Southampton: A South Coast uprising

Mauricio Pochettino leaves Southampton

Mauricio Pochettino has today agreed to leave Southampton by mutual consent.

It is still unknown of the exact reasons, but it is thought that Pochettino has quit due to family issues back in his home of Argentina. He leaves after only 6 months as manager, after Nigel Adkins left in January. Pochettino was quoted as having said that he wishes 'Southampton Football Club a very successful future'. He went on to say that 'I have enjoyed every moment working for this brilliant football club. If I had no problems at home, my aim would be to build a legacy at this club, due to the fantastic nature of the club.'

Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese had this to say: 'We are deeply upset that Mauricio has had to leave us today. We wish all the best to him and his family for the future, and we hope that his mother heals quickly. Mauricio did a fantastic job for us, and we really appreciate his efforts over the last 6 months. The signings he has made for this season will certainly help us to securing a fantastic season ahead.'

However, Cortese had nothing to say over when a new manager would be announced, with many fans stating that the club needed to decide fast over who would take over at the club.

Good luck Joe. Not a Saints fan but will be following!

Nice start,good luck

2013-09-01 20:43#132845 Radders2109 : Nice start,good luck

Cheers mate

2013-09-01 20:43#132843 Jamie : Good luck Joe. Not a Saints fan but will be following!

Cheers, the banner looks good

Wonder who made it?... Lol. Good start nonetheless.

Today we will be bringing you the latest on the news of the latest Southampton manager.

Graeme Souness

The ex-Newcastle manager has been working as a pundit recently, but has reportedly said that he would like to take over a club again, and Southampton could be the right place to revive his career in football.

Matt Le Tissier

Matt Le Tissier would seem a long shot, but the ex-midfielder, who is 2nd on the Saints list of all time top scorers, has reportedly said that he would get back into football only with Southampton.

Roberto Mancini

An even longer shot than Le Tissier, the now-redundant Italian was apparently encouraged to get involved by his friend Mauricio Pochettino, but whether Southampton would be willing to pay the wages that would be on demand could be the stumbling block.

Les Reed

With his only previous managing experience being at Charlton when they were in the Premier League, Reed currently works as the Head of Youth Development at Southampton, where the ex-FA director leads a very well-constructed youth system. The temptation of top-flight management might, however, be to great to stay in the lower ranks at Southampton.

Go on....Matt Le Tissier

2013-09-01 21:01#132852 Radders2109 : Go on....Matt Le Tissier

We will just have to see exactly what happens

Le Tissier takes charge at Southampton

Matt Le Tissier has been announced as the new Southampton manager on a short-term deal. 'Le God' is ready to take his first step into management with the club that he loves.

Le Tissier joins after Mauricio Pochettino's resignation due to family reasons, and Le Tissier will be very happy that he can bring back success to the club that he did for so many years during his playing career.

"I am very excited to be here," said Matt, "It is a great club and has a great foundation for me to work with and develop even further. I would like to bring in many young players, to help with our fantastic academy, and develop a team that can challenge for top 10 finishes and maybe even Europe."

Many people believed that Le Tissier would have to aim low due to his lack of experience as a manager.

"I am not worried at all. If you don't aim high you will never get anywhere, which is why I have set such ambitious targets for the club. I would only set these, mind you, if I believed they were achievable."

Too cliché I would love to do a sto ry with Le Tiss but it is too cliché

2013-09-02 13:08#132995 Louis O. : Too cliché I would love to do a sto ry with Le Tiss but it is too cliché

I hadn't seen it done for a while

Meeting the Squad

I rolled up to the training ground preparing to meet the players. I had asked all of the first-team to be prepared and waiting for me on the training pitch. But first I had to meet up with the staff. I am sure that many of them would seem to be eager to make a good impression, and I had to make sure that they all felt needed.

I entered the training ground to be welcomed with smiling faces and it was a nice sight to see. My new PA took me on a tour around the training ground and also to my new desk. She then left me to enter my room and for me to settle down. It felt empty. I looked out the window to see all of the players warming up.

I headed out onto the training pitch, with many of my staff coming with me. We had a good squad, that could be improved in a couple of ways, but the youth at the club would be key to my plans for the future.

After a long time studying various reports on the team, I came up with 3 players who would be very important to our squad this season, and 2 more who would be important to the future:

The Squad

Morgan Schneiderlin

Morgan has great all-round stats, and has lots of time to develop as a footballer. He is very strong in midfield, and is a good passer and tackler.

Victor Wanyama

The first Kenyan to play in the Premier League joined from Celtic earlier this summer, and he is brilliant physically. He is very strong, and will be part of the backbone of the team.

Gaston Ramirez

Gaston Ramirez is a brilliant player, with fantastic attributes and potential. He is the creative force of the team, and will in behind the striker, although he can play on both wings.

The Future

Luke Shaw

This lad is amazing. At the age of 17 he had a major part to play in Southampton's campaign last year, and is an England Under-21 regular. He plays left back, but can basically play anywhere on the side of the pitch.

James Ward-Prowse

The lad is also fantastic, and can play in behind the striker, or in a deeper role at centre-mid. He has bags of potential and can already pass the ball very well for a 17 year old.

Transfers

Transfers In

James is a young but talented player, with good experience in the Premier League. He was at Wigan in the Championship, which frankly is below his level.


Simone is a fantastically talented player, who I met while on holiday in Italy a few years ago. He is a great person to be able to have at the club, and I am sure that we will want to sign him up at the end of the season.


Craig is a fantastic keeper, but unfortunately injury has taken its toll on Craig, and he was left without a club. I regard him as solid backup, whilst he also gets on with the job of Under-18's coach.


I regard this deal as an absolute coup, as Ciaran is a fantastic player. He is still very young but has great ability, and he will I'm sure pick up great attributes for his role.


Another fantastic young player, who joins the squad on a rotation basis. Even at 17 he was starting constantly at deRBY, and I believe that he is good enough to last in the Premier League.


A brilliant young player, Carlos is very similar to that Javier Hernandez kid up at Manchester United. He is very quick and looks to get past the opposition by breaking the offside trap. He can also finish very well.


A good young centre-back, who can also cover on the right, with decent attributes for his age. I think he will be a great asset to the club despite the low fee.


The Brazilian is very good mentally for a 25 year old, and he is a decent holding midfielder. He will take a place as rotation or backup.

Transfers Out

None of these players are good enough for the team, and it was good to bring in a bit of money.

Pre-Season Fixtures

We had a pretty good pre-season, and we played 6 games to get our fitness levels and familiarity with our tactics up.


We started pre-season with a game against our reserves only a day into my job, which ended in a good result for us, which was a good start. We then played in Wales for three matches, with Osvaldo, McCarthy and Pepe all getting their first goals for the club.

We then played a game against our affiliates Eastleigh, picking up a nice victory there. Finally, we played Real Zaragoza from Spain, losing 2-1 unluckily, Osvaldo scoring for us that time.

Player of Pre-Season

Ricky had a great pre-season for us, constantly picking up good ratings, as well as one Player of the Match performance. He scored 5 goals and picked up one assist, with some good ratings on his pass percentages.

Great signing and its Fierro not Fierrp