Approximately a year has passed since Leicester and the Southampton They certified their descent to championship after having recovered the category the previous season. Today, while the ‘foxes’ have embarked on the road to League One to ‘celebrate’ the tenth anniversary of the achievement of its historic premier In 2016, the ‘saints’ have staged an enviable ‘resurrection’ that has taken them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup before the Manchester City…and the playoff positions in Championship.
After a disastrous course, they managed to convince the ‘revolutionary’ Will Still to lead the reconstruction of this Southampton. “I’m looking forward to getting to work this summer and starting to build a cohesive group that will make the fans proud and ultimately return us to where we belong,” he announced in his presentation.
Already without Mateus Fernandes, Tyler Dibling, Sulemana, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Ramsdale or Walker-Petersit was time to start from scratch to solidify new foundations. But, after debuting with an epic victory against a recently promoted Wrexham with two goals Manning and Stephens In injury time, the project Will Still ‘died’ before he could see the light.
If I had a solution, I would have applied it two months ago
“I don’t know how much time I have left. You would have to ask the right people. If I had a solution, I would have applied it two months ago,” he noted after the defeat in St. Mary’s which ended up causing his departure from the team at the beginning of November. “I understand the frustration of the fans and how angry they may be with me, with the players and with the board. I know how important the club is for them,” he lamented.
At that time, after having had three consecutive defeats, five games without winning and just two wins in the first 13 days, the Southampton was three points above relegation to League One that marked the Sheffield United. He Leicesterwhich had not started the course in a buoyant manner under the direction of Marti Cifuentesstill had five points ahead of the ‘saints’.
Partial classification Championship 25-26 (J1-J13)
The man appointed to succeed Will Still was Tonda Eckertwhom they had brought in in the summer to lead the youth team. “Let’s go for it, there is no other way. I’m not afraid to be ambitious and say that we want to fight for promotion,” he explained in his press conference. Quite a declaration of intentions from a coach who, at 33 years old, could already boast of having been part of the ‘staff’ of Joachim Low in the Germany who won World Cup in 2014.
I had never directed previously. In fact, that of the subsidiary of the Southampton It was her first experience as a first sword. However, with four wins in his first five games in charge, he earned the right to have the ‘caretaker’ label removed. These include a rout of his own Leicester (3-0) to overtake them in the table, put them seven points away from relegation and move five points away from the playoffs.
I’m not afraid to be ambitious and say that we want to fight for promotion
A few months later, at the beginning of February, they faced the ‘foxes’ again in a clash that ended up defining where each one would look until the end of the season. And, after going 3-0 down at half-time, they managed to turn the score around in the second half to stay two points away from the playoffs and finish sinking a Leicester who, days later, fell into the ‘well’ after receiving a six-point penalty for violating the Financial Fair Play.
“It’s one of those nights that we will remember for a long time. Coming from 3-0 down and winning 4-3 with a goal in stoppage time… this is football. It shows that this team never gives up,” he confessed. Tonda Eckert after what happened that day on the mat of the King Power Stadium.
Partial classification Championship 25-26 (J33-J45)
From then on, the Southampton had a ‘high’ that has made them the best team in the championship (30/36) points in this last stretch of the course to settle in the ‘playoffs’ zone and still with mathematical options for direct promotion to premier to missing two days. He Leicestermeanwhile, this week completed the second descent to League One in their nearly 150-year history when, a decade ago, they were working the greatest miracle of this century.
He SouthamptonHowever, he wants more. And, after loading Doncasterhis own Leicester, Fulham and Arsenaltoday they are cited in Wembley in the semifinals of the FA Cup before a Manchester City who already ‘scratched’ a point last year to surpass the Derby County (08-09) as the worst team (11 points) in the history of the premier.
You can feel something very special around the club in recent months
“You can feel something very special around the club in recent months,” he noted in the run-up to the clash against Manchester City a Tonda Eckert that he is not going “as a spectator” but “to challenge them.” Leicester and Southampton: two crossed stories… with very different outcomes.
