Southampton's crazy wheel of fortune

The English Premier League season of 2013-14 was quite memorable on several counts. It was the most tightly contested, for one.  Table top status kept on changing hands, and no one was quite sure of who would win until May. The Manchester United saga was a hot topic of discussion, Liverpool’s resurgence was another. And then there was the emergence (in a few cases) and consolidation of new contenders for the mantle of England’s finest. Clubs like Everton and Tottenham that after years of toil and determination had arrived on the big stage a few seasons back continued their resurgent run, often giving the traditional ‘top 4’ a run for their money. Everton in particular had built upon the base David Moyes has so carefully laid, and had blossomed into a mean menacing footballing unit under the aegis of Roberto Martinez.

But the revelation of the season has by far been Southampton.  Mauricio Pochettino’s team finished 8th, which is a pity because they seemed so much better than that at many points of the campaign. The team thrived on players that were at the top of their game; Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Ricky Lambert, Gaston Ramirez and Lovren played their hearts out and gave The Saints’ fans a lot to cheer about. For a team that was buried in the vast expanse of the English Football hierarchy a few years back (they had slipped to League One in the 2010-11 season ) until two seasons back, they have done phenomenally well. Beginning with a rather lukewarm start to their return to top flight football, they fought hard in the latter half under Pochettino’s charge, to avoid relegation.

This served the perfect springboard for the team to really grow in terms of creativity, passion and intent. Armed with an infantry of incredible home-grown and acquired talent, The Saints held their own and put up a strong fight, drawing Manchester United twice, and even beating Liverpool at Anfield. The football world had begun to take note of Southampton, and along with the attention came interest from several clubs, which ultimately culminated in the exit of five players of fantastic calibre; Shaw, captain and influential figure Lallana, Lambert, Chambers and Lovren, along with manager Pochettino.

The Saints fans were not amused. Their grouse was the shoddy way in which the whole business was handled by the management.  In spite of having assured the fans that all enquiries would be met with a ‘Not for Sale’ reply, the people in charge never did anything constructive by way of retaining the players. No conversation was struck to persuade Shaw or Lallana to stay, for instance.  The mass exit of important players has cast a big shadow on the famed Southampton academy. Southampton are no strangers to having their key players lapped up by bigger clubs. Wayne Bridge to Chelsea, Walcott to Arsenal , Bale to Tottenham and Chamberlain to Arsenal are all cases in point. But these could be viewed in the light of the club’s efforts to maintain a healthy balance sheet, which was not really the case this time around, Southampton were not in a financial spot of bother.

The club finds themselves in a very dicey situation; they have a new manager (Ronald Koeman), new players, (4 signings at last count) , and an absence of the influential players from last season. Having grown accustomed to the taste of success, the Saints faithfuls are in no mood to go back to the bland diet of mediocrity and defeat. Koeman has had previous success in building teams from the ground up, and that is heartening news for fans and club like. But people familiar with the world of Football know that a one-size-fits-all school of thought never works here. It will be very interesting to track Southampton’s fortunes this season, and see if it can emulate the incredible season that was 2013/14.