Southampton 2012/13 Season Preview

By Chris Linnell

We take a look at Southampton’s prospects leading up to the new Premier league Season.

Manager: Nigel Adkins

Stadium: St. Mary’s Stadium – 32, 689

Nickname: The Saints

2011/12 League Position: Championship runners-up

Summer Signings

Jay Rodriguez – Burnley – £7m

Nathaniel Clyne – Crystal Palace – £2m

Paulo Gazzaniga – Gillingham – £2m

Steven Davis – Rangers – £800,000

Key Players

Rickie Lambert – The Saints hero scored 31 goals in all competitions last season. Let’s see if he can do it again in 2012/13.

Adam Lallana – The classy playmaker drives the team forward with his strength and expert passing.

Nathaniel Clyne – The Saints beat loads of top teams to secure the signature of the former Crystal Palace star. He definitely has the potential to be a leading Premier League defender.

Likely Line-Up

K Davis, Clyne, Fonte, Hooiveld, Fox, Cork, S Davis, Hammond, Lallana, Lambert, Rodriguez

Team Tactics

• Playing 4-4-2 worked well for Nigel Adkins last season – don’t expect him to change a successful system.
• The Saints are very organized at the back and Clyne offers rapid pace down the right hand side.
• Lallana will provide Lambert with plenty of chances to get himself on the scoresheet.

Opening Fixtures

August 19^th Man City (A), 25^th Wigan (H), September 2^nd Man United (H), 15^th Arsenal (A), 22^nd Aston Villa (H), 29^th Everton (A)

Verdict

After getting back-to-back promotions, Southampton’s main mission this season is to stay up. However, they’ll need to secure points early on, or they could risk being sucked into a relegation battle later in the season.

I think the Saints could be this season’s surprise package. The team aren’t going life easy in the Premiership but if Lambert and Rodriguez find their shooting boots quickly they could cause a few shocks.

Although their squad lacks real depth and top class players, their passing style of play will gain them a few fans this season. 17th