The State of Saints FC
About a month and a half ago, Southampton's roster was in the process of being absolutely ransacked. Following an incredible season that saw them finish in the top half of the Premier League table, half of their regular Starting XI was sold off to the highest bidders - Luke Shaw to Manchester United, Calum Chambers to Arsenal, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert all to Liverpool, and even Mauricio Pochettino, the manager, to Tottenham. Those departures left the club with quite a lot of vacancies, not to mention about 50% less offensive firepower. Basically, the footballing world was in agreement that they were going to be relegated this year. But Ronald Koeman had different ideas.The new manager brought in by the Italian ownership was tasked with the difficult job of trying to save the sinking Southampton ship, and he has been attempting to do just that. He brought in some Eredivisie players that he knew about from his time coaching in that league - Dusan Tadic (reigning Eredivisie player of the year) and Graziano Pelle, to be exact. Other notable arrivals under the Koeman administration include Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid, Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea, Sadio Mane from Red Bull Salzburg, Fraser Forster from Celtic, and Shane Long from Hull City.
After this summer full of business and change, the club came out 40 million GBP richer, so the owners must be thrilled. But more importantly than the new additions and the budget surplus is Koeman's emphasis on fostering relationships with the old guard. Vital players from last year, like Jose Fonte, Morgan Schneiderlin, Nathaniel Clyne, and Jay Rodriguez, already have great relationships with the new manager. This is obviously important because of the match experience and the footballing skill that these players bring onto the pitch every weekend.
And the experience has paid off so far. Four games into the season, Southampton sits in fourth place in the BPL, with 7 out of a possible 12 points
To make a long story short: Southampton FC is not going anywhere.
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