A look at the Premier League Table makes interesting reading in that Saints are now in a position that barring a freak run of wins or losses their position wont change much either way, is it time to look towards next season ?
After the win at West Brom Saints sit comfortably 9th in the table, above them Newcastle sit 3 points ahead, but after that Manchester United are 7 in front and Spurs in 6th a massive 10 points clear.
Below its a similar state of affairs, Hull in 10th are 7 points behind and although Aston Villa could bring themselves within 4 if they beat Arsenal tonight, the rest of those clubs who are looking upwards rather than down are at least 8 or 9 behind.
What this should be telling us is that this season should be about consolidating what we have, perhaps looking for a good FA Cup run now, but more importantly starting the building towards next season.
Fans of Rickie Lambert had better look away now because what i am suggesting is not going to please them, but in football the best teams are not sentimental and as much as I love Rickie Lambert and what he has done for us, I can also see what the club is trying to do.
Over the past 18 months we have spend somewhere in the region of £65-70 Million on players, not an inconsiderable amount, however for most of this season, around half of that total has not done a lot for this club and im not counting injuries here as Wanyama was looking worth the money before he picked up his.
For some of that money spent it could be said to be now a question of seeing what we can get back, Yoshida and Mayuka look to probably not have much of a future at St Mary's, The Japanese defender could be said to have contributed last season, he was not quite as good as we hoped, but he did have a good game along the way last term, Mayuka has done little, he didnt fit in with our style of play and didnt look to have had much of a clue, he was an experienced player when he arrived so not all of his failure could be blamed on youth.
But what we really have to do now is look at Gaston Ramirez and Osvaldo and fin out if they can truly play within our system, I would say that so far neither have really been given a chance in a system that suits them.
I feel sorry for Gaston Ramirez, he was signed to provide the passing ability in the side, yet in very few games has he had the chance to actually pass the ball, Rickie Lambert's strengths do not lie in peeling off the defender and getting on the end of a defence splitting pass, he has not got the pace for that, this is no slur on Rickie, but it is just not his strength, likewise our passing game truly doesnt suit him either, look at the goals he scored in the past, it was all about getting the ball to him in the penalty area usually from a cross, as we are now wingless wonders and without a wideman in the true sense of the word, its not very often that Rickie gets the chance to thrive on the type of ball he craves.
So too many times Gaston Ramirez has found himself with the ball at his feet but with no one to pass to, on Saturday against West Brom he got in that position once and with devastating effect, but that was a rare opportunity to split the defence, normally the only option he has had has been to play it short and on to the next man, that is like asking Michaelangelo to paint the toilets in the Northam End, yes he can do it, but it isnt what he is good at and there are others who can do that just as well and quicker and in the case of Steven Davis run and win the ball more often as well.
So to Osvaldo, he arrived to great fanfare after a long chase in which we clearly had to pay more money than he was worth in transfer fee's and a lot more than he was worth in wages, yet after making him the club record signing we then bottled out of actually using him in his best position, I said back then that there would be conflict, that both he and Lambert wanted to and needed to play as the central striker if they were to get to Brazil this summer, Mauricio Pochettino having overseen the club record signing should have had the conviction to play him to his strengths rather than the hybrid system that we employed in order to have both in the same side, the stark result has been that neither has had a decent season, although both have had their moments.
So we sit in January with not a lot to play for in the Premier league apart from a place or two, we have around £28 million pounds worth of talent who will be hard to offload on a permanent basis due to high wages, so what have we got to lose in actually playing them in a system that suits them and that after all they were signed for.
Give Ramirez the chance to play with a central striker who has some pace and can make the runs, Osvaldo doesnt look the fastest, but he is a clever player and can make runs.
Osvaldo should be tried in the position that he was signed for, he needs to have a run of games up front on his own, be given like Ramirez the chance to show what he can do.
So where does Rickie Lambert fit in to all this, from a harsh non sentimental point of view Rickie is hanging on in there, he has been given a stay of execution so far in that Pochettino has strangely not done as most managers would do and played his record signing in front of the veteran, however like Osvaldo due to system employed to accommodate both it hasnt done him any favours, especially in his quest for England duty in Brazil, 3 goals from open play is exactly the same as Osvaldo has got in the Premier league, there are those that would suggest that Rickie can fit in the system by playing deeper and passing the ball, im sad to say it but im not one of them, he is an out and out striker and a good one, nay a bloody good one, certainly I have nothing against Rickie as a centre forward and i feel that if we changed the system he could have a few more years in him in the starting line up, but in today's Premier league we cant carry passengers in the hope they hit the odd decent pass etc, for a team in Saints position gone are the days when a Jimmy Case type player could sit in the middle of the park and let someone do their running for them, we have to have 10 fit athletes out there.
As I said back in September, Rickie needs to be playing, if he hadn't got in the England squad then he would perhaps have been happy being more of a squad player, he still has a lot to contribute in that area, but the next four months are crucial for him, if he has another like the last four then he will be lucky to get on that plane to Brazil.
Perhaps the ideal solution would be a short term loan, find him a Premier league team who need him to play week in week out so that he can force his way as a definate to Brazil with a flurry of goals in a system that suits him, he could then return to St Mary's next season to play another part in our revival.
I do feel that Saints have a great opportunity to find out if Ramirez and Osvaldo can have a future at the club, we have the chance to try and get them playing in our system, they are undoubtably great players who would flourish in that "right" system, so lets take this chance to try them and not have regrets when they succeed elsewhere after leaving St Mary's
Perhaps we can afford to throw £28 million away, perhaps we are happy to have done so, but for me I would prefer to give them the chance to show their worth, they havent really been given that chance so far and perhaps its too late, they might both be disallusioned with the way they have been treated and its beyond redemption ? I think it will be if things continue for the rest of this season, but if we show a little faith then perhaps we can reap the benefits.
In the case of Osvaldo and Lambert I want to see both on that plane to Brazil, I want to see them both going as Southampton players, I dont think that will happen if they are both used the same way as they have been in the first half of the season.
But it does stretch farther than just what benefits the players get, we have an opportunity to get our planning for next season in early, identify where our weak links are and where we need to improve and therefore identify targets early and get in before other clubs have a chance.
From the past 18 months it is clear that when we have done this ie Rodriguez and Lovren it has been a success, however the longer the transfer window has gone on we seem to have ended up with so called marque signings who have cost more than they really should have.
Our squad is only going to get better with some promising youngsters probably not quite ready to burst through but starting to get near to that point when they will, we have made our mistakes both in signings and in increasing the expectations of supporters excessively high, so much so that 9th position now feels like failure, whilst Im all for high standards, also believe in realistic targets and we can achieve these next season, if we show that we can think ahead then we could exceed them again next season.