So our beloved Saints have played their first 16 games of the season and are therefore just over a third of the way through a campaign which has so far been somewhat of a dream. Having already watched a lot of Championship football it is interesting to see how different players have coped with their promotion and relegation up and down the league structure. There have been a number of players, such as Anthony Pilkington and Elliott Bennett who have bypassed the Championship on their way to the Premiership whilst former internationals such as Carlton Cole and Nicola Zigic have struggled to feature for their side even in a lower division. So after 16 matches which players have stood out for you in the Championship this season? I have gone for a 3-5-2 as I cannot think of many decent full-backs that I have seen this season: Steele (Middlesbrough) Greer (Brighton) Bamba (Leicester) Faye (West Ham) Leigertwood (Reading) Noble (West Ham) Beausejour (Birmingham) Snodgrass (Leeds) Lallana (Southampton) Lambert (Southampton) Phillips (Blackpool) Subs: Sharp (Doncaster), Scannell (Crystal Palace), Chaplow (Southampton), Karacan (Reading) Hammond (Southampton), Gorkss (Reading), Davis (Southampton). What is your best team so far this season?
Schmeichel (Leic) Clyne (Palace) Bates (Boro) Shackell (Derby) Fox (Saints) Ward (Derby) Cork (Saints) Cowie (Cardiff) Lallana (Saints) Lambert ( Saints) McCormack (Leeds) Subs: Steele (Boro) Nolan (West Ham), Burke (Bham), Emnes (Boro) Chaplow/Guly (Saints)
Basso (Hull) Faubert (West Ham), Hooiveld (Southampton), McCarthy (Crystal Palace), Ridgewell (Birmingham) Emnes (Middlesbrough), Whittingham (Cardiff), Davies (Derby), Lallana (Southampton) Lambert (Southampton), Wood (Birmingham) Subs: Speroni (Crystal Palace), Gorkss (Reading), Guly (Southampton), Snodgrass (Leeds), Baldock (West Ham)
To be honest i thought both Nolan and Emnes looked pretty crap at sms, the game by-passed both of them!
davis (southampton) richardson (southampton) fonte (southampton) Hoovield (southampton) fox (southampton) chaplow (southampton) hammond(southampton) cork (southampton) lallana (southampton) lambert(southampton guly (southampton subs: balkiowski (southampton) martin (southampton) schnderlin(southampton) de ridder(southampton) connolly (southampton) Manager: Nigel Adkins (southampton) best result: southampton 5-2 ipswich
Hi OROW -The Championship is a great league with a number of quality players- its really hard to narrow it down to a teams worth. What i will say is there are a number of ex quality premier league strikers, some of whom have been internationals, Carew, Cole, Vassell, Zigic who have all been outscored by Connolly, Guly and Lambert. How lucky we are! Its not so much about a bunch of individuals for an ideal team- it is about getting them to play as a team. You could mix and match middlesboroughs defence with peterboros attack but wouldnt gaurantee to win matches. What we have at Saints are a group of players in all positions who play for each other. We are not just winning matches, we are generally dominating them and with an attractive, flowing style of football. I am so proud to be a saints fan at the moment (though i always have been proud) and so excited as to where this could take us. 16 games gone, looking forward to the next 16, supporting a fantastic team in a fantastic league.
Thanks RedandWhiteManofKent - Yeah, it is definitely the best year that I remember in my career as a Saints fan. It still comes as a bit of a shock winning so many games in a row and one always expects a disaster around the corner, especially in the Championship which is a topsy-turvy league! I know that one cannot simply pick the best XI that easily but it is interesting to see who people think have done well so far. I think Carew looks like a player who could easily play at a higher level, the same goes for Noble, Snodgrass, Lallana and Guly. I still think the West Ham are a force to be reckoned with and that sooner or later we will have a poor patch but if we can get as far as head as possible before that happens it will be easier to recover. Still, completely delighted with the beginning of our season so far. I am hoping to get to the Brighton game in a couple of weeks, we have played so well recently and I don't remember watching such good football at the club since the Strachan era.
How about posting a 24 man squad consisting of 3 keepers, 7 defenders, 8 midfielders and 6 strikers? One player from each side.
I just think that Chaplow would manage to force his way into whatever team was selected, he has been so consistently determined and energetic for us.
Speroni (Cry) clyne (Cry) Tomkins (West) Hoiiveld (soton) Fox (soton) Emnes(middles) Cork(Soton) Mccann(pete) Lallana (Soton) Lambert(Soton) Mccormack(Leeds)
