Interview with an Opposition Fan

[ste1987]

Interview with an Opposition Fan

#13 - Southampton

 

Welcome to this week’s edition of Interview with an Opposition Fan. Each week, myself and Razza699 scour for opposition fans to answer the questions we put toward them in the build up to the subsequent fixture.

 

This week, Latics face Alan Pardew's Southampton side, in what has been a long time since we met in a competitive fixture. We found some Saints fans to answer a selection of our questions...

 

1) In the summer, Alan Pardew was appointed Saints manager. What are your opinions of him and what is his general style of play?

- At first I was a little wary because of his previous 2 appointments and how he "left", however I now think that he is a good appointment and he has made the correct decision to come down to D1 and build his own team before hopefully taking us through the divisions.

- When AP was named as Saints manager I had mixed feelings but to be honest he has tackled the job of rebuilding the side with relish and has brought in a mix of youth and experience. He seems to favour a passing game and has also begun to instil a real will to win amongst the players.

- I was excited from the start, of course we had a lot of rumours about Keegan, though I think AP is the man for the job, he knows the leagues through his playing and management career, has links to top clubs and players want to work with him! He has bought a true winning mentality to the team, long may this form continue.

- Personally I was worried when he was appointed. He had, what shall I say, a bit of baggage from his time at Charlton and West Ham before that. He has grabbed the club by the scruff of the neck and given it a good shake. Just what was needed. He addressed the defence first, got it sorted and turned to the midfield and forwards. Pleased to say that they look like Saints teams of old now, attack, attack, attack!!

- So far so good. Was pleased to get a "name" that has been at all levels and actually knows the English game along with contacts which may have influenced our signings, unlike the whole Dutch experiment last season which got us where we are.

- I always rated Pardew. His teams at Reading and West Ham were good to watch and we look like we could be in the coming months. Charlton was a forgivable blip on his CV - they had big off-field problems during his tenure (They even finished below us last season and we were crap!).

 

2) Have you made any signings to your squad this season so far? If so, how have they been?

- Yes... virtually the whole team. Lol... Seriously, A.P has made some very shrewd moves, considering he had so little time to actually build the team after our administration issues were sorted out. These players now seem to bonding well together and I feel that given a couple more weeks they will be a total and one of the best squads in the league.

- AP has made several decent signings so far. The real highlights have to be Rickie Lambert, who has hit the ground running since his arrival from Bristol Rovers, Dan Harding, a marauding left-back from the old school, and Papa Waigo N'Daiye, a Senegalese International striker who has already become a firm favourite with the fans.

- Very impressed with Lambert, Hammond and Trotman. He doesn't seem to have signed a load of useless players who never get a game as has been the case for the past few seasons with various managers.

- Too many to name all but all players suitable of the level we are playing at. The stand outs have to be the Strikers Lambert and Connelly in terms of signal of intent. Lambert top scorer at this level last season and Connelly International striker with a fantastic goal scoring record (hope he can get fit and form a partnership with Lambert).

- Bloody inspired signings all over the park. Sir Rickie Lambert is of course the most expensive, but not necessarily the most influential. Mark him out of the game and you will be over-run by Papa Waigo and Lallana. Mind you Connolly, if fit is no slouch either. Expect to see him come off the bench at some stage.

- Been well pleased with all of them. At times I think Lambert has appeared lazy (IMO) but that could be because of the formation with just one up front and him not getting the service, but with Connolly now on board hopefully we will actually see two up front playing off each other, and exciting times ahead.

 

3) Last season, you finished 23rd in The Championship. How do you think you will do in League One this season?

- To be honest I will be happy if we avoid relegation to League two this season, given that we began with a ten-point penalty. Realistically I would like to think we can finish at least upper-mid table but the play-offs are by no means out of reach if we can keep winning.

- Who knows? That's the beauty of it. I'd be very surprised to see us relegated, but I’m not buying into some of the hysteria that we'll go up. Upper middle table... Near the playoff line but I doubt we'll make it.

- Mid Table (Play-offs if we hadn't had the 10 point deduction).

- Last season is a world away, thank God! Too much time was lost with the takeover happening so close to the beginning of the season to expect too much, but you never know. Realistically, a boring mid-table finish will be seen as putting down a marker for next season.

- Higher than 23rd! I'll settle for mid table or just below play offs but with the 10 points to catch up that could be pushing it. But next season we would hope for promotion, and that is not being arrogant as we have been accused of being.

- We'll be comfortably top half. The -10 points removes any chance of automatic promotion but sneaking into a play-off place is a possibility.

 

4) Are there any teams in particular you are looking forward to playing?

- Walsall away (because I’m going) and Leeds at home. To tell the honest truth, although I am a season ticket holder, I am not sure who 1/2 the teams in L1 are! Lol.

- Brighton, Southend, Yeovil and Exeter for fairly obvious reasons!

- Oldham for starters, as it'll only be my second game this season! Then there's Hartlepool, Walsall, Leeds and Tranmere... in short, all the northern-ish away games.

- Not really, like to think we have a decent chance of a result against all teams, but the last couple seasons have taught us not to take anything for granted.

- Everyone. We are just pleased to have a team to support.

- Other than Oldham (pleased to see that you no longer have Andy Ritchie playing for you as he always seemed to score against us)? A lot of new ground for us to cover in every meaning - for me, Brighton as they're my 'local' team.

 

5) What tactics are you likely to employ and have played with this season?

- Our main tactic is to score more goals than the opposition! In all seriousness we are developing a mix of sharp passing and a more direct approach when needed.

- Score more than the opposition. Or so the plan goes.

- With Lambert, Llanna, Waigo, Connelly and Saganowski in the squad I'd like to think it will be attacking, high scoring football for the rest of the season. Get it wide, rubbish cross, Lambert knocks it on, Lallana scores.

- Pardew appears to have learnt from his time away from football. He varies things a lot. Generally speaking he believes in playing wide and attacking at every opportunity. Sometimes we get caught because of this, like Bristol Rovers 90+5 winner a couple of weeks ago. We have gone from not being able to stop goals going in at the beginning of the season, to a free scoring team with no one player being the dominant scorer.

- I don't think we have finally settled on one particular style - we're still a work in progress.

- Horses for courses. We have a huge squad (indeed some say too large) which gives plenty of options. Early season we were leaking goals and played 5 across the middle stranding Lambert up front. Now confidence is improved it is more like 4 3 3 and we now pose threats from all over the park.

 

6) Saints have earned 15 points so far this season, but resulting from starting on minus 10 remain bottom. What are Southampton’s strengths and weakness both on and off the pitch?

- We are a really big club with a brilliant stadium, we are a friendly club and we have great supporters (11,000 season ticket holders). Out squad has been strengthened and are bonding. We have a very rich owner but he is not throwing his money around willy nilly, he is running it as a business, which is good for now and for the future. The whole club seems to sorting itself out and bonding together. D1 watch out.

-The main strengths are the will to win that the players are developing, something that we have not seen for some seasons. The right side of defence is still a concern due to a couple of injuries but Lloyd James does seem to be learning the defensive duties game by game.

- I think it's been said before... but change the entire team, owners and management and we'll still know how to throw a game away in the last minute. Also I think teams are likely to raise their game for us... hopefully we can live with that. But strengths wise we have brilliant fans, especially on the road. We've got a strong defence but they look a little on the slow side, and our keeper who's usually brilliant seems to be having a dodgy spell.

- Strengths are the new owner. Top bloke. We now have no debt for the first time in many, many years. He installed his bank manager in Switzerland to run the club and funny as it sounds, he has been the biggest success of the lot! This team is still a work in progress, but it is not far off. We NEVER give up. Exciting times indeed.

- Off the pitch without doubt it is the new owner and management structure that is in place. None of them are egotists (sp?) that like seeing their name in the papers, and the signings have only been announced once they have happened which shows a fair amount of professionalism (Connolly was training with us for 3 weeks before there was any sniff of anything happening which was the announcement that he'd signed! On the pitch - our passing game.

- We are the world's luckiest club. We flirted with oblivion earlier this year - to be saved was nice but to be owned and run by filthy rich Swiss businessmen is a dream come true. Our greatest strength is no longer being associated with Rupert Lowe.

 

7) Who is Southampton’s key player who we should look out for ahead of Saturday’s fixture and for the rest of the season?

- To be honest I don't think you need look any further than Rickie Lambert. He was top scorer in the division last season and has shown that he intends to be up with the hot shots again come May.

- For the first time in a while we seem to have a lot of players playing well! I think Lambert will be important to our success throughout the season though.

- Southampton play as a team. There are 11 people to look out for. Davis, Thomas, Jaidi, Trotman, Harding, Papa Waigo, James, Hammond, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert. Oh, and Connolly, McLaggon, Antonio, Mellis, Mills and Murty (when he gets over his injury).

- Rickie Lambert (everything in the final third goes through him). Dean Hammond is a rock in midfield.

- Hard to say. Lambert made the early running with his eye for goal but others are now coming into contention. All the great Saints sides of the past were a blend of great players and journeymen and we hope Pardew's team will follow that trend.

- Anthony Pulis, makes a wicked cuppa.

 

8) Who do you think will win League One this season? Any outsiders or surprises?

- It does look as though Leeds or Charlton will be contesting the title but Huddersfield do look quite handy so who knows maybe they can mount a challenge.

- I'd like to think Leeds will finally do it, though I think Charlton and Norwich will get the automatic promotions spots.

- Leeds (how have they been in L1 for so long anyway?). We are the surprise (to Saints fans anyway, after years of being worse than mediocre).

- Charlton - surprise team; Southampton storming back from -10 points.

- I think Leeds will now walk it, but as far as outsiders go, I honestly haven’t a clue because I don’t know much about any of the teams in this div other than the "bigger” names. Naaarwich seem to have overcome their early disastrous start but are they outsiders?

- We know naff all about League 1. Of course Leeds will be in the mix but they've looked like winning things before.....

 

9) How do you think Oldham will do this season?

- Mid to lower table. (Sorry!).

- This is going to sound terrible but I really have no idea as I have not followed their progress for a while. In fact the last real memory of the Latics is Frankie Bunn destroying Saints in a league cup tie a few years ago!

- 12th - A solid mid table team, though an unpredictable one!

- Seem a good counter attacking team now. To be honest that is the best way to beat us. Play off at best.

- Again don’t take this the wrong way but I just don’t know enough about you, but would certainly think you will be top half.

- I did watch one of your matches on telly not long since and you looked a decent side. Guess you'll be top half too and pitching for a play-off spot.

 

10) And finally, what score do you think the game will be on Saturday?

- The game will be tight but I feel we have the quality to shut out the Oldham strikers and take the points with a 2-0 victory.

- 2-1 to Saints - with Saints to score first.

- No idea, but I am confident it will not be 0-0.

- In the prediction league I'm undecided on a 2-1 or 3-1 Saints but will probably plump for another 3-1 after last week’s game against Saarfend.

- There will be goals. 2-3 away win.

- 6-6. But I'm not telling you who to.

 

 

Many thanks to those Southampton fans who took part, in what has been arguably our best response yet. It seems Saints fans are confident of a win, despite some admitting they don't know much about Oldham and League One. But can Latics capitalise on an encouraging performance last weekend against Charlton?...

 

[razza699]

Great answes Ste, seems as the season goes on we are getting alot more substantial responses!

 

Come on Oldham!