Name: Southampton Football Club.
Established: November 21st 1885
Home: St Mary’s Stadium
The story of a club on top of the world, until it wasn’t.
Just over two years ago Southampton found themselves 4th in the league, just 2 points off the top spot, today they sit 20th. From 2014 through to 2017 the club saw 4 top 8 finishes back to back, a time most saints fans would do anything to return to. Since then however, the club has become synonymous with one word: inconsistent.
Markus Liehberr.
Markus was a German born, Swiss businessman and he had one goal and one goal only – save Southampton. Buying the club, he paid them out of administration. He appointed Alan Pardew on the 17th of July who would go on to manage the team for 64 games, losing only 13.
When Pardew came in, he shared that the club had no tapes or records; they had to start from scratch. Liebherr appointed Cortese as executive chairman of the club and over the coming summer key transfers were made with the likes of Ricky Lambert, Jose Fonte and Jason Puncheon joining a squad featuring Lalana, Oxlade Chamberlain and Morgan Schneiderlin.
Cortese demanded good performances on the pitch despite a 10 point deduction before the season started. They started the campaign atrociously without a win in the first 7 games but in the first year of Liebherr’s ownership and Pardew’s management, Southampton overcame this poor form and the point deductions to mount a late challenge for the play-offs, missing out by only seven points. Their change in fortunes wasn’t even the biggest thing to celebrate at the club as they astonished many, making it to the finals of the 2010 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy which they went on to win after beating Carlisle 4-1. This was the first bit of silverware the club had picked up since the FA cup in 1976, a sign of things to come.
That summer Ox Chamberlain became the first big sale by the club, the rewards for a buy, produce, sell legacy that Southampton’s Les Reid (current head of football development and support and who would later become Vice Chairman) has put in place to help the club find it’s feet again. He went to Arsenal for £15 million. With the money received from his sale, the club were able to invest and secure a second promotion to the Premier League in 2012, where after leading the race all season, they were beaten to the title of top by Reading. During this season the club also appointed Paul Mitchell as head of recruitment, an acquisition and crown that would bear many jewels for the future of the club.
Mauricio Pochettino. Pochettino, fondly known as “Poch” to most, would now take over the wheel, steering the saints to a 14th place finish. But this is where the magic starts to happen…
Things were not looking good that summer as it became evident the club needed to quickly adapt. In true Southampton fashion, they did, bringing in better players for less money and appointing Ronald Koeman as manager. In came players who would go on to thrive at Southampton, with the likes of Dušan Tadić and Sadio Mane joining the club, largely thanks to Cortese and Mitchell’s most noteable legacy: the black box. The black Box was a big collection of data, video tapes and analysis which allowed development in scouting and was used against player recommendations, overseeing an incredible amount of talent coming into the club.
Once again, despite loosing more key players, the club invested well bringing in the likes of Romeu, former Chelsea and Barcelona player and Cedric Suarez. In addition the club spent some of their European money on Dutch duo Virgil Van Dijk and Jordy Classy. Despite these, for a while it looked like the doubters were right and that succeeding at the rate they had the previous season was unsustainable, after 20 games the team sat 13th in the table. A turn in form saw Southampton finish the season in sixth place, having won 18, drawn 9 and lost 11 of their 38 matches. This result is the highest club finish and highest points total (63) in the club’s history. Aside from the league, the club didn’t have a dream season. They were eliminated from the third round of the FA Cup, the fifth round of the League Cup and the qualifying play-off round of the Europa League. Despite this, most fans were happy, with a well earnt league finish and a season full of memories of a “Golden Time” at the club.
In 2017 the club also saw a change in ownership, as Gao Jisheng bought an 80% stake in the club. In the same year, Claude Puel was dismissed by the saints, replaced by Mauricio Pellegrino – a calamitous and catastrophic appointment. Come March, the club found themselves in a tight and highly contentious relegation battle, despite having spent heavily in the summer. Alongside their struggles, the club saw the departure of figures like Virgil Van Dijk and Jay Rodriguez too. With the future looking bleak once more, Mark Hughes stepped in to keep the side up, which he did – but after an even more shocking start to the next season with the team sat in 19th, Gao, self appointed Chairman, turnt to Ralph Hasenhüttl.
After more sales and little investment, the club struggled finding goals. In the January of 2022 however, ownership changed hands again with Gao sellling his stake to London based sports investment firm Sport Republic. The club made multiple exciting but young signings in the summer, looking towards a bright future. The talent was evident, however so was the lack of experience, lack of direction, lack of leadership and most importantly, lack of goals. The poor form and the goal scoring drought ran into this 22/23 season. Ralph was dismissed by the club to make way for Nathan Jones in November, with the club sat in 19th: the same position they were in when Ralph arrived.
Nathan Jones had been highly rated and monitored over two successful spells at Luton, however unfortunately for the saints their hopes of a saviour were quickly demolished. Jones failed to find his feet at the club, his tactical decisions poor, and his starting 11 lacking any form of consistency. With time running out rapidly, he became a man stood on quicksand as the stands of St Mary’s turned on him. Results were not coming, players looked lethargic and lost and no one seemed to have any plan or ambition to keep up. The January transfer window was a busy one with the saints making what look to be like promising signings, however after a diabolical defeat to Brentford, a highly controversial interview and a bitterly disappointing loss to Wolves, Nathan Jones was dismissed by the club after only 14 games.
Acting manager Rubén Sellés looks likely to keep the position till at least the end of the season, and so far he has already brought more smiles to the faces at the club than Jones did. With a shock win away at Chelsea, the side looked passionate and aware and driven, something that has been missing for a while. The players celebrated warmly with their manager, pushing him into the singing away fans, and seeing such respect for their leader has raised morale for many. The next game against Leeds is a big one for the saints, points a necessity for the side if they wish to keep survival hopes alive. With January signing Sulemana providing the direct pressing attack we have been missing, Onuachu providing the physical presence, James Ward Prowse on form, and a renewed sense of confidence: will it be too much to ask?
Poppy Deabill (@pdeabill_football)