At the beginning of this season, a number of clubs looked likely to be contenders for promotion from the Championship. Recently-relegated West Ham, Birmingham City and Blackpool were all among the favourites to be pushing at the top of the league, however, it is a team that came from League One, rather than the Premier League, that is making waves at the top of the division.
Southampton fans, until this season, haven’t had the best of times in recent years. Two years ago, they were relegated from the Championship after having to go into administration. Their fall into the third tier of English football came within six years of the club finishing as runners-up in the FA Cup, as well as enjoying a season in the UEFA Cup. It was quite the fall from grace.
Gone were the days of Matt Le Tissier volleys, jinking runs from Marian Pahars and the blistering pace of Theo Walcott and even the dogged, super-bald work-rate of Chris Marsden. Instead, the club was staring at beginning League One with a ten-point deduction; a sizeable obstacle in their immediate quest to find their way back into the Championship.
However, the Saints weren’t your average League One team. With Alan Pardew at the helm, Southampton splashed out more than £3 million on players, a transfer budget that a number of Championship teams would be jealous of. Among their signings was the £800,000 capture of Rickie Lambert, with the deal potentially rising to £1 million. With 33 goals in his debut season at St Mary’s, it is safe to say that Lambert has more than justified his transfer fee.
Other names coming into the club included Dean Hammond, Radji Jaidi, Graeme Murty, Dan Harding and David Connolly, meaning that the squad was filled with players who had experience at a higher level than they would be plying their trade. However, despite Alan Pardew’s best efforts, and promising youngsters such as Adam Lallana and Andrew Surnam moving up through the ranks and into the first team, the points deduction had taken too much of a toll on the club, and they could only manage a seventh place finish in their first season in League One. Interestingly, they were seven points short of a play-off place.
The second season was one that, unsurprisingly, bore the weight of great expectation. Pardew’s team were expected to build on an excellent finish to the previous campaign, but unfortunately for the Saints, and especially Mr Pardew, they started the season poorly. Well, I say it was unfortunate for Pardew, but he walked into a Premiership job following this one and never looked back, proving that he is a tactical genius and his knowledge of French players is superb… But, I digress.
With Pardew being something of a ‘big name’ appointment, the club looked further down the league structure for their next boss, and recognised the fantastic job that Nigel Adkins had done at Scunthorpe United over the years on a budget that barely even qualified as shoestring. Bringing with him assistant manager Andy Crosby the pair have never looked back in their time in charge at Southampton, and led the team to promotion, back into the Championship, at their first attempt.
The move itself almost instantly looked like a poor decision on Scunthorpe’s part. While the Saints were trailblazing through League One, on their way to the Championship, the Iron struggled without their gaffer and were making their way in the other direction. Despite the best efforts of Ian Barraclough, Scunthorpe swapped leagues with Southampton, and Adkins gave his former employers the proverbial cheeky wave as he saw them drift past.
I spoke to Iron fan Steven Askew about his thoughts on Adkins. He was more than happy to throw a sound-bite my way about the man who had been promoted from within the club, and led them to a few glorious years in the Championship.
It’s not surprising that Adkins has gone on to do well at Southampton – his class and quality were always apparent at Scunthorpe. He’s a great motivator and can foster a good team spirit, so if you add in top quality players and a hefty transfer budget then he’s going to do exceptionally well. Some of us believe he has the hallmark of a future England manager.
While the final statement of that quote may seem like taking things somewhat to the extreme, you would do well to remember that the afore-mentioned Alan Pardew has already been linked to the job this year, thanks to a short burst of good form at the top of the top flight.
What is perhaps most surprising about Southampton’s season so far is that their success has been achieved by the same players that got the club promoted into the Championship in the first place. A lot of football clubs have seen their focus shifted recently onto running as a successful business. This summer saw them rake in over £14 million in transfer fees, almost fully thanks to the sale of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and only spent just under £3 million, with the bulk of it being on Chelsea youngster Jack Cork and Burnley’s Danny Fox, neither of whom aren’t short on Championship experience.
The reason for their success this season may be down to a number of reasons. It would be foolish to discount the good work that Adkins has done in his time at charge at St Mary’s, something that becomes more apparent when you take into account how many of the players were part of the former regime. There are also arguments that a the club and its players are still encompassed in the feel good factor that a great run at the end of last season, and a promotion can bring. In the early stages of the season, this seemed even more apparent, while Brighton were also riding high at the top of the division but as the Seagulls have drifted away, Southampton continue to dominate proceedings, gaining 36 points from a possible 48 on offer so far.
Ask any Saints fan and they will undoubtedly tell you that the club more than deserves its current league position, and it is tough to argue with them. The team has been free-scoring in many of the perceived big games, scoring three or more goals against Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Leeds United, Ipswich and Middlesbrough. Veteran front-man David Connolly has struck up a flourishing partnership with Rickie Lambert, who continues to score on a regular basis, and tops the goalscoring chart in the Championship, much like he did in last year’s League One.
Situations can change quickly in football, if you are reading this post, then you are obviously a fan, and will know that as well as anyone. The upcoming Christmas period is also a hectic time of year for teams at all levels, and league tables can change drastically over the course of a busy month. However Southampton look strong at the top of the table, and proved their character in a recent away tie at Coventry when they surrendered a two-goal lead, only to storm to a 4-2 victory.
Although it may be a little early to claim that Southampton are going to finish the season in their current spot, and that the good old days of the Premier League will rise again on the south coast, it seems clear that the Saints, for now at least, are certainly marching in.
Photo courtesy of Simon Black.
