Southampton - The European Dream

August - October 2015/16

Right, so last time I updated, we had just played out first Premier League game of the season, drawing 3-3 with QPR. So, here is our fixtures since:



As you can see, not bad at all; 10 wins in 14 games in all competitions by October is a fairly good return! As a team we are still shipping goals, something still not going quite right with my defensive tactics, even after spending £18m on this lad:



But we are looking good. We've got a large squad, with plenty of quality in all positions, and very good back up options. John Guidetti has been my star performer so far, netting 10 goals in 13 games. Jay Rodriguez and Bojan also performing well:



So here's the PL table as of October 2015:



Arsenal floundering down the bottom of the table in 18th, I've got them in a fortnight after the international break so if ever there was a good time to play them, it's then! Manager Carlo Ancelotti under a lot of pressure! Reading also a surprise package, up in 4th. Down the other end, both Merseyside clubs not having the best of starts.

Sorry for the briefness of this update, lack of game-playing means I'm still trying to get back in to the game, next update will have a lot more detail!

Ocotober - December 2015/16

So, here we are at the end of 2015. As the streamers settle and the champagne flutes go away for another year, let's see how the mighty Saints have been doing since our last update:



Overall, not bad. A few dodgy results, the 3-2 defeat against a considerably weaker Red Bull Salzburg was a lowlight, as was the 4-1 hammering against Stoke City. Losing 5-4 to United was a tough thing to take, we played really well, but were done over after Bjoan's 94th minute equaliser was ruled out - unfairly I might add - for offside. Nice to end the year with two decent wins against Man City and QPR.

So here is the Barclays Premier League table as of December 31st,2015 -



Currently sitting 10th in the table, but it's so tight around the middle that a win in our game in hand could take us up to 4th, so there is still all to play for as we had in to the New Year. In other BPL news, Arsenal got rid of Carlo Ancelotti back in November, and now have mental former Zenit coach Luciano Spalleti at the helm. Still bottom half of the table though. November was a tough time for a lot of PL managers, Pellegrini was sacked by City and replaced by Spurs' Bernd Schuster, who Pellegrini replaced at White Hart Lane. Everton sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the beginning of December and replaced him with former Barcelona midfielder Luis Enrique - incidentally, Everton came chasing me without me even applying for the job!

Here's the Saints team stats as of the end of the year -



First thing you'll notice, a fair few injuries in midfield. Lallana, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Hughes, as well as Luke Shaw, are all out for a number of weeks. Fortunately I can dig into my reserves and replace them quite easily. Despite a few weeks out himself, John Guidetti is still my star performer, notching 16 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions. Followed closely by Nathaniel Clyne, who is consistently fantastic.

In other club news, Southampton's finances are not in completely tickety-boo shape...



So I'm currently doing everything I can to bring the money back in to the black. It doesn't help I've got players like 33-year-old Joleon Lescott, pocketing £99k p/w with another 3 years left on his contract for doing fuck all, and I'm struggling to sell anyone. I might have to let one of my big name players go, Bojan is attracting interest and if I can get £15-20m for him, I'll be a happy man.

So there you are, full up-to-date with life on the South Coast. I'll update again soon!

January - March 2016

Sorry for the lack of updates, barely played in the last week or two, been manic at work! So, last time we parted, it was the end of 2015, so there should be no better place to start than the ins and outs of January 2016:

Leaving for pastures new were:



We let a fair few people go in January. Most were dead wood, others were just to try and help keep the wage bill down, with the club's finances being in horrific condition. Disappointed to see Bojan & Jay Rodriguez go, both players I've a big fan of in the real world, and both did excellently for my Saints side. I've no doubt I'll be able to buy Bojan back in a season or two though, most decent players that go to PSG will be in the reserves inside a year so I might try and bring him back! Chris Wood has generally been cack for me since I brought him in my first season. Bruno Manga wasn't getting enough games, so made sense to cash in on him, same for Antonelli, Vorm & Singh. Will Hughes, who normally is superb on the FM games, hasn't really shown it for me so far (Avg. rating of 6.73 in 19 apps), so I loaned him out to Stoke, but he's injured himself 3 games in to his career there and is likely to miss most of the rest of the season.

So, joining the most popular team on the South Coast were:



Jan Kirchoff is a decent centreback, good ratings and a solid scout report, so got him cheap to replace Bruno Manga. Ravel Morrison has been an inspired signing, since his £850k move, he's scored 5 goals in 6 games, 4 in 4 in the PL. He looks like he can be an absolutely stonking player, looking forward to watching him develop. Seb Driussi is a highly-rated AM/ST from River Plate, got a 5-star potential and is a steal at under £200k, also got a work permit at the first time of asking. As for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, well, you can't NOT sign him if you get the chance can you?! He's boosted shirt sales, thus bring us in some much needed extra moolah, and has netted 3 times in his first 6 appearances. All in all, a decent January.

Here's our run of form since the last update:



As it has been for most of the season, a rather mixed bag. The 4-2 defeat against Bradford City in the FA Cup and the bizarre 7-3 tonking we got from Arsenal were the lowest points. We were level at 3-3 against Arsenal with 20 minutes to go, then we just got absolutely fucked, horrendous. The 5-2 win over struggling Everton was a high point, especially after I turned them down for the manager's job at the end of last year. Always nice to get through the Europa League rounds, we've got Zenit in the 2nd knockout round. Very satisfying to turnover a 3-1 deficit in the League Cup semi final, especially against Stoke. The final put us up against Arsenal, still floundering at 13th in the Premier League, but just 26 days after they netted 7 against us. Could we do the unthinkable and retain our Capital One Cup Crown...?



Course we could! A good victory in a game Arsenal probably deserved to win. Theo Walcott came closest to stealing our victory away, he smashed a shot off the post in the 92nd minute, but we hung on to get European football for another season, and a second consecutive League Cup crown!

Stay tuned for the next update!