Southampton soar under Pochettino

 

Christian Crowther places the spotlight on Southampton's survival chances under their new boss and those of the teams in their rear-view mirrors...

 

When Southampton's board made the decision to oust their double promotion-winning manager Nigel Adkins, it understandably ruffled a few feathers within the footballing community.

 

But fortunes and opinions can morph rapidly in football and just a few weeks on, it now seems that Mauricio Pochettino's appointment may yet prove inspirational as Saints look on course to secure their Premier League status and possibly climb higher.

 

The Argentine's tenure started with a solid home draw against Champions League-chasing Everton and since then the Saints have burst into life, culminating in their win over Manchester City.

 

Pochettino's energetic side flourished at Old Trafford and, despite ending up on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline, their second-half performance displayed such dynamism that it led Sir Alex Ferguson to hail it as the best any away side had produced at Old Trafford all season.

 

Only a last-gasp Shaun Maloney equaliser then prevented Pochettino from collecting his first three-point haul at Wigan, before Saturday's emphatic win over the reigning

Premier League champions at St Mary's.

 

As they had threatened against Manchester United, versus City they finally managed to back up their enterprising play with goals.

 

This result elevated Saints back up to 15th and has understandably led to a lengthening in their price for relegation, now available at 7.4. Punters are suitably encouraged to rate their chances of a top-ten finish almost as strongly at 7.6.

 

While Southampton look to be moving in the right direction under their new manager, there are those who continue to flounder however.

 

As they have been all season, QPR are still in the deepest of trouble at the foot of the ladder and seemingly buried following a crushing 4-1 defeat to Swansea on Saturday.

 

With only one win in their last nine league games and now seven points adrift of safety, a rating of 1.31 to drop through the trapdoor seems like safe money.

 

The jostling for places above the R's promises to entertain to the wire as normal and at this point you'd have to imagine two of Aston Villa 2.1, Wigan 1.83 and Reading 1.7 will join them.

 

After strengthening in the window, Newcastle should have enough quality to pull away from this pack, while Norwich have halted their abysmal run with draws against Tottenham, QPR and Fulham and should accrue enough points to steer clear.

 

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