A lot has happened since the 2024 Championship Playoff Final. Southampton beat Leeds United that day, but that’s probably the last good thing that’s happened for the Saints.
The 49ers wanted an instant return to the Premier League with Daniel Farke appointed, but his former Norwich City captain Russell Martin was the man to dash those hopes at Wembley.
A third defeat inflicted by Martin’s Southampton on Farke’s Leeds was the most damaging. A Playoff Final defeat that brought Saints’ return to the Premier League, and consigned Leeds to another season in the Championship.
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Leeds United sitting more comfortably despite brutal Playoff Final defeat to Southampton
Southampton, like Leicester City and Ipswich Town, were keen to rub Leeds’ noses in their failure to secure promotion.
We bounced back in emphatic style from their Wembley heartbreak. Farke regrouped his Leeds side, the 49ers reinvested from the circa-£124million banked in the summer, and Leeds went on to win the Championship title with 100 points.
Daniel Farke lifted his third Championship title in his second season at Leeds United. (Action Images/Matthew Childs)
Southampton’s battle to stay in the Premier League was virtually over before it began with lacklustre investment into the squad. Then, Martin retained a playing style that was tailor-made for relegation.
Now, Leeds and the Saints have swapped divisions with the Whites back in the top flight and the South Coast club back in the EFL.
Southampton’s Leeds United mockery backfires for 16 months straight with Will Still facing huge sack pressure
The ‘I Predict A Riot’ and Joy Division infatuation seemed funny at the time to all three promoted clubs, but the timeline for Southampton ever since making promotion about Leeds has been as bleak as you could imagine.
First, failed signings under Martin meant the Saints were destined for the drop. Martin’s unwavering faith in his failing system made matters worse. He was sacked in December despite penning a three-year extension in July, with the Saints on five points after 16 games.
Ivan Juric wasn’t much better, and Southampton found themselves finishing their Premier League campaign just clearing the worst-ever points tally in the division. Their ‘success’ in beating Derby County’s unwanted record brought this very bizarre post on social media:
“Sorry if we got your hopes up, @dcfcofficial,” they wrote on X. Perhaps the most damning indictment of how embarrassing it got, that this was posted as some sort of brag.
Will Still is struggling badly at Southampton after being appointed in the summer. (Action Images/Matthew Childs)
Now back in the EFL, Will Still is under serious pressure as their 3-1 defeat at Bristol City on Monday night leaves them 17th after 11 games, with just two wins in that time.
The Athletic’s update underlined the Southampton nightmare ever since that Playoff Final win over Leeds. The Saints have won just four league games since out of 47.
Chants of “sacked in the morning” reportedly echoed from the away end. A drastic 16-month capitulation since United were the butt of every joke.
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