Manchester United XI: De Gea; Jones, Smalling, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Anderson, Welbeck; Rooney, Kagawa, Van Persie.
Southampton XI: Boruc; Clyne, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Fox; Puncheon, Cork, Schneiderlin, Ramírez; Lambert, Rodriguez.
Ryan Giggs: Saints are no pushovers
Ryan Giggs says Manchester United’s players are expecting a tough encounter with Southampton despite the sacking of Nigel Adkins earlier this month.
Mauricio Pochettino took over the helm at St Mary’s following the shock dismissal of Adkins, earning a home draw against Everton in his first and only game in charge of Saints.
The South Coast club are currently on a six-match unbeaten run which has lifted them six points away from the relegation zone.
Giggs said. “Everyone was shocked when Nigel Adkins went, but ultimately players have got a job to do. They just get on with it.
“The new manager will put his ideas across and players will just get on with it.
“It will be another tough game for us. Southampton have been in decent form and gave us a good game earlier in the season, so we’ll need to play well.
“You want to perform well for your satisfaction and your own form. It also gives you confidence going into the next game.”
Giggs also insisted that the Premier League leaders will not allow thoughts of Champions League opponents Real Madrid to cloud their title assault.
“We’re not thinking about Madrid,” said Giggs. “Everyone was excited when the draw was made but you can’t look too far ahead.
“You want to perform in games like that and be in good form going into them. That is what we intend to do and the best way of achieving that is to concentrate on the opponents immediately ahead.”
– Jake Hughes
Saints rumour round-up: Pochettino loses out on Inter’s Coutinho
Saints target Philippe Coutinho is apparently set for a move to Premier League rivals Liverpool.
Reports say Liverpool have agreed an £8.5m deal with the Brazilian’s current club Internazionale. It is thought Coutinho will fly over to the UK on Monday to complete a medical at Anfield.
Southampton and Liverpool have went toe-to-toe in the transfer market this January, with the South Coast club being the victor last time around as the two teams fought it out for Norwegian centre half Vegard Forren.
Coutinho played through the ranks at Vasco da Gama before leaving for Inter Milan at the tender age of 16. Southampton rated their chances of nabbing the 20-year-old playmaker highly as he had played under current Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino on loan at Espanyol.
There has been plenty of work at St Mary’s this transfer window with the sacking of Nigel Adkins and simultaneous replacement with Pochettino, the Forren signing and being linked to a number of players across Europe.
The Hampshire outfit will be looking to finalise deals with a host of players such as Davide Astori, who has been continuously linked with a move to Saints throughout the transfer window which slams shut Thursday. Reports suggest personal terms have been agreed with Astori, but his club Cagliari are holding firm on their valuation of the player, which is said to be close to £12m.
– Jake Hughes
Liverpool target Vegard Forren opts for Southampton
Norwegian international Vegard Forren has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Saints.
The ball-playing centre-half, who has been capped five times by his country, signed for the South Coast club on the same day as Nigel Adkins was relieved from his duties at the club.
Forren was on trial at English giants Liverpool before hearing of Southampton’s interest – and then traveled south to hold talks with Saints chairman Nicola Cortese.
“It’s a dream come true for me. Southampton is a big club in the Premier League, which is where I have always wanted to come and play football,” Forren said.
“When I was told of the interest from Southampton, straight away I wanted to come and talk to the chairman. We had a chat and I was very impressed – there was no doubt that this is where I wanted to be.
“The plan the chairman has for this club is fantastic. There is a good, young squad here and the way they play fits me well, so I hope I can join the team and get some good results.”
Saints have had defensive troubles for most of the season. New Southampton poss Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to Vegard to help reverse these problems in the backline.
– Jake Hughes
Saints sack Nigel Adkins and replace him with Mauricio Pochettino
The football world was shocked yesterday as Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese ruthlessly axed Saints favourite Nigel Adkins in favour of Argentinian coach Mauricio Pochettino.
News broke of the managerial change around lunchtime on the club’s official website. No one saw this coming – not even Adkins, who, rumour has it, found out about his demise by seeing it on television.
This comes just days after a stirring Saints comeback away at the European Champions Chelsea, drawing 2-2 after being 2-0 down at half time.
Adkins had talked to the press ahead of Monday night’s game against Everton, talking of youngster Luke Shaw’s progress – but now it is ex-Espanyol boss Pochettino taking charge against the Toffees.
Pochettino had a decent playing career, appearing for Espanyol, PSG and Bordeaux. But the new Saints boss is described as a top prospect in European club management by the South Coast Club.
An official Southampton statement reads:
“Pochettino has earned a reputation as one of the most talented young coaches in European football thanks to an impressive spell in La Liga with Espanyol.”
The 40-year-old coach left Espanyol at the bottom of La Liga when he departed from the Catalan club, but various Spanish pundits – including Espanyol fan Guillem Balague – insist Pochettino is the real deal.
Many Saints fans, including myself, were in absolute disbelief at the news, but it’s not the first time chairman Cortese has ruffled a few feathers.
In the past, the Italian ex-banker has banned all press and photography from the club unless they pay a fee, sacked Alan Pardew following a 4-0 away win at Bristol Rovers and has called out various Southampton legends on ‘leeching’ off the club.
One of said Saints legends is Matt Le Tissier, a man who has long criticised Cortese’s running of the club. Yesterday, the man known as Le God in the days of The Dell said:
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s a strange time of the season, they’ve lost two of the last 12 games and came from 2-0 down to draw at Chelsea.
“(But) it seems to be the way the club’s being run under the chairman. Nothing’s surprising and it’s a bit of a laughing stock.”
Adkins had led Southampton to two successive league promotions and a seemingly safe Premier League berth at 15th before getting the chop.
Monday’s game with Everton is sure to be interesting.
– Jake Hughes
Saints prospect Luke Shaw commits future to club
Southampton have ended all speculation by securing promising defender Luke Shaw to a long-term contract at St. Mary’s.
The 17-year-old left-back had been linked to moves to England’s elite clubs, including Arsenal and Chelsea.
Shaw has made 10 appearances for Nigel Adkins’ men so far this season, which happens to coincide with Saints’ dramatic improvement in defence over the last two months.
“Southampton is the place to be for young kids like me,” Shaw told the club’s official website. “I’m playing in the Premier League for the first team and that is all anyone wants to be doing, so I just want to carry on.
“I have spoken with the chairman about a long-term plan for me at the club. To put an end to all the speculation, I will be committing my future to Southampton. I’m not going anywhere.”
Southampton have an esteemed reputation for producing top footballing talent, including the likes of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Matthew Le Tissier and Alan Shearer.
Terms of Shaw’s deal have not been disclosed.
– Jake Hughes
Emmanuel Mayuka heads off to African Nations
Southampton’s Zambian striker Emmanuel Mayuka has today left the Hampshire club’s Staplewood base for South Africa for African Cup of Nations training.
Reigning champs Zambia called upon the 2012 tournament’s Golden Boot winner Mayuka to help bolster their chances to win more ACON silverware.
Chipolopolo boss Herve Renard has until January 7th to announce his squad for the tournament and it seems certain Mayuka will be a part of The Copper Bullets setup.
While Mayuka’s absence for Southampton will affect squad depth in the final third, Mayuka has been an unused substitute for the side’s last four matches so it shouldn’t impact on the Nigel Adkins’ men too much.
– Jake Hughes
Saints rumour round-up: Astori deal hits a snag
Southampton will need to make an improvement on their bid for Davide Astori if he is to move to St Mary’s from Cagliari, so says the player’s agent.
Saints chairman Nicola Cortese is said to have already placed an offer of £8million to the struggling Serie A side, but the Sardinia outfit want to keep their star man.
The South Coast club have been poor defensively for the majority of their 2012/13 Premier League campaign and it appears Nigel Adkins is determined to bring in a centre-half to solidify the Saints backline.
Astori has been capped by his national side twice and rejected a move to Russian giants Spartak Moscow in the summer.
His agent, Renzo Contratto, implies his player is keen for a move to Hampshire, but things are not set in stone, telling Sky Sports:
“There is an important offer from Southampton but we don’t know if Cagliari want to let him go.
“There is a big difference between the bid and the request of the Italian club, which is about £12million.
“If Cagliari were to accept Southampton’s offer, Davide would be willing to consider the proposal.
“He would have no problem going to play in a foreign league such as the Premier League.”
– Jake Hughes
Southampton 1 – 5 Chelsea: Class shows as Chelsea brush aside Saints
Buoyed by their new £7million signing Demba Ba, Chelsea ran riot at St Mary’s on Saturday, crushing Southampton’s FA Cup dreams.
Nigel Adkins’ men started the game off brightly and took a shock first-half lead on 22 minutes.
A delightful first-time pass from Saints winger Jason Puncheon set young striker Jay Rodriguez through on goal before the Burnley-born forward slid the ball past Chelsea’s stand-in ‘keeper Ross Turnbull.
However, Ba’s quality soon shone and he scored Chelsea’s equalizer just ten minutes after Rodriguez’s opener, bundling the ball into the net following an effort from Blues talisman Juan Mata.
Rafa Benitez’s men then took the lead on the stroke of half time with summer acquisition Victor Moses stroking the ball home from the edge of the box.
Moses’ goal seemingly gave Chelsea a lift and they started the second half like a team possessed – ruthless in their attack.
Branislav Ivanovic extended the London club’s lead to 3-1 on 52 minutes with a trademark towering header from a set-piece.
It was all elementary from there. Any hopes of an unlikely Saints comeback were dashed when Senegalese striker Ba grabbed his second goal of the afternoon, making it four for the FA Cup holders.
Ba scored two goals in 26 minutes. Where as Torres took nearly 700 pitch minutes to score just one goal for Chelsea after his £50million move from Liverpool. Not a bad debut, clearly.
The score was then made 5-1 to the European champions when they were awarded a soft penalty.
Referee Mike Dean adjudged Steve Davis to have handballed, even though the ball clearly struck the midfielder’s midriff.
This presented an opportunity for Frank Lampard to net his 193rd goal for Chelsea, equalling Kerry Dixon’s total as the club’s second-highest goalscorer of all time. A chance the midfielder duly took.
Overall, this game comes as a bit of a wake up call for Saints. After a decent run of ten games that only saw two losses, it’s now clear that Nigel Adkins’ men can’t get too comfortable.
A draw would’ve been a bad result, given the fixture congestion coming up with the match against Chelsea we are owed. Let’s hope the Premier League fixture between these games is one-sided in Saints’ favour.
– Jake Hughes
Sam Hoskins makes Stevenage loan switch
Stevenage have signed promising Southampton striker Sam Hoskins on loan until the end of the season.
The 19-year-old has made two appearances for Saints this season – including one in Saints’ 4-1 thrashing of Stevenage in the Capital One Cup.
This will be Hoskins’ second stint away on loan, after earning a move to Rotherham United last season where he scored two goals in nine appearances for the Yorkshire club.
– Jake Hughes
In That Number! 