# 2006–07 Southampton F.C. season

During the 2006–07 English football season, Southampton Football Club competed in the Football League Championship.
Southampton improved in their second consecutive season in the Championship, although their overall form was inconsistent and they were soon out of the race for automatic promotion. Their inconsistency threatened to put them out of the play-off picture too, but eventually Southampton scraped to sixth position in the final table. Southampton were drawn against manager George Burley's old club Derby County, who managed to defeat Southampton 4–3 in a penalty shootout after a 4–4 aggregate draw over two legs.

## Final League table (extract)

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 81 | 55 | +26 | 76 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 76 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Southampton | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 77 | 53 | +24 | 75 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Preston North End | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 64 | 53 | +11 | 74 | |
| 8 | Stoke City | 46 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 62 | 41 | +21 | 73 | |

## Championship

    Note: Southampton score given first
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 6 August 2006 | Derby County | A | 2–2 | 21,939 | Bale, Wright-Phillips |
| 9 August 2006 | Coventry City | H | 2–0 | 21,088 | Bale, Rasiak |
| 12 August 2006 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–0 | 24,322 | |
| 19 August 2006 | Barnsley | A | 2–2 | 11,306 | Rasiak (2) |
| 26 August 2006 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 20,712 | Rasiak |
| 9 September 2006 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 21,422 | Jones |
| 12 September 2006 | Crystal Palace | A | 2–0 | 17,084 | Jones, Rasiak |
| 16 September 2006 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 1–0 | 22,514 | Rasiak |
| 23 September 2006 | Burnley | A | 3–2 | 13,051 | Rasiak (2), Skacel |
| 30 September 2006 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–2 | 25,185 | Wright-Phillips |
| 14 October 2006 | Leicester City | A | 2–3 | 21,347 | Viafara, Idiakez |
| 17 October 2006 | Cardiff City | A | 0–1 | 19,345 | |
| 21 October 2006 | Stoke City | H | 1–0 | 20,531 | Licka |
| 28 October 2006 | Colchester United | A | 0–2 | 5,893 | |
| 1 November 2006 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–0 | 18,979 | Wright-Phillips, Jones |
| 4 November 2006 | Hull City | H | 0–0 | 20,560 | |
| 11 November 2006 | Sunderland | A | 1–1 | 25,667 | Bale |
| 18 November 2006 | Leeds United | A | 3–0 | 19,647 | Rasiak (2), Skacel |
| 25 November 2006 | Luton Town | H | 2–1 | 20,482 | Baird, Rasiak |
| 29 November 2006 | Birmingham City | H | 4–3 | 21,889 | Jones (2), Skacel, Wright-Phillips |
| 2 December 2006 | Hull City | A | 4–2 | 15,697 | Rasiak (2), Bale, Wright-Phillips |
| 9 December 2006 | Southend United | A | 1–2 | 10,867 | Rasiak |
| 16 December 2006 | Norwich City | H | 2–1 | 25,919 | Jones, Bale |
| 23 December 2006 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 3–3 | 23,739 | Rasiak, Jones, Wright-Phillips |
| 26 December 2006 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–1 | 30,548 | Baird |
| 30 December 2006 | Leicester City | H | 2–0 | 24,447 | Pele, Prutton |
| 1 January 2007 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–1 | 15,377 | Rasiak |
| 13 January 2007 | Burnley | H | 0–0 | 20,486 | |
| 20 January 2007 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–0 | 14,686 | Rasiak, Wright-Phillips |
| 31 January 2007 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–1 | 20,230 | Jones (2) |
| 2 February 2007 | Derby County | H | 0–1 | 27,656 | |
| 10 February 2007 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–1 | 21,138 | Jones |
| 17 February 2007 | Barnsley | H | 5–2 | 22,460 | Surman (3), Jones (2) |
| 20 February 2007 | Coventry City | A | 1–2 | 17,194 | Saganowski |
| 24 February 2007 | Ipswich Town | H | 1–0 | 27,974 | Saganowski |
| 5 March 2007 | Preston North End | A | 1–3 | 13,060 | Rasiak |
| 10 March 2007 | Stoke City | A | 1–2 | 13,404 | Saganowski |
| 13 March 2007 | Cardiff City | H | 2–2 | 20,383 | Baird, Wright-Phillips |
| 16 March 2007 | Colchester United | H | 1–2 | 18,736 | Saganowski |
| 31 March 2007 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 6–0 | 24,804 | Saganowski (3), Breen o.g., Best, Surman |
| 7 April 2007 | Luton Town | A | 2–0 | 9,171 | Viafara, Saganowski |
| 9 April 2007 | Sunderland | H | 1–2 | 25,766 | Saganowski |
| 14 April 2007 | Birmingham City | A | 1–2 | 19,754 | Saganowski |
| 21 April 2007 | Leeds United | H | 1–0 | 29,012 | Wright-Phillips |
| 28 April 2007 | Norwich City | A | 1–0 | 25,437 | Best |
| 6 May 2007 | Southend United | H | 4–1 | 32,008 | Jones (2), Best (2) |

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

## Championship play-off semi-final

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 May 2007 | Derby County | H | 1–2 | 30,602 | Surman |
| 15 May 2007 | Derby County | A | 3–2 | 31,569 | Viafara (2), Rasiak |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 2007 | Torquay United | A | 2–0 | 5,396 | Rasiak (2) |
| R4 | 28 January 2007 | Manchester City | A | 1–3 | 26,496 | Jones |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 23 August 2006 | Yeovil Town | H | 5–2 | 20,653 | Cohen o.g., Skacel, Wright-Phillips, Dyer, Jones |
| R2 | 19 September 2006 | Millwall | A | 4–0 | 5,492 | Belmadi (2), Wright-Phillips, McGoldrick |
| R3 | 24 October 2006 | Notts County | A | 0–2 | 6,731 | |

## Kit

The season's kit was manufactured by the club's own brand, Saints; a new kit was introduced for the season. The kit was sponsored by English airline Flybe.

## Squad statistics

    Source:
    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
    Players with squad numbers struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Southampton.
    Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Play-offs | Play-offs | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Kelvin Davis | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | SWE | Alexander Östlund | 17 (3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 (3) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | CPV | Pelé | 34 (3) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 (3) | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 † | MF | ARG | Marcelo Sarmiento * | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | FW | POL | Marek Saganowski * | 11 (2) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 (2) | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | NOR | Claus Lundekvam | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Darren Powell | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | CZE | Rudi Skácel | 32 (5) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 35 (6) | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | ENG | Bradley Wright-Phillips | 15 (24) | 8 | 1 (1) | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 (25) | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | POL | Grzegorz Rasiak | 32 (7) | 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 (2) | 1 | 35 (9) | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Jermaine Wright | 41 (1) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | CZE | Mario Lička | 7 (8) | 1 | 0 (2) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (11) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 14 † | FW | JAM | Ricardo Fuller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Iñigo Idiakez | 12 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 12 (3) | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | TRI | Kenwyne Jones | 25 (9) | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 (9) | 16 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Martin Cranie | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ALG | Djamel Belmadi | 9 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 (1) | 0 | 11 (6) | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Nathan Dyer | 10 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 (11) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Chris Makin | 19 (3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 (3) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | ENG | David Prutton | 1 (2) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | NIR | Chris Baird | 44 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | WAL | Gareth Bale | 38 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | COL | Jhon Viáfara | 29 (7) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 35 (7) | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Danny Guthrie * | 8 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | ENG | Michael Poke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | ENG | Kevin Miller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | IRL | Leon Best | 6 (3) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 7 (4) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | POL | Bartosz Białkowski | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | ENG | Andrew Surman | 26 (11) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 30 (12) | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | ENG | David McGoldrick | 1 (8) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 (9) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | MF | ENG | Adam Lallana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Players not included in matchday squads :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name |
| 11 | DF | SWE | Michael Svensson |
| 24 † | FW | ENG | Dexter Blackstock |
| 34 | MF | WAL | Lloyd James |
| 36 | MF | ENG | Simon Gillett |
| 37 † | MF | FIN | Tim Sparv |
| 45 † | DF | ENG | Kyle Critchell |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | Club From | Fee |
| 2 May 2006 | FW | Grzegorz Rasiak | Tottenham Hotspur | £2,000,000 |
| 5 July 2006 | FW | Bradley Wright-Phillips | Manchester City | Undisclosed |
| 10 July 2006 | MF | Jermaine Wright | Leeds United | Free |
| 19 July 2006 | DF | Pelé | Belenenses | Undisclosed |
| 29 July 2006 | MF | Rudi Skácel | Hearts | £1,600,000 |
| 4 August 2006 | MF | Jhon Viáfara | Portsmouth | £750,000 |
| 4 August 2006 | MF | Mario Lička | 1. FC Slovácko | Free |
| 16 August 2006 | DF | Chris Makin | Reading | Free |
| 31 August 2006 | MF | Iñigo Idiakez | Derby County | £250,000 |

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | Club To | Fee |
| 6 June 2006 | DF | Jelle Van Damme | Anderlecht | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2006 | FW | Marian Pahars | Free Agency | Released |
| 1 July 2006 | DF | Darren Kenton | Leicester City | Free |
| 1 July 2006 | DF | Jim Brennan | Free Agency | Released |
| 12 July 2006 | MF | Yoann Folly | Sheffield Wednesday | Undisclosed |
| 2 August 2006 | DF | Danny Higginbotham | Stoke City | £225,000 |
| 9 August 2006 | FW | Dexter Blackstock | Queens Park Rangers | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2006 | FW | Ricardo Fuller | Stoke City | £500,000 |

### Loans In

| Date | Nationality | Position | Name | Club From | Length |
| 28 June 2006 | | MF | Marcelo Sarmiento | Racing Club de Cordoba | Full Season (ended 19 January) |
| 30 January 2007 | | FW | Marek Saganowski | Troyes | Until end of season |

### Loans Out

| Date | Position | Name | Club To | Length |
| 8 November 2006 | DF | Martin Cranie | Yeovil Town | Until 1 January |
| 30 January 2007 | MF | Simon Gillett | Blackpool | Until end of season |
| 30 January 2007 | MF | David Prutton | Nottingham Forest | Until end of season |
| 2 March 2007 | DF | Martin Cranie | Yeovil Town | One Month (recalled 30 March) |
| 9 March 2007 | MF | Iñigo Idiakez | Queens Park Rangers | One Month (extended on 5 April, recalled 16 April) |