Southampton fans must have felt like they were at an all-time low under Mark Hughes last season. Prior to the appointment of Ralph Hasenhuttl, the club were staring at the possibility of relegation back to the Championship straight in the face, but it was the Austrian’s appointment that really turned the club around in such a short space of time.
Hasenhuttl made some radical changes and did enough to drag the Saints away from the bottom three during the second half of the season. While the five-point gap between them and 18th-placed Cardiff City may suggest that it was a close battle, in truth the club had felt safe for a while under their new manager, with plans underway for the next campaign.
Now, with the summer transfer window in full swing, supporters are full of optimism ahead of the campaign and a large portion of that is down to one man – Che Adams. The club acted quickly to get a deal for the striker over the line, with Adams joining from Birmingham City. He’s a player that clearly both the club and Hasenhuttl are big admirers of. The Saints tried to sign the player during the previous January window but were unable to get a deal done in time.
Adams is finally a Southampton player and looks set to lead the line for the club in the Premier League. After impressing in the Championship, Adams has proven that he is ready for a chance in the top flight and with Hasenhuttl ready to start his first full season as a Premier League manager, Southampton could be a very different prospect this time around. How quickly the striker can get up and running in the Premier League will largely dictate how well the Saints do next season.
Given that the club were fighting against relegation for large periods of the previous campaign, it’s hard to judge what exactly their aims are for the forthcoming season. Many have suggested that the Saints could be outside contenders to break into the top 10 and push for a spot in the Europa League.
After two near misses against relegation, a jump straight up to European football may be too much to ask this time around for the Saints, but they now have a platform to build on, with a manager that is more than capable of achieving big things on the south coast if he is given the necessary funds and times by those behind the scenes.
Southampton fans can download the best betting apps for the best football betting offers if they believe that the club can push for European football with Adams leading the line.
The lack of a leading goal threat in the final third was something that derailed Southampton’s progress last season, but it’s clear to see that the manager has finally got the player he has been looking for after identifying the position as one of the key areas that needed to be addressed.
When comparing the Southampton squad against those that you would consider as their ‘relegation rivals’, the Saints have signed well over the summer and the permanent move for Liverpool’s Danny Ings alongside Adams makes for an interesting strike partnership that could flourish nicely in the months to come at St Mary’s.
With Ings and Adams likely to link up together in a 4-2-2-2 formation that many expect the Saints to move into, the club can certainly guarantee goals next season and that will be the key to seeing them move up into the top half of the Premier League.
