Can Southampton survive summer player exodus?

Luke Shaw is one of many who've left St. Mary's this summer

It has not been easy being a Southampton fan so far this summer and the big question is whether they can reload after all these player sales. Alex Johnson investigates.

Southampton were a surprise package last season as they really prospered in the Premier League.

The South Coast club flirted with the European places but ultimately finished in eighth with a club record Premier League points tally. Since the final ball was kicked though, things have started to fall apart at St Mary's. Many Southampton fans probably expected bigger fish to come circling their top players during the summer, but maybe did not expect to see quite an exodus.

Mauricio Pochettino left Southampton for a new challenge at Spurs and he was joined out of the exit door by arguably their three biggest stars. Luke Shaw left in a 27 million deal to Manchester United and Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert joined Liverpool for 25million and 4million respectively.

It looks like the exodus is only going to get worse. Dejan Lovren is set to join Lallana and Lambert at Anfield, while Morgan Schneiderlin is hotly-tipped to join Pochettino at White Hart Lane, and young defender Calum Chambers is set for a move to Arsenal.

Southampton have been a club on a rapid rise since they were in League One as recent as the 2010/11 campaign. Back-to-back promotions got the Saints into the Premier League and Pochettino, during his 16-month tenure on the south coast, continued the good work underpinned by Nigel Adkins. The club has enjoyed years of success but there is the real possibility that they could come crashing back down to earth with a bump after a mass of summer transfers.

The departures from St Mary's are going to leave a massive hole in the Southampton squad. Lallana was their top appearance maker last season, starting all bar one of their Premier League games, and his nine goals and six assists made him the club's third top goalscorer and assist-maker. The 26-year-old had a real standout season in the last campaign, which ultimately led to his inclusion in the England squad for the World Cup and his big-money move to Anfield.

Southampton's loss is Liverpool's gain and St Mary's is also going to have a big Lambert-shaped hole to fill. The 32-year-old was a cult icon at St Mary's with 106 goals in just shy of 200 league appearances as he fired them from League One to the Premier League. He topped the assists chart for Southampton last season, creating 10 goals, and he was the second top goalscorer with 13 strikes in 31 appearances. With Lallana and Lambert both exiting, that is over 20 goals and 16 assists that have to be replaced over the course of the season - which is no easy prospect.

Shaw will also be a big loss as he started 35 out of 38 Premier League games last season - some feat for a 19-year-old. When Lovren undoubtedly leaves that is another first-choice defender heading out and the loss of Schneiderlin would be another vital cog missing. S

Southampton face the possibility of going into next season without the consistent spine of what was a successful team last time out. All of those mentioned played 31 or more Premier League games under Pochettino last season and the team unity and experience which comes from that is going to be very hard to replace.

It will be interesting to see how Pochettino's exit will affect Southampton as it is not guaranteed they will be worse off without him at the helm. It was a controversial appointment to begin with but there is no doubting he took the club to the next level. The Argentine rallied the players into a unit and got them playing an attractive, fast-paced brand of football. His high-tempo game troubled some of the Premier League's big guns, especially at home, and he was never afraid of turning to youth.

However, his success was under-pinned by home grown talent and players brought in during the Adkins era. Pochettino's money signings were hit-and-miss, with only Lovren a success, and after losing all these players during the summer, Southampton needed a manager who can bring in top-rate replacements.

The new man at the helm is Ronald Koeman and there is no doubting the former Barcelona and Holland star brings a fantastic CV. He has managed at Valencia, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax, as well has having a stint with the Dutch national team. Koeman's impressive track record will have excited Southampton fans, who will be hoping he can use his European connections to bring some high-level additions to the club to replace those who have exited this summer.

Koeman has already spent a sizeable chunk of the money raised on midfielder Dusan Tadic, costing over 10 million from FC Twente, and striker Graziano Pelle. The latter has followed him from Feyenoord and boasts an impressive record of 50 goals in 57 appearances under Koeman in the Eredivisie. Southampton fans will certainly be eying Pelle as a replacement for Lambert and it should definitely help that the striker has previously played under the manager.

It is going to be a first taste of Premier League for Koeman and his new additions so it is really hard to predict what impact they will have. Many strikers have come to England with great goalscoring records in Holland and struggled to find the back of the net in the Premier League so we'll have to see if Pelle can hit the ground running.

Southampton fans will look at the young talent still on the books and see them taking the club forward. But the truth is that the cream of that young crop has now left the club and it would require a huge stroke of fortune to find able replacements in the youth academy ready to step in to the first team and take over the mantle immediately. A lot of hopes will be pinned on the likes of James Warde-Prowse and Nathaniel Clyne, while the return to fitness of Jay Rodriguez, who hit 21 goals last term, cannot come soon enough.

Expectations are likely to be dampened around the club for the coming season. Fans won't be expecting another eighth-place finish, but you would expect neither would they be going into the new campaign with a feeling of impending doom. In Koeman they have brought in the right man to steady the ship but a lot will depend on what happens before the transfer window closes - how many more stars will leave and how will the manager replace them?

The 2014/15 season is going to be one of huge transformation at St Mary's and Koeman is going to need all his experience to ensure Southampton remain in the Premier League. It'll be a huge task as no side can fully recover from losing six of their first-choice players in one summer.

Koeman must spend wisely to rebuild this Saints side and try to build morale among the remaining squad members. Things are looking rocky on the south coast and it might be a long old season at St Mary's.