Southampton vs Leicester City

“Not everyone plays
football the same way,
but that’s the beauty of
it. I think I learned a lot
over the season, good
and bad, and hopefully
I can use it this season
to my advantage.”
The idea that
Smallbone went away
to learn and improve
his game, with the only
thought in his mind to
return to St Mary’s at
the end of it, is wide of
the mark.
Whilst rated highly by
Ralph Hasenhüttl, the
midfielder was not
a natural fit for the
Austrian’s preferred
4-2-2-2 formation,
and admits he was
resigned to leaving
the club he joined as
an eight-year-old –
even after Hasenhüttl
departed last
November, was twice
replaced, and Saints
were relegated.
“With the way it was
when I left, from not
necessarily playing as
much as I would’ve
hoped the year before,
I think I had a mindset
of potentially enjoying
the change that I had
and maybe trying
to carry that on,”
Smallbone reveals.
“When I came back I
only had one year left,
and obviously with all
the change going on,
with us going down,
waiting to see who
we’d bring in.”
The answer was Russell
Martin, and Smallbone
was instantly sold by
WE MARCH ON » SAINTS » 17
Project Promotion.
“From the first moment
I spoke to the gaffer
he changed my view
heavily on that, and
his style of play and
the way he is as a
manager and as a
person around the
place, I think it’s really
changed my view
on being around
Southampton, and I
think it’s changed a
lot of the other lads’
as well,” he says,
enthusiastically.
“I was really excited to
work with the manager.
Having played against
them (Swansea) last
year and their style of
play, I thought it was
something that would
really help me. And
yeah, it's only grown