The first half of the Championship is well and truly over: the January transfer window is entering what Southampton boss Nigel Adkins calls the, “critical stage,” meaning the last two weeks, and a team that were 14/1 for the title at the beginning of the season are at the top, whilst the two favourites, relegated West Ham and Birmingham, sit in 2nd place and 7th place respectively. Meanwhile, free-spending Leicester, who paid a total of £13m during the summer transfer period on the likes of Jermaine Beckford, Matthew Mills and Kasper Schmeichel, amongst others, sit in 15th; closer to the relegation zone than the automatic spots they were expected to challenge for. However, with 20 games remaining for the majority of the Championship’s teams and 9 of them within 7 points of the play-offs, a bit of mid-season investment is an idea flirting provocatively with many Championship managers.
Southampton F.C had the best 2011 out of every team in the seventy-two of the football league: despite missing out on the n-Power League One title to fellow south coast side Brighton, The Saints came up in 2nd place and made a barnstorming start to their first season back in the Championship, following relegation and administration in the 2008/09 camp gain. Over their 50 league games in 2011, the club, which was saved by the late Swiss billionaire Markus Liebherr in 2009, achieved a points per game average of 2.16 with a win ratio of 66%.
Undoubtedly, their remarkable home form, which only failed to produce an entire calendar year of unbeaten league games at St. Mary’s Stadium at the last hurdle against Bristol City, aided their healthy return. Now, their enthusiastic but level-headed manager wishes to capitalise on a first half of the season that delivered, by his own accord, over the odds: “we wanted to be in the top ten come the turn of the year to give ourselves the chance to go on and win the race.”
Sitting pretty, with their football, at the top of the league, but not safely – West Ham are level on points with them – Nigel Adkins has stated his intentions to strengthen during the window to ensure he gets, “this great football club back where it belongs.”
The south coast club, who strengthened astutely from the team that secured them promotion from League One, by signing Burnley’s Danny Fox, Chelsea’s Jack Cork, Belgian winger Steve de Ridder and Celtic’s Jos Hooiveld, have already moved quickly this January to make sure the necessary signings are made by the time the deadline door slams shut. Jos Hooiveld, initially on loan, joined the club permanently in December and since the January window opened, Saints have signed Japanese international Tadanari Lee and secured a loan deal for Tottenham’s Iago Falque, which sees Spurs’ new signing join on loan until the end of the season.
However, Saints fans can expect more action this window: “Our endeavour is to bring another striker into the football club,” Radio Solent was told by the Southampton manager, and with interest clearly being shown in Celtic’s Gary Hooper, two bids have already been turned down, Southampton’s intentions to return to the Premier League in back-to-back promotions are clear.