Southampton: January

Hey guys, welcome back to the Southampton story. This time we’re going to cover January. I accidently forgot to screenshot the league at the end of January. Oops. :P

Anyway, January is an important month in any Managers year as the transfer window opens, and any holes your team may have can be plugged. Unfortunately, I lost an integral part of my squad in Guly Do Prado as his loan spell ended. I tried to buy him permanently but he didn’t want to stay at St. Mary’s, despite some impressive performances. So he went back to Cesena. So that left me a hole on right wing. While Jose Baxter and Jason Puncheon could fill in there I wanted a real class player in there.

After scouring the market I decided on Thomas Dossevi . A 31 year old Togolese winger who I signed from Swindon. He had been in good form this season leading the Assist table with 13 assists and I have no doubt he could cope in the Championship. We signed him for an initial £200k with £350k being paid over 18 months and Swindon receiving £450k if we get promoted. Bringing the deal to an even million. The fans were not happy at the high price but I’m sure they will come around when they see how good he is.

I also wanted a new striker, preferably a young one to give our strike force some support. Then an agent offered me a young Dutch player called Ralf Seuntjens. He was at Dutch club RBC and had scored 12 goals in 16 appearances. Whilst he was playing at a lower level, my scouts assured me if nurtured he would become a good championship player, so really at £65k he was a bargain.

The other player we signed was a right back to provide a little extra cover. We got Ahmed Ammi on loan from west Brom, paying half of his wage. He won’t be a major fixture in the squad unless we have an injury crisis which fingers crossed won’t happen.

Anyway, on to the matches, I will try to keep the match reports shorter to save your poor eyes and brains. :P
Southampton Vs Leyton Orient
Date: 01.01.2011
Competition: npower League 1
Match day: 25
Location: St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton

Line-Up: Davis, Richardson, Jaidi, DeMerit, Harding (Geary 79), Puncheon *MOM*, Dorado, Livermore, Lallana (Holmes 70), Baxter, Lambert (Dabo 60)

To kick of the new year we were home to Leyton Orient, who were low to mid table. And we were straight on the attack, We took the lead early on through a Puncheon thunderbolt, and despite our relentless attacking it stayed that way until 65 minutes when Dabo scored a beautiful free kick. And 3 minutes later it was 3 when Jaidi’s head met another Dabo free kick. And that’s how it finished.

Final score: Southampton 3 – 0 Leyton Orient

Southampton Vs Peterborough United
Date: 03.01.2011
Competition: npower League 1
Match day: 26
Location: St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton

Line-Up: Davis, Richardson (Geary 61), Fonte *MOM* , DeMerit, Harding, Dabo, Schneiderlin (Livermore 89), Puncheon, Holmes, Barnard (Lambert 61)

2 days later we welcomed the team just one place below us. So this game was super important. We were on top in the first half but couldn’t score. In the second half Peterborough started to come back into the game, we owed Kelvin Davis for making some good saves to keep us in it. We managed to take the lead in the 73^rd minute when Jason Puncheon was tripped in the box and Rickie Lambert managed to slot the ball home calmly and we held on. Giving us a well-deserved victory.

Final Score: Southampton 1 – 0 Peterborough United

Barnsley Vs Southampton
Date: 08.01.2011
Competition: FA Cup
Round: 3
Location: Oakwell, Barnsley

Line-Up: Davis, Butterfield, Fonte, DeMerit, Harding, Dabo (Schneiderlin 71), Livermore, Puncheon (Holmes 71), Baxter, Lallana, Barnard *MOM* (Lambert 80)

In the third round of the FA cup we were drawn against Championship side Barnsley, so this would be a good test of what would be expected of us next season. And boy did we step up and show we’re ready. After an even start we managed to take the lead on 19 minutes, Jose Baxter with the smart finish. And 5 minutes later it was 2. Lee Barnard pouncing on a loose ball in the area and finishing well. We were by no means completely outplaying Barnsley, but we were on top thanks to our good passing. In the second half we continued to push and got a third when Lee Barnard was tripped in the area. He brushed himself off and took the penalty himself, blasting it home. He completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, controlling a cross in the area before hitting on the half volley into the corner. After we’d scored 4 we just sat back and held on.

Final Score: Barnsley 0 – 4 Southampton

MK Dons Vs Southampton
Date: 12.01.2011
Competition: npower League 1
Match day: 27
Location: Stadium:MK , Milton Keynes

Line-Up: Davis, Ammi, Fonte, DeMerit *MOM*, Harding, Puncheon (Lambert 66), Dabo, Livermore, Lallana (Holmes 66), Baxter, Barnard

We travelled next to Milton Keynes to face a MK Dons team pushing for the play offs. We started off well, making chances throughout the second half. And it was the same story in the second half, we finally took the lead through Jose Baxter on 58 minutes when he won the ball in the 6 yard box and finished. And we got the second with our third penalty in as many matches when Dietmar Hamann pulled Lee Barnard’s shirt and the in-form striker finished from the spot. Despite a couple of chances late on we couldn’t convert any more. And thanks to Sheffield Wednesday drawing to Brentford we topped the table for the first time.

Final score: MK Dons 0 – 2 Southampton

Southampton Vs Charlton Athletic
Date: 16.01.2011
Competition: npower League 1
Match day: 28
Location: St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton

Line-Up: Davis, Ammi, Fonte, DeMerit *MOM*, Harding (Geary 86), Dabo, Dossevi, Livermore Lallana, Seuntjens (Baxter 69), Barnard (Lambert 69)

Yet again we faced a play off contender. Phil Parkinson had been under pressure all season despite guiding Charlton to a steady position between 6^th and 8^th in the league. The match was pretty even, but Charlton perhaps edged the first half. And they came out on top in the second half. But it was us that took the lead thanks to Jay DeMerit heading home a Dan Harding corner. And after we scored we managed to stop Charlton having any chances apart from one or two half chances.

Final Score: Southampton 1 – 0 Charlton Athletic

AFC Bournemouth Vs Southampton
Date: 19.01.2011
Competition: Johnstones Paint trophy
Round: Southern Final Leg 1
Location: Dean Court, Bournemouth

Line-Up: Davis, Geary, Fonte, DeMerit, Domi (Ammi 67 (Baxter 71)), Dossevi, Schneiderlin, Dorado, Puncheon (Lallana 67) Seuntjens, Barnard

We entered the final of the competition that we won last season with a fatigued first team. We had to make some changes and against a Bournemouth team who were good at home we knew this was going to be a tough game. We were right, Bournemouth flew out of the blocks and after some good chances Steve Lovell put them ahead on 18 minutes. He got his second 9 minutes later after Marc Pugh had hit the post. We knew  we had to score quickly to get back in the game and that we did. Straight from the kick off we built up an attack and Lee Barnard scored off the post. We then too charge of the game until and after half time. We suffered some bad news when Domi got injured and then Ammi his replacement got injured after being on for just 4 minutes, we had no more defenders on the bench so we had to shuffle out team.  But we finally got the equaliser on 72 minutes thanks to a second goal for Lee Barnard after a gorgeous defence splitting pass from Ralf Seuntjens. Both teams had chances to snatch the game at the death but it ended 2 – 2 and we’ll go back to St. Mary’s with 2 away goals.

Final score: AFC Bournemouth 2 – 2 Southampton

Sheffield Wednesday Vs Southampton
Date: 22.01.2011
Competition: npower League 1
Match day: 29
Location: Hillsbrough, Sheffield

Line-Up: Davis, Butterfield, DeMerit *MOM*, Fonte, Geary, Puncheon (Dossevi 65), Dabo, Livermore, Lallana, Baxter, Seuntjens (Barnard 66)

We faced the 2^nd place Sheffield Wednesday knowing that a win would give us some breathing space. However, after an even and entertaining first half where Jason Puncheon missed a penalty the referee ruined a brilliant match by sending off 3 players. First of all Mark Beevers for a trip on Ralf Seuntjens, He got a straight red when he wasn’t the last man. Then from our team Jose Baxter for a two footed challenge (The only deserved red card) and finally Danny Butterfield after a dive from Dave Van Den Bergh. After this the match limped to the end and 0 – 0 draw was the result.

Sheffield Wednesday 0 – 0 Southampton

Ipswich Town Vs Southampton
Date: 29.01.2011
Competition: FA Cup
Round: 4
Location: Portman Road, Ipswich

Line-Up: Davis, Richardson (Geary 78), DeMerit *MOM*, Fonte, Domi, Dabo, Livermore, Puncheon, Seuntjens, Lallana (Holmes 78), Barnard

The FA Cup next drew us up against even harder championship side in Ipswich Town. Ipswich started off on top and took the lead through Ruben Pulido when we failed to clear a corner. We soon pulled level though through a smart Jason Puncheon finish. But before half time Ipswich were in the lead again after a thunderous drive from Tamas Priskin. We equalised just after the break when Jay DeMerit headed home a Puncheon corner. From then on we actually bossed the game until Jose Fonte got sent off for a second booking after a Priskin dive. But we now get the chance to bring Ipswich back to St. Mary’s.

Final Score: Ipswich Town 2 – 2 Southampton

January Review:
League position: 1st
Month Form: W W W W W D D D
Top Goal scorer: Lee Barnard (16)
Highest Average: Jay DeMerit (7.49)

32 games unbeaten
25 games unbeaten in league