Southampton story: 3rd season: The end of an era

Hello and welcome to the final ever post of my Southampton story, and indeed my Football Manager 2009 adventure. I was hoping to end it on a high, and we were certainly doing so, sitting in 6th place in our debut season in the Premier League. I was willing us to go even better, try and get into the top 4, but I knew we were not up to a job of that greatness. And without further ado, here are the final results of my Southampton story:

Our form tailed off a little, but we still won a few crucial games. Out of 13 games (12 in the Premier League) we won 4, drew 4 and lost 5 (4 in the Prem). Notable results include draws against Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal, with wins against Everton and Blackburn giving us a much needed boost. Some terrible results include the double defeat to Fulham, putting us out of the FA Cup and losing us ground on our Premier League rivals. The Chelsea game was to be expected, but a 4-1 loss to West Brom really stung. But what would these results do to the table?

An amazing achievement; 5th place. Despite the last day defeat to relegated West Brom, we held on to 5th place on goal difference, with Aston Villa only mustering up a 1-0 win over Ipswich. The amazing thing is that we finished above big spending Manchester City, whose squad value is over £200m, while ours is less than £20m. I may be a City fan, but it does make it a whole lot sweeter when you haven't spent that much money, ala Arsenal or Everton. Anyway, let's get on to the ratings:

Surprisingly average ratings there, only 6 players having an average rating of 7 or above. Moving on, top scorer is Ched Evans, getting 13 goals in 29 starts. Second place goes to Morgan Schneiderlin, with 7 goals in 38 starts. Third place is a tie between Miku (6 in 29), defender Mark Beevers (6 in 35) and fellow central defender Jan Simunek (6 in 38). Top assister is left winger Adam Johnson, collecting 12 assists in 30 starts. Second place goes to Nathan Dyer, with 11 assists in 26 starts. Third place goes to Lee Holmes, (6 in 6) and Jake Thompson (6 in 10). Best rated player is defensive midfielder Franco Zuculini with 7.17 from 30 starts. Second place is Jan Simunek with 7.12, and third place goes to Lee Holmes with 7.08. Finally, top passer goes to Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana, both getting 79% passes on target. Third place is Morgan Schneiderlin with 78% passes, and fourth place goes to Franco Zuculini and former goal machine Stephen Appiah, both on 77%. Now, lets get on to the board confidence:

As you might expect, the board is very happy with me, and mostly to do with our Premier League performance. Our squad harmony is very high, no reports of bust-ups in the training ground or anything like that. Our wages are well under control, and our club stature has grown immensly over the past 3 seasons. It seems I really have made a difference to the club, here's hoping that I can do the same in Football Manager 2010!

This is the last Southampton post, but you only have 6 more days to vote for who I should be in Football Manager 2010. Notts County and Newcastle are streets ahead of everyone else at the moment, and County are winning by a slender 6 vote advantage. I am grateful to the 100 odd peopele who voted in it, and urge the rest of you to get voting as soon as possible! This is the end of my post, so I shall bid you farewell.

The End.