The season hasn't reached a crescendo yet, but it's time to reflect on what has gone and is time to look ahead to what Saints may still achieve.

Purely has certainly received some criticism this season, mainly due to his constant squad rotation earlier in the season. At times players needed to be rested, but I feel he did overdo his rotation policy and it cost Saints dearly in a number of matches. On the whole, I think Puel can be proud of his first season in charge. He has had to deal with the loss of Virgil and Fonte at the back and two proven marksmen up front. He steered us to our first major cup final in many a year and could yet deliver an 8th place finish in the Premier League.

Romeu has been my stand out player of the year. Week in, week out, he has stepped up to the plate and delivered consistently. His combative style and ball distribution have been excellent and he gels the rest of the midfield together. Forster has been brilliant at times, but he has also had too many wayward games where his concentration has shown unnecessary lapses. James Ward Prowse has finally begun to show his class and was rewarded with a call up to the national team. Soares deserves a special mention for his flair and willingness to race up and down the line. Bertrand is proving to be a stalwart and offers great experience at the back when Virgil is not on the field. Redmond is beginning to thrive in his new role and like Prowse, was rewarded with an international call up.

I think it unlikely Saints will be able to overhaul West Brom for 8th place due to the quality of teams Saints have in their remaining fixtures. 9th place would see four seasons in a row inside the top ten. That is a huge accomplishment for a team and city the size of Southampton.

During the off season I want to see Saints strengthen at the back, especially the two center back positions. Just as importantly, I want to see Saints hold onto Virgil and our other star performers. If the Chinese end up taking over , I hope they continue to invest in new players and the infrastructure of the club. All in all, I'm feeling positive about the future. If we stopped to compare our fortunes with other clubs, we should consider ourselves very fortunate to have all the positives in our club. Take Leeds, Coventry, Sunderland to mention just a few clubs that have major issues to deal with. So onwards and upwards Saints your future is looking bright.

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 12:43 - Apr 13 Some good points right there Nick and agree with just about everything with the exception of Fraser Forster. I think it’s been a season to forget for him. I’m not going to get on his back because I still believe he’s a class act, but you can tell his confidence is shot this season. There’s plenty for him to do in the close season. I also think you should have mentioned Yoshi’s form this season. He’s stepped up to the plate and at least replaced Fonte for me. He’s not VVD class, but no-one had an issue with Fonte when he was at the club and I don’t think Yoshi has done anything wrong since he got his chance. Credit where it’s due and all that. Next season will be the big one for Puel. He knows what the PL is all about now. We need to hold on to our gems; VVD, Cedric, Bertie, Romeu and Gabbi. I’d like the club to make a stance this summer to make up for the last one and say there will categorically be no selling and we are looking to build a squad to challenge the Top 6. For me keeping VVD will be the toughest challenge. I don’t think he’s personally in any rush to go because as a centre-back he is nowhere near his peak condition, but with Man C, Chelski and whoever else getting twitchy about securing his services we could see a very big bid come in, which the club would find difficult to refuse. Anything upwards of £50-60m will buy us 2 or 3 very decent players and that will again be the debate. I still don’t prescribe to the Chinese investment being anything but a disaster for the club. I think as Saints’ fans we should be doing everything we can to show the Liebherrs are love and support. If you don’t believe me do some reading up on Lander Sports. These guys will not be progressive for the club and their leaked bid, if true, shows just how little they value us.

6

TeamCortese added 14:49 - Apr 13 Great article Nick! bstokesaint I can't agree with you more and I feel you have pretty much echoed everything on my mind. I have to admit I've been pretty hard on Forster this season and that's because the goalkeeper can have a huge impact on team morale (particularly the defence). For me Forster hasn't pulled his weight and the club has been very good to him by not looking for a permanent replacement when he got injured. If I were him I would be busting a gut to repay that faith and unfortunately he's really fallen short this season--especially during the EFL Final. On VVD he's gone this summer as far as I'm concerned. The only thing that will stop the transfer from happening is if we can get an owner who is set on short-term progression at all costs. That would probably mean breaching FFP with regards to the transfer market and wages during the summer investing around £150-175 million. Only a handful of people on the planet have that sort of money to throw around and I doubt they’d want to put that money to use at Southampton FC. Regardless if we get £50-60 million (including Celtic’s buy-on clause) then we’ve definitely done a very, very good piece of business. I think he needs more experience and owes it to saints to give us one more season. Perhaps he could help us breach the top 6 (or possibly a Champions League spot) and we sell him abroad to Bayern, Barca or Real Madrid.

3

LordDZLucan added 17:22 - Apr 13 Not a bad season and I would echo the 'we must keep the current squad together' sentiments. However, my priority transfer target over the summer would be a 90 minute box to box midfielder who can score goals. Yes, one big signing who can take the team to the next level.
1

bstokesaint added 19:08 - Apr 13 One of those would be nice Lucan. Not sure I can remember the last time we had one of those. They're quite a rare commodity.
0

pete_boggs added 23:46 - Apr 13 Lucan I agree 100% about AM required. It will never happen whilst Reed is DoF and JWP is available. We will continue every week with 10 men. Roll on the sale of the club, our only glimmer of hope to remove Reed.
-4

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls