Rickie Lambert - New beginnings

Austin wins goal of the month
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I pick up my phone and dial the number, looking out of my window, watching the U21's train.

"hello?"

"Hi Charlie, Its Rickie here, how ya doing?"

"Yeah not bad Gaffer, whats up?"

"Just thought I'd ring and congratulate you on winning goal of the month, you keep banging goals like that in and you will be a hero here in no time"

"Cheers boss, I cant wait to score a few more"

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Southampton 2 - 2 Swansea​

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When your lucks out.. its really out... What a game though. A reasonably quiet affair until the 77th minute when Borini capitalised on an awful mistake from Jose Fonte to edge Swansea ahead. Some quick thinking and a substitution later, Juanmi levelled the scores, prodding home after the keeper spilled a Steven Davis long shot. Just as it was looking like a point would be all we were getting from the game, a wonderful James Ward-Prowse free kick deflected in off of Michu for an own goal and what would surely be a late winner. And yet much to my fury Swansea equalised in the 98th minute, when there were only supposed to be 4 minutes of added time, Ki Sung-Yeung scoring from a free kick. Overall a very satisfying display where we dominated both chances and possession but our luck remains out. The icing on the cake of misfortune being the injury to Virgil Van Dijk who will be out for a week and will miss our Europa League game.
RoPS 1 - 3 Southampton​

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A very comfortable win against poor opposition in the Europa League to get our campaign off to a winning start. Mane and Ward-Prowse were both superb as we found ourselves 3-0 up within 35 minutes. After that we seemed to lose interest in the match a little bit and strolled home to victory This wasnt helped by Ward-Prowse and Dusan Tadic being withdrawn at half time to save them for the big Premiership match on Sunday against Leicester. Ryan Bertrand picked up a slight knock in the 2nd half and will be out for a week which means Matty Targett will have to stand in in the next game or two.
 
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Long unhappy at Saints
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Sky sources understand that Shane Long is quickly becoming disillusioned with life at St Mary's stadium and wants to leave for a chance of more first team football. Long, 27, who signed from Hull City in a £12 million deal 14 months ago, is believed to b willing to take a pay cut to force a move from Southampton. There has been no official statement from the Saints as of yet.
 
tough luck at far mate.. gelling period for the players?
or is it your tactic you need to look at once more?
try getting narrow.. a 4-1-3-1-1 maybe?
 
Leicester 0 - 4 Southampton​

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As the full time whistle blew I jumped out of my seat in the technical area and punched the air, this was a massive, massive win for both myself and the club and you could feel the tension leave St Mary's.

In my own opinion it had been coming, some impressive performances not translating into results and some plain bad luck had marred the opening of the campaign but this was at last a sign of what we can really do. We were 3-0 within 20 minutes, a Wanyama screamer from outside the area opening our account. Charlie Austin then tapped in following a goalmouth scramble for his 5th Saints goal and Sadio Mane scored a good solo effort to make it three. James Ward-Prowse took advantage of some dodgy defending to make it 4-0 shortly after half time and Leicester never had a sniff of getting into the game. A fantastic performance and a great 3 points.

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xtremeRED said:
tough luck at far mate.. gelling period for the players?
or is it your tactic you need to look at once more?
try getting narrow.. a 4-1-3-1-1 maybe?
Click to expand...

Cheers bud, I think its a bit of both. My tactic was supposed to be an evolution of the ChristianEriksen 4231, but my spin on it wasnt working, so time to go back to basics! the players do need more time though, as its still last years game all of the Koeman signings like Pelle, Tadic, Bertrand and Long are all new, along with This years real life signings like Juanmi, Clasie, Cedric and Caulker, along with my signings of Van Dijk, Austin and the like.. Going to take a lot of gelling!
 
West Brom 0 - 2 Southampton ​

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Another good result against tough opposition but we definitely could have done without the extra time. A close match we just about edged burst into life in extra time as the game became stretched and end to end. Steven Davis continued his fine form as he curled his free kick into the top corner. Cedric then sealed the deal with a cool penalty to put us into the 4th round. Speaking of the 4th round, here is the draw..

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Southampton 5 - 2 Stoke​

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This was yet another huge, huge win for the club and a sign that the tactics and players were really starting to gel. A truly dreadful start saw us 2-0 down after just 24 minutes but a true poachers effort from Charlie Austin saw us hit back immediately and then that man again Steven Davis brought us level. At half time the score remained 2-2 and I felt the momentum in the match was there to be seized so I pumped the lads up and sent them back out. It was Charlie Austin that finally found the breakthrough in the 70th minute to edge us ahead. James Ward-Prowse then made it comfortable before Juanmi finished the job.
 
September Review

A fantastic month for the club see's us surge up the table. A winning start in Europe, Progressing in the Capital One Cup and 7 points out of 9 in the Premier League is a very satisfactory return.
League Table​
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Player of the month​

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James Ward-Prowse has had a fine month. 4 goals and 2 assists were topped off by a first England call up and debut against the USA.


A look ahead to October

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A very tough looking month coming up which will see how far we have really come. Premier League matches against Man City and Arsenal and Europa League matches against Sporting and Celtic could be crucial to our competitiveness in both competitions.
 
Southampton 3 - 0 Sporting​

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A tense opening half quickly opened up into a dominant performance from us, even if we did need a little bit of help to get the breakthrough. Capel's own goal set us on our way before a well worked set piece results in Caulker notching his first for the club. Charlie Austin then made it secure late on, continuing his wonderful spell in front of goal.
 
I sighed as I read the latest physio report. Both Cedric and Virgil Van Dijk would be out for several weeks. Nothing was ever simple was it. On top of that I had Shane Long, and now Graziano Pelle in my ear about lack of playing time. Pelle is a player that I really didnt want to lose, but how can I not select Charlie when he is scoring as freely as he is.

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Man City 3 - 0 Southampton​

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A considerable bump down to earth as we lost heavily to Man City. Overall I wasn't overly disappointed with the way we played but City just had that lethal quality that we didn't. Jesus Navas claimed man of the match and was just too much for us to handle.
Injury News​
Sadio Mane returned from international duty with a damaged foot and would miss out the next fortnight. He joined Van Dijk and on the injury list, however Cedric was now back in full training though unlikely to be risked against West Brom.

Southampton 3 - 1 West Brom​
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A heavily rotated squad went out to face West Brom with Juanmi, Jay Rodriguez, Niklas Stark, Cuco Martina and Steven Davis all lining up. We wasted little time in seizing the initiative as Charlie Austin thumped us ahead early on. Dusan Tadic kept his nerve to convert from the penalty spot and double our lead before Steven Davis poked him to make it 3-0. Conceding late on was a little frustrating but nothing more troublesome as we returned to winning ways.
Celtic 2 - 1 Southampton
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A very frustrating night in Scotland saw the first defeat of our Europa League campaign to Celtic. After a tight first half a Jose Fonte own goal saw Celtic ahead. Ciftci then scored a powerful header to double Celtics lead before Charlie Austin gave us a glimmer of hope, but the comeback wasn't to be.
Arsenal 5 - 1 Southampton​
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Ok.. So we got absolutely battered by Arsenal. In undoubtedly the lowest moment of my managerial career so far, we were 5-0 down by 40 minutes in. I tore a strip off of the lads at half time and Charlie Austin tried his best to get us back into the game with an early goal in the 2nd half but Arsenal were just too good.
Southampton 3 - 0 West Ham​
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A great win for the team as the kids got a run out. Jack Stephens, Harrison Reed and Matt Targett all featured and all played well as we thumped West Ham 3-0. Steven Davis continued his fine form by netting the opener. By far the most important factor in the game was a goal for Graziano Pelle. The big Italian has been in woeful form recently and that goal could be just what he needs!
 
October Review​

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Kind of a mixed bag this month with 3 wins and 3 losses. The win against Sporting was a personal highlight that meant we went temporarily top of our Europa League group. Big losses to Man City and Arsenal were expected and we were disappointing against Celtic, but the Win against West Ham means we are still involved in every competition we entered, so it could be a lot worse!
Tables​
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Player of the month​
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Charlie Austin has been almost unplayable of late and claims the Saints player of the month award after scoring 4 goals in his last 4 games.

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Players in danger​
Now the season is under-way fully it is time to look at some players who really haven't impressed. Top of the list is Shane Long. Shane is really not a first choice starter in my team but has done nothing but complain about lack of football for the last month. I cant afford for an unhappy player to be taking up 50k a week in wages, so he will be shipped out in January.

Jay Rodriguez is another player who has failed to impress. Having featured 11 times this season for the first team, he is yet to register a goal and has only provided 3 assists. He has fallen well down the pecking order and yet again for a player on 40k a week and worth £10 million, he is too expensive and not good enough as back up. Unless something drastic happens he will be another departure in January.

Graziano Pelle is a tricky one. The Italian hitman has been poor this season, managing three goals and two assists from 11 appearances. While he is a good player that I like having at the club, he is starting to complain about lack of game time. There is no way he is getting into the team ahead of Austin at the moment so is it worth the risk of keeping an unhappy player at the club? another possible 40k in wages to be saved and a transfer fee that could rise about £10 million.

Jose Fonte is my final dilemma. Fonte is one of my all time favourite players and a fantastic centre back but he has just lost his way this season. 9 starts in the Premier league means he has played in every match but has only achieved an average rating of 6.7. He is another player who would not be happy if he wasn't playing but has Van Dijk, Caulker, Yoshida and even young Jack Stephens snapping at his heels. He has been a fantastic servant to the club and the fact he is Captain will be taken into account, but unless he picks his form up, his time is running out.

A look ahead to November​
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A mixed month again where I feel the tight games will decide how good the month is going to be. The Everton fixture looks key along with Celtic in the Europa league.
 
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Southampton 0 - 1 Sunderland​

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A dreadful result against Sunderland and to be honest, we deserved to lose. Victor Wanyama got himself sent off clumsily and that saw an end to any threat we posed. Ryan Bertrand gave away a ridiculous penalty in the dying seconds to cost us the game.
Southampton 1 - 0 Celtic
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And just like that, what Sunderland did to us, we did to Celtic. A much better performance still yielded no goals but a late impact from substitute Jay Rodriguez earned us a penalty which Dusan Tadic converted to take three vital points in the Europa League.
 
Is there enough interest in this story to carry on with? comments and criticism welcome.
 
I am following mate, just a struggle to comment on every story as well as updating my own. Keep going and the comments, likes and followers will come.

You have made a good start, I would look at playing slightly more defensive against the 'big teams' though, shipping quite a few goals against them, Wanyama as a DM - Half Back in them kind of games is a beast!
 
Bullardinho said:
I am following mate, just a struggle to comment on every story as well as updating my own. Keep going and the comments, likes and followers will come.

You have made a good start, I would look at playing slightly more defensive against the 'big teams' though, shipping quite a few goals against them, Wanyama as a DM - Half Back in them kind of games is a beast!
Click to expand...

Cheers buddy, thanks for the advice!
 
Everton 1 - 2 Southampton​

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A terrific result and a three more vital points. We were quite lucky to get away with this one as Everton were the better team throughout however a Charlie Austin brace was enough to squeeze through to victory.
Southampton 1 - 1 Chelsea​
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Another really good result for the lads as we hold Chelsea to a draw. A familiar face cam back to haunt the blues as Ryan Bertrand notched his first goal for Southampton to move us ahead. A fantastic effort from the two centre backs (Fonte and Van Dijk) saw us hold out for most of the match but Diego Costa was too good and levelled the match up. In a game which we perhaps edges, Thibaut Courtois was all that stood between us and the win.
Southampton 3 - 1 RoPS​
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We got exactly what we wanted against a poor RoPS side in a match we absolutely dominated. Qualification from the group stage of the Europa League. A brace from Ward-Prowse and yet another goal for Austin was enough to coast to victory. The only downside on an otherwise great day was the sending off of Cedric, although he will serve his suspension in a match that isn't that important.

Southampton 2 - 2 West Ham​
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A truly dreadful start saw us go 2-0 down within the opening quarter of an hour, A Stekelenburg mistake letting a Moses long shot through his hands before Sakho nodded in from a corner. James Ward-Prowse was able to continue his good form by scoring a crucial goal for us just before the half time whistle to give us hope. Charlie Austin levelled the tie in the 51st minute but despite our dominance we couldnt complete the comeback. More disappointment as we drop more points, but a good effort to come back from 2 down.
 
November Review​
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Another hugely mixed month of results with points dropped to Sunderland and West Ham. The win against Everton and a point against Chelsea were a particular highlight along with earning progression in the Europa League with wins against Celtic and RoPS. The Capital One Cup quarter final draw has not been kind to us and has matched us up with Manchester United.

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Tables​
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Player of the month​
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Once again Charlie Austin is my player of the month. Another 4 goals at some crucial times including those vital two goals against Everton have earned him recognition this month.
Look ahead to December​
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A very very tough month coming up, crammed full of fixtures. The intensity of the schedule is really going to take it out of the squad so plenty of rotation will be required. The double header against Man U is going to be tough on the legs and then the trip to Tottenham could be crucial.
 
I stood on the side of the training pitch, watching the lads warm down from training.

"Boss can I have a word?"

The speaker was Victor Wanyama who had sauntered over.

"Yeah, of course Vic, what's bothering you?"

"I Have been hearing some rumours recently about Borussia Dortmund being keen on me"

"Where have you heard that?" I asked, trying to keep the aggravation out of my voice.

"That doesn't matter really, I just wanted to say that if a bid comes in, I want you to consider it"

"Look Vic, this really doesn't have to be a big deal, but we haven't heard anything, its probably just tabloid rubbish, until we get a bid in there's nothing really to be talking about is there?"

"No, thats not good enough" He said, starting to raise his voice

"Vic, I'm not going to hear any more about this.. you are a Southampton player, you are under contract.. you need to be getting on with your job"

"this is f***ing S**t man." he fumed, walking away, throwing his training bib on the floor.

I shook my head, watching him go, realising that the warm down had stopped to watch the confrontation.
 
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