he has the potential to be one of the best wingers in the world and a winger was something I was sorely missing in the first season. Torriera is an exciting 21 year old deep lying playmaker. He was an expensive purchase but I think it was needed to add a boost of creativity in to the midfield. He has the potential to be a very good player. Alexander-Arnold has come in to try and push Cedric on and provide some competition for him, I'm hoping it gives Cedric the motivation to step up a gear. Ben Pearson comes in as a fairly cheap defensively minded midfield option. He's likely to play a rotation role this season. Batshuayi was a late minute loan but I couldn't turn down the chance to bring him in and bolster my striking options.
We've certainly started the season a lot better than last year, which has provided me with a lot of confidence. We're currently sat in 10th position, which is 5 points off the European spots. It was looking a lot better before the 3 loss streak I am currently on. I've been left frustrated by the fact we can play really well one week but then we struggle against smaller teams where we really shouldn't be dropping points. The big plus for me is that we are performing much better against the bigger team, including the excellent win over Chelsea.
In terms of individual performances it's been a mixed start. I've mixed up my tactics a lot and I'm now playing with no wingers which means I can't utilise Malcom, although he hasn't put in any real performance so far this season which is very frustrating. Top performers so far have been Virgil van Dijk and Cedric in defence and then Milinkovic Savic has carried on his excellent form. There is no clear goalscorer at the moment, Gabbiadini has 5 goals and 3 assists in 14 games which is disappointing considering his previous season. This does give me a chance to try and get Peralta a go in the team.
From now on my updates will be shorter and more of me giving a current view on the situation rather than a look back.
Manno
Form is slowly turning around. Not overly happy with the draw against Palace, but it was a real bore draw. No issues defensively, we just struggled to break them down. This brought me back to using a tactic with wingers to try and get play moving forward in the wide areas. It brought me success with a good solid 2-0 win over bottom of the table Brighton. To be fair to them, they did have a player sent off after 4 minutes but that usually makes it harder for my teams! I felt I am finally seeing the potential of Ben Pearson after that display. He capped off a very good performance in his ball winning midfield role with a well taken goal. Malcom grabbed an assist for Gabbiadini's goal which is nice because Malcom really needs to improve considering his potential. Hopefully this can be the start for Gabbiadini as well. Christmas fixtures coming in thick and fast now.
Transfer update - Ryan Bertrand and Fraser Forster have both asked to leave the club. I've accepted both requests and will look to move them on in January.
Manno
Two hard fixtures are now out of the way. I was quite shocked to see Liverpool sitting in 14th position with a pretty good team. It was a pretty average game from us, but a little spark of magic from Malcom secured us a vital 3 points. When United turned up they had only lost once in 21 games. We put on a solid defensive display and it looked like Martial had stolen the show with an excellent goal but we replied in swift fashion with a scrappy goal eventually being tapped in by Torreira. It certainly was a point I would have taken before the game. Overall, I'm pretty happy with 4 points from those two fixtures. They were tricky but we showed our resolve.
We are now in January, so as previously stated I will be looking to move on Bertrand and Forster and hopefully get a bit of money for them. I don't think there will be any incomings but you never know.
SrWer
Manno
Thank you! Here's hoping we can continue our good form!
Manno
Thanks! I'm not overly bothered as Rajkovic is my number one now and Soares is my first choice left back.
Transfer Update - So as expected Forster and Bertrand have both departed and strangely they both went to Derby County for £7 million each, netting me £14 million. I wasn't expecting to bring anyone in, but I have brought in Danny Ward from Liverpool to be my number two keeper for a fee of £2.4 million. Looks fairly good for a backup and can still improve. I'm going to try and feature him in the cups if I can.
I've played three games since we last met, and things have not gone to plan. I'm frustrated that I cannot make the most out of our attacking options. Watching all three games has shown me that our attacking play is poor and it shouldn't be with the players we have at our disposal.
As you can see, I've had three games where I should have got 9 points when you look at who I've played. Stoke was a truly awful game, I don't think we had any attacking highlights and Stoke nicked it in the last 10 minutes. Watford was even worse, we were just giving the ball away in the middle of the park and also wasting our opportunities when they came. The Sunderland game was the most frustrating after being 2-0 up on the 47 minute mark. Somehow we let Sunderland completely dominate us after they pulled one back, we looked helpless. No way should we be losing in that fashion to Sunderland. I cannot tell you how frustrated I am with the team. Mainly because I really wanted European football for next season but we are now way off the mark and playing abysmally. How to solve it, I have no idea. Let's see what happens in the next couple.
Manno
Things are not looking great at the moment. I've been really impressed with our defensive players and especially Rajkovic in goal who has put in some excellent performances of late, which is really pleasing considering his potential. However, everywhere else has been disappointing. My wingers haven't provided anything to my strikers, we've relied on really scrappy chances when we have scored.
The Tottenham game was really promising, we took the lead through Burkardt and we worked hard to get 3 points after they equalised but it wasn't to be. A point against a very strong Tottenham side was pleasing. Then came the FA Cup, after beating Bristol City 1-0 to progress, I decided to rest a few players and give those that wanted an opportunity a game. What a mistake that was, at one point we were 5-1 down to West Brom. A truly awful performance and one that Danny Ward will want to forget on debut. Next up was a poorly performing Derby side and quite frankly they made football look easy against us. We had no impact on the game whatsoever. We should not be losing games like that and I can't figure out why we do it. Finally we played Hull and got back to winning ways...just! It was another poor performance in truth and we were saved by an excellent strike from the ever reliable Milinkovic Savic.
Sorry for the screenshot not showing the points of United. They are on 72 for those wondering! I'm too lazy to go back and take a new screenshot... Anyway, it doesn't make for great reading when I look back on all the points I've dropped recently. Barring any dramatic miracle in the final 10 games it looks like Europe is once again out of the equation for us. That's something that is really disappointing because we would be right up there if we had one those games against the lesser sides. I think this season will be my last with Van Dijk in the team as his performances have been fantastic and he will now want to leave and play in the Champions League. Hopefully a sum of around £50 million will come in for him.
Finishing 6th could be a real possibility for us if we put in a good shift in our final 10 games and would actually be a very pleasing position to finish. Let's see what the final 10 games hold for us!
Manno
Well ladies and gentlemen there may be a late twist. As you will see on the league table, finishing 6th this season gives that team a place in the Europa League for next season. Therefore, we certainly have something to play for now. Form has picked up drastically, and we are putting in really good performances. West Brom was slightly disappointing but it was just one of those mad attacking games and a draw was probably a fair result. Everton was one of the most comfortable wins of the season and finally showed what we are about when we go forward. Slightly strange to see exactly the same people scoring in both games. Gabbiadini has been nowhere near as prolific as he was last season but it's nice to see him picking up a few goals. Milinkovic Savic continues to impress in his box to box midfield role and is constantly on the scoresheet. The final game of the three was at home to Manchester City and it was a evenly matched contest. We were defensively very good and we took the chance we got and I'm happy to take a point from it.
As you can see we have a 5 point gap between ourselves and Newcastle in that elusive 6th position. Now, on the basis of our performances this season, catching a 5 point gap in 7 games would be pretty hard for us but I think we can give it a real go. I won't say I'll be disappointed if we don't get the Europa League spot, considering this season hasn't exactly panned out how I planned, but another season without European football won't help attracting players and will also serve no motivation to my players.
Manno
Two bits of bad news for us, straight after the Manchester City game. Lucas Torreira has picked up an automatic 2 match ban after his recent yellow card. Hits us hard because he's been playing really well in his deep lying playmaker role. Ben Pearson is still injured so it looks like Romeu will replace him. Secondly, Orban is out for near enough the rest of the season. Really disappointed with this one as he has been outstanding at the back with Virgil Van Dijk. This means Yoshida is going to cover and I'm not too optimistic.
Finally, below is our run in for the final 7 games. Here we go!
TinakoFM
Manno
Results have gone pretty well for us. An excellent win over Chelsea really showed our progress against the big teams and also showed me that Rodriguez still has a few goals about him! The Newcastle game should have been done and dusted at 3-0 but in typical fashion we let it slip to 3-3. An inspiring performance from Trent Alexander-Arnold was the highlight of the Newcastle game. He really is a great talent on that right side. Finally, we overcame 17th placed Bournemouth thanks to yet another goal from Milinkovic Savic. Also good to see my faith in Burkardt is paying off up front, even if Gabbiadini is performing poorly along side him.
Slight issue. Milinkovic Savic has asked to leave the club. Manchester United are linked with major interest and are likely to have the money to prize him away from me. I will honestly be gutted if he leaves, because he has been an instrumental part of our midfield and he was my first major signing of the save. He is valued at around £30 million but I do have a release clause in his contract meaning that any Champions League club can pay £42 million to trigger that. If he is going to go then I would accept nothing less than the £42 million in his release clause.
Some more good news, just as he hits some form. Disappointed with this one as I have shown faith with him and he has finally started scoring for me. Nothing you can do about the injury itself but I will now have to hope Gabbiadini can find some form and partner him with Rodriguez.
Here is the table then. We have 4 games left to play and the hopes of taking that 6th place spot are fading every time Newcastle win. The gap would have been only three points between us and Newcastle if we had not collapsed after being 3-0 up. Make or break time of the season now!
Manno
And there you have it. In complete Southampton fashion, we manage to completely balls up our final four games and end up finishing 11th, not even in the top half. Furious doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling right now. Hardly any progress from last season, but so many good performances against the big teams.
End of season report coming soon.
TinakoFM
Manno
Very disappointed with my performance in the Premier League this season. After the changes I made in the summer I thought we would be able to make some real progress in the league. Clearly it didn't happen. We performed very well against the big clubs and got good results against them which was pleasing. The biggest hindrance was our performances against the lower table teams. In the majority of those games against the smaller teams we continually conceded goals and struggled to get results. We really let ourselves down against the mid table and lower table sides and I really don't understand how.
Another disappointing display in the FA Cup from us this year. The board wanted us to get to at least the Sixth Round but we were dumped out by West Brom after beating Bristol City in the third round.
Losing to mid table sides was our downfall in the league and it was the same in the league cup. Poor performance, no excuses.
Top Goalscorers:
1. Gabbiadini - 10 goals (26 appearances)
2. Burkardt - 9 goals (20 appearances)
3. Milinkovic Savic - 8 goals (36 appearances)
Top Assists:
1. Redmond - 8 assists
2. Burkardt - 5 assists
3. Gabbiadini - 5 assists
It was a pretty disappointing season on the goal scoring front. If you think back to how prolific Gabbiadini was in the previous season, his performance this season was poor. Just 10 goals for our top scorer is something I need to sort out in the summer transfer window. Burkardt came in second and I'm actually really pleased with this. In the second half of the season I brought him in to try and get him some exposure and he returned a good enough tally for a 17 year old. Having a central midfielder as our third top scorer really shows how poor we were in front of goal this season.
Top performers:
Virgil Van Dijk - 7.36 average rating in 42 appearances.
Another excellent season from Van Dijk. I fear it is going to be his last at the club after another impressive season. Him and Orban formed an excellent partnership at the back but we still conceded a lot of goals despite this. It's going to have to be a big transfer fee if he leaves.
Sergej Milinkovic Savic - 7.13 average rating from 36 appearances.
He's showed why he is wanted by the big clubs in Europe. Another excellent season under his belt and his goal scoring record continues. He was reliable in the middle of the park and I was very happy with his performances. Just like Van Dijk, we will see if he is still here next season.
Manno
Manno
So I have now completed my transfer business for the summer window, or so I think I have. Here is a look at what has gone on at the club, in what is a major overhaul. The major factor behind the spending is the £40 million brought in after losing Virgil Van Dijk to Chelsea.
Outgoings
The biggest outgoing was obvious Van Dijk who went to Chelsea for £40 million. There was really nothing I could do to stop this transfer after failing to qualify for Europe, he understandably wants to play Champions League football. Surprisingly Cedric has moved on to Athletico Madrid for £14 million. He has become surplus to requirements at right back now and I could afford to let him go with the price tag he has. Rodriguez just wasn't performing well enough for me as a striker so I cut my losses and raked in a healthy £11 million from his move to Burnley. Romeu was a fairly late departure, I only let him go after finding out I could secure a world class midfielder in his place. Finally, Gabbiadini has moved on for £10 million. His second season was poor and showed me why I needed to invest in the striker department and I was fairly happy letting him go.
Incomings
So as you can see it has been a very successful transfer window for me. I've managed to bring in some big name signings and I'm looking forward to seeing how we get on with the new look squad. Firstly, Gary Cahill comes in for just over £600k as a back-up in defence. It was a real no brainer to bring him in at that price. Next through the door is Louis Schaub from Atalanta for £9 million. Schaub comes in as our first choice central attacking midfielder and will take over from Dusan Tadic. Montes is the Virgil Van Dijk replacement at a hefty £32 million. You will see from his stats below why I had to pay that much for him. Bonazzoli comes in for a very reasonable £10 million and will go straight in to the starting eleven as my target man up front. He has a reputation on this game and I am hoping to see it. Schick is going to partner Bonazzoli up front after we managed to bring him in for £21 million. I'd say it was maybe a little over priced but my first choice targets all failed to materialise, so I needed him. Kasper Dolberg was my priority up front but wanted £160k in wages. Finally, the real surprise is that we managed to get Xhaka for £8.5 million. This is the reason Romeu was able to leave and I'm happy that Xhaka is able to replace him.
Manno
The final thing is something that I forgot to mention earlier. After selling Cedric we managed to bring in Trent Alexander-Arnold on another season long loan from Liverpool. Despite his injury problems last year, he performed excellently in the new system and was someone I had to bring back. I contemplated bringing him in permanently but I cannot justify the £30 million price tag that Liverpool have slapped on him.
Manno
It is now the day of our opening fixture against Chelsea in the Premier League. Therefore, I thought I'd give you a run down of how our pre-season went and also the tactic and likely starting eleven for this season.
So as you can see, Rajkovic remains my number one for this season. He's got a lot of potential and he's done well since joining. We have Danny Ward as an able deputy and also Craig Ledley, my 17 year old hot prospect who I will feature in the cups this year.
In defence I've made some changes. Rafa Soares is not on the bench and young Matthew Targett has his opportunity to develop and impress on the left hand side. Alexander-Arnold takes the right hand spot and well be backed up by youngster Valery. Central defence is looking very strong, Willi Orban takes over the captains armband and partners the highly rated Montes. Gary Cahill and Jack Stephens are in as backup.
Torriera continues to partner Milinkovic Savic in midfield and Granit Xhaka comes in and drops Ben Pearson to the bench for now. Finally we have the exciting attacking three of Schaub, Schick and Bonazzoli. I'm looking forward to seeing how they get on. If we decide to switch to wingers then I have Malcom and Redmond waiting in the wings. Burkardt and Peralta fall to the bench at present.
sanka
Manno
Thanks @sanka
Manno
Firstly, sorry for not updating this story in a while. I've been back at university this week so it has all been a bit busy. I'm back now to give you a quick rundown of how the first half of the season has gone.
The first thing that will be apparent to you is the inconsistency of the team once again. In my two and a half seasons at the club, it has always been a massive problem of mine. Even with a much better squad this season, we just haven't found the rhythm to get us fighting higher up the table.
A relatively poor start to the season saw us lose to Chelsea and then Newcastle. Not the start I had hoped for. The real positive was the goal scoring record of new signing Bonazzoli. That soon changed when he suffered a broken foot and has not returned to training yet. That lead to a change in the formation and allowed Schick to lead the line by himself.
September was a relatively average month for us. It started off with a disappointing draw at home to Norwich and got worse with a big defeat against Man City. Two wins over Everton and Sunderland soon lifted the spirits and then we were soon back down to earth with defeat at Liverpool.
October was a lot better. It started with an excellent win over Manchester United and then a follow up victory over Hull. A disappointing draw against Watford then followed. We ended the month on a low as we were dumped out of the League Cup thanks to Ipswich. I really thought it could be our chance for silverware in the EFL Cup but clearly Ipswich had other plans.
November was as inconsistent as they come. A poor performance at Stoke in our 2-0 defeat was followed up by a positive victory over Sunderland. The Burnley defeat was frustrating considering the difference between the two teams but we really didn't look like we wanted it enough.
Moving in to December we faced top of the table Tottenham and what do you know! We go and comfortably beat them 2-0. Really bizarre! Back down to earth we come as Leicester see us out in a 1-0 loss away from home. That then shook us in to some form as we saw off Crystal Palace 2-0 and Middlesbrough 2-1. The Christmas period seemed to get to us as we let two awful performances see us pick up no points against West Brom and West Ham. Then, once again, when you think it's looking bad, Arsenal come around and we put in a monster performance to take three points in the 2-1 victory.
So, where does that leave us in the league? What a surprise, 10th. There is now a 9 point gap between us and 5th place, and it's likely to move to 12 points with Man City having a game in hand. For the sake of my job and any ambition I have with this save, I need to get in to Europe this season. We've just been taken over by a consortium and they kept me on. However, come the end of this season I will have been here for 3 years and I will have to assess my position at the end of the year.
Just to run you through a couple of highlights from this half of the season, the main one being that 17 year old keeper, Craig Ledley has taken over the number one spot (for now). I put him in for a cup fixture and he's performed pretty well and is progressing nicely. It's nice to be able to rely on Rajkovic or Danny Ward if his performances do drop.
I'm very sure had Bonazzoli not got a broken foot, he would be topping the goal scoring charts. Schick is currently on top with 6 goals, which isn't as many as I had hoped for but he did have an injury early on in the season. Since I changed to using wingers after the injury to Bonazzoli, Malcom has come in and impressed on the left hand side. I'm still not fully convinced we will ever see his true potential but he does top the assists so far this season. As you can see, captain Willi Orban is still as strong as ever at the back.
Manno
Well, well, well. January 2019 has certainly been something spectacular. Firstly we played 8 games throughout the course of January. Secondly, take at look at our results...
January could not have started harder, two consecutive fixtures against Chelsea. We started with an important 3-2 win in the Premier League courtesy of an almighty screamer from Granit Xhaka in the 87th minute. We then did battle again at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup 3rd Round and took a well earned draw to force a replay at St Mary's. We then easily saw off Newcastle and Norwich, with Milinkovic Savic taking the stage yet again. Then the big FA Cup replay came around and we completely outclassed them throughout, taking a 3-0 win and a place in the 4th round. This was important to me because I want a chance at some silverware this season. However, check out the draw below... Next up we took a 0-0 draw at home to Manchester City. I honestly don't think there was a highlight in the whole game. The Everton game was disappointing for me because we had gone a while without conceding! A nice 3-1 win and once again Craig Ledley shows why he has such a growing reputation, and he's only 17! Finally we took on top of the table Liverpool. We almost snatched the win in the 79th minute, but they equalised with just minutes to go.
All in all that was hell of a month. In the 2 and a half years I've been here I have not experienced form like this. I'm really happy with everything at the moment. Malcom and Redmond on the wings have been performing really well to feed Schick. Malcom has recently started scoring a few as well!
Well, February looks a lot different to January! Unfortunately we drew Manchester United in the 4th round. To be fair, there couldn't be a better time to face them and I would really love to make it far in the competition. We then face them again in the league before the visit of Hull to finish the month. The gap after the Hull game will hopefully give us some well needed rest.
Manno
A new signing has just walked through the door. I always knew I would need a permanent right back, with Alexander-Arnold only on loan. After the poor performances from Arnold this season, I was well and truly put off paying his big fee, so I decided on Watson from Reading. He look's to be a solid player to come straight in and has all the potential to be a big player for me.
Manno
Some deadline day action for you. Adama Traore comes in from Middlesbrough for £11 million. This is a huge gamble on my part. He has the potential to come good for us and has explosive pace, which I hope to exploit. His obvious downfall is his 11 crossing stat.
James Ward-Prowse has finally secured a move away from Southampton. I tried to fit him in somewhere, but over the last few years he really hasn't managed to force his way in. Happy to let him leave and for a nice £10 million.
Manno
Just as I praise him and he comes in to some form...
sanka
Manno
Not going to be on my PC until tomorrow, so I'll screenshot it then. Here is what it currently us:
GK: Craig Ledley
LB: Matthew Targett
CB: Willi Orban
CB: Cesar Montes
RB: Tennai Watson
CM: Granit Xhaka
CM: Milinkovic-Savic
CAM: Louis Schaub
LW: Malcom
RW: Adama Traore
ST: Schick/Bonazzoli (One of these is usually injured so it's whoever isn't injured. If they were both available I'd probably go with Bonazzoli. Although I'm going to move to a formation to incorporate both of them for next season).