Doddy is so tickled by Saints
JASON DODD is backing Southampton to launch an assault on Europe next season – just eight months after they looked destined for the drop.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have been one of the Premier League’s form teams since football returned, winning four and losing just one of eight.
They finish their season against Sheffield United today, and former Saints full-back Dodd believes they will want next season to start as soon as possible, which is quite some turnaround for a side that was staring relegation in the face at Christmas.
“If you’d have mentioned Europe when Saints were in the bottom three, you would have got some very strange looks,” said Dodd.
“Now, if the season went on for another month, then I think they would be challenging for one of those slots.
“I just think the momentum they’ve got at the moment will be huge going into the new season. And the manager certainly deserves a huge amount of praise for that.
“He hasn’t had too many windows and hasn’t been able to spend a lot of money, but since lockdown they have been fantastic.
“It’s a more settled side and the players know exactly what they are doing. Maybe earlier in the season he wasn’t too sure what his best team was, but now there’s a more consistent level of performance from the players. More consistency in selection too.
“I think that’s why they’ve had such a great turnaround. Southampton look as though as they know what they are doing, and it does help massively when you’ve got a goalscorer like Danny Ings. With him in the team you know that if chances come along then he is going to score them.”
Going into today’s game, Ings has 21 Premier League goals to his name.
“He makes goalscoring look easy. He has been fantastic,” added Dodd, who expects further improvement from Ings and the Saints next term.
“The last three seasons at Southampton have been okay – a six out of ten, probably,” he said.
“But with the core of this team – and if Ralph is able to dip into the transfer market – then I think European qualification is realistic.”