2015–16 Southampton F.C. season

Southampton 2015–16
Club information
Manager	Ronald Koeman
Stadium	St Mary's Stadium
League Season information
Final League position	6th
Cup placements
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fifth round
UEFA Europa League	Play-off round
Season statistics
Top goalscorer	Graziano Pellè Sadio Mané (11 each)
← 2014–15	2016–17 →

The 2015–16 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 17th season in the Premier League and their 39th in the top division of English football. It was also the club's first season in a European competition since 2003–04. Southampton finished the season in sixth place in the Premier League, having won 18, drawn 9 and lost 11 of their 38 matches. This result is the highest club finish in the Premier League and the highest Premier League points total (63) in the club's history. Aside from the league, the club was eliminated from the third round of the FA Cup, the fifth round of the League Cup, and the qualifying play-off round of the UEFA Europa League.

Following the end of the 2014–15 campaign, Southampton released seven first team players. The club also sold right-back Nathaniel Clyne to Liverpool, midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin to Manchester United, and striker Emmanuel Mayuka to French side Metz. Three players were sent out on season-long loans to Football League sides – Sam Gallagher to Milton Keynes Dons, Jack Stephens to Middlesbrough, and Jordan Turnbull to Swindon Town – while Jason McCarthy and Lloyd Isgrove were sent out on loans until January.

In the summer transfer window, the Saints made seven full signings – striker Juanmi from Málaga, right-backs Cédric Soares and Cuco Martina from Sporting CP and FC Twente, respectively, midfielder Jordy Clasie from Feyenoord, defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu from Chelsea, goalkeeper Harry Lewis from Shrewsbury Town, and centre-back Virgil van Dijk from Celtic. The club also brought in Fulham goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and Queens Park Rangers centre-back Steven Caulker on season-long loans.

In January 2016, the club signed striker Charlie Austin from Queens Park Rangers. Caulker's loan agreement was cut short to allow him to move to Liverpool, while both Gallagher and Stephens returned to Southampton early. Also loaned out were Sam McQueen to Southend United, Gastón Ramírez to Middlesbrough, Ryan Seager to Crewe Alexandra, and Stephens to Coventry City, while Isgrove's loan spell at Barnsley was extended until the end of the season. In addition, young goalkeeper Harry Isted was released.

Senegalese forward Sadio Mané finished the 2015–16 season as Southampton's top scorer, with 15 goals in all competitions; Mané and Italian striker Graziano Pellè finished as joint top scorers in the Premier League, with 11 goals each. Irish striker Shane Long won the fan-voted Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award presented by the Southern Daily Echo, while Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk won the Fans' and Players' Player of the Season awards presented by the club. Saints manager Ronald Koeman won the Premier League Manager of the Month award in January 2016, while goalkeeper Fraser Forster won the Premier League Player of the Month award in February 2016.

Pre-season

Southampton began their pre-season preparations in Austria with a friendly against German side RB Leipzig on 8 July 2015, which they lost 5–4. New signings Juanmi and Cédric Soares scored their first goals for the club, while Jay Rodriguez returned from a long-term injury to strike twice in the game. Three days later, the club competed in the Audi Quattro Cup semi-final against Spanish club Valencia, losing 1–0 thanks to a goal scored by Pablo Piatti. Both Sadio Mané and José Fonte hit the crossbar during the game, but Valencia advanced to the final. In the third-place playoff match against hosts Red Bull Salzburg, the Saints lost 2–0, thus finishing fourth in the tournament.

On 15 July, Southampton faced Brighton & Hove Albion in a private match at the Staplewood training ground. The Saints won the game 1–0, with Sam McQueen scoring the only goal in the final minute. Three days later, they beat Dutch club FC Groningen 3–0 thanks to goals from captain Fonte, Mané and Graziano Pellè. They later beat Quick '20 10–0 on 21 July, with goals including hat-tricks from Pellè and Rodriguez. The Saints won their last match in the Netherlands on 23 July, beating Feyenoord 3–0 with goals from Pellè, Maya Yoshida and Juanmi.

The club finished their pre-season preparations at St Mary's Stadium against Spanish side RCD Espanyol on 2 August. The hosts went 1–0 down early on through a goal by Salva Sevilla, but equalised through Rodriguez in the last five minutes to finish the game 1–1.

Friendly 8 July 2015	RB Leipzig	5–4	Southampton	Bischofshofen, Austria
18:00 CEST	Quaschner  24' Mauer  55' Sebastian  59' Kalmár  66' Strauß  75'	Report	Juanmi  25' Rodriguez  53', 90' Soares  79'	Stadium: Sportklub Bischofshofen

Audi Quattro Cup Semi-Final 11 July 2015	Valencia	1–0	Southampton	Salzburg, Austria
15:00 BST	Piatti  23'	Report		Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 10,832

Audi Quattro Cup Third-Place Playoff 11 July 2015	Red Bull Salzburg	2–0	Southampton	Salzburg, Austria
17:10 BST	Nielsen  19' Oberlin  23'	Report		Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 10,832

Friendly 15 July 2015	Southampton	1–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Southampton
14:00 BST	McQueen  89'	Report		Stadium: Staplewood

Friendly 18 July 2015	Groningen	0–3	Southampton	Groningen, Netherlands
13:30 BST		Report	Fonte  24' Mané  52' Pellè  72'	Stadium: Euroborg Attendance: 12,176

Friendly 21 July 2015	Quick '20	0–10	Southampton	Oldenzaal, Netherlands
18:00 BST		Report	Davis  1', 39' Pellè  12', 28', 42' Rodriguez  15', 27', 87' Turnbull  51' Juanmi  61'	Stadium: Sportpark Vondersweijde

Friendly 23 July 2015	Feyenoord	0–3	Southampton	Rotterdam, Netherlands
19:00 BST		Report	Pellè  41' Yoshida  61' Juanmi  83'	Stadium: De Kuip

Friendly 2 August 2015	Southampton	1–1	RCD Espanyol	Southampton
15:00 BST	Rodriguez  85'	Report	Sevilla  11'	Stadium: St Mary's Stadium Attendance: 14,730 Referee: Michael Jones

Premier League

League table

2015–16 Premier League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Leicester City  (C)	38	23	12	3	68	36	+32	81	2016–17 UEFA Champions League group stage
2	Arsenal  (Q)	38	20	11	7	65	36	+29	71
3	Tottenham  (Q)	38	19	13	6	69	35	+34	70
4	Manchester City	38	19	9	10	71	41	+30	66	2016–17 UEFA Champions League play-off round
5	Manchester Utd	38	19	9	10	49	35	+14	66	2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage
6	Southampton	38	18	9	11	59	41	+18	63
7	West Ham Utd	38	16	14	8	65	51	+14	62	2016–17 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
8	Liverpool	38	16	12	10	63	50	+13	60
9	Stoke City	38	14	9	15	41	55	−14	51
10	Chelsea	38	12	14	12	59	53	+6	50
11	Swansea City	38	12	11	15	42	52	−10	47
12	Everton	38	11	14	13	59	55	+4	47
13	Watford	38	12	9	17	40	50	−10	45
14	West Brom	38	10	13	15	34	48	−14	43
15	Crystal Palace	38	11	9	18	39	51	−12	42
16	Bournemouth	38	11	9	18	45	67	−22	42
17	Sunderland	38	9	12	17	48	62	−14	39
18	Newcastle Utd  (R)	38	9	10	19	44	65	−21	37	Relegation to 2016–17 Football League Championship
19	Norwich City  (R)	38	9	7	22	39	67	−28	34
20	Aston Villa  (R)	38	3	8	27	27	76	−49	17

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	18	9	11	59	41	+18	63	11	3	5	39	22	+17	7	6	6	20	19	+1

Last updated: 15 May 2016
Source: Premier League