Southampton, tipped for a relegation battle in some quarters after a summer of high-profile exits, are riding high in second. LFW wonders how…

Few teams have been called as incorrectly, as often, by the mainstream media in this country as the present day Southampton .

The harsh sacking of likeable Scouser Nigel Adkins just a few short months after he'd led them to a second promotion in quick succession, back into the Premier League, and replacing him with some unknown foreigner with no English football experience was going to lead to a collapse. The departure of executive chairman Nicola Cortese, who'd overseen the rebuild of the club from a destitute League One mess into big spending top flight force was going to cause a collapse. The subsequent departure of Argentinean tactical genius Maurcio Pochettino (turns out he knew his onions after all) was going to cause a collapse and the mass exodus of the club's most talented players this summer was almost certainly going to cause a collapse.

More collapses predicted there than you see on the Kilburn High Road on a Saturday night and yet a glance at the league table, which in theory should see the Saints wallowing around with fellow farces Leeds and Birmingham in the nether regions of divisions below this one, actually shows them sitting second only to Chelsea, with ten points from the first five games of the season, and Arsenal's League Cup scalp into the bargain. So what gives?

It was the coverage of Cortese's departure which puzzled me the most. The Italian undoubtedly proved himself to be one of the most successful, and hard-nosed, adminsitrators in the game, making a string of harsh and at the time unpopular decisions that dragged the Saints up two divisions into the top ten of the Premier League in double quick time. It was he who persuaded Swiss businessman Markus Liebherr to buy the club when it was at its lowest League One ebb and his departure, following the owner's untimely demise, was pitched to the public as the ultimate 'women know your place' tale of Katharina Liebherr having a football club she didn't want and knew nothing about dumped on her and making the foolish decision to force out the brains of the outfit just as he was on the cusp of marching the Saints into the Champions League.

But Cortese was no angel and no genius. He rode roughshod over the club's history, inflicting a series of disgusting home shirts of his own design onto the place, sacking programme sellers of many decades standing to replace them with fit women, alienating Matthew Le Tissier and others who dared to criticise him, banning the local newspaper from matches. And he didn't achieve what he achieved on a pittance either. Southamption spent £35m on three players last summer — Victor Wanyama, Dejan Lovren and Pablo Osvaldo — and £12m on Gaston Ramirez the season before while the media were too busy prattling on about "big spending QPR" to notice.

Nor is Pochettino some all knowing, all seeing, faultless tactical God — as Spurs fans are now finding out. In fact, given the players at his disposal last season, you could easily argue that the former Espanyol boss should have done a good deal better. He openly stated his disdain for the Europa League and allowed the final few months of the season to drift by with five defeats and two draws from the final 13 games when Southampton could easily have qualified for it. In the end they finished eighth. And given that lack of desire to push for Europe in the league, and absence of relegation threat, it seemed difficult to justify his weakened team and half-arsed performance in the FA Cup at a struggling Sunderland side who admitted themselves they'd maybe be better off out of the cup and fighting their relegation battle. A 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light skant reward for the supporters who'd had to get up at 4am to catch the coach thanks to BT Sport's cruel kick off change, and for a squad of players that will always be remembered as one of the finest the club has ever had, and yet only has one eighth place finish and a couple of meek cup upsets to show for it.

The exit of so much talent this summer did seem alarming. Five key players left, including leading scorer Rickie Lambert, but in four of the cases the buying club seemed to be paying through the nose for what they were getting. Adam Lallana for £25m? Luke Shaw for £27m? Dejan Lovren for £20m just a year after he'd been bought for £8m? Calum Chambers for £16m? Really? While papers described it as a fire sale, this simply looked like good business. Only the Lambert sale, for £4m to Liverpool, looked like a bad one — because 20 Premier League goals cost you far more than £4m to replace — but his age, Liverpool connections and exemplary long service at St Mary's made that a special case.

While pundits queued up to proclaim the good times were at an end and tip Southampton for relegation, the club quietly went out and appointed Dutchman Ronald Koeman as manager and set about rebuilding their squad with far shrewder purchases than Liverpool had made from them. Brendan Rodgers, never shy of a smug, self-satisfied word or three, sent a barb about "lack of ambition" south with the giant novelty cheque but while his summer transfer activity seems to have made Liverpool a good deal worse, it's improved Southampton no-end.

Again, Southampton haven't done things on the cheap. Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster for £10m and Hull's Shane Long for £12m look pricey, but in a market where Ross McCormack costs £11m and Fabio Borini asks for £90,000 a week after a £14m transfer fee is paid for his meagre services who's to say what's good value any more? Koeman has returned to Holland to buy players he knows and while every Luis Suarez that comes from the Eredivisie tends to be followed by an Alfonso Alves (please see previous David Blunkett joke) they've all hit the ground running. Graziano Pelle, a 29 year old journeyman forward for £8m, looked particularly suspect as a headline buy from Feyenoord, but he has four goals in seven appearances already.

In the end, it seems that the British football press and pundits have, not for the first time, overlooked the value of a long term plan and strategy. Once you get below the big six or seven clubs in this country it's the clubs investing in youth development, European scouting and training facilities, with aims and targets set years in the future, rather than weeks, that are doing well. You can tell these clubs — Swansea, Southampton, West Brom until recently — a mile away because they're the ones who make apparently leftfield managerial appointments like Michael Laudrup, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman rather than rushing to throw money at the latest loud-mouthed flavour of the month i.e. Tim Sherwood.

Yes Lallana, Shaw, Bale, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chambers have gone after graduating from the academy, but Southampton made huge profits on all of them and reinvested. Matt Targett, England Under 20 international, made an assured start to life in the first team at Arsenal in the week — when Koeman played a strong team and won.

The only mystery is why people still don't get that the way to achieve success outside the top six is not to throw money around on transfer fees, or at least not to do it without solid foundations to back it all up lest you build a castle on sand. It's sound long term planning, investment in youth and facilities, shrewd managerial appointments, and a wide-ranging scouting network that brings long term success, because all of it survives the depature of a manager, a chairman or a player or six. Lo and behold, there sit Southampton in second and Swansea in fifth on the fledgling league ladder.

Never underestimate the team with the long term plan.

“What is a training ground? Is it a Rolls-Royce training ground? You can give me the best football boots but it ain’t going to make a big difference. What makes a difference is the coaching or the player. Of course you have to have basic facilities, but do we need a training ground like Spurs or Southampton ? — QPR chairman Tony Fernandes, Friday July 18, 2014

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abingdonsaint added 22:07 - Sep 26 Saints fan here, and what a pleasure to read such a perceptive and well written piece about our club after all the utter dross that regularly appears. A decent proportion of our own fans haven't a clue about what Saints are trying to do, let alone one from another club! As for the media in general, the lack of serious research and analysis is frightening. Now, I must confess that I was slightly concerned when players started jumping ship in the summer (OK.....bricking it actually!) but so far, so good with the replacements. Koeman has also been very assured and impressive up to now. You are spot on about the strategy though. He was selected because he fitted the profile, not at random. Before we played Newcastle, Jack Colback was interviewed and made the comment that Koeman had us playing a similar style to Pochettino. Well of course he does! All the youth teams play that style, and have for 5 years. Why on earth would we bring in a coach with a completely different coaching philosophy? Of the new players, whilst Tadic and Pelle were obviously Ron's choices, he has already said that the others had already been identified before he got here, and he just approved them. I have to say that we have started better than expected, but in hindsight the situation has been handled superbly. Anyway, don't want to be too sycophantic, and hope we stuff you tomorrow, but I do have a couple of good mates who are QPR fans, so all the best for the season. Fernandes seems to be a decent bloke, if a bit naive, but wouldn't trust 'arry further than I could chuck him to be honest! Enjoy the game!

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cheltenhamsaint added 22:54 - Sep 26 I read this via a link and thought "good piece by a grounded Saints fan whose glass is half full". But you aren't. You support QPR. Astonishing perceptive and insightful analysis. If your team show half as much attention to detail on the pitch this season QPR will do just fine (despite 'Arry). This is Premier League writing. I cannot find any factual errors, no mis spelt names nor a single typing error. And frankly, far higher quality than the professional journalists (assuming you are not) and media (ex player) pundits. After tomorrow, I might just adopt QPR as my second team (well until we visit Loftus Road later in the season. Thank you for an enjoyable read.

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TacticalR added 23:06 - Sep 26 Thanks for your oppo report. I can't help suspecting that the lacklustre end to Southampton's season was to do with Pochettino serving out his time before moving to Spurs. I don't know if I was taken in by the media, but I did expect Southampton to struggle with so many changes made in one go, but perhaps as you say, like Swansea they are less vulnerable to change if they have an underlying plan. That quote from Fernandes really does make him sound completely gormless.

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Hunterhoop added 23:25 - Sep 26 Excellent piece again, Clive. I actually think, against all logic, that we might get a result tomorrow. Predominantly because Southampton have to have a poor day sooner or later and they may be tired from midweek. But it's important Saints fans, QPR fans, and the media don't mistake a short term win and a one off loss for success. Success can only be judged over years not games. And success isn't restricted to results and league position, it's about doing things the right way: fans being entertained and the long term future of the club being secured. That's what fans, the media, and (hopefully) owners soon realise.

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