What's southampton's secret?

[NCFC for life 1993- 0]

Comparing a club to us I know fans don''t like but actually us and Southampton are very similar. Both added quality to our squads over the summer, not much difference in the way of quality of player I wouldn''t think?! Why are they playing so well then?

What''s their tactics and where are we going so horribly wrong?

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

They''ve spent a lot more money than us over the last 2 years ?

[nutty nigel 7,902]

They also play dull uninspiring football. Especially away from home. We have had the pleasure of seeing it first hand twice this year.

 

 

[Yellowbeagle 0]

Confidence, they have also been on a great run, better to analyse at the end of the season if they are still there. I do prefer their pressing approach to matches than our own though.

[Sox 1 0]

Going bankrupt and paying 5p in the pound to creditors!!!!

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

they didn''t appoint chris hooton as manager.

[Jim Smith 2,610]

They appear to have more goals in them. It must be said however that they have been aided this season by an incredibly kind set of home fixtures over the first 3 months which have enabled them to build confidence/momentum.

You wonder how many points we might have if we''d played Palace, West Ham, Sunderland, Stoke, Hull and Swansea as our 6 home games so far.

[norfolkchance1 0]

Well done sox you''ve just beaten me too it. Heading back up north the other week after we''d been beaten by Arsenal I was listening to BBC Radio 5 live presented by Darren Fletcher with Jason Roberts just after Southampton had got a point at Old Trafford. The two of them were revelling in the magnificence of how well the saints had done, with many of their supporters trumpeting how well they had done. It was mentioned that they came up two divisions and now they''re competing so well with the big boys etc. They omitted the one glaring fact that they went into administration which should be a continuous asterik on their performance in my opinion. I was close to ringing the radio up, but thought at the time a) it would sound like sour grapes after the match I had just witnessed, and b) I wouldn''t get on. As clearly the presenters were on a love in about the romance of the story.

I don''t know the exact facts and figures, but teams who reach the top table with all the premier leagues riches after that route should be able to repay everyone back in full as a gesture of goodwill. (Maybe they have - but I doubt it otherwise I would probably have heard about it)

[Herman 11,136]

Haven''t they also got an extremely wealthy owner?

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

[quote user="Sox 1"]Going bankrupt and paying 5p in the pound to creditors!!!![/quote]

 

No. Southampton paid their debts in full. Creditors were not left out of pocket.

[Alejandra 0]

Southampton play without fear, and are allowed to play with an openness which i think the players love and makes them go into each game with the belief they can beat anyone, I think that''s the differenceNorwich seem to play a much more rigid game where if you cant win, make sure you don''t lose type tactic

[Making Plans 957]

No secret - they simply had the bottle to get rid of the manager because they expected better.

[iron_stan 0]

theyve got a great academywe havnt produced or regularly played academy players in the first team since the 90stheyve also spent a lot of money and more importantly they have a good manager

[norfolkchance1 0]

I will retract the above post I believe creditors were paid in full.

[Sox 1 0]

[quote user="norfolkchance1"]I will retract the above post I believe creditors were paid in full.[/quote]Me too, should have checked facts!!! Apologies

[Norma Stick 0]

A manager who has the ability to read a game and alter tactics as and when required.  Not to make 2 substitutions, neither of which were bringing on strikers, in the 89th minute chasing a game 2-1 down.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

Massive spending and a relatively easy opening run of fixtures - Southampton will slowly slip down the table like WBA did last season as they regress to the mean.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

They also play dull uninspiring football. Especially away from home. We have had the pleasure of seeing it first hand twice this year.

[/quote]

 

You obviously haven''t seen Southampton much if you think that is true - the game against Norwich this season was brilliant that''s true, but that is more an exception than a rule.

[Tetteys Jig 851]

Playing to a system and sticking to it without letting their heads drop. They had a disappointing result versus us but kept faith and it has worked more often than not.

Things will even out no doubt but credit where it''s due for the good start.

I also think Dejan Lovren has been the signing of the season so far, like Bassong was for us last season.

Lambert is doing as Holt was but doubly well and Lallana is their Hoolahan but again is twice the player.

They are also now in a position to keep their youth players and are still producing exceptional talents.

As bad as their debt record is, that''s mitigated with the fact they lost the likes of Bale, the Ox and Walcott for fairly rubbish money when you consider what they are all worth now. They missed out on a £20m windfall this summer with Bale due to having to sell a clause back giving them 20% of the fee for a sell on.

They are having problems getting their strikers scoring too, as half the premiership seems to be but their defence and goalscoring midfield are more than making up for this, ours aren''t.

They''ve also had an arguably easier fixture list but have made the most of this, they get the narrow wins more often than us. Hopefully this weekend, we can beat Palace and they will lose at Chelsea and we''ll cut the deficit to 8 points.

[Juggy 0]

Transfer fees paid for their squad, either confirmed or rumoured, are approximately twice as much as paid for our squad.

Add to that the four or five academy products they have in the first team, compared to our none / one if you count Josh Murphy.

Comparing Southampton a club with a sugar daddy and the most productive academy in the UK with us is just stupid.

Find a better comparison, like Fulham or West Brom, or perhaps even Swansea. Comparing us with Southampton is stupid.

They have 3 x £12m players in their squad. They have smashed our current transfer record three times.

They also have a central defender that they paid £8.5m for...... about the same cost of Bassong, Bennett and Turner put together.

If you can go and find £60m for the club to spend on just 4 players then we can come back and compare performance. Here are rumoured or confirmed transfer fees for both teams.....

SOUTHAMPTON TRANSFER FEES

Kelvin Davis £2m

Nathanial Clyne £2.15m

Maya Yoshida £3m

Morgan Schneiderlin £1.2m

Dejan Loven £8.5m

Jose Fonte £1.2m

Rickie Lambert £1m

Steven Davis Free

Jay Rodriguez £7m

Gaston Ramirez £12m

Victor Wanyama £12.5m

Danny Fox £2m

James Ward-Prowse Academy

Dani Osvaldo £12.8m

Jack Cork £750k

Tadanari Lee Free

Adam Lallana Academy

Guly do Prado £1m

Calum Chambers Academy

Luke Shaw Academy

Paulo Gazzaniga £2.5m

Jos Hooiveld £1.4m

Artur Boruc Free

TOTAL: £71m + 4 academy players

NORWICH TRANSFER FEES

John Ruddy £250k

Russell Martin £250k

Steven Whittaker Free

Bradley Johnson Free

Sebastien Bassong £4m

Michael Turner £1.5m

Robert Snodgrass £3m

Johnny Howson £3m

Ricky Van Wolfswinkel £8.5m

Leroy Fer £4.5m

Gary Hooper £5.2m

Anthony Pilkington £2m

Mark Bunn £1m

Wes Hoolahan £600k

Johan Elmander £1.3m

Elliott Bennett £1.5m

Javier Garrido £1.3m

Luciano Becchio £200k

Carlo Nash Free

Nathan Redmond £2.5m

Martin Olsson £2.5m

Ryan Bennett £3m

Alexander Tettey £1.1m

Josh Murphy Academy

TOTAL: £47.2m + 1 academy player

Can you not see how constantly using Southampton in a direct comparison is just plain dumb?

If you want a team who have spent similar sums then start comparing us with Swansea.

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

[quote user="Le Juge"]

Luciano Becchio £200k[/quote]

 

It doesn''t alter your argument but Becchio was around £200,000 or so plus whatever Steve Morison was valued at, so probably more like at least £1.5m.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"][quote user="nutty nigel"]

They also play dull uninspiring football. Especially away from home. We have had the pleasure of seeing it first hand twice this year.

[/quote]

 

You obviously haven''t seen Southampton much if you think that is true - the game against Norwich this season was brilliant that''s true, but that is more an exception than a rule.

[/quote]

 

Well I''ll admit I haven''t Beth. I''ve only seen them home and away last season and home this season. We took 5 points from those games. Had Holty scored his pen it would be 7/9. I''ve seen them on MOTD but I don''t rely on a few minutes highlights to paint a picture. But I can only comment on what I''ve seen and you''ve probably seen them more than me. The fact that they are better than I thought rather points to Hughton winning the tactical battle 3/3.