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Season Review: 2015-16


Saint-Armstrong

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Premier League: 5th - (could drop to 6th if United avoid defeat against Bournemouth)

Europa League: Play-Offs - (eliminated by Midtjylland)

FA Cup: 3rd Round - (eliminated by Crystal Palace)

League Cup: Quarter Final - (eliminated by Liverpool)

 

 

Points Total: 63pts - (new club record)

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That secures a SEVENTH consecutive season of improvement.

 

 

Saints under Liebherr:

 

2009-10 - L1: 7th + JPT winners

2010-11 - L1: 2nd = promoted

2011-12 - CH: 2nd = promoted

2012-13 - PL: 14th

2013-14 - PL: 8th

2014-15 - PL: 7th = Europa

2015-16 - PL: 5th/6th = Europa

Edited by Saint-Armstrong
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Right, so maybe not the right thread, but I'll ask it anyway just to see what people think.

 

Expectations for next season?

 

id take top half, cup final/win, and a european run, to progress out of group in europa would be nice, but not a must.

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24 pts from the first 19 games

39 pts from the second 19 games

 

lets take that kind of form into next season please.

 

Does this mean we will do a Leicester and just keep the form rolling all the way through the next season?

 

In all seriousness, this has been a very good season, hopefully we can keep the squad together and push on again next time around. Would love a 'proper' go at Europe!

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That secures a SEVENTH consecutive season of improvement.

 

 

Saints under Liebherr:

 

2009-10 - L1: 7th + JPT winners

2010-11 - L1: 2nd = promoted

2011-12 - CH: 2nd = promoted

2012-13 - PL: 14th

2013-14 - PL: 8th

2014-15 - PL: 7th = Europa

2015-16 - PL: 5th/6th = Europa

 

Are there any other teams that can currently boast an upward trend like that?

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id take top half, cup final/win, and a european run, to progress out of group in europa would be nice, but not a must.

 

Yeah, just wondering now since it's a 3rd consecutive season in top 10, if just getting 40 points and a good cup run is going to be enough in the future for fans.

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Really impressive season, recovered really well from the bad period of form which shows how good Koeman is.

 

Turning point for me was Forster coming back. Our win % with and without him must be substantially different.

 

Key players found form towards the end too, even the run of the last 4 games was pretty special.

 

Got to take this momentum into next season now.

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Incredible form the second half of the season, some fantastic wins along the way, putting to bed our longest losing streaks against teams, a record points total in the Prem era, and a record finishing position in the Prem era.

 

On top of that, a final day up there with the best we've ever had, finishing above the current champions, Chelsea, above Liverpool, above West Ham, and maybe even above Man Utd, just three points off the Champions League spots.

 

Once again we're going on a European tour.

 

This season is one I'm going to remember for a long time :D

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Really impressive considering we lost our 3 best players - I had us pegged for 12th so been proven wrong. Some great recruitment (Romeu, VVD), some decent (Claise, Martina, Stek), some bad (Juanmi, Cedric) overall good. The most pleasing for me was Koeman showing his tactical accumen when we were in a rut (still playing well - just not scoring) by building up from the back again - a lot has been made of no clean sheets in last 12 but frankly that is because we are playing a more attacking style (and winning !). On that point - was looking at 'top goalscorers' and very pleased we have 3 strikers hitting double figures, but of those 3 some of our seasons story is clear looking at shots on target - Pelle 38%, Long 41% (Mane is 52%) - for context the likes of Deeney, Carrol, Ighalo and Ayew are all in their 50s. Of course hard to say if this is because Koeman is asking players for more speculative shots or they need to work on accuracy (from what I've seen it's a bit of both).

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Incredible form the second half of the season, some fantastic wins along the way, putting to bed our longest losing streaks against teams, a record points total in the Prem era, and a record finishing position in the Prem era.

 

On top of that, a final day up there with the best we've ever had, finishing above the current champions, Chelsea, above Liverpool, above West Ham, and maybe even above Man Utd, just three points off the Champions League spots.

 

Once again we're going on a European tour.

 

This season is one I'm going to remember for a long time :D

 

Yet it strangely feels a bit disappointing. I agree that the 2nd half was brilliant. It's the games last year. The ignominious way that one or two players directly or indirectly led us to drop out of Europe. Those same players not being in the right frame of mind etc etc. Just imagine that if they had been in the right frame of mind, we might have won a game or two more in the league and where might that have left us?

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some small things ....

 

Amazing goal tally at the end of the season....and all without Rodriguez and Austin. Shane Long and Steven Davis both silenced their critics, and got in the goals.

 

Mane and Pelle found the form they lost in the Dec / Jan .....(How I wish we'd had a winter break like the rest of Europe).

 

Tadic back to his best form and handing out assists like confetti at a wedding.

 

Interesting Koeman Plan B - playing 3 CB 's. Gave Bertrand a new dimension to his game, and saw the best of Matt Targett in a more forward left sided role.

 

Virgil van Dijk fitted like a glove into the back line, and looking like he'd been there with Fonte for years.

 

Fraser Forster still improving.....how good might he be in 5 years time ? (watch your back Joe Hart).

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Yet it strangely feels a bit disappointing. I agree that the 2nd half was brilliant. It's the games last year. The ignominious way that one or two players directly or indirectly led us to drop out of Europe. Those same players not being in the right frame of mind etc etc. Just imagine that if they had been in the right frame of mind, we might have won a game or two more in the league and where might that have left us?

 

EVERY team can play whatif at the end of the season, perhaps more this season than any other :)

 

It works the other way as well, how often are we going to come from behind for wins against Spurs and Liverpool in the same season? Or go through the last ten games of the season only losing one game? What if Forster had come back from injury and not instantly been back at the top of his game?

 

Ultimately it doesn't matter, that IS what happened, and this is the season we've got.

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Oh I agree with you about the "what if" game. That's why I said it felt strangely disappointing (with strangely very much being the operative word). Maybe it was the Europa exit that was the biggest disappointment. From being on a high vs Vitesse to the low of the Midgets.

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Oh I agree with you about the "what if" game. That's why I said it felt strangely disappointing (with strangely very much being the operative word). Maybe it was the Europa exit that was the biggest disappointment. From being on a high vs Vitesse to the low of the Midgets.

 

Away to the Midgets and Bournemouth were my two low points. Both very disappointing, we just didn't turn up.

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Disappointed in early January but really happy now but that is football I suppose

 

Next season will be interesting and will be dependent of course what kind of squad we have and perhaps the state of our players after Euro 2016

 

I would be surprised if Leicester did well again and Chelsea and Man U did as badly again

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Brilliant and incredibly frustrating season.

 

Another poor show in the domestic cups. Average transfer window in the summer (VvD dragging it up from being below average)

 

Europe was a poor effort IMO

 

But an outstanding 2nd half of the season with a thrilling run-in and good results against the so-called top 5 clubs

 

Very Good season all round

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Wow everything fell into place what a week

 

Saints record no of points best place and Europe

Finish above scousehampton and the players who left for more successful clubs

Potch and North London Yobos fall apart after he signs a long term contract

Pompey lose to Plymouth in play offs

We finish above super hammers who have had such a successful season and been lauded by all the press and taters

 

Just a win for Bournemouth tomorrow to end a perfect week

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The important thing is to stay in the Premier League. Objective Number 1. Anything else is a bonus.

 

I'm sure Dalek is on his annual wind up (I'd miss it if he wasnt) that was exactly how Leicester set out last season, slowly set, deliver, and reset the objectives. I remember it was, team just needs a clean sheet and I buy pizza. this takes the pressure off the players and they play with freedom.

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My only real gripe from this season was Europe, I honestly didn't think we'd get there again for a while - so I was gutted to see us just toss that away before it even started. So to go one better this year is nothing short of incredible really. It's been an odd season up and down the league, but to finish at least 6th with more points than ever before, is brilliant. I found it hard to see us better last year in terms of our 'year by year' improvement, but somehow we managed it.

 

I really hope we either stay 5th, or Utd win the cup - as I want to get into Europe proper, none of this pre-qualifier banana skin stuff - I want us to have at least 6 games in Europe, that would be a great laugh.

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That secures a SEVENTH consecutive season of improvement.

 

 

Saints under Liebherr:

 

2009-10 - L1: 7th + JPT winners

2010-11 - L1: 2nd = promoted

2011-12 - CH: 2nd = promoted

2012-13 - PL: 14th

2013-14 - PL: 8th

2014-15 - PL: 7th = Europa

2015-16 - PL: 5th/6th = Europa

 

I only wish Markus Leibherr had been around to see that the goal was achieved.

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I'd like us to not sell most of our best players in the summer and for Koeman to sign a new contract.

 

We would all like that, of course. However, players have short careers and want to play at the highest level. I hope Koeman understands that it will be hard to retain players that are intent on leaving this summer. Coming 6th and playing in the Europa league is a step forward, but some players will say "I want to win silverware and play in the Champions League next season." If clubs can offer them that, we are going to have to hold them to their contracts then!

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2nd half table 39 points can we carry this form into next season

 

http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2015-2016/between-dates

 

Use start date as 02 01 2016 and end as 15 05 2016

 

Cheers for this - that's really interesting:

 

1 Leicester City

2 Southampton

3 Tottenham Hotspur

4 Manchester United

5 West Ham United

6 Arsenal

7 Liverpool

8 Manchester City

9 Chelsea

10 Swansea City

11 Sunderland

12 Bournemouth

13 Stoke City

14 Everton

15 Newcastle United

16 West Bromwich Albion

17 Watford

18 Norwich City

19 Crystal Palace

20 Aston Villa

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To my mind RK eventually found out his best starting 11 when Pelle was unavailable / omitted and Shane Long and Mane were allowed to run riot, VVD grew in confidence and Tadic was played on the left. Previously we were too predictable and the opposition knew that if they could mark Pelle out of the game they had a fair chance of beating us. I also believe that Pelle had a negative effect on the team with his constant moaning and whining and I remember, after one televised match, Shane Long specifically stating that the team pulled together and it was good that everyone got on with the job without complaint when mistakes were made. It is no coincidence that results have improved without him in the starting 11.

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To my mind RK eventually found out his best starting 11 when Pelle was unavailable / omitted and Shane Long and Mane were allowed to run riot, VVD grew in confidence and Tadic was played on the left. Previously we were too predictable and the opposition knew that if they could mark Pelle out of the game they had a fair chance of beating us. I also believe that Pelle had a negative effect on the team with his constant moaning and whining and I remember, after one televised match, Shane Long specifically stating that the team pulled together and it was good that everyone got on with the job without complaint when mistakes were made. It is no coincidence that results have improved without him in the starting 11.

totally agree

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To my mind RK eventually found out his best starting 11 when Pelle was unavailable / omitted and Shane Long and Mane were allowed to run riot, VVD grew in confidence and Tadic was played on the left. Previously we were too predictable and the opposition knew that if they could mark Pelle out of the game they had a fair chance of beating us. I also believe that Pelle had a negative effect on the team with his constant moaning and whining and I remember, after one televised match, Shane Long specifically stating that the team pulled together and it was good that everyone got on with the job without complaint when mistakes were made. It is no coincidence that results have improved without him in the starting 11.

 

Completely agree

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To my mind RK eventually found out his best starting 11 when Pelle was unavailable / omitted and Shane Long and Mane were allowed to run riot, VVD grew in confidence and Tadic was played on the left. Previously we were too predictable and the opposition knew that if they could mark Pelle out of the game they had a fair chance of beating us. I also believe that Pelle had a negative effect on the team with his constant moaning and whining and I remember, after one televised match, Shane Long specifically stating that the team pulled together and it was good that everyone got on with the job without complaint when mistakes were made. It is no coincidence that results have improved without him in the starting 11.

 

 

Yep spot on and I gather pelle pulls a few strops in training too

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