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Southampton 0-5 Brentford: Saints destined for relegation?published at 19:53 4 January
19:53 4 January
Marissa Thomas BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
Every team can lose a match but it's how you lose.
Southampton were woeful against a rampant Brentford side and deserved to suffer a heavy defeat.
It is the third time in a month that the Saints have conceded five goals in a league match and changing their manager has not improved their fortunes.
Ivan Juric has become the seventh Southampton boss to lose his opening three league games in charge.
The Saints have fewer points at this stage than Derby did in 2007-08 when they went on to set a Premier League record low for a season of 11 points.
Their only real chance was a header from Paul Onuachu which was easily saved by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
Southampton have failed to score in 10 of their 20 games, only Everton (11) have failed to score more often in the Premier League this season.
It is hard to find any redeeming qualities about a side that seem destined for relegation.
Southampton 0-5 Brentford: Key statpublished at 19:03 4 January
19:03 4 January
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton have won just six points from their opening 20 Premier League matches this season (W1 D3 L16), equalling the worst points tally by any side at this stage of a campaign in the competition (Sunderland in 2005-06).
'The second half was like a disaster'published at 19:00 4 January
19:00 4 January
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton manager Ivan Juric has been speaking to Match of the Day following the heavy defeat: "A very bad day. We didn't start well. We were very bad in the first 30 minutes but in the last 15 minutes much better. The second half was like a disaster."
On what went so wrong for Southampton: "There were only 15 minutes where we played well - we pressed high, stole the ball, tried to create chances but, in every situation, they were better than us. Everything.
"Nothing to say, really bad. We conceded really stupid goals. Psychologically, we are really down and I think in this moment we have to be all together.
"It is our fault, my fault as the manager, and we have to understand the situation but stay together and try to do better next time."
On whether the team is worse than he thought before he took charge: "We can compete with the others. We played such a good game against West Ham. After today, there was such a difference between us and them."
On the fans being annoyed that he took Kamaldeen Sulemana off: "Sulemana hasn't played for a long time. He did 55 minutes and he was not bad."
On spending money in the January transfer window: "In this moment, I don't feel that I want to speak about other things. We will see next week, with the club, everything that we can do."
Sutton's predictions: Southampton v Brentfordpublished at 11:19 4 January
11:19 4 January
Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.
For week 20, he takes on The Zutons frontman Dave McCabe, who supports Liverpool.
Sutton's prediction: 1-2
This is a tough one to call because while Southampton are adrift at the bottom and absolutely desperate for points, Brentford are not in great form either.
Saints' new boss Ivan Juric has been quite feisty since his appointment, and his side have only been narrowly beaten in both his games in charge.
It is noticeable how often Southampton like to lump it now under Juric, compared with their possession-based style of play under Russell Martin.
However, while it is also clear they will put up a fight I don't see much changing for them results-wise.
Brentford are a battle-hardened Premier League team, so a direct approach will not faze them, and they also have goals in their team.
The Bees are yet to win on the road this season and only picked up their first away point against Brighton last time out but, this time, I see them taking all three.
Who is most likely to be relegated?published at 17:54 3 January
17:54 3 January
As we enter a new calendar year and the halfway point of the season, the Opta Supercomputer has been busy making its predictions.
But who is looking most likely to be playing their football outside the top flight next season?
It is bad news for fans of the teams who made their return to the Premier League this campaign.
According to the Opta Supercomputer's simulations, Southampton - rooted to the bottom of the table on just six points - are all but guaranteed to be playing Championship football again next term with a 99.47% chance of being relegated.
The picture is also not a rosy one for Leicester City and Ipswich Town supporters, who occupy the other two relegation spots. The Supercomputer does not see too much change there - the Foxes and the Tractor Boys having a 74.61% and 70.81% chance of relegation respectively.
It is better news for Wolves under new head coach Vitor Pereira, with Wanderers now having only a 39.21% chance of a Championship return, while Everton fans will be pleased to see they have just a 12.52% chance as they hope to see Premier League football in their new stadium next season.
Crystal Palace, West Ham and Brentford can all breathe easier with Opta predicting just a 1.68%, 0.81% and 0.72% chance of relegation respectively.
And what about Manchester United after new boss Ruben Amorim declared them to be facing a relegation battle? Well, it is good news for Red Devils fans as the chance of them actually playing Championship football next campaign is just 0.11%.
Welington officially joins Saintspublished at 15:31 3 January
15:31 3 January
Image source, Getty Images
Brazilian defender Welington has joined Southampton following the expiry of his contract with Sao Paulo.
Welington made 164 appearances for the Brazilian top-flight side, also being a part of winning teams in the 2023 Copa do Brasil final and the 2024 Supercopa do Brasil.
He will wear the number 34 shirt at St Mary's.
Saints willing to let Brereton Diaz leave in Januarypublished at 11:09 3 January
11:09 3 January
Nick Mashiter BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton are prepared to let striker Ben Brereton Diaz go this month.
The 25-year-old was among a list of names circulated to clubs before the transfer window, with the Saints looking to trim their squad.
A number of Championship sides have already enquired about the Chile international.
Brereton Diaz joined from Villarreal for £7m in the summer but has failed to score in four starts and six substitute appearances in the Premier League.
Ronnie Edwards, who joined from Peterborough in July, has already joined QPR on loan until the end of the season, while defender Charlie Taylor may also be allowed to leave.
Southampton are also terminating Maxwel Cornet's loan from West Ham, with the forward having played just 71 minutes in the Premier League this campaign.
New boss Ivan Juric is looking to keep Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu, who struggled to play under former head coach Russell Martin.
Juric said: "The people from Chelsea are not stupid. He is a really young guy - 20 years old - and it's not always easy to work with youngsters. I think he has really good potential."
Gossip: Sheff Utd want Brereton Diaz reunionpublished at 07:53 3 January
07:53 3 January
Sheffield United are considering re-signing a forward - either Southampton and Chile's Ben Brereton Diaz, 25, or Las Palmas and Scotland's Oli McBurnie, 28 - in a bid to boost their promotion hopes. (The Star, Sheffield), external
Juric on Downes, being more clinical and his transfer window plan published at 14:39 2 January
14:39 2 January
Katie Stafford BBC Sport journalist
Southampton boss Ivan Juric has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at home to Brentford (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Midfielder Flynn Downes, who is yet to return to full training, will be assessed on Friday to see if he is fit enough to return to the matchday squad.
There are no new injury concerns but Saints will be without Mateus Fernandes as he serves a one-match ban for collecting five yellow cards.
On the players' mood: "They are really motivated and want to change this moment. They know they need to be better than before and put more energy into being more clinical to win the game."
He said the plan for the January transfer window is to "reduce the squad" and he will meet with the owners next week to discuss his "ideas."
In response to what changes he hopes to make at Saints going forward: "It's important that we become winners and not losers. In the last two games, we conceded from set-pieces. We haven't conceded in open play. We need to get better in attack."
He said the best thing for Tyler Dibling would be to stay at the club and continue to develop as talks about a new deal continue.
On Sheffield United being interested in Ben Brereton Diaz: "I prefer not to speak directly about the players."
Meanwhile, Juric wants Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu "to stay" with the Saints because "he has lots of potential", despite only making three Premier League starts for the club: "Chelsea are not stupid and he's 20 years old."
On Saturday's visitors: "Brentford are really good. They have had their coach for a long time and you know what they want to do. Tactically, they are really good."
What will make 2025 a successful year?published at 12:11 2 January
12:11 2 January
Adam Blackmore BBC Radio Solent sports editor
Image source, Getty Images
With Southampton doomed at the foot of the Premier League, it is hard to know what a good 2025 looks like or even if it could ever be described as 'good' with relegation almost already guaranteed.
Ultimately, the easy answer to a good 2025 is staying up. But, given that nobody has ever stayed up from the Saints' current position, the real question is what does a good 2025 look like with relegation?
The answer to that is damage limitation.
If Saints are able to gauge whether Ivan Juric is the man to get them back up to the Premier League by the summer, if they can limit the financial damage of going straight back down and if they can limit the damage of squad depletion, then maybe 2025 can be as good as it can be given the circumstances.
Keeping as much young playing talent as possible after relegation will be the most important factor, particularly Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling.
What should Southampton's 2025 resolution be?published at 12:50 1 January
12:50 1 January
Image source, Getty Images
We asked what Southampton's New Year resolutions should be.
Here are some of your replies:
Gavin: Saints need to hit the ground running in the Championship next season. Start preparing for that immediately.
Simon H: To accept we've failed this year and commit now to building for the long term. Get behind Juric and make sure he stays for a while, I've got a good feeling about the man and reckon he could put a good team together if properly supported.
Lee: Simply to offload some players who have underperformed or are simply not good enough in the transfer window and perhaps get a striker. As for the remaining games, some wins and performances that'll put some confidence back into the team and us fans in preparation for another Championship campaign.
Simon W: We have now 18 months to build a team capable of competing in the Premier League (while getting promoted from the Championship). That means settling on a way of playing that is effective and realistic, and base the recruitment around that, which means moving on from Bednarek, Stephens, Armstrong, Aribo, etc, who have been proved to ultimately not be good enough for the Premier League.
Tom: There's no way we will stay up, I'm just hoping we can at least go down with a bit of dignity and fight. Then a proper rebuild is in order, the board surely must have learnt by now they can't keep going on like this.
Matt: To beat Derby's record low tally of 11 points. We're not a terrible team. It's the fact the Premier League is so very strong and our recruitment has again been poor. I wish we would invest a lot more on recruitment as our black box has been broken. A new strategy towards recruitment is desperately needed to get an edge on other teams. Perhaps the Championship is the best place to work on that as we have to be stronger when we return to the Premier League.
Edwards leaves Saints on loanpublished at 10:54 1 January
10:54 1 January
Image source, Getty Images
The transfer window is now open and Southampton are one of the first clubs to be active, sending 21-year-old defender Ronnie Edwards to Queens Park Rangers on loan for the remainder of the season.
Edwards made his Premier League debut in December.
"I was used to playing regularly in the past and I have missed that," he told QPR's website. "Hopefully I can get that here."
'We made ourselves into a bad team' - Tessempublished at 15:25 30 December 2024
15:25 30 December 2024
Southampton have made themselves "into a bad team" this season, says former midfielder Jo Tessem.
A 2-1 defeat by Crystal Palace on Sunday rooted the Saints to the bottom of the Premier League table, 10 points from safety at the midway point of the season.
Speaking on BBC Radio Solent's Goin' Home with Adam and Jo, Tessem said: "The problem is, we put ourselves in a position with Russell Martin where we gave away so many points and goals, continuously making the same mistakes, that we made ourselves into a bad team.
"We made ourselves lose confidence. We all knew it was going to be tough coming up from the Championship, and that if we could get ourselves fourth from bottom then it would be a good season for us. We knew there were going to be struggles but you have got to find ways of winning games - and we haven't.
"When you build up that losing mentality, which we have now, you can see confidence drop so much quicker when things go against us than it used to. Now, we are not even used to winning games.
"Now I'm thinking, if we had helped these players earlier in the season, would we have been able to create more wins? Would we have lost as many games we lost when we gave the ball away? When we took high risks and lost games because we the risk was too high?
"Maybe the confidence would have been different, but this is football and we will never know."
Will Southampton replace Derby as worst team ever?published at 11:29 30 December 2024
11:29 30 December 2024
Things are looking bleak for Southampton.
The season has reached the midway mark and the Saints find themselves rock bottom with just six points following Sunday's defeat by Crystal Palace.
Derby's 2007-08 season was so bad that Paul Jewell, who took charge of 24 games during that time, said his managerial career "never really recovered".
The Rams finished that campaign with the lowest points tally ever seen in the Premier League (11) and a -69 goal difference. They won only one game.
Yet after 19 games they had seven points - one more than Southampton do now.
But Southampton can take heart from Sheffield United's 2020-21 season.
The Blades looked on course to replace Derby as the Premier League's worst team when they entered the season's halfway stage with just five points.
Unfortunately for Derby, Sheffield United - although they still finished bottom - had 23 points come the end of the season.
Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton - the fans' verdictpublished at 09:29 30 December 2024
09:29 30 December 2024
Image source, Getty Images
We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Crystal Palace and Southampton, that finished 2-1 to the Eagles.
Here are some of your comments:
Palace fans
Paul: Palace are still wasteful, but the amount of chances being made, got them out of trouble. There was a similar situation against Arsenal, where the result could have been so different. Hopefully Eberechi Eze's confidence will have improved greatly after the goal.
Pedro: We wanted a statement win. We got a squeaky victory. We'll take that but we've got to do better. We're capable of more. We'll get there. It's the hope that kills you.
Sam: A game closer than Palace fans would have anticipated and Glasner and his players would have hoped, but in the end, good to get the three points. It was especially relieving to see our second home win of the campaign. Southampton were good in the opening 15 minutes but the Eagles dominated from there. Great to see Eze back on top of his form and finding the winner with a magnificent volley.
David: Trevoh Chalobah has been outstanding in defence and scored important goals including this one. Some of our forwards need to learn how to finish from him.
Southampton
Anthony: I thought we played better against West Ham, but this game seemed to show that our players are not up to standard. Also, the managers substitutions were too late and ineffective. So, Saints are doomed and we might as well get used to it. Horrible season.
Steve: Halfway through the season with 19 games left: 12 wins needed and with the six points we already have, on paper we can stay up. Being realistic, we haven't a hope in achieving that so we should plan for the Championship now and experiment with the players we have. Just don't want to go down with less than 12 points.
Mike: Ivan Juric would do well to realise that serial failures like Joe Aribo, Jan Bednarek (especially him) and obviously Adam Armstrong have no future at the club having all been previously found out at this level. There are plenty of others but these guys have been stinking up the club for years.
William: With Russell Martin gone, we're back to the awful football that got us relegated in the first place. Our plans lie broken and in ruins, and after this season we'll be starting all over again with a new coach, who I suspect will get neither the money he needs nor the time.
Southampton survival would be 'greatest of great escapes'published at 08:57 30 December 2024
08:57 30 December 2024
Chris Wise Final Score reporter at Selhurst Park
Image source, Getty Images
If Southampton's name is mentioned in conversations about football at your New Year's Eve party, I expect someone will utter the words 'they are gone.'
It would be hard to provide a solid argument against that theory. When West Brom produced the most astonishing escape from relegation from the Premier League 20 years ago, they only had 10 points at the halfway stage of the season.
Southampton are now 50% of the way through their campaign, and have a mere six points to show for it.
There has though been improvements in Ivan Juric's two games in charge. They do not look as defensively vulnerable, and seem more comfortable in what they are being asked to do.
I would be shocked if Southampton go through the next 19 Premier League games and do not earn comfortably more points than the first half of their campaign.
But will it be enough to stay up? We would be talking about the greatest of great escapes if they did.
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 08:49 30 December 2024
08:49 30 December 2024
Kelly Somers introduces highlights and analysis from Sunday's six Premier League fixtures.
Image source, Getty Images
