As a saints fan myself. I can agree that it was frustrating at the start where we were loosing games after getting a new manager. But the further the season goes on the better and better we are playing. 19 league games unbeaten. I feel that if we didn’t have our struggles at the start we could be fighting Leicester for top spot of the table

Southampton's relegation from the Premier League wasn't something that just happened overnight. From the highs under Pochettino and Koeman Southampton then started to slide. Marcus Liebherr's sudden and unexpected death ushered in an era of uncertainty and changes at the top of the club and they became rudderless and drifted with a lack of direction, decisive leadership and philosophy. You could see this with the blind scattergun approach to transfers which meant players being replaced with sub standard, often record, signings who never really fitted into whatever, vague and loose ideas the club had. Couple this with some awful managerial appointments and there was only one direction the club was headed. Hassenhutl brought a brief glimmer of hope but wasn't backed and ended up becoming a firefighter whose own confidence began to take hits. Slowly all the good work they'd done over previous seasons leaked from the club and constant relegation battles brought in a defeatist mentality. Saints had become a poor and impotent team a few seasons before they were finally put out of their misery. Any incoming manager and DOF was going to have to put all of this right and clear out all the accumulated rot that had built up.

The centre back pairing of Bednarek & Harwood-Bellis has been instrumental in our unbeaten run. Bednarek reads the game brilliantly.

We literally has Swansea fans wanting him out 🤣 what a manager Martin he is. Honestly I'd have him back over any manager in the world. Superb to watch and he had us playing brilliant with a terrible squad. What a guy

Although many of us weren't convinced about Martin for a long time, he's now shown he's got the facilties and mettle to do the job. The key words and phrases under Martin have to be 'squad consistency' and 'improvement'. Not only that Martin has shown his excellent man-management skills ( which is a long story but essentially he seems to get the best out of everyone in the squad).You could go around the whole squad in terms of improvements since the first tentative outings: Bazunu has picked up confidence and his goalkeeping psyche is improving game by game; Manning has become a better defender; Bednarek has shown why he's an international player; The squad midfield players other than Downes have all contributed significantly, Stuart Armstrong has been crucial in some games ( consistency has never been his strong point) and Aribo made a significant contribution before his departure for the African Cup; Adam Armstrong has been a terrific captain and has covered a ridiculous amount of the pitch, often racing back to defend with a heroic tackle when needed; Edozie and Fraser are perhaps playing their best football of their professional lives albeit at different ends of their careers; Adams has now regained his goal scoring prowess although Saints had adapted around the absence of a centre forward with everyone contributing with goals. The other squad players like Alcarez, Smallbone, Stephens and Bree are all capable of maintaining the quality whenever they come into the team. I'd love to see Saints improve even further, catch Leicester and win the title - might be worth a punt!

Excellent analysis. I agree regarding Flynn Downes who would be the biggest miss if he's injured [or more likely ill]

As a Saints fan, well done & thank you mate. Really good analysis and starting with Downes tells me you've watched more than just some highlights. I gotta say tho, that the bravery and composure our back 4 now have is nothing short of remarkable when compared to last season..

That was one of the best & most in-depth round ups I've seen. 👏

KWP is far too good a player for the Championship, and I don't think anyone would have been surprised if he'd downed tools and demanded a move in the summer. Unlike, say, Adam Armstrong, KWP had precisely nothing to prove. So massive respect that he did not do this, and continues to give it 100% every week. As for Adam Armstrong, I really hope that should Saints gets promoted, the confidence he's gained over this amazing Championship campaign leads to some much needed Premier League success. As a fan, I'd love it for him to prove the fans wrong and show that he can flourish in the top flight. A shoutout too to Gavin Bazunu. He had an absolutely wretched time of it last season, and I don't think there was a single Saints fan who wanted him anywhere near the team this campaign. But RM stuck by his man and what we have now is a solid keeper who can, it transpires, stop shots and collect crosses, but more notably boasts top class distribution - a surprising number of our attacks are kicked off by a Bazunu pass.

Enjoyed the video. Will Smallbone has been brilliant this season too, and Fraser has the makings of fine player.

personally agree 100%...brilliant tactics to escape markers. KWP is up there with the top men in the division. Up the Saints!!

One thing I feel like mentioning with why we were so shite at the start of the season is that Jones and Selles had really given Martin nothing at all to work with, I remember hearing an interview quote from him commenting on the lack of any sort of system built by the former managers. Feel like that's shown best through the utter inconsistency we had in our results. 0-2 Palace (H) and 0-1 Bournemouth (H) were two of the most embarrassing/ depressing games of football I've ever watched, , but in the middle of those two results we almost beat Arsenal at the Emirates

Finally, an insightful and impartial Football KZfaqr who speaks well!

Fair play lad, great analysis 👍

Basically, we finally get a manager who understands the importance of CDM. JWP had been playing that position and it was the worst decision made by the 3 managers last season. Look at how JWP is thriving in West Ham now while playing a more attacking role! Nothing against our former captain here, but the last 3 managers either failed to see his potential or lack of opportunityto sign the correct player (probably former). Downes is a natural no.6 and bringing Rothwell in to the team for the rest of the season is a really smart move by RM. Everything else comes easier when we get the key CDM right! In the modern football, that role is super important. Just look at the top 4 PL teams in the past 5 seasons, they all have a key CDM player that protects the back 4 and linking the players up front. That said, I agree with the other 2 players mentioned. Harwood-Bellis is an excellent centre back! He's the centre we finally have since VVD. Good reading of the play with Bednarek, good vision to pass the ball forward, and scoring header on set-pieces. 20 million buy option is rather steep. However, if we are heading back to PL next season, he's definitely an important player for us!!!

Great analysis thank you. Aside from sound determination to implement and slowly but surely get fans to understand his style of football, RM has reignited a whole squad, got them talking and enjoying playing again. What more could we want from our manager.

good watch this nice job Jacob

Nice report Jacob, I'm a Saints fan and very impressed with your take on The Saints. I look forward to more Saints videos

Good analysis. I have been watching Saints for 60 years and this season is sublime team football. In the early 80's we had great teams with stars (Keegan, Channon, Williams etc) who were a good watch but what we have now is technical efficient football played by players who know exactly what to do. This is confirmed by substitutes including youth/u21 players who just slot into their role. No more square pegs in round holes. It is fabulous to watch and it could be interesting to see how it functions in the Prem if we go up.

Excellent video fella. Thankyou. I was very wary of him at the beginning. There are several issues i have with farting around rather than playing directly. But. He really has done us proud

Good video. Spot on with the 3 players identified for what they are bringing to the team. We have an option to buy THB if we get promoted and if any team is interested in KWP he does have a weakness - for all his attacking play his final ball isn’t that good, as seen by him only having 2 assists, so on that basis alone I would advise other teams to ignore him. Please! Adam Armstrong has been phenomenal at this level and I think that he will be ready to step up to the premier league level, in a settled team, if Saints go up. Things last season were anything but settled, which reflected in his performance. Everyone has bought into the RM style of play, including the U21 side which largely consists of U18 players, so players brought into the first team squad for training sessions or match day already know what is expected of them. For instance the match day squad, against Sheffield Wednesday included 3 x 17 year olds.

As a Swans fan I’m watching saints with envy. Even when we went on that horrendous run of 3 wins in 22 I still believed in his process. He also engaged with us Swansea fans. Hope nothing but the best for him going forward.

Excellent take Jacob - this channel deserves more subs than it currently has. Yes in what is a strong squad overall KWP and Taylor Harwood Bellis stand out as PL standard players in the wrong division. On the right young Sam Edozie too is a rising star worth keeping one eye on I think. Talking about youngsters the Saints also have a highly rated 17 year old striker called Tyler Dibbling on their books who could go far in the game perhaps - time will tell of course. On the defensive side of things their keeper - Gavin Bazunu - had a bloody nightmare last season in the PL but is starting to show some impressive form now - but there is still at least one avoidable error per game in him and you fear for the Saints if that ends up costing them in any play-off final. But the way their manager has them playing at the moment they look a pretty good bet for automatic promotion - indeed if I was a betting man I'd put money on it.

love it mate, keep up the great work! UTS

Amazing video mate ,great props

Loved this more saints videos please

Decent analysis mate from a saints fan.

Great video mate. Really good analysis 👍

THB and KWP are just streets ahead. Hoping we can keep them both for a long time.

Great video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

with the money southampton got in summer 2023 they could have a solid premier league campaign if they go up imo

i totally agree with flynn. I’ve asked plenty of other southampton fans like myself who’s the best player this seasons, most say kwp which is understandable he’s my favourite player but the best definitely is flynn this season. flynn and martin are like bread and butter.

Gotta look at why we were really relegated, new owners, loads of managers within a year going from, hassenhuttle, to jones then to selles before landing on russel martin, we sold majority of our team and had to make a new team with only several good players left and bringing in alot of youngsters who obviously have potential but not the experience that was needed to survive

Great Video Jacob

How do you feel the Rothwell addition will be for them? More for cover or will be a difference maker in their promotion push?

Russell Martin has made our fans look like total bellends. Hope we remember this next time we write a player or manager off after a few bad games.

Cmonnn you saints

Good analysis - think it only tells half the story though. Russell has transformed the culture at the club - the players are happier and much more together ; there is a culture where players out of the team have to fight hard when they do get on the pitch to stake a claim but will be rewarded if they produce a performance. There seem to be more leaders in the team than we have previously had. Almost all individual players have been improved - not just the young ones too. For example, Bednarek is now a confident player with the ball who regularly hits the most passes in the team per match, and has developed both his consistency and leadership (both of which were in question previously). Russell's faith in players who did not thrive in the pressing system we had before (Adam and Stuart Armstrong) has really seen them blossom, and he's managed the enigmas of Joe Aribo and Sekou Mara into players that are now useful parts of the squad. He's shown a lot more tactical flexibility than we were led to believe he would. We were told he would be a die-hard tiki-taka above all else manager, but he's tweaked how we play many times - both the overall system and within matches themselves to marry some pragmatism with a general philosophy of controlling the ball. Russ took some flak during our difficult September when we were building things and had new players who weren't totally match fit. His general demeanour, positivity and manner with everyone though has really helped transform the club. The fans sound more on board and united than I can remember in a long time. All the players you mention deserve the individual spotlight. I'd add Gavin Bazunu who has survived being a young man in a lion's pit last season and has just gone through the roof in confidence this season. He's still raw and ridiculously young for a first team goalkeeper, but the manager's unswerving faith in him means we are seeing a player with a serious future now, rather than someone who was targeted by sections of the fanbase last year. Flynn Downes also needs highlighting - he's a very singular player, basically a midfield general who adds colossal amounts of spine to a team, and it will set us back a lot (even if we get promoted) that West Ham almost certainly won't let him join us permanently. It's a shame it's such a competitive league this year. We basically would be up where Leicester are if it wasnt for the fact that our summer rebuild finished later than theirs. We have a history of being promoted through finishing second - I'd take that, but this team and manager are special and deserve more accolades than that.

We have an obligation to buy Harwood-Bellis for £20m if we get promoted

Personally, Kyle is our best player

#FreeBenson

They just lost 3-1 to Bristol city they got taught football from us

Sunderland, Coventry, and Leicester have been in good form apart from Southampton based on recent form.

Why did they have a rough start? Because they were a terrible side! The Championship is a tough league and Saints were rubbish. Any fans who thought the team had any chance of success without a major rebuild and a smart new manager were deluding themselves.

I kinda hate him cause he I support swansea city his former club

yeah hes won nothing yet, dont get carried away, it can all go pear shaped in football.

I like to think that 4 game blip was just Martin rotating the squad to find his best team. And once he found it, Southampton have been in full swing ever since. Just need to make up for those 4 consecutive defeats and automatics should hopefully be coming our way, just need to stay consistent now ❤️🤍❤️🤍❤️

Saints fan here. You’re completely wrong about KWP, he’s dreadful. Definitely not worth paying attention to. We’ll do everyone a favour and keep him forever. You’re welcome guys.

Coyr