Southampton have ended up in 14th place on their first season back in the top flight since 2005. With Nigel Adkins, who had guided the club to back to back promotions, at the helm, the Saints acquired the services of eight new players, among which Argentinian playmaker Gaston Ramirez, former Burnley striker Jay Rodriguez and international central defender Maya Yoshida. Adkins also brought on board former Celtic keeper Arthur Boruc and right back Nathaniel Clyne from Nottingham Forest. It was a steep learning curve for the Saints in the first month of the campaign, with games against Manchester City, Arsenal and Man Utd lined up. They only had five points to their name in mid-November due mainly to their difficulties in defense. They couldn’t keep a clean sheet in the first 14 games of the campaign. In the meantime, they conceded an average of exactly three goals a game in their first 8 outings. Adkins made adjustments with Maya Yoshida replacing Joos Hooiveld in central defense. He stuck with Paulo Gazzaniga, whom he had imposed in goal after the 6-1 debacle at Arsenal in mid-September. Nathaniel Clyne and Luke Shaw remained first choice at full backs throughout the captain, along with Morgan Schneiderlin in the defensive midfield role. Adkins usually deployed veteran striker Rickie Lambert as the focal point of the attack, with support from Ramirez, Puncheon and Lallana in offensive midfield and Jack Cork in the distributor role. Steve Davis remained a useful player either off the bench or in place of Ramirez in away games Meanwhile, injury restricted the impact of Guly Do Prado, who only started 8 games. Just when results started to improve, particularly at home, going into the New Year, the Southampton board made the decision to let Nigel Adkins go and replace him by former Espanol coach Mauro Pochettino. The Argentine slightly tweaked the side that he inherited from Adkins, handing Jay Rodriguez a starting spot upfront playing off Lambert. The new Saints boss also imposed Arthur Boruc in goal ahead of veteran Kelvin Davis. The Saints hit a rich vein of form either side of Easter with three consecutive wins helping them pull away from the drop zone. Still, they remained just short of the 40-point mark then and an adverse run of results brought on a late fright. In the end, the Saints just about managed to stay clear of danger, finishing the season on 41 points with two draws to end the campaign.
