9th place. 8 games left. 5 points off of the playoff places. My Southampton team were on the verge of a comeback to beat all comebacks I have ever witnessed on Football Manager. After being 20th after 19 games, it was almost impossible for us to finish in the playoff places. But now we are just 5 points away, with 8 games to go. Let’s see how those 8 games went:
As you can see, we had made it! Ipswich were our main contenders, and after we beat them 3-1 away from home, we needed a minimum of 1 point from the Norwich game to guarantee 6th place. And after going 5-0 up, we never looked likely to lose. Unfortunately, as you will see, the comprehensive 6-3 win against Norwich had repercussions for them; relegation.
That’s right, Norwich were relegated on the last day of the season, and joins Crystal Palace and Charlton on the road to League 1. I am sorry for all 3 teams, as they were only recently in the Premier League, but ah well, 3 had to go down didn’t they. And hopefully I can take advantage of Charlton going into administration by poaching some of their better players for a cut-price fee. Anyway, back to Southampton. We did fantastically well in the last 8 games of the season (and the 15 before that as well) and thoroughly deserved a play-off place. As you can see, Reading and Cardiff got automatic promotion, with Wolves beating Swansea in the play-off final to claim the final promotion spot. As for the players, they have done brilliantly, and here are the ratings to back that up:
Some great scores there, and some not so great. Nevertheless, our best performers have really exceeded my expectations. Top scorer is Stephen Appiah, 16 goals from 47 starts. Second is Morgan Schneiderlin, getting 12 in 46 starts, and third is a three-way tie between Rudi Skacel (7 in 38), David McGoldrick (7 in 30) and Adam Lallana (7 in 21). Best assister is Skacel, with 18 assists to his name. Second place is Schneiderlin, grabbing 12 assists. Third is Stephen Appiah, with 11. Best rated player is Morgan Schneiderlin (how many times have I mentioned his name this season?!) with 7.29. Second is Franco Zuculini, getting 7.26 in 18 starts, and third place goes to Appiah, with 7.17. Top passer is Egoitz Sukia, 77% of his passes reaching their mark. Second place is a 4 way tie, between Zuculini, Schneiderlin, Marek Saganowski and Gerard, all on 76%. Third is Stephen Appiah with 73%. Anyway, let me move on to the Championship player stats, and let’s see how well Southampton did in that respect:
Not bad, but there are quite a few worrying statistics there. We have no one in the top scorer list, no one in the tackles/game section, and only 1 player in the assist column. I will try and fix this by buying a top class striker and a top class right winger in the summer, providing the board gives me a bit of money to play around with. If they don’t then I am not too fussed, as that would be because they are putting it in clearing the debts.
Anyway, that is it for this post, and indeed this season. Transfers and pre-season of season 2 will be up either in a few days if I have internet access in Sweden, or in 3 weeks when I get back from the second holiday. Check back soon and you might see it. Take care guys!
You had a good season with a less than average Soto side, Schneiderlin will develop in a great midfielder, try to keep him at any cost.
ReplyDeleteGood luck for next season!
Cheers paine, season 2 transfers coming up very soon.
ReplyDelete