The SAF Challenge

Yeah they already had quite a good squad to build on so I should be able to build it up!

I've finished the season in quite an average way but a good win in our last game against West Brom to cap off an overall average season! Hoping for much better things next season.

Jack Cork and Will Hughes are immense in the centre of midfield and should hopefully be able to lead us to success in the future!

Here's the final table:



9th in the table, which is where the media expected us to finish. We were 15th when I first came in so I managed to lead them up the table and into the top half of the table.

Cowdenbeath finished 2nd, 17 points behind Celtic but 19 points ahead of St Mirren in 3rd. Will be interesting to see where they finish next season!

A lot of players left the club this summer, but first I'll start with the players I brought to the club:



I'll go through each player one by one:

Bon: French goalkeeper who is 19 years of age and has a huge future at the club. Possible long term replacement to current number one Fraser Forster, who turns 32 in March.

Carlin: 25 year old Irish left back who had a very impressive season at Watford last season, averaging an overall of 7.61 in 32 league games.

Biada: 19 year old German centre midfielder who should have a good future at the club and should provide back up.

Gunning: 28 year old Irish centre back who should provide back up and competition to our current group of centre backs.

Diakité: 30 year old central midfielder who unfortunately been ruled out for 2 months before kicking a ball for the Saints. Hoping he can play well for us after returning from injury.

Aivazov: 23 year old Ukrainian central midfielder who should provide cover for Cork and Hughes in the first team straight away. Unfortunately, much like other new signing Diakité, he has also been ruled out for around 2 months before touching a ball for Southampton.

Gawlik: Eighteen year old Polish-German goalkeeper who was signed due to a huge weakness throughout the entire club of having a lack of goalkeepers. He should be a good prospect in the future.

Chapuis: 24 year old French right back who will immediately go straight into the first team. I paid a bit more than I wanted to for him but I needed a new right back and he was the ideal fit.

Quaye: 22 year old Ivorian centre back who should provide good back up and should be a key player in the future.

I've spent a whopping £43.5m on these players but I feel it was needed to get the squad up to the right standard.

Here's the list of players who have left the club:



Cornelius, Stones, Alnwick and Forren were nowhere near the quality we needed and needed to go to make space within the squad. Ward-Prowse wasn't a regular last season and definitely won't be this season so I shipped him out on loan and will try to get rid of him before next season. Symes, Heath, Pitt, Cumberbatch, Bartlett, Coppingers, Clegg, Burrows, Gawlik and Smith are all up and coming youngsters and the first team action they will get out on loan will be vital for them (Symes has since been recalled to provide back-up).

Maguire, Sheppard and Williams weren't going to get close to the first team so I thought I'd let them go. Jay Rodriguez could have provided good back-up for the first team but he was on excessive wages (£63k per week I think it was) and he didn't deserve that at all so I'd rather the role went to an up and coming youngster.

Here's our friendly results:



I thought our tour of Germany was going to be a failure but we hammered Nürnberg 6-0 so I was happy with that.

Actually really looking forward to this new season now, probably more than I have since my first year after promotion to the SPL.

Really hope it lives up to my expectations!

A good win against Everton to kick off the season but then an appalling performance against Man United. We really should have beaten Leeds in normal time but we played well against Norwich to get the win, thanks to academy superstar Tommy Paynter who got man of the match.

Here's the early table:



Can't really see much this early in the season but hoping to stay up near the top all season.

Nineteen year old Tommy Paynter won young player of the month and rightly so, he's had a great start to the season and hoping he can build on it throughout the year.

Doing well here mate. Making good progress.

Disappointing game against West Brom kind of ruined the month. A team mainly full of youngsters and reserve players managed to beat Wolves in the Capital One Cup after extra time.

Here's the table:



Hoping to finish near the top of the table and get far in the cup competitions to have a good season.

Elliot Bannon came second in young player of the month and academy product Tommy Paynter came 3rd.

Cheers mate, hoping to get into Europe this year!

Great start to the month but then a poor end to it with defeats to Liverpool and to Hull in the cup. Gutted for Elliot Bannon too, he scored 6 goals in 3 games and was then ruled out for 3 months with a torn hamstring. He was really coming into form before that so I'm a bit gutted for him and for my chances.

Here's the table:



Hoping to stay up near the top of the table. Don't want to drift away like I saw with my Cowdenbeath side!

Tommy Paynter is carrying on his brilliant season as he won young player of the month again.

Some really good results here as we go through a bit of an injury crisis with Elliot Bannon, Anass Ahchabar, Jordan Rhodes, Eren Derdiyok, Adam Smith, Shay Carlin and Jerome Chapuis all out injured.

Bernard Addy has really stepped up into the first team to cover for the strikers injury crisis. We were 3-0 down against Man City after 50 minutes and managed to fight back thanks to a superb hat-trick from Bernard Addy only to concede in the 89th minute to lose 4-3.

Good wins in the other 3, especially against Spurs.

Here's the table:



In 6th, doing well so far. Bernard Addy unsurprisingly came second in young player of the month.

Unlucky on the defeat to Man City, but going well so far in the league, and your only two points off the top four, which is good as you currently have an injury crisis.

Cheers mate, should be getting injured players back soon to try and mount a serious challenge on the top four!

A really difficult month with injuries and fatigue - especially playing Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United all within 6 days. Bernard Addy is showing a very good eye for goal recently and may be able to hold down a first team place.

Here's how the table looks:



Starting to drift away from the top 5. Hopefully we can string together some results soon and be back up there.

Now it's January, we have already finalised some new signings:

English striker Charlie Austin has joined to bolster our attack force. Austin, signed from Chelsea for £3.6m, should be able to provide competition and be able to get some important goals for the club. Austin joins the club on an eighteen month contract until the summer of 2021.

German striker Arjen Vangjeli who I signed on a free transfer for Cowdenbeath 3 season ago has joined Southampton for £850k. I seemed to remember that he had a minimum release fee in his contract and when I looked into it and saw that he did for much less than his true value, I didn't hesitate to offer for him. Vangjeli has signed a contract until June 2022.

Young Brazilian goalkeeper Abel Watanabe, who has Japanese roots, has joined from Brazilian side Corinthians in a deal worth £1.7m which matched a minimum release fee in his contract. He has a brilliant future ahead of him and he could be our future number 1 after Fraser Forster retires.

Going the other way, Danny Wilson has joined Watford from Southampton for £7m. Wilson was a fringe player this season and I'm delighted with how much we got from this transfer.

Johann Djourou has joined Italian team Genoa for a fee of £600k. Djourou, who is now 32, hadn't played all season and we needed to make space in the squad.

In other news, Tommy Paynter has once again won young player of the month after a very impressive few games.

A pretty good month, Charlie Austin had a stormer against Watford. Also good to see Bannon get back to scoring ways against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup.

Does the win against Carlisle give me 5 points for a Fergie Time winner?



Look like we're set for 6th. Don't want Villa to catch us up but if we can close down Man City I would be happy.

Tommy Paynter came second in the young player of the month awards and is surely on his way to being a serious contender for young player of the year.

A bit more transfer news:

Jimmy Jensen, my first signing as Southampton manager, has gone to Real Madrid for £8.75m - matching the minimum release fee in his contract. I'm surprised how much interest there was in him because he's had an average season so far.

A replacement for Jensen was sought immediately as it was deadline day, and one was found in young Brazilian defender Chumbinho, signed from Fluminese for £1.1m, which matched the minimum release fee in his contract. He's a real star for the future.

I'd say centre back is our weakest point and I need to try and invest in a centre back or two.

Our form has started to get a bit sketchy and needs to be picked up again. Good win against Sunderland to set up a 6th round tie away to Man United in The FA Cup. Should have beaten Fulham as we missed a penalty and hit the woodwork three times, but it was one of those game where you do everything but score when looking for a winner.

Here's the table:




Hoping to hold onto 6th with 11 games to go, and also hoping for a good performance against Man United in the FA Cup.

Tommy Paynter won young player of the month this month to continue his remarkable season.

The form is starting to pick up again now with Charlie Austin playing very well and as always Tommy Paynter having good performances. Disappointed to be out of the FA Cup but we gave it our all and we can give it a better go next season. Delighted with the 4-0 win over Liverpool and with the victory over Man City.

Here's how the table is looking:



10 points clear of Tottenham but 9 points away from Chelsea. Looks like finishing 6th will be our achievement this season, which is about what I was aiming for before the season so can't say I'm too disappointed.

Tommy Paynter came second in young player of the month and I came 3rd in manager of the month!

Some good results, pretty pointless end to the season again as 6th is wrapped up.

Here's the table:



Tommy Paynter once again won young player of the month and looks set for young player of the year.

So the season has ended. Happy with the wins against Sunderland and Arsenal but was hoping to beat Chelsea - if we had we would have finished 5th.

Here's how the table finished:



So we've settled in 6th, qualifying for the Europa League. Hoping for more improvement next season with some more youngsters getting ready for first team football.

Somehow, Tommy Paynter only came second in the young player of the year award with Elliot Bannon coming third.

In Scotland, Cowdenbeath once again finished runners up to Celtic in the SPL, beat St Mirren in the final of the Scottish Cup. They also were runners up in the Scottish League Cup so was a pretty good season for them.

On to the 20/21 season!

good season again mate !

Any of you good folks interested in the game I've started below? I'm fairly new to this succession game business but keen to get involved.

http://sortitoutsi.net/careers/view/6704/new-succesion-game

Cheers mate, happy to be in the Europa League next season!

A pretty mixed bag in our pre-season friendlies. Good tour of Belgium and a good win over River Plate, but poor defeats to Middlesbrough and Sunderland kind of equalled out the good performances. Terrible news as Elliot Bannon has been ruled out for another 3 months. He's not had the best of luck with injuries recently.

Here's the players who have joined the club:



I'll go through each player individually:

Presicci: A 19 year old Italian future star who won the golden boot as Italy got silver in the 2020 Olympics with 8 goals. A real star for the future from AC Milan's academy.

Walker: Experienced England right back who should provide good cover and competition within the first team. Can also play at centre back.

Toal: A superb central midfielder who is already first team quality but has the potential to improve significantly. Northern Ireland international with some superb stats including a work rate of 20, stamina of 19 and concentration of 17.

Perisic: 31 year old Croatian attacking midfielder who should provide good cover for the first team.

Paris: A 23 year old French central midfielder who should provide good cover and grow into a first team player.

Walther: 18 year old German central defender who has a lot of potential for the future. A product of Schalke's academy system.

Lavezzini: 19 year old French striker who could already provide back up and has bags of potential to become a true star of the Premier League in future. His best record for PSG reserves was an astonishing 11 goals in 7 games and he's scored 7 goals in 9 games for the France u21s.

Lennon: 33 year old experienced winger signed for good squad rotation and he's always been one of my favourite English players so I couldn't say no when I saw that he was available for free.

Augliera: Cristian Augliera (not the American singer) is another young German with bags of potential. From Leverkusen's academy, the 19 year old right winger should be a star in the future.

Here's the list of players who have left the club:



Smith, Ward-Prowse and Derdiyok weren't first team players so I thought I'd let them go. Jordan Rhodes only made 5 appearances last season so I let his contract expire. Cumberbatch, Pitt and McCarthy didn't have the potential to become first team players and the rest of the players who have left on loan look like stars of the future for Southampton.

Let's see what the new season brings!

Some good signings in there mate. Good luck next season!

Cheers, really happy with some of those signings and some of the youngsters coming through as well!

A great start to the season with an unbeaten month. The win over Swansea was really good, everybody worked well together and passed well.

Here's the table:



It's still very early but happy to be up in 3rd after 3 games.

In the Europa League, we've been drawn in a group with Lille, Austria Wien and Aalborg. We should be able to progress from this group fairly easily.

Tommy Paynter won young player of the month (again) and Emmanuele Lavezzini came third after an impressive start to his Saints career.

great start to the season ! And a good Europa League group

Not been on this for a few days because I've been busy over the weekend, but here's September:



Delighted with the win over Lille and happy to be through in the Capital One Cup. Our league form hasn't been the best and we definitely need to perform better if we want to match or beat last season's finish. Was happy with the win against Villa, although it should have been by more but we're surprisingly struggling in front of goal, should be improved when Bannon comes back from injury.

Here's the table:



Hoping for better results in the league in future!

Some very good results. We very nearly had an 100% month. Bernard Addy stepped up very well and had a superb month, winning young player of the month in the Premier League. A lot of players were rested for the game against Hull and we managed to scrape through to the quarter final to face Chelsea after beating Hull on penalties.

I was astonished to beat Man City 5-2, if you look at the stats:



They had over 3 times the amount of shots! Shows that we were more prolific which is good to see.

Here's how the table looks:



Sitting in 6th again but I think we can finish higher than that.

Here's our Europa League group too:



Look set to get through to the knockout stages, where we may face Cowdenbeath!

A very good month. Very happy to beat Chelsea and get to the Europa League Semi Final where we face Everton. Elliot Bannon has done really well after returning from 3 months out.

Here's the table:



Looking good to finish in the top four this season and get a Champions League spot for next season to build on our finances.

After beating Austria Wien 2-0 thanks to goals from Will Hughes and Charles Austin, here's the Europa League group:



We're through to the knockout stages to possibly face Cowdenbeath, which would be the perfect draw for me!

Despite 3 wins from 3 in the league, no awards for us this month.

Some very good results here in a very congested month. Especially impressed with the wins against Chelsea, Arsenal and Arsenal but wasn't happy to throw away a 2-0 lead away to Man Utd.

Here's the table:



Top currently but with Chelsea and Man City with games in hand I don't expect to stay there.

Two players have left the club. Anass Achahbar has been sold to West Brom for £10m. He had only appeared once all season and I was delighted to get the sum of money that I did for him.

Mikhail Aivazov has joined Galatasaray for £5m. Aivazov joined on a free transfer 18 months ago but hasn't been a first team regular and I couldn't reject a £5m offer when it came in.

One player has joined the club. Jordi has joined for £325k from Barcelona. The twenty year old midfielder has been capped at u21 level 8 times for Spain and has bags of potential to improve.

Also, Dustin Matuschak has signed a pre-contract agreement from Cowdenbeath to join at the start of next season. Matuschak was a good player at Cowdenbeath and I'm happy to get him on a free transfer.

A very good month bar the game against Aston Villa. We're in the Capital One Cup Final against Man Utd so could see my first silverwarre as Southampton manager. Also through to the 5th round of the FA Cup against Aston Villa. Some really good performances in this month, and I was happy with the draw away to Man City.

Here's how the table looks:



12 games to go and I want to try and challenge for the title as much as I can. I want to at least get a top 4 finish.

Tommy Paynter came second in young player of the month.

A few more transfers happened in the window. Brazilian central defender Ivan joined for £3.1m from Santos. Ivan is just 18 and already has 10 appearances for Brazil u20s. He is going to be a star in the future.

Spanish wonderkid Pepín complained that he wasn't getting first team football so he's moved back to Spain to play for Valencia on loan until the end of the season, in a move that gets us £160k per month which is a great deal for us as it gets Pepín some game time and gets us some money in.

A couple of players have signed pre-contract agreements with the club to join at the start of next season. 26 year old Moi Gómez has signed from Villarreal. Hómez is an attacking midfielder who will be a great addition to the squad.

Bosnia & Herzegovina international Miralem Pjanic has joined from Roma where he has been for 10 seasons. Pjanic, 30, is an attacking midfielder who joins an already strong midfield.