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Southampton At Manchester United The Preview Wednesday, 15th Jan 2025 15:04 Saints travel to Old Trafford with little to lose at present, everyone has written them off and relegated them already, so perhaps now under a new manager we can play without fear and without constraint and get back our pride before the end of the season. The target for Southampton FC now is not to avoid relegation, but to avoid the lowest points total in Premier League history, that is held by Derby County in 2007/08 when Derby County amassed just 12 points, Sunderland are next from bottom with 15 points and then a host of clubs between 16 & 19, so there is Saints target for the rest of the season. Manchester United are not having a good season themselves, they are under pressure and defeat to our good selves could if results went against them, leave them looking right over their shoulders, although to be honest I cannot see them getting relegated, but it does show that perhaps Southampton FC are not the most underperforming club in the Premier League.
Ivan Juric seems to be working out who will form the basis of his team to play out the rest of the season, he seems to be sticking with the tried, if not completely trusted and prepared to save the younger players from being shellshocked by the ordeal and rely on older heads. So I don't expect too much change from the team that faced Swansea City on Sunday, perhaps the odd tweak here and there, maybe Flynn Downes if he is now fit. But I also do not expect too much from the result, although we do have a habit of pulling of avoiding defeat there when we are struggling, as we did two years ago in a 0-0 draw, but fat load of good that did us. So I have tempered my expectations from the rest of this season, we have to accept we are down and prepare for the next season when we will be back in the Championship. I would rather Ivan Juric find out now who is going to be here next season and who is going to be good enough or not good enough long before the summer.
But we have to judge them on Championship standards not the Premier League, we know who have been those up to the task and who haven't been, this is about having a squad to get us in the promotion frame, not about saving us from relegation. But that focus also applies to the manager himself, the Brentford game was worrying, although if we include the Fulham game in the equation, the performances if not the results have been much improved in the other 3 games since Russell Martin was sacked. Can Ivan Juric show us that he is the man to lead us forward, that he is more than a one trick pony and he can adjust his teams tactically when it is needed, I hope that he can.
So first job at Old Trafford is to keep the score down, second job to see if we can avoid defeat, third job to see that the manager can organise his team, fourth job to find out who has the spirit for next season and the fifth to start the ball rolling on getting over that 11 point mark. All Photos Via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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