Diary of a Season: St. Mary's Redemption

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Monday 16th January, 2023

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A massive blow for Vitesse Arnhem ahead of our Champions League tie in a few weeks’ time. Their best player Rob Tokaya, the right-winger who has recently challenged Kostas Kabastanakis for his place in the Netherlands team, will miss the tie with a hernia injury.
 
Tuesday 17th January, 2023

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Tuesday morning brings a surprise 4.5-million bid from Manchester City for our 17 year-old youth academy player George Carter. He has scored plenty of goals for both the U18s and U21s but has never played for the senior team and is behind the likes of Kingsley Idris and John Griffiths in terms of claiming a place in the next generation Southampton 1st team. The offer includes a 25% share of any profit from a future transfer away from the Etihad, so all-in-all, it’s a tempting offer. Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in him, so maybe I can play them off each other by increasing the fee…

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…and I succeed in persuading them to agree to an extra 1-million and change that 25% to a share of the total fee of his next transfer, rather than just of any profit they might make from that deal. So I accept the offer.

City celebrate by claiming their place in the Capital One Cup Final, by beating Birmingham City 3-1 on the night, and 5-2 on aggregate, with a hat-trick from the Serbian centre-forward Aleksandar Mitrovic.
 
Saturday 21st January, 2023

FA Cup - 4th Round
BURNLEY vs SOUTHAMPTON
Turf Moor, Burnley; Att: 13,915

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SAINTS Team News - 4-5-1 Assymetric: Louis Cruse in goal; a back-four of Dragan Hrustic, Kevin Egan, Phillip Kaminski and Rodrigao; Diego Reyes as Defensive Midfielder; a big responsibility for Mark Ardean-Webb as Deep-Lying Playmaker; Tom Ince starts as the Left Winger; Sercan Calik on the Right Wing, in a more advanced starting position; Jose Pinho will play as a Shadow Striker, operating from left-of-centre; Andrew Powell, who scored goals at Derby County in the previous round, starts up-front as a Deep-Lying Forward; Arthur Semka and Yvo Lucas are among the subs.

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Burnley - 4-3-1-2: Centre-Back Samuel Chappy is a solitary cap for Ghana; the Welsh international Left-Back Alex Nicholson is their captain; 19 year-old Striker Adam Butler is on-loan from Manchester United and is rated as a potential World-class player of the future.

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Our under-strength side should still be good enough to beat Burnley, who are a mid-table Championship team. I instruct normal tackles and the team responds well to the pre-match team-talk and goes out onto the pitch with plenty of confidence.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Southampton get the match started, attacking from left-to-right.
- 2mins: Mark Ardean-Webb heads over from close range at the near post from Sercan Calik’s corner.
- 3mins: Ardean-Webb lifts the ball into the inside-right channel, landing at the feet of the on-rushing Calik. He beats Chappy and sends a cross-shot to the far post, but McEvoy in the Burnley goal catches the ball before Jose Pinho can gets his head to it.
- 8mins: A one-two between Ardean-Webb - who has started well - and Rodrigao enables the midfielder to play Calik in again, midway inside the Burnley half. He play a diagonal pass to Pinho in the middle and he slips the ball behind Iorfa to the unmarked Andrew Powell who places a right-footed shot inside the right-hand post - only for the offside flag to rule it out.
- 13mins: Davis and Kearney combine on the right-hand side to enable the latter to try an angled shot at goal, but it goes over.
- 16mins: Cleary’s foul on Jose Pinho leaves the Portuguese forward needing treatment.
- 17mins: Tom Ince races past Davis on the left wing and crosses to the centre. Andrew Powell’s header is well-saved at the far post by McEvoy.
- 24mins: Saints have another goal ruled out for offside, when Calik and Powell craft an opening for Jose Pinho through the middle. The forward’s shot beats McEvoy into the bottom-right corner but the linesman raises his flag, again.
- 30mins: Bradley Kearney does well to jump high enough to beat Egan and get his head to Davis’s high right-wing cross, but can only divert the ball into the side-netting.
- 33mins: Ince receives Dragan Hrustic’s pass and centres to Jose Pinho, but his header goes wide of the near post. Then Iorfa rolls the ball forward from halfway to Vigurs in the middle of The Saints half. His pass takes out both Reyes and Egan to play Bradley KEARNEY in behind them and he picks his spot in the far corner, beating Cruse with a shot from the edge of the area. The underdogs take a surprise lead. 0-1.
- 35mins: Diego Reyes puts in a heavy challenge in midfield that leaves Cleary needing attention from the physio.
- 44mins: An impressive passing move through the middle puts Kearney in again, but he is flagged offside as Cruse saves to his left.
- 45mins: Tom Ince goes past Davis again on the left wing, but Andrew Powell’s header from the cross is too slight to worry McEvoy.
- 45mins+2: Ardean-Webb, Pinho and Powell work the ball through the middle, and Powell frees Calik in the inside-right channel. But the Belgian winger inexplicably opts to take an early shot with his weaker left foot when he had time to pick his spot with his right, and McEvoy saves easily.

HALF-TIME: BURNLEY 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON

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I read the riot act at half-time; the performance has not been good enough, irrespective of the two goals we have had chalked off for offside. My aggressive team-talk demands more desire from the players in the second-half. Tom Ince has the beating of the Burnley right-back Harry Davis, who prefers to play as centre-back, so I instruct the team to Exploit the Left Flank, Push Higher Up and play to a Higher Tempo. Mullers advises that we substitute Jose Pinho, who is struggling due to the foul from Cleary, so I send on Arther Semka in the Shadow Striker role. No changes from Burnley at half-time; their players are full of confidence going into the second-half.

2nd Half Highlights
- 62mins: Louis Cruse punches away a high free-kick from deep.
- 64mins: Yellow card for Alex Nicholson for a foul on Calik.
- 65mins: Cleary picks the ball up midway inside the Burnley half and finds Vigurs just past the halfway line. He lobs a pass to Kearney who has three defenders around him, trying to stem this Burnley counter-attack. A sliding tackle by Hrustic halts progress temporarily, but Butler immediately plays Kearney through the middle, the flag staying down as Bradley KEARNEY shoots right-footed past Louis Cruse, into the top-right corner for his 2nd goal of the game. Could we be going out of the FA Cup to lower league opposition?! 0-2.

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- 66mins: I change formation to 3-5-2, take off both full-backs and send on Yvo Lucas and Shane Westley. I reset the OIs and instruct hard tackles. Ince has picked up a minor knock, so I am not so keen to try and exploit the left wing now.

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- 67mins: I switch to Attacking and greater Fluidity, instructing Much Higher Tempo, a Higher Defensive Line and removing the Retain Possession call.
- 69mins: Ince takes a throw on the left and Powell pulls the ball back to Arthur Semka but his shot is wide of the near post.
- 71mins: From the right touchline, Calik plays a short pass infield to Shane Westley. Further infield passes to Semka and Ardean-Webb work the ball to the edge of the advanced edge of the centre-circle for Southampton, and then Tom Ince receives a low pass on the left-hand side. Davis has to leave his man, Andrew Powell, to challenge Ince’s forward charge, and is unable to prevent the cross - which turns out to be a shot that McEvoy manages to push into the side-netting at full stretch to prevent The Saints getting back into the game.
- 72mins: Phillip Kaminski passes forward to Calik from the right-hand side of the halfway line. First-time passes from Calik, backwards, Westley, diagonal-left, and Semka, into the inside-right channel, put Sercan CALIK in behind Nicholson and he shoots across McEvoy’s dive and into the far corner. 1-2.
- 72mins: Burnley have gone to 4-5-1 so I reset the OIs.
- 75mins: Cleary’s pass from his own half is held up by Kearney, with Reyes at his back, but the Mexican can’t prevent a chipped pass to Henderson who gets above Kevin Egan to bring the ball down, before shooting from just inside the Saints area - Louis Cruse pushing the ball onto the crossbar and behind for a corner.
- 78mins: Burnley strike the Southampton crossbar again, from McTominey’s free-kick deep on the right-hand side which floats over everyone and onto the woodwork.
- 80mins: Calik takes a throw on the left, deep inside the Southampton half. Kevin Egan send the ball long to find Yvo Lucas on the halfway line. He rolls the ball along the halfway-line to Andrew Powell and then sprints forward between Chappy and Iorfa to receive the return pass into the final third. As he makes his way into the penalty area in the inside-left channel, with Iorfa closing in, Yvo LUCAS maintains his composure to slot the ball left-footed past McEvoy to level the scores. 2-2.
- 90mins+2: Yellow card for Mark Ardean-Webb.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
BRADLEY KEARNEY (BURNLEY) - 8.8
Striker: 2 goals; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
Mixed feelings at full-time. We were abject in the first-half and worse still to go two goals down in the moments in-between my instructed tactical change and waiting for it to take effect. But to come back and earn a replay by employing a much more positive, attacking style of football is good and we have won domestic cups in the past where we needed replays in the early rounds against teams like Wrexham and, so at least we live to fight another day in the FA Cup. But I assert to the players that the overall performance was not good enough, and, to their credit, they unanimously agree.
 
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Saturday 21st January, 2023

The 5.5-million sale of George Carter to Manchester City has been completed. Not bad for a player who has never even played for the 1st team.

We now face two consecutive matches against Coventry City - the Capital One Cup Semi-Final 2nd leg and then our second Premier League encounter with them for this season - both at St. Mary’s. Then we’ll be at home again for the FA Cup 4th Round replay with Burnley.
 
Sunday 22nd January, 2023

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If we do manage to get past Burnley in Round 4 of the FA Cup, then we’ll be entertaining Newcastle United at St. Mary’s Stadium in Round 5.
 
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Sunday 22nd January, 2023

Preparation: 2nd LEG vs COVENTRY CITY (h)

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SAINTS: 1/6 (fav); Coventry: 10-1; Draw: 5-1.

1st LEG: COVENTRY CITY 1-3 SOUTHAMPTON

We have beaten the Sky Blues 4-3 and 3-1 so far this season - the latter being the lead with bring into this 2nd leg tie. We played 3-5-2 in both of those matches and will do so again. I was impressed with Yvo Lucas’s cameo at Turf Moor so will start with him on Tuesday night, although I have decided who will partner him yet. Andrew Powell is looking tired so it may be Christoffer Jorgensen.

Attacking Movement is once again the main focus of our training. They have scored 13 goals in the run-up to half-time so far this season, but are vulnerable during the middle of the first and towards the end of the second half. The squad depth comparison is strongly in favour of us, but if we under perform with a weakened team like we did at Burnley, then we could let ourselves down - so I will field more of a 1st team starting XI.
 
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Tuesday 24th January, 2023

Capital One Cup - Semi-Final, 2nd Leg
SOUTHAMPTON vs COVENTRY CITY
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 49,786

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SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Cruse in goal; Kevin Egan retains his place; Rutten and Radimov join him in the back-3; Marc Smulders replaces Tom Ince on the left; Kostas Kabastanakis comes in on the right, despite not being fully-fit; Westley, Stangoni and Pugliese line-up in the middle; Yvo Lucas is joined by Christoffer Jorgensen up-front; Jorginho, Semka and Idris are on the bench.

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Coventry - 4-4-2: Coventry centre-back John Egan is no relation of our Kevin; Nathaniel Chalobah is the pick of their midfielders; the Belgian forward Max Gauthier has 11 goals in all competitions so far this season.

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I assertively tell the players that they deserve a place in the Final and I expect them to go out their and make it happen!

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Southampton kick-off, attacking the Chapel End to the right.
- 1min: Shane Westley plays the ball to Giammarco Stangoni, who is moving from left to centre, and shoots from the edge of the D, curling it just wide of the right-hand post.
- 2mins: Moser passes to John Egan inside his own penalty area and the long-ball upfield bounces through to Max Gauthier, who strides through on-goal (as though he’s playing against England!) but shoots directly at Louis Cruse for an easy save.
- 5mins: Marc Smulders crosses from the left wing and Shane Westley gets his head to it, but is unable to get his effort on target, despite premature celebrations from Saints fans in some sections of the Kingsland Stand.
- 6mins: From halfway, Smulders finds Jorgensen midway inside the Coventry half, moving infield with John Egan trying to mark him. He makes his way to the centre and plays a short forward pass to Lucas, who has sprung the visitors’ offside trap. Scott Wootton manages to get a foot in, but Christoffer JORGENSEN smashes the loose ball high into the net from 14-yards. 1-0 (Agg: 4-1).
- 8mins: Jorgensen receives Westley’s pass midway inside the Coventry half and spins around Chalobak before passing left to Stangoni. The Italian glides past John Egan and evades Chalobah’s lunging challenge but his shot to the near post is comfortable for Fraser Forster. He rolls the ball out to Moser, but the former Manchester United full-back dwells on the ball and sends a panicked clearance out for an unnecessary corner. Kabastanakis sends it to the near post and Westley heads wide.
- 17mins: Yvo Lucas carries the Southampton attack into the final third, moving out to the right-wing and advancing to the byline until Vejnovic hacks his shin close to the corner flag. While Lucas is given treatment on the sidelines, his fellow Dutch international Kabastanakis sends the free-kick to the far side where Kevin Egan climbs above Thompson and sends a strong header over-the-bar.
- 18mins: The Coventry back-four are idle in possession and Lucas robs Thompson, enabling Jorgensen to shoot from the D, but Forster makes the save.
- 25mins: Yellow card for Dobrica Vejnovic - not before time!
- 28mins: Kevin Egan comes close again with another header from Kabastanakis’s left-wing corner, but it’s too high once more.
- 30mins: From the centre-circle, Shane Westley spreads the play to the right wing and over the halfway-line to Kostas Kabastanakis. He plays a diagonal forward pass to Stangoni in the middle, and his first-time pass finds Yvo Lucas, before receiving the return pass and finding Jorgensen to the left of the D. Moser gets his foot in but Stangoni is onto it, feeding Marc Smulders on the left of the area. His first-time pass finds Christoffer JORGENSEN on the corner of the 6-yard box, the Dane firing into the far top-corner off the prostrated body off Fraser Forster for his 24th goal of the season. 2-0 (Agg: 5-1).
- 35mins: Paterson charges down the right wing and crosses high into the area. Gauthier does well to get his head to it, but has to stretch and diverts his effort wide of the right-hand post. Then, a yellow card for Patrick Moser.
- 36mins: Coventry have not learned from their mistakes, Moser being caught in possession by Jorgensen on the Southampton left to feed Giammarco STANGONI who evades John Egan to thrash an angled shot past Forster at the near post. 3-0 (Agg: 6-1).
- 45mins+1: From the left corner of the Coventry penalty area, Stangoni feeds Smulders on the wing and from his high cross to the near post, Forster reacts quickly to deny Jorgensen his hat-trick with a smart save from the Dane’s firm header.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 3-0 COVENTRY CITY (Agg: 6-1)

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A confident first-half performance from The Saints. Christoffer Jorgensen is showing that he can operate well as a False-9 from the left side of the front two and he and Stangoni have linked-up well together, along with Westley, Smulders and Lucas. Coventry haven’t posed much of a threat and, barring a 5-goal comeback in the next 45 minutes, we are all but through to our sixth consecutive Capital One Cup Final, so I will look to withdraw a couple of senior players early in the second-half. I follow the advice of Mullers and forego the half-time team-talk so the players can go out with clear heads.

2nd Half Highlights
- 49mins: Neat approach play from The Saints puts Jorgensen into a scoring position but the flag goes up just as Forster makes the save.
- 51mins: Sergey Radimov controls a left-wing free-kick cross from Kabastanakis on the edge of the Coventry area, but his shot goes wide.
- 57mins: A long throw from Smulders is knocked down by Westley and Jorgensen, running from deep, strikes a shot wide at the left-hand post. Then, Jorginho steps off the bench to replace Giammarco Stangoni.
- 60mins: Paterson feeds Campbell in the inside-right channel for Coventry, and as Radimov comes across Campbell centres for Gauthier to head at goal from just behind the penalty spot, but his effort floats wide of Cruse’s left-hand post.
- 66mins: Gauthier lays the ball off to Campbell, who has dropped deep to make an angle for the pass to Paterson, who controls it well on the edge of the area with Smulders at his back, strides forward and fires wide of the far post. Then, Yvo Lucas has been carrying a knock since quite early on, so I remove him and send on Arthur Semka who will play as the Advanced Playmaker, Jorginho pushing forward to become the Advanced Forward.
- 74mins: Rutten, Pugliese and Semka work the ball forward to Jorginho and he squares to Jorgensen, 25-yards out. The Dane shoots left-footed, sending the ball narrowly over-the-bar while Forster can only watch it fly past his shoulder.
- 76mins: Southampton work the ball from right-to-left via Kabastanakis, on the right-angle between the halfway-line and the touchline, Pugliese, Semka, Jorgensen and Westley to free Marc Smulders on the left wing. He draws two defenders to himself before crossing to the near post. Jorginho controls it on the byline, with Forster having already sprawled himself to the ground, but Scott Wootton’s tackle prods the ball straight to Christoffer JORGENSEN just 4-yards from goal, allowing The Saints striker to complete his hat-trick with virtually an open goal. 4-0 (Agg: 7-1).
- 77mins: Perhaps in an attempt to define the term “Too little, too late”, Coventry swap to a 3-3-2-1-1 Christmas tree type of formation.
- 83mins: I decide to withdraw Roel Rutten, put Radimov into the Ball-Playing Defender role and put Tin Jedvaj on for the last 10 minutes or so.
- 87mins: Max Gauthier plays the ball to Murray, the two Coventry forwards surrounded by several Saints players, but Murray manages to play the return ball to Gauthier, running free of Kevin Egan to control the ball on the edge of the area and go round Louis Cruse, only for the sliding challenge of Tin Jedvaj to deny him on the 6-yard line, with the whole goal gaping before him.
- 90+1mins: The referee blows the final whistle to confirm that Southampton will face Manchester City in the Capital One Cup Final.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
CHRISTOFFER JORGENSEN (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.7
False-9_Support: 3 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
A very confident performance from the players and an outstanding performance from our talismanic striker, Christoffer Jorgensen. But we were impressive all over the park, with high ratings in all departments of the team. Kevin Egan did particularly well for such a young and inexperienced defender and was unlucky not to score, on two occasions. I calmly congratulate the players on reaching the Final.
 
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Tuesday 24th January, 2023

After picking up that knock during the first-half, Yvo Lucas will now be out for about a week.

Among the night’s seven Premier League fixtures, Leicester City and Birmingham City shared 10 goals between them at the King Power Stadium, with Birmingham’s Jakub Vejvoda finishing on the losing side despite scoring a hat-trick in a 7-3 victory for the home side. Portuguese striker Esmael Goncalves scored 4 goals for The Foxes and his team-mate Apostolos Vellios notched the other 3. Mirko Djurdjevic also bagged a treble in Manchester United’s 3-2 away win at Everton, in which both teams had a player sent-off. Manchester City inflicted Chelsea’s 3rd league defeat of the season upon them, by a convincing score of 3-0 - which helps our Premier League cause, but even if we were to win both of the two games we have in-hand over the West Londoner’s we would still be 6 points adrift of top spot.

It’s Coventry City at home for us again on Saturday, in the Premier League. I won’t feature the match preparation because it will be the same as last time.
 
Saturday 28th January, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 23
SOUTHAMPTON vs COVENTRY CITY
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 44,002

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Louis Cruse gets his 6th consecutive 1st team start, while Ibrahim competes in the African Nation’s Cup; Rutten, Reyes and Jedvaj are re-united in a strong looking back-3; Luke Shaw returns on the left, with Ardean-Webb, captain Stangoni, his fellow Italian Pugliese and the Belgian Calik across the midfield five; hat-trick hero Christoffer Jorgensen and the 20 year-old Kingsley Idris are up-front; Radimov, Westley and Powell are all on the bench.

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Coventry - 4-4-2: There was some pre-match speculation that the visitors might line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but they keep the same 4-4-2, and many of the same personnel who lost here on Tuesday night. We know that Max Gauthier has some attacking wits about him and links-up well with Callum Paterson and Sean Murray, but I don’t like to assign individual marking so I will leave the back-3 to deal with him.

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Normal tackles and “Pick up where you left-off last time” for the players who featured on Tuesday night; individual assertive encouragement for those who didn’t.

1st Half Highlights
- 1 sec: There’s light rain as The Saints kick-off, attacking the Northam End.
- 1min: It takes just 25 seconds for Christoffer Jorgensen to sting the palms of Fraser Forster with a low drive from outside the area, the former Southampton keeper spilling the ball to the left. Jorgensen latches onto the loose ball and plays it back to Calik on the right, John Egan clearing upfield from the cross.
- 2mins: Tin Jedvaj intercepts a Coventry clearance on the halfway-line and picks out Mark Ardean-Webb with a 20-yard diagonal pass. His short pass finds Giammarco Stangoni who turns it forward to Jorgensen, inside the D. Maguire clatters him from behind but Stangoni smashes a low shot to the bottom-left corner from 25-yards, forcing Forster to get down quickly and push the ball wide for a corner.
- 3mins: From the cleared corner, Mario Pugliese wins a good old-fashioned sliding 50-50 challenge with Scott Wootton to prevent a Coventry counter-attack.
- 5mins: Another Southampton corner is cleared but the ball is won back quickly and the attacking pressure is maintained. Sercan Calik receives a pass from Stangoni on the left wing and crosses to the 6-yard box where Kingsley Idris’s header goes over the angle of post and bar.
- 9mins: Max Gauthier tries a snapshot from distance, under close attentions from Roel Rutten, but the ball goes wide to the right.
- 10mins: Stangoni gets to the left-wing corner flag with two Coventry defenders close-by, and pulls the ball back to Ardean-Webb. He feeds Luke Shaw on the left of the box and from his cross, Jorgensen brings another save out of Forster with a header for another Saints corner.
- 11mins: Idris shoots from the D after some neat approach play, but it goes wide to the left.
- 17mins: Another long-range effort from Idris goes wide of the right-hand post.
- 18mins: Louis Cruse shows safe hands in catching Murray’s effort from a 25-yard free-kick.
- 22mins: Christie sends a right-wing corner low to the near post and John EGAN reacts quickest to get to the ball before Shaw and volley into the far corner from close range. 0-1.
- 26mins: Stangoni takes the game to Coventry by running at them from deep, before slipping the ball to Idris, but Maguire slides in to block his shot and deflect it wide for another corner.
- 29mins: Stangoni picks-off Christie’s loose pass on the right, inside the Coventry half, and passes to Pugliese before getting it back again from Mark Ardean-Webb, moving through the middle towards the left side of the D, but his shot is straight at Fraser Forster.
- 32mins: A similar move from Stangoni produces a stronger effort to the bottom-left corner, but Forster makes another save low-down to push it wide again. Idris heads into the side-netting from Calik’s near-post corner.
- 44mins: Callum Paterson heads over from Christie’s left-wing corner, for Coventry.
- 45mins+1: Stangoni plays a low pass over the halfway-line to Jorgensen who moves infield and passes to Kingsley Idris in space on the left. Idris takes on Moser, cutting inside the defender onto his right foot just outside the area, but being tripped inside the box by the recovering full-back. Neil Swarbrick awards a penalty to the home side. And Diego REYES comes up from the back to strike a fiercely hit shot past Forster’s left hand in the centre of the goal. 1-1.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 1-1 COVENTRY CITY

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Fraser Forster has been the best player on the park in the first-half, but the visitors have done quite well at defending deep to force us into long shots and winning many of our crosses. Hopefully, getting the goal back on the cusp of the break will compel the team to do better in the second-half, and I do my bit by assertively telling them that I’m not happy with what I have seen so far. Coventry have won a higher percentage of their tackles, so I instruct hard tackles.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: Jorgensen hits a shot on the turn which Forster saves to his right.
- 47mins: Forster has to push Stangoni’s cross from the left into the side-netting to prevent a freak goal. Chalobah heads away the resulting left-wing corner but Saints win the ball back and Calik wins another corner on the right-hand side. Ardean-Webb chests the cross down to Idris but his shot is smothered by a posse of defenders at the near post. Chalobah heads away again from Calik’s cross and Mark Ardean-Webb picks up a yellow card for a foul on Scott Wootton as he tries to retrieve the ball in midfield.
- 52mins: Shaw and Stangoni exchange passes on the left and Shaw sends in a low cross that flashes across Forster and has to be cleared off the line at the far post by Christie.
- 53mins: Shaw and Stangoni combine again on the left before the England man sends another cross over. Forster flaps at it at his near post, sending the ball up rather than away, but Jorgensen’s header from an acute angle goes into the side-netting with an open goal at his mercy.
- 58mins: Idris tries a snapshot but it threatens the right-wing corner flag more than the back of the Coventry net.
- 59mins: Forster plays a short goal-kick to the right-back Zac Thompson and with Idris coming to challenge, he plays the ball back infield to John Egan. But he dwells on the ball and then strikes the ball into Idris’s mid-riff, the striker latching onto the loose ball to the left of the area to hit a half-volley off Forster and onto the crossbar. Jorgensen goes for the rebound but gets bogged down between Egan and Maguire, the ball bouncing kindly into the arms of Forster.
- 60mins: Pugliese wins the ball back near halfway and Jorgensen wins another corner for The Saints on the right. Calik’s high cross to the centre is crashed against the Coventry crossbar for the second time in two minutes by Reyes’s header. Jorgensen comes out to the right to maintain Southampton possession and picks out Stangoni to the left of the D. His 20-yard effort whistles over-the-bar - “Coventry are having to withstand heavy pressure”.
- 61mins: Shane Westley comes on in place of Mark Ardean-Webb, who has been booked.
- 63mins: Luke Shaw takes a free-kick from deep on the left-hand side, and Stangoni’s glancing near-post header is spectacularly saved by Forster, pushing the ball wide of the far post.
- 67mins: After his own throw from the left-wing corner flag, Luke Shaw gets the ball back from Westley on the byline and crosses to the centre. Forster gets something on it under pressure from Jorgensen with Maguire also in the way, and the ball drops 10-yards out, where Roel RUTTEN slides in on Christie to prod the ball over the line for his 1st goal of the season. It’s a scrappy goal but with the way this match was going, we’ll take it! 2-1.
- 70mins: Idris twists right and then left to lose Egan before shooting from outside the area. Forster saves.
- 72mins: Pugliese heads the ball down to Stangoni inside the centre-circle and he volleys the ball forwards toward Jorgensen. Maguire intervenes by winning the aerial battle but Stangoni heads the loose ball into the middle for the Danish forward as he moves infield. As Coventry defenders converge on him, the ball pops loose to Idris by the penalty spot and he strikes the ball at Forster’s shin to spark a mad goalmouth scramble. The ball hits Thompson on the shoulder, dropping behind him to wrong-foot everyone and present Giammarco STANGONI with an easy finish from the 6-yard line, in the centre of the goal. 3-1.
- 73mins: As they did in the previous match, Coventry have switched to a 3-3-2-1-1 formation with Campbell as the lone frontman and Sean Murray in the No.10 role.
- 74mins: Forster, having caught a cross from Calik, rolls the ball out to Chalobah on the edge of his area. He passes infield to Christie who commits the same sin that so many of his team-mates have done during our recent encounters by holding onto the ball too long and allowing himself to be dispossessed by Shane Westley. Christoffer JORGENSEN’s 18-yard strike from the right of the D should serve as a lesson to the entire Sky Blues squad. The outstanding Fraser Forster is let down by his outfield team-mates. 4-1.
- 75mins: Coventry attack straight down the middle, Murray somehow managing to create a shooting chance for Campbell on the edge of the area despite a crowd of red shirts, but Cruse saves on his line.
- 77mins: Jorginho comes on for Stangoni and Andrew Powell replaces the uncharacteristically ineffective Kingsley Idris up-front. Jorgensen, still as False-9, will now switch to the left side of the attack with Powell on the right as the Advanced Forward. Reyes takes the captain’s armband.
- 84mins: A patient Coventry build-up creates a half-chance for Sean Murray from the edge of the area, but he shoots wide of the right-hand post.
- 90mins+1: Three corners in quick succession from the left lead to a goalmouth scramble in which Westley bundles the ball towards goal only for Christie to get something in the way. Jorgensen’s follow-up volley close to the left-hand post is brilliantly parried by Forster and Sean Murray makes two very risky challenges to see the ball out of the area - moments before Mr Swarbrick calls time on a miserable week on the South Coast for Coventry City.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
LUKE SHAW (SOUTHAMPTON) - 8.7
Wide Midfielder - Left_Support: 0 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
An excellent second-half performance, not for its fluency so much as for the determination that the players showed in mounting constant pressure on the Coventry goal to find a way past Fraser Forster and eventually break the spirit of the Sky Blues. Luke Shaw was our best player on the day, creating multiple opportunities with his crosses and stretching the visitors with his charging forward runs. Stangoni was below par until he scored, likewise Jorgensen, and Idris couldn’t get into the game with Coventry defending so deep. But we ground out a good win, so I tell the players that it was a good win.
 
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Saturday 28th January, 2023

Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-0 in the lunch-time kick-off at Old Trafford. Birmingham City, who conceded 7 last time out at Leicester, went one better this week by only conceding half-a-dozen at Goodison Park in a 1-6 reverse to Everton. Chelsea got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory at bottom-of-the-table and all-but-relegated Wigan Athletic. But there was a surprise defeat for Manchester City at Carrow Road, where Norwich City triumphed 3-1, Urosev scoring in the last minute to make scoreline slightly more respectable for the Citizens.

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In South Africa, Buti Ndou plays 90 minutes for the hosts as they win 3-1 against Zambia to go top of African Nations’ Cup Group C. Abdel Aziz Ibrahim’s Egypt drew 2-2 yesterday with Ghana, meaning they have to beat Zambia and hope that South Africa beat Ghana in the final group games on Tuesday to remain in the competition.
 
Sunday 29th January, 2023

Preparation vs BURNLEY (h)

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SAINTS: 1/8; Burnley: 12/1; Draw: 5/1.

Javi Rico suggests concentrating on Defending Set-Pieces in training for this FA Cup 4th Round replay. They played 4-4-2 against us in the original match but have been more successful this season with 4-2-3-1. They tend to score goals towards the end of the first-half, but concede them in the last 15mins. Bradley Kearney, who scored both of their goals in the 2-2 draw last week, is on-loan from Manchester City - one of four loanees playing regularly within a very small first team squad.
 
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Tuesday 31st January, 2023

The transfer window slams shut this evening. I have declined to take part in the Sky Sport News festivities - though I’m surprised they even asked me given that we’re playing our FA Cup Replay against Burnley tonight. Elias Migliorini and Sercan Calik have both attracted deadline day offers from Bayern Munich and Chelsea respectively; there is little chance of me selling good players to rival European and domestic clubs but absolutely none if the offers are barely worth more than the current valuation of the player and are loaded with payments spread over many months. I respond by labelling the players Indispensable to the club, which is the squad listing that already applied to both of them.

Bayern have won 8 of the last 10 Bundesliga titles and are on course to win another this season. VfB Stuttgart interrupted their dominance by claiming the 2020 and 2021 titles before Die Bayern won it again last season, and with VfB having fallen away this term, Hamburg are the main challengers, some 8 points behind Pep Guardiola’s team.

Rob Tokaya definitely won’t play against us for Vitesse now, because he has become a Chelsea player after completing a 14.25-million switch from Arnhem to West London. That seems a ridiculously low amount given that he’s rated at 36-million, although I don’t know what his contract situation was at Vitesse. Hopefully, the blow of losing their best player will undermine the confidence of the Vitesse players when we face them in two weeks.

Waleed Farhan, the versatile Bahrainian attacking midfielder who I personally scouted playing for Real Betis earlier in the season but wasn’t convinced by, has gone to Porto for 16.75-million.
 
Tuesday 31st January, 2023

FA Cup - 4th Round Replay
SOUTHAMPTON vs BURNLEY
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 49,972

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SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Louis Cruse in goal; Radimov, Rutten and Kaminski across the back-3; Tom Ince returns on the left, with Kabastanakis on the right; Jorginho replaces Stangoni as Advanced Playmaker with Westley and Pugliese providing the muscle on either side of him; Andrew Powell comes in for Jorgensen and Kingsley Idris’s punishment for not scoring against Coventry is to play against Burnley; Kevin Egan, Dragan Hrustic are both on the bench, as is Jay Rodriguez who could get a run-out against his former club.

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Burnley - 4-3-1-2: Peter McEvoy played quite well in goal during the first match; the centre-backs Chappy and Iorfa give you chances through the middle; the forwards, Kearney and Butler, have Premier League futures ahead of them.

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Normal tackles are instructed and the team-talk almost goes too well, the players showing some signs of over-confidence as they take to the pitch.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: The visitors get this FA Cup 4th Round Replay underway, attacking the Chapel End to the right, in their changed kit of all-white with claret trim.
- 10mins: An errant pass out from the back by Alex Nicholson, the Burnley skipper, presents the ball to Kingsley Idris who turns infield to unleash an effort from 25-yards that flies across goal and wide.
- 12mins: Iorfa heads Idris’s cross from the left-hand byline over his own crossbar to deny Andrew Powell an opportunity in-front of goal. Phillip Kaminski runs from deep to connect with Kostas Kabastanakis’s cross at the back post but his header is inches wide of the right-hand post.
- 18mins: With players pushed forward for a left-wing throw, Ince brings the ball infield to keep the attack alive, passing to Sergey Radimov who gets hold of a right-footed half-volley that Peter McEvoy has to dive low to his left-hand post to push wide for another Saints corner.
- 22mins: A right-wing corner from Kabastanakis is headed narrowly wide at the far post by Roel Rutten.
- 26mins: Kostas Kabastanakis hits the Burnley crossbar with a 25-yard free-kick just behind the D. Chappy gets to the rebound first and clears into touch.
- 33mins: Kabastanakis takes another corner on the right, sending the ball over McEvoy’s head and onto the top of the crossbar. Radimov retrieves the clearance and crosses, right-footed, from the left wing onto the head of Andrew Powell who can’t quite wrap his neck muscles around it, making for an easy save for McEvoy.
- 34mins: Westley, Ince and Jorginho play triangles on the left wing, until Jorginho advances on a diagonal run towards the Burnley box and slips a short pass to the left for Idris. The striker shows neat feet to twist past Iorfa and shoots narrowly wide of the left-hand post with a powerful rising shot.
- 40mins: Powell heads wide from a Kabastanakis free-kick, deep on the right.
- 43mins: Adam Butler, Burnley’s on-loan Manchester City forward, has to be replaced after a heavy challenge from Mario Pugliese in midfield. Vlada Milojkovic, who’s Swedish, comes on.
- 45mins+3: Kingsley Idris heads into the side-netting from another Kabastanakis corner, in the last action of the first-half.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-0 BURNLEY

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An underwhelming first-half, but we have had more of the ball and created most of the chances. Our set-pieces have not been good enough, so we’ll have to work on them again soon. Having said that, Burnely have not had any shots yet. I inform the players that their performance is not good enough and get a positive response.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: Southampton get the second-half underway and go straight on the attack. Pugliese finds Kabastanakis on the right-wing and he holds it up before clipping a pass forwards to Kingsley Idris in the inside-right channel. Idris controls the ball and turns past Samuel Chappy to get into the penalty area and shoots low to the near post, McEvoy crouching to get his body in the way at the expense of a corner.
- 50mins: Vetere draws two Saints players towards him and passes forward to Milojkovic whose diagonal run from the right towards the D evades Sergey Radimov, resulting in the Russian pulling on the Swede’s shirt. Lee Mason brandishes the yellow card when the red might have been more appropriate…
- 51mins: Cleary’s 25-yard free-kick is saved by Curse, low to his left in the centre of goal.
- 52mins: In a sudden attack of the Coventries, Davis gets caught in possession well-inside his own half by Shane Westley, sending Idris into his preferred inside-left channel. His angled shot is well-struck and McEvoy can only parry it back to the Saints striker, reacting with sharp reflexes to complete an excellent double-save from Idris’s second effort, enabling Henderson to clear from the penalty spot.

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- 53mins: I put the team on an attacking stance with greater fluidity, and alter the Team Instructions to raise the tempo and be more expressive.
- 54mins: From centre-field, Roel Rutten lifts a high ball out to Tom Ince on the left-wing, and the former Blackpool man beats Davis on his run into the penalty area before squaring to Kingsley Idris who shoots directly at McEvoy from the 6-yard line, wasting a golden opportunity to open the scoring. Nicholson smashes the loose ball into row ZZ.
- 55mins: Radimov crosses from the left-corner of the area, and Iorfa heads it away. Radimov bundles into the loose ball effectively enough to knock the ball down to Jorginho and his lob is well-caught by McEvoy.
- 65mins: An apparent tackling amnesty enables Burnley to work their way through the midfield, with Kearney and substitute Iain Vigurs finding Milojkovic, whose back-heel plays Bradley Kearney into freedom through the centre of Southampton’s defence. With just the keeper to beat, he shoots from the edge of the D, bringing a flying save out of Louis Cruse, diving to his left. Then, Jorginho plays Tom Ince in at the byline, left of goal. With three defenders around him his attempted square pass to Idris is blocked but he manages to force it back to Jorginho, the Brazilian finding Idris and then react quickest when the striker goes to ground to hit a near post shot. McEvoy pushes it onto the post and it squirms out behind him to travel across the open goal, but Nicholson gets to it before Kabastanakis and clears the ball to Vetere.
- 66mins: Neither of the forwards are playing very well, but I decide to withdraw Powell and send Jay Rodriguez on to try and get a winner against his former club.
- 77mins: Ince and Jorginho combine down the left and the Brazilian crosses to the centre where Jay Rodriguez wins the header on the 6-yard line but can’t get it on target.
- 78mins: Oliver Vetere injures himself while passing back to his keeper from halfway and is taken off to be replaced by Peter White. Burnley change to a 4-5-1 formation, so I reset the OIs.
- 79mins: Mark Ardean-Webb replaces Shane Westley in midfield. Tom Ince takes the captain’s armband.
- 83mins: Idris takes a throw from an advanced position on the left, sending the ball into the area. Rodriguez climbs above two defenders to head the ball down to Mark ARDEAN-WEBB who thrashes a left-foot volley across goal into the far bottom corner. An excellent strike from a promising young player! 1-0.
- 84mins: Burnley go back to their original 4-3-1-2 formation.

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- 85mins: I switch to 4-4-1-1, with Jay Rodriguez going into the Shadow Striker role, Radimov to right-back and Dragan Hrustic coming on at left-back, with Kingsley Idris leaving the field after another disappointing performance. We’re going to play Controlled and Balanced, with the emphasis on retaining possession.
- 89mins: Radimov plays the ball out to Kabastanakis on the right-wing, and he holds onto it long enough for Mario Pugliese to make a late run into the area, a diagonal through ball playing him in on the edge of the box. Kabastanakis goes for the return and gets it and then whips the ball back into the near post, inside the 6-yard box. Pugliese’s heavy touch to control becomes a shot, deflecting in off the unfortunate McEVOY for an own goal. 2-0.
- 90mins+2: Cleary tests Cruse again with another free-kick, but to no avail.
- 90mins+3: Southampton will face Newcastle United in the 5th Round.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
MARK ARDEAN-WEBB (SOUTHAMPTON) - 8.0
Deep-Lying Playmaker_Defend: 1 goal; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
It wasn’t a great performance but we got there in the end and only let Burnley in a couple of times, when they were unable to capitalise. It was a great goal by Mark Ardean-Webb but the fact he wins the Man of the Match award says more about how little the majority of our players achieved in this match. Burnley’s 4-3-1-2 system has proven difficult for us to break down at times; poor finishing cost us the rest of the time. But we won, so I calmly tell the players well done and leave it at that.
 
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Wednesday 1st February, 2023

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Mullers has praise for the January efforts in training of Tin Jedvaj, Christoffer Jorgensen and Kingsley Idris. But Luke Shaw and Diego Reyes are both criticised by my Assistant Manager, so I change their training routines for this month.

There’s not much Saintly love in the various player, manager and goal awards for the first month of the new year, but Nicolas Cruz is still earning rave reviews for his performances with Charlton Athletic, in League One, where he has averaged a rating of 7.72 from 20 league matches. He is voted 3rd in the division’s Player of the Month award, and 2nd in the Young Player category. Craig Jones takes 3rd spot in the Young Player of the Month award in the Skrill Premier, where he is playing for Ebbsfleet United.

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Sitting in my office, I catch up with yesterday’s goings on in the African Nation’s Cup via BT Sport’s replayed coverage of the tournament. Buti Ndou plays his third full match of the tournament, for his 52nd cap, but ends on the losing side as South Africa suffer a 1-3 defeat to Ghana. Egypt, who needed a win, could only get a 1-1 draw with Zambia, so Abdel Aziz Ibrahim will be returning to the club early. A 5th minute red card for Mohammed Salah massively undermined Egypt’s chances against a Zambia side that were playing for pride after defeats in both of their first two Group C matches. Ghana and South Africa advance to the Quarter-Finals.

In the Premier League, Manchester City beat Leeds United 4-2 at the Etihad.
 
Wednesday 1st February, 2023

Preparation vs SWANSEA CITY (a)

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Swansea: 4/1; SAINTS: 4/7; Draw: 5/2.

We are currently unbeaten in 19 matches, a run that began with the 3-0 win at home to FC Lorient on 22nd November and has included 13 clean sheets. Swansea City are currently in 13th position in the Premier League, having struggled to put together any kind of consistent form all season - although given that they only survived relegation on the final day of last season, when our very own Andrew Powell scored for the winner in an unlikely 1-0 victory over the Champions Manchester United, prior to his 16-million transfer to us last summer. In the previous meeting with The Swans this season, we romped to a 6-0 win at St. Mary’s, which included a Christoffer Jorgensen hat-trick.

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Gianfranco Zola prefers the 5-3-2 system with wing-backs. They tend to score more goals in the second-half of matches but also concede more then, too. A lot of the assists against them are from the No.10 area, so Stangoni could be a major influence on the came for us, advancing into that area with his surging runs from deep. The squad comparison is bad from their perspective, but they also have several injured and exhausted players in their ranks at the moment, 3 days before our match, so the fact that I have rotated some of our key players out during the two double-headers with Coventry and Burnley to keep them fresh should put us in a very strong position when we get to the Liberty Stadium.
 
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Thursday 2nd February, 2023

I make one change to our registered squad for the Champions League by including Marc Smulders. The space in the squad must be due to the absence of either Billy Roberts or Carl Storrie, one of whom was probably included in the original squad before being loaned out. Arthur Semka is not included - he’ll have to wait until next season. Vivian Rolland is also left out, because he’ll be returning to Saint Etienne when his loan expires in mid-March.
 
Friday 4th February, 2023

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James Ward-Prowse returns to full training after being out for 3 months with a broken ankle. I will have to put him in the U21s for a couple of matches to bring him back to full fitness, though. But as one returns, another is lost. Sergey Radimov has suffered a broken foot in training and will miss the rest of the season. That’s a major blow, although we do have enough players already at the club to cover - we survived when Rutten was out for so long, after all.
 
Saturday 5th January, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 24
SWANSEA CITY vs SOUTHAMPTON
Liberty Stadium, Swansea; Att: 32,684

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Abdel Aziz Ibrahim is still travelling back from South Africa after Egypt’s early elimination from the African Nations’ Cup, so Louis Cruse will make his 16th appearance of the season; with half-an-eye on Tuesday’s tricky trip to Chelsea - Phillip Kaminski joins Diego Reyes and Tin Jedvaj at the back; Tom Ince comes back into the side; Mark Ardean-Webb and Shane Westley occupy the two more defensive midfield positions; Arthur Semka gets a surprise start in the Advanced Playmaker berth; Kostas Kabastanakis is on the right of midfield; Andrew Powell starts as the False-9 against his former club; Kingsley Idris also starts up-front; Jorginho, Pinho and Jorgensen are among the substitutes.

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Swansea - 5-3-2: Benjamin Siegrist conceded 6 the last time we played Swansea; Ognjen Vranjes has 60 caps for Bosnia & Herzegovina; Ashley Hanford is the only Welshman in The Swans’ squad; former Arsenal youngster Dan Crowley is a creative influence from midfield; striker Lukas Spalvis has 22 goals for Lithuania; substitute Peter Bailey is recovering from injury but has been highly-rated by our scouts.

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Normal tackles and I tell the players to pick up where they left-off last time.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: The Saints get us underway, attacking from right-to-left.
- 6mins: Shane Westley plays the ball forward to Kingsley Idris, who just outside the Swansea are with a line of five Swansea defenders goal side of him. He slips the ball inside the left wing-back, Tottle, to play Kostas Kabastanakis through, but Steven Caulker throws himself in the way of the low shot to deflect it wide for a corner - which he then heads into touch.
- 7mins: A goal that perfectly demonstrates what I have been saying in the Tactics thread, earlier today: from a Saints throw on the right, midway inside the Swansea half, the ball is played to Semka who hits a low cross-field pass to Tom Ince on the opposite wing. With the lob-sided Swansea defence still out of position, he has time to enter the penalty area before swinging a high cross back over the other side where Andrew POWELL strikes a right-footed volley inside the far post for a goal against his former club. Reminiscent of Marco van Basten in the Final of the 1988 European Championships for the Netherlands vs USSR. 1-0.
- 12mins: A high tempo passing move by Southampton near the left corner of the penalty area provides the opportunity for an inswinging right-foot cross. The ball swerves towards goal and over a cluster of players, including Siegrist, to drop into the net - but it’s ruled out for a push in the 6-yard box by Powell. Then Westley flicks on a header from Phillip Kaminski and Powell, with his back to goal, lays it back to Semka. The young Russian’s side-foot pass splits the defence and Kingsley Idris runs onto it to shoot left-footed - but his shot is wide of the left-hand post.
- 14mins: From the centre-circle, Ashley Hanford angles a 35-yard pass to Spalvis on the Swansea right. He controls it, gets into the area and steps around the challenge of Jedvaj to cross to the back post. Phillips beats Kaminski in the air to get a firm header on target from 6-yards, but Louis Cruse pulls off a miraculous reflex save to push the ball over-the-bar and onto the roof of the net - to the disbelief of the Liberty Stadium faithful.
- 19mins: Idris goes around Vranjes on the left of the Swansea area but his shot is wide of the near post.
- 32mins: From a cleared left-wing corner, Arthur Semka picks the ball up in midfield and plays it to Idris in the area, to the left. He lays it back to Kabastanakis whose first-time cross finds Semka in space 9-yards out. His low shot to the far corner is brilliantly saved by Benjamin Siegrist, diving low to his left.
- 38mins: An out-swinging corner from Kostas Kabastanakis from the right is won in the air by Phillip Kaminski on the 6-yard line, at the far post. He sends the ball towards the opposite post where Kingsley IDRIS jumps between two defenders to head Southampton into a 2-goal lead. 2-0.
- 40mins: Another corner for The Saints falls kindly for Tin Jedvaj but his half-volley is blocked.
- 41mins: A poor cross-field clearance by Caulker is intercepted by Ince, midway inside the Swansea half. He advances few yards and plays the ball square to Semka who slides a low pass into the inside-left channel. Kingsley Idris ghosts in behind two defenders to latch onto it but Siegrist reacts quickly to parry the shot, allowing Vranjes to scramble the ball clear.
- 45mins: Kabastanakis sends over another right-wing corner which Connolly has to head away for another, from under his own crossbar. From the next delivery, Kaminski again sends the ball across goal but Mark Ardean-Webb is unable to hit the target with his own header from an acute angle.

HALF-TIME: SWANSEA CITY 0-2 SOUTHAMPTON

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Louis Cruse has made one excellent save to keep Swansea out but other than that, it’s been all Saints. I was beginning to get concerned about Kingsley Idris’s lack of recent goalscoring form but he has notched one here and looked dangerous throughout the half. We have the beating of them in the air at set-pieces and Semka is doing well in the Advanced Playmaker role, preferring to sit a little deeper and let his passes do the talking. Swansea have made two changes at the break and are matching up against us now, with a 3-5-2 formation of their own. I reset the Opposition Instructions and tell the players that they are playing well but are capable of even better.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: Arthur Semka rides a tackle from Caulker in midfield before passing to Powell on the right. He advances into the area but shoots wide of the near post with defenders trying to catch-up with him.
- 47mins: Yellow card for Phillip Kaminski, for Southampton.
- 52mis: Swansea make their third and final substitution by bringing on Peter Bailey, who is not fully-fit after recent injury.
- 60mins: From the left-hand side, Jedvaj plays a low angled pass to Ardean-Webb on the left corner of the area. Vranjes makes a rash lunge which Ardean-Webb easily side-steps and slides a short pass infield to Idris. He lets it run to Andrew POWELL and the former Swansea striker sweeps the ball past Siegrist with a poorly-struck shot. 3-0.
- 62mins: The Saints quickly regain possession from the restart and Kingsley Idris draws a foul from Vranjes to the left of the penalty area, in the right-angle between the edge of the box and the byline. Kabastanakis crosses and Tin Jedvaj send s left-foot volley from 16-yards narrowly over-the-bar.
- 63mins: A deflected cross from deep on the right by Powell lands on the top of the crossbar and goes behind for a corner.
- 66mins: Westley’s chipped forward pass is volleyed by Idris to Powell, on the edge of the D. He steps to the right of Caulker and lets fly from 25-yards but Siegrist makes the catch.
- 67mins: Jorginho comes on to give Kingsley Idris a rest in the Advanced Forward position.
- 68mins: Siegrist has to push the ball over at his top-right corner after a free-kick from deep by Kabastanakis almost flies directly in…
- 69mins: …Tin JEDVAJ runs from deep to meet Kabastanakis’s left-wing corner with a looping header from 16-yards that drops inside the near post. Dan Crowley would have cleared it had he remained on the post. Jedvaj’s 2nd goal of the season. 4-0.
- 70mins: Kevin Egan comes on to give Diego Reyes a rest, in the back-3.
- 71mins: Shane Westley plays a square pass to Mark Ardean-Webb, midway inside Swansea’s half. He feeds Jorginho in the box and the Brazilian skips around White and Vranjes to get into the left-corner of the 6-yard box, but Siegrist parries at the near post, Connolly clearing into touch on the far side.
- 72mins: Swansea break down the right with Connolly, who passes infield to Tankovic - one of five Swans players pouring forward. Bailey receives a short pass and he picks out Spalvis, unmarked by the D, with a chipped pass. Spalvis brings it down with his right foot and shoots with his left, but Louis Cruse makes an acrobatic stop to maintain Southampton’s 4-goal lead.
- 77mins: Westley makes a well-timed slide tackle on Phillips to deny a goalscoring chance after a near-post corner from Dan Crowley.
- 83mins: James Ward-Prowse will play the last 10 minutes as he makes his return from long-term injury. Mark Ardean-Webb makes way.
- 89mins: A foul by Peter Bailey on Arthur Semka, after the Russian had turned him inside-out with a quick turn, puts the young Saint out of the match. We’ll finish the game with 10 men.
- 90mins+2: The counter-attack is on for Swansea but Spalvis’s infield pass clips the heels of Shane Westley - and secures Louis Cruse’s clean sheet.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
KOSTAS KABASTANAKIS (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.1
Wide Midfielder (Right)_Support: 0 goals; 2 assists.

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VERDICT:
As in the first-half, Louis Cruse was only called into action once in the second-45 and was equal to the shot. Other than that, we controlled the whole match. Arthur Semka played well in the centre of midfield in the Advanced Playmaker role. Kabastanakis was dangerous with his set-piece deliveries and Andrew Powell punished his former team with two goals. The defence was solid and Tin Jedvaj earned his goal, having gone close with a couple of other chances earlier on. A well-earned win that will further enhance our goal difference. I tell the players that I’m very happy with the result and their performance.
 
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Saturday 4th February, 2023

Arthur Semka will be out for two weeks with a thigh strain, after the foul from Peter Bailey put him out close to the end of the Swansea match.

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Noe Engel, the Paris Saint-Germain right-winger that I was interested in signing, sneakily become a Manchester United player while I wasn’t looking and has scored on his debut in a 4-0 win at home to Norwich City. They paid 15.25-million for him. Chelsea won 3-1 against Tottenham at Cole Stadium, in the early kick-off. Manchester City drew 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield in the evening game. Arsenal, meanwhile, beat Everton 2-1 for their first Premier League win in five matches. So we are 4th with 55 points from 24 matches, which gives us two games in-hand over the Manchester clubs ahead of us - enough to overtake them both - but still at least 6 points adrift of Chelsea… who we play next!
 
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