Southampton FC - We March On

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Saints search for new man after Koeman departure.
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Southampton FC have started their search for a new manager today following the departure of fan favourite Ronald Koeman from the club. Koeman, 52, led Southampton to 7th position in the Barclays Premier League last season but has been forced to leave the club due to personal issues and ongoing illness. In a brief statement Southampton Football Club wished to convey their gratitude towards Koeman and wished him all the best in his future endeavours. The Search has started for Koeman's replacement with word coming from the club that 'several candidates' are in contention for the job.

Assistant Manager Erwin Koeman and fitness coach Jan Kluitenberg have also agreed to leave the club by mutual consent.
 
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Southampton move quickly to appoint Lloyd

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Southampton Football Club have today confirmed the appointment of new manager Thomas Lloyd. Lloyd, 33, has been promoted from an academy role within the club and will become Southamptons 3rd manager in as many years.

"Tom is a superb young talent that is Southampton born and bred" Said Southampton Chairman Ralph Krueger "He has a terrific vision that is in line with our own for the club and we are confident that he can help lead this great club forward both on and off the pitch".

Lloyd has signed an initial one year contract with the South coast club and will assume his managerial responsibilities with immediate effect.

More to follow...

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Lloyd urges 'Caution'

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Lloyd urges 'Caution'

New Southampton manager Thomas Lloyd claims to be 'Cautiously optimistic' heading into his first season in charge of the Saints.

"It is an absolute honour to be here today" Lloyd said at his press conference unveiling. "Today is a day that is tinged with a slight sadness because we all feel for Ronald. He did a fantastic job to get Southampton up to the sharp end of the Premier League table, he got us qualification for the Europa League and got us playing entertaining football. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I wish him all the best for the future.

"In terms of moving forward from here, we are cautiously optimistic that we can move forward from the strong position we find ourselves in. We have a terrific group of lads here at St Mary's who work hard and know how to play their football. We will be playing European football for the first time in a long time and cant wait to represent both the country and the city on the continental stage".

When pressed about changes he was considering making to the club, Lloyd claimed that the Saints would be very active in the transfer market and there were likely to be 'a few in and a few out'. Lloyd failed to expand on this when questioned more.

After last years mass exodus from St Mary's, fans feared the same again would be happening this season with the departures of Alderweireld, Clyne and Schneiderlin already confirmed, however Lloyd reacted quickly to quell this fears. "We are not in a position where we have to sell our players, We dont intend to be losing any more of key players and will be focussing on settling the squad".

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Former favourites named in new look Southampton coaching team
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New Southampton Manager Thomas Lloyd has moved to install former fan favourite Jason Dodd as his assistant manager at St Mary's. Former U21 Manager Dodd is said to be relishing the challenge of rejoining the Saints.
"To have the chance to come back to the club where I played for my career and reform the partnership with Lloydy that we had in the academy, it was just too good to turn down"

Also joining the club in coaching roles are former striker James Beattie and club legend Francis Benali.
 
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Saints Squad Preview
View attachment 238833Thomas Lloyd starts this new season having inherited a strong squad from Ronald Koeman's previous regime but does he need to strengthen?

Goalkeepers


Southampton have healthy competition for the starting spot in girl. First choice keeper Fraser Forster picked up a serious injury at the end of last season and may not feature at all this year. Marteen Stekelenburg has been brought in on loan to cover and in Kelvin Davis and Paulo Gazzaniga Saints have adequate cover for between the sticks.​

Defenders

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In Defence, Saints have two new right backs in Portugese international Cedric Soares and Cuco Martina. Left back will be filled by the ever dependable Ryan Bertrand with academy product Matt Targett continuing as his understudy. Captain Jose Fonte is bound to be at the heart of the defense but with Florin Gardos out injured for 8 months with a torn hamstring and Maya Yoshida and on loan Steven Caulker the only other options strengthening could be required.

Central Midfield

The departure of Morgan Schneiderlin is bound to hurt the saints but Feyenoord midfield maestro Jordy Clasie has been brought in for a fee of around £8 million to try and fill the void. He is likely to sit alongside powerhouse Victor Wanyama with Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse and youngster Harrison Reed offering options.

The Wings

Southampton are well equipped on the wings with Serbian playmaker Dusan Tadic likely to feature heavily, New recruit Junami could be introduced into the first team while James Ward-Prowse and Steven Davis can feature out wide.

Strikers

Italian hitman Graziano Pelle scored 12 Premier League goals for the Saints last campaign and looks odds on to continue in a forward role. Sadio Mane offers Southampton real pace up front while Jay Rodriguez returns after a year out injured. Shane Long and Juanmi may also be utilised.


Key Men

The spine of the Southampton team will have to continue their fine form of last season if Southampton are to challenge for European football again. Captain Jose Fonte and midfielder Victor Wanyama will be responsible for organising the defence while Dusan Tadic will be looked to for assists for the Strikers. Saints will be looking for plenty of goals this season and Graziano Pelle seems the most likely candidate to deliver them up front.

Youth Prospects

Established academy products James Ward-Prowse and Harrison Reed will continue to push on and will hope to cement a regular first team place. Big things are expected of Defender Jason McCarthy, Midfielder George Mells and strikers Ryan Seager and Sam Gallagher.

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For this season I am using LFCMarshalls transfer update, with all moves up until the 24th of July accounted for. This gave me an increase in finances from the Schneiderlin and Clyne deals.

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I am confident that we can secure a Europa League place this season so I have been awarded a transfer budget of £35.5 million to spend and £180k spare in wages. Once I shift a few players on this will be a really decent amount of money to strengthen.

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The Philosophies that have been agreed with the board are to play both possession and attacking football while signing young players for the first team and bringing players through the academy.

I am very keen to simulate the clubs newly founded good business sense in real life. I plan to keep a tight control of the wage structure at the club and not overspend on transfers. The philosophies certainly help with that as I can buy young and promising players and sell at a hugely inflated cost if they are replaceable as seems to be the Southampton way.
 
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First match of pre-season was a game against the U21s. This was a chance not only to give the first team a run out but to also see some of the youngsters for the first time. Here is how the teams lined up.
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The match went really well with us running out easy 4-1 winners. James Ward-Prowse played a cracking game on the right side of midfield and new boy Cedric looked very composed at right back. One slip in concentration from Caulker allowed Dom Gape to score from a set piece but other than that a professional performance with Ward-Prowse, Clasie, Cedric and Juanmi all getting on the scoresheet.

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Two Leave St Mary's​

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Southampton have announced that Gaston Ramirez has left the club and joined Crystal Palace for a fee believed to be in the region of £7 million. The midfield playmaker made 44 appearances for the Saints, scoring 6 goals in an injury plagued 3 years on the south coast.

Emmanuel Mayuka has also left St Mary's after completing a £1.2 million transfer to AFC Bournemouth. Mayuka is said to be "thrilled at a chance for a fresh start'.

These are the first transfer dealings that new manager Thomas Lloyd has completed since he took over the managerial reigns a week ago following Ronald Koeman's departure.
 
Very dissapointing 2nd match of pre season as we go down 3-1 to Santa Fe. The line up looked more youthful with players like Jordan Turnbull, Sam Gallagher and Harrison Reed getting a run out. James Ward-Prowse continued his great form with a stunning free kick for our solitary goal but Harrison Reed and Cuco Martina made a catalogue of errors to leave us week defensively and we ended up loosing a match we should have comfortably won. The midfield display was so inadequate we only mustered 5 shots on goal compared to their 15. Thankfully the injury that forced Juanmi off wasnt serious which was the only saving grace on an otherwise bad day.

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UEFA Europa League - 3rd Round Draw​

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Nope. I've never heard of them either. That was a kind draw, especially with teams like Borrussia Dortmund, Dinamo Moscow and Vitesse in the draw.
 
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Southampton sign Nkoulou
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Southampton have signed Cameroon International centre back Nicolas Nkoulou from French side Marseille for a fee, believed to be £7 million pounds plus £1.5 million in add ons. Nkoulou, 24, has represented his county 63 times and becomes Southampton's first signing of the summer under new manager Thomas Lloyd.

"We are delighted that Nicolas has chosen to move to Southampton" Said Lloyd "he is a player we have been tracking for a while and for the deal to be completed this early in the transfer window is fantastic, a real hats-off to the transfer team on this one, He is an experienced international and will add competition for places across the defence and midfield, He is the calibre of player the club should be looking at bringing in"​
 
Great look to the story so far, I'm looking forward to seeing how well you do. Great signing in Nkoulou.
 
bnpwp1979 said:
Great look to the story so far, I'm looking forward to seeing how well you do. Great signing in Nkoulou.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I tried to sign Dragovic but Chelsea offered him a much better contract! Nkoulou was my second choice. More signings to come!
 
Saints pick up the pace in pre season

Two more pre season fixtures have been played over the last couple of days. Southampton travelled to Bloomfield road to take on Blackpool and emerged the victors in a convincing 3-1 win. James Ward-Prowse again was the star, scoring and assisting as the Saints started to build momentum.

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Next up was a trip down the road to Salisbury FC. A convincing display didnt translate into a convincing scoreline as a 1-2 Southampton victory flattered the hosts. Once again the show was run by the two midfield wide men, Ward-Prowse and Tadic as Saints created a load of opportunities but failed to convert all but two of them.​

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Several concerns have been highlighted during pre season and need to be addressed. Harrison Reed is not ready for the first team, he has been making a large amount of mistakes in midfield and is going to be loaned out for the season. Cuco Martina is looking bang out of form at right back and will only be played as a last resort with Cedric the main man in that position. A lack of goals from Pelle is also a concern having failed to find the net in the first 4 friendlies. His place in the team may be under threat with Shane Long putting in some good performances on the bench and money to spend in the transfer market.
 
Europa League 3rd qualifying round result

So our season starts here. All the hard work of qualifying for the Europa League last year is about to pay off. Our opponents were israeli team Irony Kiryat-Shmona with the first leg being played in Israel.

This is how my Southampton side lined up for the first competitive match of the season.

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With Graziano Pelle woefully out of form I was keen to see what somebody else could do with his place in the team so in came Jay Rodriguez to partner Sadio Mane up front and how did he repay my faith, scoring a 2nd half hat-trick to help us to a convincing 5-0 away win. The team played really well and pretty much killed the tie with a five goal lead to take back to St Mary's.

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Southampton Complete Romero and Brownhill deals
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Southampton have today confirmed the signing of Lucas Romero for a fee believed to be in the region of £9 million. The 22 year old Argentina Under-20 international has signed an initial 5 year contract at St Mary's and will join up with the squad before the season opener against Tottenham next week.

"I am delighted to be joining Southampton" Romero has said "They are a big club and I am looking forward to playing my game in the Premier league which I have watched since I was a boy".

Southampton manager Thomas Lloyd said "Lucas is another excellent addition to an already strong squad, he has huge potential and can go as far as he wants in the game if he gets his head down and works hard"​
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Southampton have also signed young midfielder Josh Brownhill from Preston North End for a fee of £925,000. Brownhill has already joined up with the U21 squad at St Mary's.
 
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Southampton breeze into 4th qualifying round
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Southampton strolled to success at St Mary's, beating Irony Kiryat-Shmona 2-0 on the night and 7-0 on aggregate. Dusan Tadic opened the scoring for the Saints before Graziano Pelle broke his pre-season duck to put Saints into the 4th qualifying round of the Europa League. The draw for the 4th round took place directly after the match, drawing Southampton against Cyprus based Apollon Limassol.

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The rest of pre-season
Our final two matches of season were tinged with dissapointment. A convincing 5-1 victory over PAOK was a great result the bubble was burst by an injury to the again excellent James Ward-Prowse who faces a two month lay off.
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Next was a trip to Turkish side Genclerbirligi. A dissapointing 2-1 loss was topped off by Dusan Tudic getting sent off 27 minutes into the match for a 2nd bookable offense.

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Pre-season round up​
Our pre-season was now officially finished. It turned out to be a fairly average start to my management at Southampton with injuries to Ward-Prowse and Juami marring pre-season.

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Best Player​
James Ward-Prowse - Prowsey scored 4 goals and registered 3 assists in his 4 friendlies and one Europa League match. He looked like the real deal on the right side of midfield. His injury was a massive blow and we dont look the same team without him. Honourable mentions to Jay Rodriguez for his 5 goals in 3 starts and Dusan Tadic for his two goals and two assists in the Europa League.

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The Tactic

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The tactic that I am going to be using this season is a defensive 442. The idea is for the two defensive midfielders to sit and shield the defence and push into the space when in possession.​
 
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Saints sign Praet
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Southampton have announced the signing of Dennis Praet from Belgian club Anderlecht for a fee of £12.5 million. 20 year old Praet has signed a 4 year contract on the south coast and describes his move as a 'dream come true'.

Praet becomes the 4th signing under Lloyd this season as Southampton push on with an ambitious recruitment strategy that has seen Lucas Romero, Nicolas Nkoulou and Josh Brownhill join Koeman signings Juanmi, Cedric Soares, Jordy Clasie and Marteen Stekelenburg and Cuco Martina at the Saints.

"You shouldnt expect to see much more from the club this transfer window" said Saints manager Thomas Lloyd "we have great depth in the squad now and a group of players who are hungry to achieve our goals this season"
 
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