WE are more than halfway through our trip to Spain to follow Saints on their pre-season tour and training camp in Girona.
It has been an insightful experience with plenty of time spent chatting to manager Russell Martin, staff and the players.
We attended as Saints continued their Premier League preparations with double training sessions and a 3-2 win over Bordeaux.
With much more still to come, here is a lot of what we have learned about Saints so far...
Lallana proves attitude is one of the biggest factors in signings
Whatever you think of Adam Lallana, from speaking to him in an interview and privately, it has become obvious he is a mentality monster.
He has already taken responsibility for young players such as Tyler Dibling in his position and accepted that - at 36 - he is unable to play every minute.
Lallana intends to bring relentless standards, discipline and experience and can call on his time at Liverpool and England's national team to do that.
Yukinari Sugawara is another signing who has been credited with a fantastic attitude, while Ronnie Edwards has been labelled 'so keen to learn'.
Martin has made clear that without brilliant technical ability, players do not make the transfer shortlist - but attitude helps make the final decision.
Adam Lallana re-signed for Saints on a free transfer (Image: Matt Watson - Southampton FC)
Amo-Ameyaw and Dibling deserve a chance in the squad
Sam Amo-Ameyaw and Tyler Dibling, both just 18 years old, have been the players of pre-season so far - albeit against weaker opposition.
They have created and scored goals aplenty and impressed with their willingness to learn and confidence to express themselves in a senior group.
Martin and first-team staff see their work against the ball as the biggest thing to improve this season - they are seen as fantastic technically.
Amo-Ameyaw, for example, has shown that development by tracking all the way back and making the tackle to earn his goal against Bordeaux.
At 18, they do not need to be playing every week like they do at 20 or 21 - they might just take away more from simply being around the Premier League.
Sam Amo-Ameyaw is one of few right-wingers in the squad (Image: Southampton FC)
The squad is not as big as it looks due to fitness issues
There are 25 first-team players listed on the club website and some like midfielders Tyler Dibling and Charly Alcaraz are not included.
However, we ended up with young Republic of Ireland starlet Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh - an attacking midfielder - playing left-back against Bordeaux.
The progress of long-term fitness concerns such as Ross Stewart and Juan Larios could continue into the start of the Premier League season.
Meanwhile, Jan Bednarek returned late to pre-season due to his involvement with Poland at EURO 2024 and has some catching up to do.
Jack Stephens and Adam Lallana have been doing extra work to build their levels after minor tweaks and are battling against a historical injury record.
Saints will look to make further transfers in and out (Image: Southampton FC)
The club accept Walker-Peters will leave if he gets a good offer
Kyle Walker-Peters has not played in either of the first two friendlies despite being fully fit and partaking in full team training.
He is out of contract in 12 months and Russell Martin - who respects the defender's wishes - has suggested he might not play until his future is fully determined.
Walker-Peters, 27, has been offered a new contract but is assessing his options with other Premier League clubs potentially interested in signing him.
His lack of matchday involvement to avoid risking an injury is an admittance that he could leave the club this summer, which has always been a understood fear.
The club would rather capitalise on his exit with a sizeable transfer fee than lose him for free next summer, as they did with striker Che Adams.
Paul Onuachu is also set to leave this summer, while it feels likely Saints would consider selling Kamaldeen Sulemana or Charly Alcaraz for the right price.
Kyle Walker-Peters has been offered a new contract (Image: Matt Watson / Southampton FC)
Training atmosphere and team playing style are the envy of many
The Daily Echo has been allowed behind the curtain to witness what Saints do during their training sessions while out here in Girona.
The focus is almost always on the ball, with the exception of activation sessions and quick tactical walkthroughs, with a big focus on set pieces.
Several players have commented during interviews and privately on how much they enjoy the sessions Martin and his staff lay out.
New signings cite it as a reason for joining, while we have witnessed spirits high during the sessions with Martin jovial on the touchline.
The boss sometimes gets involved on the pitch but a bad back from running and semi-regular calf tweaks due to his age limit that!
Additional running is used as punishment for losing training games and, more seriously, for any cases of tardiness or bad behaviour - which we have not witnessed.
🇪🇸 My report from a really enjoyable and insightful day behind the scenes at Southampton's training camp in Girona.
— Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) July 23, 2024
Many thanks to Russell Martin for access to two sessions, with ball and tactical work ahead of their friendly with Bordeaux.#SaintsFChttps://t.co/nj9pDFKDzT
Saints need to sign a new goalkeeper this summer
The first rule of pre-season is to not write a player off during friendly matches and this comment does go some way to breaking that.
However, it is a seriously important position on the pitch and Saints suffered with poor goalkeeping statistics during their last relegation.
Mat Lis started well against Bordeaux but went completely off the boil and is not going to challenge Alex McCarthy for the number one shirt.
Martin previously said that the Pole wants to play regular football and therefore could leave, having impressed at Sport Republic's Goztepe.
That should happen to allow Saints to bring in someone else - and if it is a good move, they can push McCarthy before Gavin Bazunu's return.
Mat Lis has featured heavily in pre-season so far (Image: Stuart Martin)
There is now good depth in centre-back with three additions
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens all did well for Saints last season as they won promotion from the Championship.
However, now looking to regularly use three-at-the-back - and with Bednarek in the last 12 months of his current deal - they needed reinforcements.
Ronnie Edwards has been described in the camp as a massive bargain at £3million, while Nathan Wood cost the same and impressed under Martin before.
Meanwhile, Charlie Taylor has been utilised as a centre-back in friendlies and has 161 Premier League appearances under his belt.
The hope is that Bednarek signs the new deal offered to him and then Saints are well-stocked at the back ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Charlie Taylor brings vast Premier League experience (Image: Matt Watson / Southampton FC)
Martin will be versatile with the system - keeping opportunities open
All the talk leading up to Eastleigh was of a three-at-the-back system after success in the critical stages of the Championship season.
The under-21s deployed 3-4-3 in their opening friendly and Martin started in an attacking variant at Silverlake, but has operated in a 4-3-3 for three halves since.
Martin has the option of switching between the two and it appears as though he'll take it, which is good news for the likes of Sam Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw.
Although Edozie started in the three-back versus Eastleigh, it would take a brave manager to start with no wing-backs in the Premier League.
We think he will rotate between the two - and hopefully, have more success than Saints did when they tried that under former boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Saints boss Russell Martin is enjoying pre-season (Image: Stuart Martin)
Operations and kit teams do sterling work to run the show
A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make these trips run efficiently and it has been good to see the extent of that.
There are loads more workers we have not witnessed but the kit team grafted all day Saturday to turn around from Friday night at Eastleigh to a Sunday flight.
That is all the playing and training wear, cones and bands, mannequins and even balls - they had to deflate and re-inflate 40 footballs.
Meanwhile, operations staff were left scrambling to contact local or touring sides to organise a game for Wednesday in the event Bordeaux pulled out.
Work is already underway sounding out opposition and venues for a tour next summer - so many staff beyond what we see are a credit to the club.
It seems a lifetime ago!! Now buried in kit boxes equipment sheds getting ready for life back in the @premierleague with @SouthamptonFC. Think Ted has the right idea🐾😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/k4OIa0Zktb
— Mark Forbes (@KitmanForbesy) June 20, 2024
The leadership group is becoming richer and more tightly defined
One of the first things Martin said to us this summer, on the sidelines before the Eastleigh friendly, was: "Do not read too much into the armband."
He planned to share the responsibilities around during pre-season with club captain Jack Stephens yet to play his first minutes.
Adam Armstrong was the vice-captain last campaign, while summer signings Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downes have captained the team in the last week.
Harwood-Bellis, 22, and Downes, 25, have committed their futures to the club long-term on re-signing after displaying leadership on loan.
What we can read into it is Martin setting out his leadership group, as is standard in modern football, with those two welcome additions.
Flynn Downes with the armband at Eastleigh (Image: Stuart Martin)
Mark Bitcon's role continues to focus on Saints
Sport Republic performance director Mark Bitcon took on an enhanced role at St Mary's last season, following the departure of football director Jason Wilcox.
Bitcon is credited with, alongside CEO Phil Parsons, devising the idea to use advertising hoardings to hinder West Brom's long throws in the play-offs.
He has been the only member of senior leadership we have seen so far out in Girona, present on the staff coach and at training sessions.
Saints are yet to appoint a new director of football or even suggest that they will after Martin hinted against the assertion back in May.
Bitcon's involvement here in Spain suggests he will continue to work more closely with Saints - Sport Republic's flagship in the multi-club model.
Saints CEO Phil Parsons pictured alongside Mark Bitcon at St Mary's last season
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