UNDER-21 coach Lee Skyrme has posted a thoughtful goodbye message following his departure from Saints.

Skyrme was the individual development coach for the B (now Under-21s) team since February 2021 but left the club officially in November.

He had stepped up to lead the Under-21s, before the arrival of Adam Asghar, following the departure of Dave Horseman to Forest Green.

In a post on Linkedin, Skyrme sent a reflective and thankful message to Saints, saying: "My time at Southampton FC came to an end early last month.

"I really enjoyed my time at this fantastic football club, and I am richer for the experiences and friendships I have gained during this period.

"My career has always been about the journey and not end goals and the people I work with will always be the most important part of that.

"I was very fortunate to work with some brilliant people, particularly within the B-Team staff.

"Dave Horseman, Ryan Flood, Olly Lancashire, Lauren Jones, Kirsty Whitton, Louis Carey to name but a few, apologies to those I haven't named, you all mattered.

"Even though last season was not a great one in terms of the club getting relegated, it was a good one in terms of development and progress made within the B-Team programme and the Academy overall.

"We had teams competing to win competitions and winning them, a lot of players going on to play for their countries and players making first team debuts.

"That will hopefully turn into the most important goal of a career in the game. It was not all rosy, there were a lot of challenges to overcome/

"Credit to the programme put in place, the coaches and MDT staff that worked with the players through the pathway, scout and recruitment staff who bought in top talent, the players and their families for the effort and application to stick with it and progress."

He concluded: "I wish everyone al the best and look forward to watching from a far as more players progress and the first team continues to perform well.

"Lets hope (they) earn promotion back to the Premier League."