Southampton story: 2nd season: Still up there!

Hello readers, hope you are well. Now, in my last post I was 5th in the league table, and comfortably in the play-off places. The next 15 games were very topsy-turvy, we hit a low of 8th. Thankfully, our form started to pick up near the end, and we have improved that. By how much, will come later.



As you can see, we had some very good results. Out of 15 games (13 in the league), we have achieved 9 victories (8 in the league), 3 draws (3 in the league) and just 3 losses (2 in the league). I’m quite disappointed that we lost to League 1 side Huddersfield in the FA Cup, but oh well. That caused us to pick up our performances, and we went from 8th to...



That’s right, 4th. Unfortunately, in the space of 1 game we can still drop down to 6th, but we are only 4 points away from the automatic promotion places! I will not dare to hope, but since we are almost guaranteed to finish in the play-off places, why not have a big push for the top 2? We will probably fail, but it’s no reason not to try! As you can imagine, the players had to perform brilliantly to get to this position, and here are the ratings:



You might notice a new name at the bottom, Jean-Claude Darcheville. He is a new signing on a free transfer, but more on him later. Top scorer is still Stephen Appiah, getting 19 goals in 35 starts. Second place is Marek Saganowski, with 13 goals in 24 starts. Third place goes to Morgan Schneiderlin (7 in 30) and Cameron Jerome (7 in 15). Best assister is again Rudi Skacel, grabbing 15 in 31 starts. Second is Nathan Dyer, getting 12 in 36. And third goes to Marek Saganowski (6 in 24) and Franco Zuculini (6 in 36). Best rated player is Morgan Schneiderlin, with 7.28. Second is Stephen Appiah (7.26) and third is a tie between Jake Thompson and Ferrie Bodde (both 7.17). Top passer is Saganowski, with 80% passes complete. Second is a tie between Adam Lallana and Franco Zuculini, both having 79% passes finding their target. Tied 4th is Ferrie Bodde, Morgan Schneiderlin and Stephen Appiah, all finding their mark with 78% of their passes. Some great scores there, would they carry on to the end of the season?



As I was telling you about before, I have signed former Rangers man Jean-Claude Darcheville on a free transfer (which is why his value is £1k). His contract lasts until the end of the season, and by looking at his attributes, you will see why I bought this 34 year old. His finishing and composure is pretty good, and along with his bravery, determination, off the ball, team work, work rate, balance, pace and strength he makes a very good striker. His natural fitness is also quite high, which will enable him to stay at a good level for longer than most. It’s unlikely I will keep him after his contract finishes in the summer, but you never know. He could grab me some goals if I choose to play 2 up front sometime.
Anyway, that’s it for this post, check back soon for the final part of the second season!