So what you're saying Ian, is that if we'd won more games, we could have finished higher up the league?
I think that your comment is a bit of an obvious statement but what I wanted to say was that Pelle's dip in form and the lack of goals from the likes of Davis, Wanyama and Schneiderlin maybe cost us what the team could have been capable of. It was a shame that Pelle wasn't quite as consistent as Jay or Rickie last season. Without doubt it has been a brilliant season but, prior to Christmas, I was really convinced that this team would have finished much higher than 7th. With hindsight, it was a shame that we let Lambert go. As things transpired, it would have been far better for both Saints and Rickie if he had played for us this season. I like Pelle but Lambert's overall game is better - I just think that he was far more of a talisman for us.
The annoying thing was that we lost points to teams we would expect to beat...that does happen to most teams, but you wouldn't expect a run of them. Losing Forster was a blow. So close, but look what happened to Liverpool last season....it happens.
I was summarising what you said, in a single sentence. It is obvious to say that we dipped in form at various stages of the season, just as we did last season in fact, and we also had injuries to key players as well. To try and pin the blame on any player or players is quite honestly, ludicrous, and what exactly are you blaming them for? Achieving our highest points total and position in the Premier League?
The biggest "miss" for us this season was without a doubt, Jay. If we had him for the whole of last season then we would've been a lot closer to the top 4 IMO. If We had had Jay feeding off of the service from Tadic (before Xmas form), then we would've tearing up defences. Jay has learnt to time his runs and has the acceleration to get in behind almost at will.
Chilco Thanks for your reply. I don't think that my comment was ludicrous - it's pretty common sense if you look at the stats. I believe that Pelle has the record for missing the most chances amongst Premiership forwards even though he was on fire in the first half of the season. Players like Davis haven't scored for over a year and the other midfield players only contributed a very small number of goals. (Morgan / JWP, etc, etc.) I am not attributing blame but am suggesting that we could have finished higher if these elements had not been a factor - Forster's injury included. Without doubt this is a cracking Southampton team and I think their performances (especially from the defence) probably merited a higher league position. Do you really think that we deserved to finish behind Spurs and Liverpool? Our football this season probably merited a top five finish, in my opinion.
Ian (and others), a season doesn't end in November, December, February or even April. It ends in May when 38 games have been played. We could have been 10th in February and finished 7th if the fixtures/performances/form was in a different order. It's all ifs and buts. The only thing that is certain is that after 38 games we finished 7th. A record breaking season for Southampton FC and that is excellent, before we even start to think about where we were in June/July last year. Excellent. Our highest Premier League finish. Our highest Premier league points total. There is no "we could have done better" and there is no "we could have done worse" It's iver. We were excellent beyond every fan (except TSS), media pundit and member of staff's expectations in August. Excellent.
I wish people would stop saying we deserved to finish above Pool/Spurs. The table never lies and the record books will show rightfully that we were the 7th best team in the country in 14/15. Also being below them wasn't due to dropping silly points as they both did that over the season as well, it came down to the fact we only took one point from the 4 games against them.
I had money on us for a top 4 finish, and Koeman for manager of the season back in June. I was always confident we'd do well despite the player sales and although we didn't hit the heights I hoped, am still very happy with the season. Pochettino going was never a disaster for me as I was beginning to see him as a one trick pony anyway plus I considered Koeman an upgrade, and player sales never really concern me overmuch.
On another note we earned just shy of £80m in tv money this year: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...oney-how-much-each-club-earns-in-2014-15.html
Wouldn't that be nice if they sent a note out and said there's a free drink for everyone at the first home game next season as our share!
The exhilleration of witnessing the new team steamroller through the start of the season and feeling positively fizzy at the midway point was definately tempered by the post xmas results but that is football. Who knows what we could have achieved with a deeper squad but the bottom line is that the squad we had did all they were capable of. Pelle needed some time off and some support so that he wasn't the single goal scoring outlet, we needed some more creativity behind the front three that wasnt forthcoming and we needed Clyne, Bertrand, Davis, JWP, morgan to continue chipping in with the goals. But that wasnt to be. Basically we had bloody excellent season which I have enjoyed watching immensely. Well done saints. As much as I would have liked to finish above pool or spurs we have matched them almost blow for blow throughout the season and fifth place was just a whisker away. Fantastic achievement.
I had to read the first phrase twice....I thought you'd got excited literally about a new steamroller.
If Foster wasn't injured I think we would have beaten Tottenham 2-1 and come sixth. But what a fantastic season anyway!
If we had beaten any of Sunderland, Leicester or Stolen we would have too.. just didn't take our chances.
Great season, couldn't have wished for much more after having the summer we did, but if Jay Rod was fit or we signed a striker in January then we'd be much closer to, if not in, the top four.
If Arsenal don't win the FA Cup I'm going to be a bit disappointed, after all is said and done. I predicted Saints would end up 6th at the start and they had been looking as if they might beat even that, for practically every week bar the last few. So if we don't manage Europa, as a sweetener, I'll think that we haven't done much better than last season. We can't keep on referring back to the exodus during last pre-season and finding excuses from it. Yes, I know that's a harsh judgement, but this club has proper ambitions to make big strides. One place is good. One place plus Euro competition is excellent. 2 places were where I hoped and expected, and consistent with our phenomenal rate of improvement. For half a season we almost had a bloody miracle.
I've got to say that West Ham's entry in to the Europa would seem even more unfair if Arsenal don't win on Saturday. It seems a travesty that a team as dour as Allardyce's gets in through the back door. That said , I hope that we draw a team in France as a trip abroad will be easier to manage as opposed to somewhere in the East of the continent.