Mantis Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 ^ Yep, I agree with that. Unlike West Brom however they've spent tons of money. I really don't get this wankfest over Southampton. Yeah they've been good but it's still early days yet and they've spent a hell of a lot of money over the past couple of seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 4 very tough next fixtures and after these we will see how good they really are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They're nothing like last season's West Brom if you've actually watched their games. They're not winning by scraping results and backs to the wall tactics, they're genuinely outplaying opponents on a regular basis, have an extremely solid defence and retain possession at a great level. They're unlucky there are so many very good teams this year, so it's very unlikely they'll be top 4, but they're certainly in that top 8 group that will probably separate from the rest in a month or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Had a message from a Saints fan suggesting they can win the league. Not the same as the last fan either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarpie Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Gotta give it to Southampton for turning their fortunes around, it wasn't so many season ago when they were relegated from championship due administration and now back in PL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Thanks mainly to major investment since they were in league one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They're nothing like last season's West Brom if you've actually watched their games. They're not winning by scraping results and backs to the wall tactics, they're genuinely outplaying opponents on a regular basis, have an extremely solid defence and retain possession at a great level. They're unlucky there are so many very good teams this year, so it's very unlikely they'll be top 4, but they're certainly in that top 8 group that will probably separate from the rest in a month or so. Agreed. They're playing the type of football I want to see us playing this time next season (I accept this year will remain a bit of a grind). It shouldn't be impossible when you consider Saints were in league 1 3 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They're nothing like last season's West Brom if you've actually watched their games. They're not winning by scraping results and backs to the wall tactics, they're genuinely outplaying opponents on a regular basis, have an extremely solid defence and retain possession at a great level. They're unlucky there are so many very good teams this year, so it's very unlikely they'll be top 4, but they're certainly in that top 8 group that will probably separate from the rest in a month or so. Agreed. They're playing the type of football I want to see us playing this time next season (I accept this year will remain a bit of a grind). It shouldn't be impossible when you consider Saints were in league 1 3 years ago. They have backing from their chairman, it shows. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEndVillan Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Gotta give it to Southampton for turning their fortunes around, it wasn't so many season ago when they were relegated from championship due administration and now back in PL. Over the weekend I had a text from my (saints fan) brother-in-law, reminding me that it was only 3 years ago to the day that we went to watch Dagenham vs Southampton in league one, and now they're 3rd in the premier league Edited November 11, 2013 by EastEndVillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avfc96 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Shaw, Lallana and Ward-Prowse will all be regulars for England once the old guard retire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Gaston Ramirez linked with leaving in January, going back to Italy if he doesn't get more games this is how it starts... luke shaw will be linked with everyone in January (could walk in to every top team apart from everton IMO and if they sold baines he'd probably be lined up as a replacement) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted November 11, 2013 Moderator Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm not as down on Southampton as this post might sound, but the fixture list has been quite kind to them so far. They have had great results at Anfield and Old Trafford but they have faced a lot of shit too. Their results this season: beat West Brom (currently 9th, but had an awful start to the season) drew with Sunderland (currently 19th) lost to Norwich (currently 15th) drew with West Ham (currently 16th) beat Liverpool (currently 2nd) beat Palace (currently 20th) beat Swansea (currently 14th) drew with Man Utd (currently 8th) beat Fulham (currently 17th) drew with Stoke (currently 18th) beat Hull (currently 12th) So with almost a third of the season played they have played the teams who currently sit 20th, 19th, 18th, 17th, 16th, 15th, 14th & 12th. That's a lot of bottom half sides. On the other hand we have played the teams who currently sit 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th. I just did up a table to see where we sit in this too and it does bear out what you say. This table is the average league position of each team's opponents so far this season. 1 Aston Villa 8.55 2 Norwich City 9 3 Crystal Palace 9.18 4 Sunderland 9.18 5 Fulham 9.45 6 West Bromwich Albion 9.82 7 Stoke City 10.09 8 Hull City 10.18 9 Swansea City 10.36 10 Chelsea 10.45 11 Manchester United 10.45 12 West Ham United 10.45 13 Newcastle United 10.64 14 Cardiff City 10.82 15 Tottenham Hotspur 11 16 Everton 11.45 17 Liverpool 11.45 18 Manchester City 11.64 19 Arsenal 12.45 20 Southampton 13.36 This table is slightly more complicated. Playing the top team gets a value of 20, playing 2nd place gets 19 ... on a sliding scale down to 1pt for playing the bottom team, but each value is doubled for away games. So this next table is a rudimentary 'strength of schedule' so far for the season and once again it looks favourable for Southampton. It's interesting to see that Arsenal have had a very favourable time of it in both tables too... 1 Hull City 18.9 2 Crystal Palace 18 3 West Bromwich Albion 17.9 4 Fulham 17.8 5 Aston Villa 17.6 6 Norwich City 17.5 7 Stoke City 17.4 8 West Ham United 16.6 9 Chelsea 16.3 10 Sunderland 16.1 11 Newcastle United 15.9 12 Swansea City 15.3 13 Tottenham Hotspur 14.8 14 Cardiff City 14.7 15 Manchester United 14.6 16 Liverpool 14.3 17 Manchester City 13.5 18 Everton 13.4 19 Southampton 12.7 20 Arsenal 12.3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 That is brilliant, sending that to the cocky Saints fans. Cheers Bof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oaks Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 That makes Man City's start look even worse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted November 11, 2013 Moderator Share Posted November 11, 2013 That makes Man City's start look even worse.Yup Although I think they've enough quality that if/when they click, the strength of their opponents will be less relevant than for most clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They're nothing like last season's West Brom if you've actually watched their games. They're not winning by scraping results and backs to the wall tactics, they're genuinely outplaying opponents on a regular basis, have an extremely solid defence and retain possession at a great level. They're unlucky there are so many very good teams this year, so it's very unlikely they'll be top 4, but they're certainly in that top 8 group that will probably separate from the rest in a month or so. Agreed. They're playing the type of football I want to see us playing this time next season (I accept this year will remain a bit of a grind). It shouldn't be impossible when you consider Saints were in league 1 3 years ago. They have backing from their chairman, it shows. And a good manager. You need both of those things to do what they're doing right now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They're nothing like last season's West Brom if you've actually watched their games. They're not winning by scraping results and backs to the wall tactics, they're genuinely outplaying opponents on a regular basis, have an extremely solid defence and retain possession at a great level. They're unlucky there are so many very good teams this year, so it's very unlikely they'll be top 4, but they're certainly in that top 8 group that will probably separate from the rest in a month or so. Agreed. They're playing the type of football I want to see us playing this time next season (I accept this year will remain a bit of a grind). It shouldn't be impossible when you consider Saints were in league 1 3 years ago. They have backing from their chairman, it shows. And a good manager. You need both of those things to do what they're doing right now. We did it with MON and you don't rate him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 They are also playing an attractive style and have a young squad so there is a fair bit to admire I recon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Currently proving me wrong for thinking sacking Adkins was a terrible decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Currently proving me wrong for thinking sacking Adkins was a terrible decision! Its still essentially Adkins team though, with lovren, wanyama and oswaldo added, pochetino is getting more out of the team than Adkins was though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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