The exodus of the saints
The last five years have been nothing less than a fairy tale for Southampton FC. Nigel Adkins have led them to back to back promotions as the saints made their way back into the premiership from league 1 in just two seasons.During this time, Adkins created an army of saints by bringing in players such as Rickie Lambert and Jose Fonte and by breeding home talent such as Luke Shaw. However, the team’s management, maybe under the pressure of playing in the world’s strongest league, considered to lay off Adkins and replaced him with Mauricio Pocchetino.
Although this move was hated by many fans but Pocchetino’s early results made him a success at the St. Mary’s. The following season, Pocchetino readied the saints for the 2013–14 season by strenghtening the team with signings such as Dejan Lovren and Victor Wanyama, spending 36m GBP, breaking their record transfer fee twice. The transfer activity had its effect as saints had the best defensive record in the premier league by the end of the winter break. Stellar performances meant that the saints put up a strong case for qualifying for european football. However, a poorer second half meant they had to settle down for the 8th position. Seven Southampton players were selected to represent their nations in the 2014 world cup and things looked set to a promising new chapter in the history of the saints.
But things were different in the 2014–15 season as the promise slowly started to break apart. Many key players were on demand in the transfer market with big clubs like Liverpool & Manchester United, whom Southampton cannot compete with, chasing them. It all started with Rickie Lambert’s “dream move” to Liverpool, a club he had been supporting since his childhood. Although the deal had positive vibes with fans of both Southampton and Liverpool, it was beginning of a major exodus. The manager Pocchetino also gained a lot of reputation from the previous season and was offered a lucrative offer, a fancy transfer kit and a bigger team to manage from Tottenham. In other words, it was a deal Pocchetino simply couldn’t refuse as he moved to North London. The damage further intensified as the management let many other key players leave. Luke Shaw left to Manchester United for 31m GBP, the highest transfer fee ever received for a saints player. Another promising defender, Calum Chambers was signed in by Arsenal for 16m GBP while Liverpool enjoyed a shopping spree at St. Marys buying Adam Lallana and Dejan Louvren, spending a whopping 50m GBP for the three players, who cost the saints a mere 15.75m GBP. The club’s decisions in these deals was impressive in financial terms, as they fetched 100m GBP, but were terrible in footballing terms as they let go of their best players. Things might go from bad to worse as two more star players, Morgan Schneiderlein and Jay Rodriguez are rumoured to be on the verge of a big money move to reunite with their previous manager at Tottenham. As a result, Southampton became the target of many internet trolls and tweets
The club focussed on damage control by bringing in players such as Dusan Tadic and Fraser Foster, spending over 40m GBP in the transfer market. However, there is still a lot of work to do, as was visible from their premier league opener against Liverpool. They still have their fighting spirit as they fought bravely in the 1–2 defeat but their weaknesses were clearly visible. It was clear that the damage is not easy to repair as the players shipped out were among than the top players in the premier league in their respective positions. After all, these players were considered by many pundits and fans to form a strong foundation to what could have been a golden period for the saints. Forget a top half finish, it will not be easy for the new manager Ronald Koeman to gain a comfortable cushion over the relegation dog fight and only time will tell if the saints will reaffirm their position in the premier league in the years to come.
