Hi guys. Just to say that I have recently written an article about Southampton FC which has been posted on to the 'State of the Game' website this morning. The article particularly focuses on Southampton's English contingent and makes a case for their inclusion in future England squads, or at least for Roy Hodgson to pop down to St Mary's to take a look. The article is viewable via this link - http://stateofthegame.co.uk/2013/04...ere-roy-hodgson-should-go-for-a-full-english/ . I would be interested to hear people's feedback as to whether I have covered everything, or indeed if there's anyone else that merits a mention that I missed out. Since I wrote the bulk of the article, Jay Rodriguez for example has gone and added to his burgeoning reputation. Any feedback that people have good, bad or indifferent will be greatly received. Thank you.
"It is a matter of debate as to whether or not Southampton’s progress in the last two months would have happened organically had Adkins remained in charge." There isn't much debate about it I'm afraid. I'm 99% sure that we would not be 11th if Nigel was still in charge. But a very good read.
Good article, and well written. My only slight criticism would be that the piece about Rickie Lambert left out his developing role as a playmaker under Pochettino, with Jay Rodriguez being used more as an out-and-out striker. For that matter, where is the piece about Jay Rodriguez himself? He will certainly be on the radar for an England call-up next season if he continues his current form.
A well written piece with good knowledge of our players, but you may have just scratched the surface as we have a number of talented young starlets coming through the ranks of our academy, Jake Sinclair (brother of Scott), Callum Chambers and Matt Targett to name just a few to add to Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse. One thing i will add is that Roy was in attendance for our humbling of Liverpool last month and must've been impressed with Jay, Jack, Nathanial and Rickie but I think that were we in a higher league position it would help their claims for a cap much more. The rate of upward progress of the team means that I think that at least one of our players will get an England call in 2013.
I must admit that in my haste to get the article finished I did leave that bit out as I was going to make mention of how it was noticeable that Southampton's upturn in form since the New Year had coincided with Pochettino often pairing Lambert and Rodriguez as a duo and forging a good understanding whereas under Adkins invariably he started with one or the other. I did alude to this in the article, but did not cover it in detail as I had originally planned. Valid point about Rodriguez being absent from the article. To be honest, I've seen less of him than some of the other players I have talked about, but 1 or 2 writers in the weekend press have championed his future inclusion in an England squad.
I have seen James Ward-Prowse play a few times and I know that he is talked of highly by Southampton fans. In the main, I picked out the players that I felt should come under consideration for England in the short to medium term future (give or take Rodriguez). The other players you mention I dare say will attract wider attention at the point at which they graduate to the Southampton first team.
Results certainly seem to have eliminated the element of debate on that subject, although rewind a few weeks and I dare say views on the matter were split.
Even then, most Saints fans could see that there had been a significant improvement in tactics and performances of the players.
Excellent, well written article. Interesting that of the Saints players mentioned in the article JayRod has really come to the fore, after a slow start for his new club, hardly surprising when you think he came from lowly Burnley straight up to the big league? The future looks bright, the future is Red and White.
No debate. Adkins' team was pretty rigid where players had a specific role. Poch's team is much more fluid and 'total football' in style. Same team same footballing philosophy but very slight difference in implementation.
Well written piece and well researched. He got all his facts right, which so many writers fail to do when talking about a team not their own. Thanks for posting it on here.
My only worry with Pochettino was consistency and being able to beat the teams around us and he's shown them both recently. I still think we would have came 16th/17th under Adkins, but I have a feeling that it would have came down to the wire!
Read most of this article this morning and finished it off this evening. That was quite a read and very well written too. Pumblechook..! Dickens fan..?
We are a vastly imrpoved side under Pochettino! Around late November even some of the more rational fans were questioning his tactical nous in the Premier League. Had he been sacked then, I doubt there would even be this utterly pointless debate. He's gone. We're better for it, and Nige is more employable than when he started here. A very good read however! Though i can't help but think we are getting slightly ahead of ourselves. Only a few games ago we lost to QPR and Newcastle in consecutive games. Time well tell, but for now I'm playing it cool. Though we are playing better, we are not the foundation of the England side some seem to suggest, and when people mention the likes of Chambers, Rowe, Targett, Sinclair as future internationals, it makes me cringe, they are talents, that is all.
We're looking good and playing entertaining football and should stay up. However, I'm sure Nicola knows that the work has only just begun. He has some difficult decisions to make about consolidating our position or risk taking to raise us to the next level. We need to be successful for a couple of years at least before an extension of SMS can be considered. He's the guy balancing the books, so we just have to trust him and perhaps not get too ahead of ourselves.
