FORMER Saint Kevin Davies spoke about his two spells at the clubs as well his views on Mauricio Pellegrino, Virgil van Dijk and what the club could achieve in 2017/18.

Before the start of the season, the Daily Echo spoke to Davies. Here's what he had to say:

Q: What do you expect to see from Saints in 2017/18? Can they compete for a top eight place again?

A: There needs to be more signings and it will be interesting to see what happens between now and the end of the transfer window and particularly whether van Dijk goes and if they have the timescale to reinvest that money. I covered their games for BT last year and, yes, there was some fans a bit disgruntled with the style of play. But when you play that many games in Europe, get to a cup final – which they were unlucky to lose – and finish in the top eight that’s a really good season.

You look at the sides above them and it’s going to be difficult to compete with them, but they’ve got a really good manager in Pellegrino and they may well play a more attacking style of football now. Pellegrino always wants his teams to play the right way.

The fans need to believe in Les Reed and the model they have created down there. I’m a big fan of what they do where they plan for the future.

You may question their ambition a little bit and want them to keep their better players but they have the model in place to be ahead of the game, whether that is finding the right playing staff or managers.

When you look at where they were seven or eight years ago and now they’re going to be in or around that cluster of top eight teams like West Brom, Stoke and Leicester. There is no danger of relegation and they will finish mid-table at least.

Q: Their biggest flaw last season was the lack of goals. How does Pellegrino bring back that spark up front?

A: They’ve got enough options there. We saw flashes of what Gabbiadini is capable of and, though he has never been prolific at previous clubs in Italy, he looks a real fox in the box.

All the strikers have different attributes with the likes of Shane Long and Charlie Austin. Both missed a lot of last season through injury but they’re different kinds of strikers who can cause different kinds of problems for defenders.

There is Redmond in there as well, so it comes down to the manager and what he sees in pre-season. Whether he plays three up or one or the old-fashioned 4-4-2 there are plenty of attacking options and it’s about settling on a system that clicks.

There will be less rotation, which is good, because the best players want to player every week and that leads to frustration.

Long only made ten (league) starts last season so there is frustration there, but what that gives a manager is a clean slate. They will all be eager to impress and make that starting line-up and stay there.

Q: Can Shane Long rediscover his goalscoring form after a frustrating campaign?

A: As players you can start looking at the manager and blaming him, but you have to try and understand the amount of games Southampton played. Puel felt rotation was the way to go and I think it worked. Having said that, personally as a striker when I played and was scoring that gave me a lot of confidence unlike when you played and never quite knew when you’d be playing next.

Sometimes that can frustrate a player and I did see that in Shane Long last year. He’s never been a prolific striker but he’s a handful who stretches defences and creates space for those behind him. For that, he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. He will be viewing this as a fresh start.

Q: What is your view on the Virgil van Dijk situation?

A: It just seems unsavoury. Clearly the player wants to go and Southampton are taking a stance which they have every right to do as he signed a new contract not so long ago.

It needs to be resolved sooner rather later though because it looks inevitable that they’re going to sell him at some point.

The club has done really well bringing in players at the right time then selling them on, but I know there are a lot of fans – including Matt le Tissier – who would like those players to stay.

That is so difficult when the big clubs come calling and maybe it’s the right move to sell him if they triple their money on him.

With the model they have at Southampton, they will have been planning this for months, years, and will know how best to reinvest that money.

Read Davies on his time at Saints by clicking here >>>

  • Head to 888sport.com/blog to read the full interview with Kevin Davies.