Team Talk: Southampton

Hello and welcome to another edition of Team Talk. Today I'll be turning my eye towards the south coast and having a look at newly-promoted, high flying Southampton.

Manager: Nigel Adkins
Adkins joined from League One side Scunthorpe in September 2010, and since then the Saints have been on the up. In his first season at the club he got them promoted to the Championship in second place, and they show no signs of letting up as they have stormed the league so far, and are currently in second place again behind, funnily enough, last year's League One champions Brighton. Despite having relatively little experience at this level, Adkins has got his side playing excellent football and dismantled one of the pre-season favourites Leeds on the opening day. He has got a good record with his teams, getting Scunthorpe promoted at the first time of asking and then kept them there for the season, and another promotion with Southampton where they won many plaudits. If he can keep this up, Southampton may be able to replicate Norwich's achievement of last season of back-to-back promotions.

Star Player: Rickie Lambert
Southampton's top scorer nabbed 21 goals last term in an extremely impressive year, forming a formidable partnership with Lee Barnard. Lambert finished as League One's third top scorer and shows no sign of slowing as he is already the top scorer in the Championship, with five goals. The former Bristol Rovers man has scored 61 goals in 95 games for the Saints, which is a hugely impressive total, and the fans will hope he can continue his goalscoring form throughout the season to push Southampton towards promotion.
Other important players:
Lee Barnard - Mentioned above, Barnard got 16 goals last season and combined well with Lambert.
Jack Cork - Young central midfielder already looks at home in the Championship.
Adam Lallana - Exciting winger making real strides so far, full of potential.

Strengths:
The team plays very attractive football which has so far been a success, and this has won them many fans country-wide. This is, unfortunately, rarely seen in the Championship, and those who use it often don't get the recognition they deserve (see Doncaster). However, with Swansea's success last season, Southampton will be emboldened, and hopefully will continue to entertain. They also have a relatively young squad, meaning that if they can retain their players they will have good chemistry in future seasons. The young age of the squad also helps their speed of play, as they will be less likely to get fatigued than older players. Despite this, they have also got a fair amount of Championship experience in the likes of former Palace duo Jose Fonte and Danny Butterfield, David Connolly and Dan Harding, which will certainly help.

Weaknesses:
Southampton can rely too much on Lambert and Barnard, which last season worked, but they may not be able to get as many goals this season as they did last. I'd also say that they don't have the best goalkeepers, a choice of Bartosz Bialkowski or Kelvin Davis, although Bialkowski is certainly decent, but they may want someone with more experience at this level. The midfield can be a little lightweight, although Morgan Schneiderlin and Jack Cork help with this.

Conclusion:
Southampton have the potential to do very well in this league. They play exciting, attractive, football, and have plenty of people who can score goals. If they can keep clear of injuries and possibly make a couple of signings in January, they should be able to keep up at the top of the table. I doubt they'll get promoted, but they may well make the playoffs.