Will Still does now have a UEFA Pro Licence and following successful spells at Stade de Reims and RC Lens, has finally made the much-anticipated move to English football to take over a Southampton side that churned through managers in their attempt to survive the Premier League.

Russell Martin and then Ivan Juric (who has somehow taken over at Atalanta) departed during the course of the season with Simon Rusk filling in at the end as the Saints gained a small bit of credibility by finally overcoming Derby’s record low points tally.

Still takes over a club that will need a bit of a rebuild with Kyle Walker-Peters leaving following the expiry of his contract, Adam Lallana retiring and Kamaldeen Sulamana, Sam Amo-Ameyaw, Jan Bednarek and Paul Onuachu all leaving for foreign shores with Atalanta, RC Strasbourg, FC Porto and Trabzonspor their respective destinations.

They started the season with an end-to-end game against Wrexham, where they were perhaps fortunate to emerge with three points following two late goals, and followed that up with a 1-0 victory against Northampton in the Carabao Cup.

Goalkeepers

With Aaron Ramsdale making a late loan move to Newcastle having featured a fair amount in pre-season, it looks like Gavin Bazunu is going to start the season as the Saints’ number one. Despite showing plenty of promise at a young age he has seen his career take a cliff dive in recent years. He spent half of last season out on loan at Standard Liege in Belgium keeping just one clean sheet in eight games.

Behind him in the pecking order with be ex-Town loanee Alex McCarthy, who brings plenty of experience at 35 years of age. He’s been at the club since 2017 during which time he’s largely been the second choice.

Defenders

Somewhere where Southampton are well stocked is central defence with Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Nathan Wood, Ronnie Edwards and Jack Stephens still about and new signing from Hoffenheim Joshua Quarshie joining them. The 20-year-old German spent last season on loan in the 2.Bundesliga with Greuther Furth.

Edwards, Stephens and Quarshie were the chosen three against Wrexham with skipper Stephens poking in the winner from close range.

Harwood-Bellis has been out with a long-term injury and hadn’t featured at all in pre-season but returned for the Carabao Cup tie, playing 63 minutes as he returns to full fitness. Him being back will be a big boost for the Saints.

Joachim Kaye Sanda is a player that Still has been taking a look at in pre-season. The 18-year-old defender joined in January, when the Saints were still in the Premier League, from Valenciennes but only played 22 Premier League minutes.

At full-back Saints also have plenty of options. Former Town loanee James Bree and Japan international Yukinari Sugawara look set to compete for the right-back slot, whilst Brazilian Welington, who impressed at Portman Road on his debut last season, has experienced Charlie Taylor and creator Ryan Manning for company at left-back.

Suguwara and Welington started against Wrexham but Manning will be knocking hard on the door after a stunning free-kick goal and a lovely pull back in a 19-minute Man of the Match performance

Midfielders

Flynn Downes is back in favour following the departure of former manager Juric and given his ability should return to form a central part of Still’s midfield alongside Shea Charles, who was not around for their dismal Premier League survival attempt and instead was flourishing on loan at Sheffield Wednesday last season.

Joe Aribo and Will Smallbone have both been around the club for a number of seasons now and will provide different profiles in the centre.

Aribo is incredibly fit and brings physicality and energy to the middle of the park, whilst Smallbone is very composed on the ball and was a key member of Russell Martin’s promotion squad with seven goals and four assists.

Aribo wasn’t in the squad against Wrexham with uncertainty around his future with only one year left on his contract, whilst Smallbone is one of a number of players currently injured and has very recently been linked to Town but by a not particularly reliable source.

Kuryu Matsuki could fill that void. He’s another that was signed upon Saints’ promotion to the Premier League but was loaned out to Turkish side Goztepe. He’s a Japanese playmaker and may be needed given the lack of midfield depth in Still’s squad.

Another one-time Town loan man Ryan Fraser is an interesting one. Will Still looks to have found him a new position in his 4-1-2-3 formation as one of the two attacking midfielders where he has featured in a lot of Saints friendlies so far, but he was back in a more regular wing position against Wrexham, albeit one where he had the flexibility to get on the ball by dropping into pockets of space.

Attackers

Tyler Dibling and Matheus Fernandes were two of the positives to come out of last season for the Saints and as such both have been linked with moves away, given that they’re the most saleable assets.

Neither featured in pre-season and Dibling wasn’t in the squad for the first game, whilst Fernandes came off the bench against Wrexham and started in the cup tie, so could be hanging around.

Samuel Edozie is one that I thought could benefit from their departures when I first drafted this but is now looking the most likely of the three to move on as he also wasn’t in the squad to face Wrexham. He will be looking for regular football following a loan spell at Anderlecht. The tricky winger scored six times and assisted three in the Saints’ last Championship campaign.

Jay Robinson, who has looked to impress in pre-season off the back of a good Premier League 2 season where he scored six goals and assisted four, is the man who has seized the opportunity in their absence. He set up new striker Damion Downs with a lovely defence-splitting ball in the Saints’ pre-season friendly against RCD Espanyol and looked lively against Wrexham, attempting five shots.

Another who is impressive at Championship level but has struggled in the Premier League is Cameron Archer. The 23-year-old has 18 goals in 40 games in the Championship but just six in 74 in the Premier League. Still looks to have been using him on the right wing in pre-season, which suits his athleticism.

Ben Brereton Diaz became the holder of the most unwanted record last season, that of having the most Premier League appearances to his name without a single win.

His struggles were so pronounced that he was loaned back to Sheffield United to complete last season. He again didn’t have the best time there but looks to have been given a full pre-season to prove his worth out on the left wing.

Ahead of them are three very different striking options in Adam Armstrong, Ross Stewart and Damion Downs.

Armstrong is a known Championship performer with 80 goals in 248 appearances and has the versatility to play in a number of positions.

Stewart was signed from Sunderland in 2023 and only played 57 Championship minutes before suffering from a long-term injury before coming back towards the end of the Premier League season, netting his first ever top-flight goal on the final day against Arsenal.

USA international Downs has been brought in from FC Koln and comes with high potential. At just 21 years of age he scored 10 goals in 29 appearances in the 2.Bundesliga last season.

It was Armstrong who got the nod against Wrexham but they looked more balanced when Downs replaced him on the 60-minute mark with the American assisting the winner with a scruffy flick-on.

The Teams

For me only two players made real claims for a place in the Town starting line-up on Tuesday night and those were Ashley Young and Conor Chaplin.

Young made a number of crucial interceptions and was excellent at progressing the ball with a stand out 21 progressive passes and ten progressive carries in that one and Chaplin really linked the play and created a number of chances even if his passing wasn’t fully up to scratch.

For Southampton, I'd be surprised if Manning didn’t start after his recent good performances and Harwood-Bellis will likely slot back in for Edwards, who clumsily conceded a penalty against Wrexham.

Prediction

I said at the start of the season I'd be happy with nine points from the first five games and that still stands. Portman Road has only seen one win this calendar year (3-0 v Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup) and I think it’ll have to wait a little longer. I'm going for a 2-2 draw.

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