Cracking the top 4

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Starting XI - Horn, Tete, Van Dijk, Chambers, Cedric, Wanyama, Strootman, Tadic, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

A tough match against Tottenham was ground out into a draw as both teams struggled to create anything through the midfield battle. We had to work hard for our point but I was really proud of the lads who defended superbly in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
 
SeanKeaney said:
Fantastic story! I love how your giving youth a massive chance and continuing the Saints tradition with Hesketh in particular who appears to be a regular starter for you!
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Thanks man! as a Saints fan I didnt want to stray too far from the real life Southampton way, as it seems to be working superbly at the moment! Hesketh is superb! also keep an eye for Slattery and McCarthy coming through ;)

PatrickLFC said:
That's a tough injury :( You have quality in that area though so I'm sure you'll find a way :)
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Yeah injuries have been cruel this year =/ Tadic/Rodriguez will hold down the fort and at the end of the day we are only a few weeks away from the transfer window.
 
SaintMotbot said:
Thanks man! as a Saints fan I didnt want to stray too far from the real life Southampton way, as it seems to be working superbly at the moment! Hesketh is superb! also keep an eye for Slattery and McCarthy coming through ;)
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I will keep an eye out! Have you got a ss of Hesketh to see his development?
 
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So the board have finally decided that I am the right man for the job and will keep me at the club for the foreseeable future. This will provide good stability going forward. Another huge positive is that part of the takeover deal for the club, the new chairman paid back all of the gift loans outstanding to the Liebherr family. This means we are now completely debt free!
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Bender, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Hesketh, Lucas, Benteke.

Christian Benteke came back to haunt his old club as he scored a late winner to wrap up a big three points in our Premiership campaign. Once again we played very well and dominated the match with Benteke scoring twice, once in the opening stages of the match and once at the death. Really promising stuff as we go back to basics.
 
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December Review​

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December has been a superb month with just the one loss coming when we were completely outclassed by Man City. Progression in the Europa league is also a massive plus.
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Our recent string of good perforances have seen us shoot right up the table and we now only sit 2 points behind a resurgent Arsenal in 5th place. Everton are still propping up the table although there just 3 points between the bottom five and Tottenham are still only 3 points from the relegation zone. Chelsea are still unbeaten and have been frighteningly good.

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The Europa League has drawn us against Fenerbahce in the first knockout round which should be a good test.

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The FA Cup will see us play Huddersfield.. AGAIN.. in the third round.
Player of the Month​
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Lucas Moura is our player of the month this time around as he has put in a string of high class performances from the right wing. A couple of goals and some assists to his name have seen him play a large part in turning our form around.
January Preview​
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Fonte, Chambers, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Tadic, Ward-Prowse, Lucas, Benteke.

New years day brought nothing but joy for our fans as we went to Anfield and beat Liverpool to claim another three massive points and continue our impressive run. Chrstian Benteke haunted yet another of his old clubs as he scored two and then set up Lucas Moura for our 3rd and what proved to be the winner, slotting past our old goalkeeper Rulli.
 
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Starting XI - Lewis, Targett, Fonte, McCarthy, Tete, Wanyama, Davis, Tadic, Hesketh, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

A disappointing result against Huddersfield which means we will have to replay the fixture at their ground! Graziano Pelle scored both goals for us as he did a fantastic job leading the line for the whole game. Unfortunately Jesse Lingard was the thorn in our side for the whole game and equalised both times. Harry Lewis made his debut in goal for us and did well!
 
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Today, two players leave the club.


Cedric - Dynamo Kyiv - £7.5 mil​
Cedric is a player who was complaining about first team football and I really did have sympathy for him. Unfortunately for him, Kenny Tete is a class act and has been so good Cedric didnt stand a chance of getting into the team. We have taken the opportunity to cash in on him as Tete is our first choice and Chambers is able to cover.

Sven Bender - Mainz - £8.25 mil​
Sven never really found his place at the club. It was unfortunate because he is a class act but I couldnt really decided if he was a destroyer or a runner or a playmaker. Unfortunately in every position we have better options and Sven wants first team football so we took the opportunity to sell while interest was high.
This left us with a transfer budget of £32 million and a spare wage budget of £380k a week which allows us to reinvest fairly heavily in the squad. So what do we need?

Centre Back ​
I want a new centre back in the team. With Chambers potential moving out to the right, and McCarthy having question marks raised over his ability, I would like more rotation options. Van Dijk is one of the first names on the team sheet but Fonte is getting on a bit and losing what little pace he had which is problematic when playing a high line.

Central Midfielder​
A replacement for Bender is a priority at the moment. Wanyama and Strootman are the locked in first choice in centre mid, with Slattery, Ward-Prowse and Hesketh providing options. What I feel we need is a young destroyer type defence minded centre mid to shadow Wanyama and eventually take his place.

AML Inside Forward ​
With Lorenzo Insigne out injured long term and Jay Rodriguez failing to produce the goods, A wide option on the left would be very welcome. Tadic has not been doing too well recently so hopefully a new signing could push Tadic back into the middle to challenge Hesketh/Ward-Prowse for a place as playmaker.
 
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Starting XI - Lewis, Targett, Fonte, Van Dijk, Tete, Wanyama, Slattery, Tadic, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

Very happy as we thump Huddersfield to move into the 4th round of the FA Cup. Our 20 shots at goal compared to their 3 show the level that we dominated this match and that was with our rotated side! Jose Fonte and Van Dijk combined beautifully from a set piece to allow Fonte to head us into the lead and then Jake Hesketh got his first goal of the season late on which was richly deserved after another great performance.
 
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He's back!​

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Adam Lallana rejoins for a fee of just £2.7 million, after leaving for Liverpool for £25 million. Adam will come in and fill the hole that was gaping in the attacking midfield section. He is capable of playing across the whole attacking midfield and brings a wealth of experience to the club.

How much!?​
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Marc Barta has joined the club from Barcelona in a deal that could rise to £25 million. We managed to work out a deal with the Catalan club of £15 million up front and then another £10 million over 48 months. Marc has had a wonderful couple of seasons with Barca and is a world class centre back that will fit nicely into our existing set up.
How do you solve a problem like Dusan?​
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This could be a really tricky one for the club to handle. We have been trying to pin Dusan down to a new contract for the last year but he keeps failing his work permits due to a lack of international call ups! Now with just 6 months left on his contract we are very quickly running out of time! Even worse news is because he has so little time left on his contract, he is only worth £1.8 million now, so selling him wont make us much money at all!
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Barta, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Benteke.

It was a successful debut for both Lallana and Barta as we held out to claim a solid 1-0 win away from home against Derby. Before the match we identified the right wing as an area to target them and Lucas did just that, teaming up beautifully with Tete and wreaking havoc the whole match, eventually grabbing the winning goal. In an experiment we played two stoppers at centre back and looked very solid, anybody else found this?
 
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Cataldi Signs

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Our last transfer of the January window is Danilo Cataldi from Lazio for a fee of £7.5 million. A dynamic midfielder who can play in Defensive, central or attacking midfield, he will hopefully be an excellent squad player for the club moving forward and good competition for the likes of Wanyama and Strootman. He is still young at 23, hungry to improve an boasts a Europa League winners medal with Lazio.

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Starting XI - Lewis, Targett, Van Dijk, Fonte, Chambers, Wanyama, Slattery, Rodriguez, Ward-Prowse, Lucas, Pelle.

Calum Chambers getting himself sent off made things tricky, but we showed some real grit to hang on and win the match. Lucas has obviously bought himself a new pair of scoring boots as once again he put us into the lead before Jay Rodriguez doubled the advantage just a few minutes later. Buckley gave Reading some hope but then Graziano Pelle got our 3rd and we seemed to be home and dry. Chambers red card threw a spanner in the works and allowed Reading to come back again but they didnt have enough. Through to the 5th round.
 
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January Review​

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A really good month as we only lose the one game which was a disappointing defeat to West Ham. The league wins against Liverpool and Derby were huge and we also advanced two more rounds through the FA Cup.
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We are sitting nicely in 7th in the Premier League and have the potential to really push on. Stoke are having a storming season and sit in 5th while Tottenham are still struggling down in 14th. Everton are starting to pick up under Eddie Howe and have lifted themselves out of the relegation zone.


Player of the Month​
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A tough one this month with several players under consideration for this award but Graziano Pelle just shades it having scored some big goals this month including the winner against Derby. Jake Hesketh, Lucas Moura and Virgil Van Dijk can all feel hard done by!
February Preview​
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A very busy February coming up with crucial league games against Stoke and Arsenal as well as an FA Cup tie and the first knockout round of the Europa League.
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You cant help but feel that Arsenal are perhaps becoming a little fed up with being the nearly club. They spent £90 million in the January window and that is not including the £30 million bid for Ward-Prowse from them that I turned down.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte, Barta, Wanyama, Strootman, Lallana, Ward-Prowse, Lucas, Benteke.

A poor performance and a disappointing defeat as we go down to Newcastle away from home. We tried to sit deep and play direct on the counter as Newcastle had conceded a lot this season from long balls but the plan failed miserably and we leave with nothing.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

A much better performance as we beat Stoke to close the gap to them and the European spots. We found ourselves 2-0 up within the first three minutes as first Kevin Strootman and then Adam Lallana (scoring his first goal back at the club) gave us a good lead. Ryan Shawcross made the game uncomfortable for a long time before Pelle won us a penalty right at the death which Lucas Moura put away to seal the win.
 
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