The Southampton Way

The Daily Echo
POCHETTINO RESIGNS
2nd July 2013



Southampton Football Club have confirmed the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, who decided to resign from his managerial position due to personal reasons. He has gone back to his home country of Argentina to be with his family, according to chairman Nicola Cortese.

Southampton fans across the country will be waiting in hopeful anticipation for the announcement of the next Saints manager. At the moment, various betting sites are stating that Alex McLeish looks the most likely candidate.

Nicola Cortese has told the media that the new manager will hopefully be appointed before pre-season begins, although he has said that he will not settle for anyone who he doesn’t think has the right mentality to take the club to new heights.

The Daily Echo
UNKNOWN BROOKES APPOINTED AS SAINTS MANAGER
9th July 2013

Southampton Football Club have announced the appointment of Kaitlyn Brookes as manager of the club. Brookes was previously the manager of local side AFC Totton, who play in the Calor Southern League Premier Divison. Kaitlyn has said that she is looking forward to working with the staff and players.

When asked why Brookes was appointed as manager, having so little previous experience, Nicola Cortese told the media that she had the right mentality for the club. “Kaitlyn and I share the drive and determination needed to take this club to new heights. I am confident in her abilities. Although she has only managed at non-league levels, I believe that Kaitlyn will be able to adapt to life at the club.”

Kaitlyn has revealed her love for the club, who she has supported all her life. She has admitted that it will be a huge challenge for her to take the step up.

Southampton fans now have to put their faith in Cortese and hope that he has made the right decision by choosing to appoint the almost unknown Brookes.

Good luck!

@Josh7798 Thanks! This is my first story, so I hope it goes well

BBC Sports News
NEW SAINTS MANAGER SIGNS TWO PLAYERS
20th July 2013

After just 11 days in charge, Southampton manager Kaitlyn Brookes has already signed two players. The first signing was 20-year-old central defender Harry Maguire, from League One outfit Sheffield Wednesday. Sports pundits, namely Alan Shearer and Chris Kamara, have described Maguire as a future star. Maguire is rumoured to have been signed for £5 million.



Brookes unveiled Maguire in a press conference held at St. Mary’s, saying she was delighted that Maguire had been able to join her at the club. “Of course, Harry is still only young. We will have to nurture him here, but we have the facilities and staff to do so. We’ve also asked Dejan Lovren to help out with Harry’s training.”

Maguire was asked about working with Dejan, and he said that he was honoured to be able to work with someone of Lovren’s calibre. “Lovren is a brilliant defender and I am sure I will learn a lot from him. The staff and the players here have already made me feel welcome and being mentored by Dejan will make the transition that bit easier. I am very proud to be part of such a great set up.”

The second signing was 21-year-old Argentinian striker, Ezeqial Rescaldani, who moved from Velez Sarsfield for a fee rumoured to be around £2.5 million. He was unveiled in a press conference yesterday. Brookes said that the language barrier was just a small hurdle the team needed to overcome.



“Our young goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, will be helping with Ezequial’s transition. Paulo is Argentinian as well, so it will help us to overcome the language barrier, and of course it’s always nice to have someone who is familiar with you culture as well.”

Kaitlyn has also sold two players already. The first to leave was 30-year-old central defender Jos Hooiveld, who moved to Crystal Palace for a reported £1.3 million. Hooiveld joined Southampton in December 2011 and made 50 league appearances in total. He was described as a ‘fan favourite’ by Brookes. “Jos was part of the squad that got promoted to the Premiership, and he had a big part in the campaign, so of course he will be close to the fans’ hearts. As a Southampton fan, I was sad to see him leave. I told him he was welcome here any time, but he will definitely get more playing time at Crystal Palace. Jos was obviously sad to leave, but he is very positive about his future at Palace, and he is looking forward to working with the talented squad they have there.”



The second player to leave was striker Lee Barnard. Brookes said that Lee was looking forward to playing more first team football again. “It’s been a while since he’s had a game and he’s definitely confident he can impress at Sheffield Wednesday. He’s a very loyal player, and I’m sure he’ll do very well for them.”



With two players signed and two players sold, Brookes has told the media that she has no fears about bringing a few more faces in, and that we can expect more movement from her in the transfer window.

BBC Sports News
SOUTHAMPTON SIGN YOUNGSTERS
21st July 2013

Today Southampton manager Kaitlyn Brookes has confirmed the signings of Dejan Stojanovic and Jerome Sinclair. 20-year-old Stojanovic is a goalkeeper signed from Bolgona FC for a fee reported to be around the £4 million mark, whilst Jerome Sinclair is a 16-year-old English striker signed from Liverpool for a reported sum of £1.2 million.



“I’m building for the future. Harry Maguire was the player I chose to fill Jos Hooiveld’s boots, and Ezequial is the same but with Barnard. We have a number of ageing players in the squad that are still playing incredibly well, but there needs to be younger replacements for them for when they eventually hang up their boots.”

The BBC asked Brookes if she was referring to ageing goalkeeper Kelvin Davis and striker Rickie Lambert, who are 36 and 31 respectively. “Kelvin has been a rock for Southampton for the past few seasons. Artur Boruc has obviously been brought in and I’m sure he will still be ‘keeper for many seasons yet. Paulo Gazzaniga and Dejan Stojanovic are more than capable of taking their places when they decide to retire.”





“As for Rickie, he has been one of the leading men in the squad and has obviously helped Southampton win back to back promotions. I can see him being a key player in the squad for some time yet. There is also Pablo Osvaldo and Jay Rodriguez, who are both very good strikers. Emmanuel Mayuka is currently on loan at the moment and when he comes back he will certainly be an option for playing up front. We now have the talents of Ezequial as well, and I’m confident he will be a great player when he reaches his full potential.”

“Sinclair is just one of many talented strikers we now have in our U18 and U21 squads, including Sam Gallagher, Ryan Seager and Harrison Reed. When the time comes we will decide whether to keep these players or let them achieve elsewhere. At the moment I am confident that U21’s manager Martin Hunter and U18’s manager Jason Dodd will help these players to be the best they can.”



When asked about short-term options, Kaitlyn said she thought the current squad were more than capable. “If I thought we needed short-term options, I would be bringing them in. The squad now is very able to achieve in the Premier League this season and I have no doubts about that.”

Brookes was asked about how long the fans would have to wait before they would be able to see affects of bringing players like young Sinclair and Stojanovic into the club. “It’s not going to be immediate. Some players will go out on loan to lower leagues to get first team experience, and some will simply continue to play in the U18 and U21 games. You have to remember that these players are still growing and learning and you can’t rush their progress. However, when I feel they are ready to be integrated into the first team, they will be. That’s when the fans will see the affects.”

The Southampton Way - Updates


Results
Kaiserslauten 2-0 Southampton
Bristol Rovers 0-3 Southampton
Next Fixture: Southampton vs Paris Saint Germain (friendly).

Injuries
Guly do Prado (groin strain) is still a couple of weeks away from returning to training.
Luke Shaw (sprained ankle) is the only long term injury.

Transfers
Loan offers have been made from Celtic and Watford for striker Billy Sharp. Brookes wants to sell Sharp so both offers have been rejected.
Sheffield Wednesday have made an offer to loan young left midfielder Lloyd Isgrove. The offer has been rejected as Brookes plans to use Isgrove in the first team this season.
Liverpool and Tottenham have made bids for midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin. Both are around the £11.5 million mark but have been rejected as Brookes sees Schneiderlin as an indispensable member of the squad.

PRE SEASON ROUND-UP
In pre-season matches, we only one won game. We lost 3 and drew one. It hasn’t been the greatest start that I could have hoped for, but we put in some good performances and I played around with the line ups a little bit. I put out some of the younger players for around 60 minutes and then brought them off for the more experienced players.

Our first game of the season is away to Manchester City, which is obviously a very tough fixture. I’m just hoping we won’t get beaten by too much of a margin… We’ve been drawn against Coventry away in the Capital One Cup, which will be a tougher game than people realise, but it will provide an opportunity to rest some key players.

Targets for this season:
Finish in the top ten
Find a replacement for Danny Fox as he isn’t up to standard
Sell Guly do Prado and Jonathon Forte


Southampton Squad List

Goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, strikers

1 Kelvin Davis
2 Nathaniel Clyne
3 Maya Yoshida
4 Morgan Schneiderlin
5 Dejan Lovren
6 Jose Fonte
7 Rickie Lambert
8 Stevan Davis
9 Jay Rodriguez
10 Gaston Ramirez
12 Victor Wanyama
13 Danny Fox
15 Harry Maguire
16 James Ward-Prowse
17 Pablo Osvaldo
18 Jack Cork
19 Ezequial Rezcaldani
20 Adam Lallana
22 Callum Chambers
23 Luke Shaw
25 Paulo Gazzaniga
27 Lloyd Isgrove
31 Artur Boruc
32 Jason McCarthy
34 Matthew Targett
35 Jack Stephens
38 Harrison Reed

Players called up for international duty
US Under 20’s: Cody Cropper
England U21’s: Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse, Callum Chambers, Harry Maguire
Northern Ireland U21’s: Chris Johns
Kenya: Victor Wanyama
Barbados: Jonathon Forte
Austria: Dejan Stojanovic
Croatia: Dejan Lovren
Italy: Pablo Osvaldo
Northern Ireland: Steven Davis
Scotland: Danny Fox
Wales: Lloyd Isgrove

Injuries
Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw have been ruled out of the game against Manchester City but they should be able to play in the Coventry Capital One Cup Tie.

Good story but could use images which im sure you will use anyway

2014-01-06 13:59#153223 patrick1 : Good story but could use images which im sure you will use anyway

Just found out how to post images! I've updated the previous posts now

The Daily Echo
19th August 2013



Man City 3-0 Saints
Man of the Match: David Silva

Southampton and new manager Kaitlyn Brookes started the season with a tough fixture and failed to stop the onslaught of attacks from an impressive Manchester City side.

Alvaro Negredo opened up the scoring on 17 minutes with a bullet shot from just outside the 18 yard box. He added to his tally again just after half time, and Wanyama secured the win for City with a disastrous own goal on 71 minutes.

Wanyama, Rescaldani, Osvaldo, Lovren and Maguire all made their debuts.

In a press conference held after the match, Brookes said she was a little disappointed with the result. “At half time we were 1-0 down and I thought we could come back and maybe get a draw. Of course the players are frustrated with the result but we’ll go straight onto the training ground tomorrow and prepare for the Aston Villa game.”

Reporters asked about how Victor Wanyama would cope with his own goal. “Victor is an incredible player with a great mentality and I am confident that he will bounce straight back from this.” When asked about injury problems, Brookes said she thought that the squad had enough depth to work through any issues. “Today Luke Shaw and Rickie Lambert were suffering with injuries, but their doing their best to get through them. We have a good amount of quality players here and I have no worries with regard to squad depth.”

Brookes will be hoping to restore faith with a win against Aston Villa on Saturday.