Summer of Southampton: Method in the Madness?

Being a Southampton FC fan, I like many others knew this may well be a summer of big changes, but little did we know that the knife would be slid in and we would be gutted like a fish. So far in the transfer window, the Saints have lost no less than five key players and one of our better managers in the last 10 years.

Mauricio Pochettino wasn't a popular managerial replacement after the dismissal of Nigel Adkins back in 2012, but nonetheless he had proven to be the right choice and led us from the foot of the Premier League, to an impressive 8th place finish last season where they won many plaudits for their fine offensive style and Saints fans began to believe. But his position became uncertain after the departure of chairman Nicola Cortese in January this year, the man had been bold and decisive but his methods didn't sit well with new owner Katherina Liebherr- who seemed to secretly fear a repeat of the old Rupert Lowe days which drove us to near financial ruin.

The Argentina as expected, left to manage Tottenham Hotspur and in doing so inherited a much bigger salary. But was this really a smart move on his behalf? Daniel Levy, the Spurs director of football seems to have a low tolerance for managers who don't bring home trophies immediately! Pochettino is now standing directly in the line of fire and he should perhaps contend with the fact that 8 managers in the last 10 years have barely lasted a season. Southampton was a project that he has built from the ground up and the players were buoyed by his involvement, does he really expect Levy to be this patient?

Although we hoped and prayed that Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert would remain loyal to the fans that loved them so dear, they have each departed to Liverpool. Luke Shaw was always a certainty to leave and Manchester United felt that the 19 year old was worth £27 Million to prize him away from St Mary's. So the key three had gone, surely now things would be OK? Well this summer threw us another unwelcome surprise when Dejan Lovren became another part of the Liverpool summer sweep for £20 Million! Soon after hot young prospect Calum Chambers was head hunted by Arsenal for £16 Million. This effect left Saints fans day after day thumping tables, walls and all in between in immense anger at these continuous set backs.

But although we have torn apart the solid foundation that this new team was built upon and even driven some fans to refusing to renew season tickets, it appears a plan is in fact in place! New manager Ronald Koeman has incurred a lot of flack for his slow approach to rebuilding, but by sell off the prized assets he has made room for some exciting new additions.

We all loved Lambert and Lallana, but upon reflection they are perhaps replaceable entities. Duncan Castle's excellent article in the Sunday Times points out some key point that Saints fans may have overlooked, such as the fact that the majority of Rickie Lambert's goals last year came from set plays and that Lallana although a young and dazzling captain, was not vigorously pursued by anyone other than Liverpool! Luke Shaw is destined to be a great talent, but the kind of money he was demanding for a 19 year old in only his second full season was frankly... ludicrous!  Even Jose Mourinho has admitted that he would never have paid that sort of money per week for Shaw because it would have "torn dressing room morale apart" and coming from the king of expensive impulse buys, that is quite something!

Dejan Lovren was a solid buy for the Saints, but is he really worth the £20 million that the Reds are willing to spend on him? Time will tell this point, but at this stage Koeman will happily take the money on display because although he is a good centre back, he isn't absolutely essential to our success- plus making a 12 million pound profit on a player bought only a season before is a pretty impressive achievement.

Koeman has now set about finding steady replacements for his departures and the new signings so far have made us wonder. Serbian attacking midfield Dusan Tadic has joined from FC Twente and early scouting reports have made this out to be a wise purchase. Also Koeman has brought in his old friend Graziano Pelle who scored 57 goals in 50 games while under him at Feyenoord. Having a guy who knows where the net it does tend to come in handy these days, plus playing under his old boss could be the key factor. Algerian international Saphir Taider has also join on loan from Inter Milan (which thankfully sends resident crazy man Dani Osvaldo the other way!) and after his performances in the World Cup this is a clever selection. 

These players along with recent signing of highly rated Celtic goalie Fraser Forster and the reported £6 million arrival of Romanian centre back Florin Gardos from Steaua Bucharest has all the signs that next season could well be as promising as the one before it. Will this gamble turn out to be a master-plan in disguise? Or will it be the summer where everything began to come crashing down? It will be sad not to see our regulars at St Mary's next season and it is no doubt gutting that we have drawn Liverpool on the opening day! But we must learn to love our new master Ronald and his band of premier league freshmen because right now... they are our future.

As Gianluca Vialli once said,

"Football, it's a funny old game!"

Mike's edit: As a non Southampton fan, it amuses me greatly to see Saints become the league's farm team. That is all.