Southampton FC - The Saint In English Football

[Tobey Mason]

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Southampton FC are certainly not enjoying much luck at the moment, after having just recently confirmed that Ronald Koeman would become the clubs new manager it seems things have turned pear shape already. Unbeknown to many at Southampton Koeman had a clause in his contract allowing him to leave the club if he didn't have full control of the clubs operation. It has come to light through a source within the club that Koeman and Director of Football Les Reed argued on many occasions during meetings. Koeman seemed to believe that Reed was over stepping his boundries and encroaching Koemans role as manager.

The source added that in the latest meeting involving some club directors and the clubs current owner Katharina Liebherr both men had to be pulled apart. Again Reed had been overstepping his mark trying to persuade those present which players the club should further attempt to purchase in the Transfer Window. Koeman was less than impressed with the players suggested and blew his lid when the directors and Liebherr did not back him in dismissing Reed's suggestions. Reed seemed to antagonise Koeman and in a childlike manner even smirked as the board seemed to take his suggestions on board. Koeman who has made some signings this Transfer Window felt that he was being undermined by Reed and that he was purposely trying to make things difficult for him.

This meeting would prove to be Koemans last as he grabbed his possessions, marched up to Katharina Liebherr's office and terminated his contract with immediate effect stating that promises over control of first team and transfers had not been fulfilled as he had been told that they would be when he joined the club only a matter of weeks ago.


So things seem to be going from bad to worse for the Saints who have already lost a whole host of personnel recently. Mauricio Pochettino left to join Tottenham Hotspur after a fine season in charge of the Saints guiding them to 8th in the Premier League. Following him to Spurs was the clubs assistant manager Jesús Perez. A whole host of players have left the club too. Club captain and Southampton icon Adam Lallana left for Liverpool along with Dejan Lovren and well loved Rickie Lambert. Callum Chambers left for Arsenal and Luke Shaw departed for Manchester United. Dani Osvaldo left on loan to Inter after becoming a hinderence rather than a positive for the club.

Transfers Out

View attachment 293356Luke Shaw - Man Utd - £27,000,000
View attachment 293356Adam Lallana - Liverpool - £25,000,000
View attachment 293356Dejan Lovren - Liverpool - £20,000,000
View attachment 293356Callum Chambers - Arsenal - £16,000,000
View attachment 293356Rickie Lambert - Liverpool - £4,000,000
View attachment 293356Billy Sharp - Leeds - Free


Players Loaned Out

View attachment 293356Dani Osvalso - Inter Milan
View attachment 293356Gaston Ramirez - Hull


Before Ronald Koeman Left he did bring in some players...

Transfers In

Dusan Tadic - FC Twente - £10,900.000

Graziano Pelle - Feyenoord - £8,000,000

Fraser Forster - Celtic - £10,000,000

Florin Gardos - Steaua - £4,000,000

Shane Long - Hull - £12,000,000

Sadio Mane - RB Salzburg - £11,800,000


Players Loaned In

Toby Alderweireld - Athletico Madrid

Ryan Bertrand - Chelsea

Eljero Elia - Werder Bremen

Filip Djuricic - Benfica

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With Southampton having lost a fair bit of talent they had however made a lot of money. Some of that has gone on new players and the squad doesn't look particularly weaker than it did before. The players who have come in will need time to gel together and now they will have to adapt to a new manager.

The Saints fans will be excited about the upcoming season. Yes they will be upset about Koeman but with new players to get to know, a new manager imminent and still a reported £30M to spend Saints might just have a season to remember.

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[MrLister]

Good start! I believe you will do just fine with them. I wish you best of luck!

 

[Tobey Mason]

Southampton FC Announce New Manager

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Katharina Liebherr and the Southampton board had called for a press conference. It had been more than a week ago that Ronald Koeman left Southampton under a dark cloud. The fans were worried that Pre-Season had been disrupted enough and were now looking for stability, someone to steer the ship.

Southampton seemed to have an air of confidence about themselves, the clubs website teased 'massive announcement imminent'. The media gathered at the impromptu press conference knowing the Saints were about to unveil their new manager but wondered who would be staring back at them once the reveal happened.

Quiet descended into the room which was full of about sixty media journalists all waiting for the scoop so eagerly anticipated.

Katharina Liebherr plonked herself ibehind a table at the front of the room. She spoke about how Southampton would be moving into the future but that the club would not forget it's roots. How hard the staff had worked recently and she commended the fans for being patient whilst the club had decided who to appoint the clubs new manager.

She then got off her seat, breezed past the table to the side of the room, opened a door and revealed that the new manager would be no other than...

Club legend James Beattie!!

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1998 - 2005

Club Appearances - 202
Club Goals - 68

Beattie enjoyed seven years at Southampton, he was adored by the fans and became a real hero. His start to life at the club was laboured with injuries however but in 2000 he started to find his goal scoring form. Southampton were not as strong as they are nowadays often dodging relegation by the skin of their teeth. Beattie was instrumental in keeping them in the Premier League during the 2000-2001 season.

Beattie played a major role for Southampton during his time at the club and in 2003 became the English highest goalscorer of that season with a total of twenty three goals. That year he was also a key figure in guiding the club to the F.A Cup final although they lost to Arsenal in the final.

Beattie left Southampton in 2005 for Everton for a measley sum of £6,000,000. The fans were not happy with this move and especially for such a low sum of money.

Times have now changed at Southampton, their is a more secure backing, more money and more belief that the club are really going places.

Beattie addressed the media with a short statement about why he felt the time was right to join Southampton and why he thought he was the man to take them forward into the future.


Beatties Brief Media Talk
"Good afternoon everyone, it's really good to be back. I have to apologise but I cannot stay too long as I have a squad meeting which I am already late for. I just wanted to say that it is a dream come true coming back to Southampton. I have so many fond memories here and I envisioned coming back here someday in my career at some point. I have been extremely lucky and I am grateful to Katharina Liebherr for giving me the opportunity to come back. We have had various discussions about where we see the club going moving forward and I am pleased to say that we have the same beliefs and philosophies regarding this. I know many of you may question my managerial pedigree and I know my only tenure so far has been at Acrington but I firmly believe that I can take this club forward and progress it's status and it's ability to challenge for Europe and for a trophy. Thank you for turning up today and apologies I cannot stay any longer but im afraid this is the life of a football manager"




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[Tobey Mason]

Southampton FC Lose Director Of Football

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Katharina Liebherr has today sacked director of football Les Reed. Sources state that Reed had once again upset the apple cart as he wanted control over the club transfers. New manager James Beattie like his predecessor stated that this wasn't what he was promised when he joined the club in his management role. Again another meeting was called with club directors, Liebherr and Beattie all in attendance. Apparently things started to get heated but this time it was Reed who was doing all the shouting. Liebherr had sided with Beattie and has decided to let her manager 'manage' the club. Reed spoke out of turn on too many occasions, swore and in general threw his toys out of the pram so Liebherr sacked him on the spot.

Staff Turnaround

Along with the removal of Les Reed, James Beattie has decided to rebuild his backroom staff. Below is a detailed account of who his in's and out's are.

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[Tobey Mason]

Southampton Make First Summer Signing Under Beattie

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James Beattie has made his first signing as manager of Southampton. The Saints have snapped up Juan Fernando Quintero from Porto for a fee of £11,000,000. The tricky attacking midfielder will add depth to the squad but will give the team added dimension as he can play across the pitch on the wings and as good in the middle. The Colombian looks a decent player who still has time on his side to develop into a star player.

Quintero had a few admirers looking to secure his signature most notably was Arsenal but Inter Milan, Roma and Sevilla were interested too. It seems Beattie managed to persuade him to join Southampton. Quintero will most likely be put on a training regime to build up his strength to help get him in the best shape for the Premier League.

The Saints fans have been singing Beattie's praises, citing that this transfer could help define Southampton's season. The club will be aiming for the Europa League this year and Quintero could just be a player to make a huge difference.



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[Tobey Mason]

Real Madrid Bid For Southampton Star

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James Beattie has had his work cut out for him this week as it has been revealed that Real Madrid had made an offer for club captain Morgan Schneiderlin. The offer is believed to be around £14,000,000 and include some sort of future add on fee's. Schneiderlin has apparently told the club that he wants to go as he wants to play Champions League football.

Beattie has worked fast to quell this offer. Firstly by rejecting the offer citing that Schneiderlin is at least worth double the value offered. This seems to have put Madrid off for now. Beatti has also sat down with Schneiderlin and stated that he wants the club playing in the Champions League as soon as possible and that if the club are not challenging this year for it then he will let Schneiderlin leave next summer. This offer to Schneiderlin was accepted and he now knows that if Saints are not in the Champions League race then he will be allowed to leave next summer and moveto a Champions League team.


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[Tobey Mason]

Southampton Announce Pre-Season Destination

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Today Sky Sports has announced that Southampton FC will take their Pre-Seasons plans stateside. Beattie is keen to jet off to a warmer climate to help with his players fitness and their mentality. With four games penned in against Columbus, Philadelphia, Chivas and Houston the airmiles will certainly be adding up.

With all the top teams heading out to America to boost their commercial revenue and increase their fan base it seems that Southampton are now jumping on this trend too.
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[Tobey Mason]

Friendly Match
Saturday 5th July
21:00Columbus Crew Stadium
Attendance - 4,421

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View attachment 79328321' Graziano Pelle

1-0 (Assist Dusan Tadic)
View attachment 79328324' Graziano Pelle

2-0 (Sadio Mane)
View attachment 79328554' Emanuel Pogatetz

View attachment 79328590' Luis Vickers

(Assist Justin Correa)

View attachment 793283Southampton Lineup: - Forster, Clyne, Yoshida, Alderweireld, Bertrand(54), Wanyama(54), Schneiderlin(54), Tadic(80), Quintero(54), Mane(80), Pelle(54).
Subs: Targett(54), Reed(54), Ward-Prowse(54), Gallagher(54), Djuricic(54), Mayuka (80), Long(80)

Columbus Lineup: - Clark, Grana, Elias, Pogatetz, Francis, Parkhurt, Rennocks(51), Santana(61), Higuain(67), Dobson(51), Handley(56)
Subs: Thibault(51), Herridge(51), Vickers(56), Coorea(61), Strickland(67)

James Beattie would have been pleased to have won his first ever game in charge of Southampton. The Saints started the game off in good fashion going 2-0 up within the first half and hour of the game. Graziano Pelle was immense in the air today and scored both his goals from headers.

The wingplay was also good as both Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane received assists for well executed cross'. Juan Fernando Quintero played his first ever game for the club as well and looked decent on the pitch. Harrison Reed, Sam Gallagher and Matty Targett also played in the game and looked comfortable on the pitch playing with more experienced players.
Forster wouldnt of been happy conceding a goal late on but for Southampton's first outing under the guidance of Beattie and the new backroom staff then this can be considered a good win.

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[Tobey Mason]

The Saints Sign Unknown Inter Milan Youngster

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Southampton FC have pulled off a decent Transfer here. Federico Dimarco is still only 16 years old but has bags of potential according to those who have seen him play and have coached the youngster. Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini was reluctant to let the lad go but with Beattie promising Dimarco a spot in the first team at Southampton, Mancini promised not to stand in the young Italians way if he did opt to leave the San Siro for St Mary's.

The left back possess fantastic speed which can see him leave opposition players for dust. He also has a tasty cross on him as well. Southampton's strikers will be pleased with this news and it could see more goals being scored from crosses into the box.

Dimarco will probably play more of a periphery role in the squad and will most likely be used to develop. Cup games and squad rotation will most likely be his way into the first team but at least he will have his chances.



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[Lawton23]

Looking good man, wish you the best of look, keep this thread updated i would really like to see how this ends up.

 

[xJamieWilliams]

Good layout! Southampton always are a fun team to build up!

 

[PlayHardOrGoHome]

Saints only start with 7.5-10m on 15.3 don't they?

 

[Bullardinho]

Looks good, I am intrigued to see how Dimarco develops!

 

[Tobey Mason]

Saints only start with 7.5-10m on 15.3 don't they?

My got it up to £11m. Requested more wage budget and scrolled the bar over to increase transfer budget. Also I've sold players but not updated.

 

[Tobey Mason]

Hey guys I'm on 3 lates atm. Finish Weds. Apologies for lack of updates. Any transfer advice would be great.

 

[xJamieWilliams]

Hey guys I'm on 3 lates atm. Finish Weds. Apologies for lack of updates. Any transfer advice would be great.

Have a look at loaning Markovic, I've seen it done a few times. I would also buy Kieran Gibbs, he can be so good (no matter what the scouts say)

 

[Tobey Mason]

Have a look at loaning Markovic, I've seen it done a few times. I would also buy Kieran Gibbs, he can be so good (no matter what the scouts say)

thanks for your reply. I'm thinking more youngsters tho.

 

[Bullardinho]

Hey guys I'm on 3 lates atm. Finish Weds. Apologies for lack of updates. Any transfer advice would be great.

What positions are you looking for youngsters to develop into?

 

[Tobey Mason]

What positions are you looking for youngsters to develop into?

Defenders all accross and a striker

 

[Bullardinho]

Defenders all accross and a striker

Joe Gomez at CB is class, I am 4 seasons in and I signed him for £8.5M, currently he is in the England squad on my current save and easily my best CB.
Nicola Murru, you can get him for about £3M, can play L/RB and always grows into a quality wing back.
For a striker, I always sign one of either Richairo Zivkovic, Ezequiel Ponce, Donis Avdijaj or Luka Jovic, all are cheap buys and grow into absolute superstars!