[25] The club's tour of Switzerland heralded another unsuccessful game four days later, when French side FC Sochaux-Montbéliard beat Southampton 2–0; both goals came in the second half, from Ryad Boudebouz and Nicolas Maurice-Belay in the 50th and 60th minutes, respectively.

[26] Back in England the club had a relative improvement in fortunes, beating Conference South side Farnborough 1–0 at Cherrywood Road on 21 July thanks to a late goal from striker Lee Barnard.

[44] Following the appointment of Nigel Adkins as the club's new first team manager, the Saints played Milton Keynes Dons at Stadium:mk on 15 September, the game having been postponed following the death of Markuss Liebherr.

[45] The first half ended goalless, with goalkeepers David Martin and Kelvin Davis impressing with saves from Rickie Lambert and Lewis Guy respectively, but two goals in the last 20 minutes from Angelo Balanta and Peter Leven left the visitors in the relegation zone with their game in hand played.

Brazilian loan signing Guilherme do Prado, who came on as a substitute for the second half, scored his first goal of the season for the Saints just before the hour mark, only to be cancelled out by an Adam Virgo penalty less than ten minutes later.

[52][53] The first league meeting between the local rivals in over 50 years, the match was eventful throughout with a total of five bookings and one dismissal, numerous potential penalties and other controversies, and also saw the return of Adam Lallana and debut of loanee Richard Chaplow.

[58][59] The following week the Saints travelled to League One newcomers Notts County, with a team that included the return of defender Frazer Richardson after a long injury and captain Dean Hammond following suspension.

[60][61] The home side opened the scoring within ten minutes, with Mike Edwards heading in a Ben Davies free kick to give new manager Paul Ince a dream start to his managerial spell with the club.

[60][61] County held onto their lead until just before the 70-minute mark, when captain John Tompson was shown a straight red card for bringing down Lee Barnard in the box, subsequently resulting in a penalty for the visiting side.

[60][61] Winger Adam Lallana scored in injury time to seal the win against the ten-man Notts County, sending the South Coast club up to 9th place in the league, their highest since the beginning of the campaign.

[62][63] Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up two more goals to add to his impressive recent tally and put the home side 2–0 up going into half time, before Lee Barnard and José Fonte scored in the 56th and 69th minutes respectively to convert the dominant performance into another win for Southampton.

[66][67] Goals came from Lee Barnard, José Fonte, Richard Chaplow and Guly do Prado, which sent the club back into the playoff positions in preparation for the match against first-place Brighton & Hove Albion later in the week.

[68][69] After a long break due to adverse weather conditions, Southampton hosted Brentford on 11 December and lost 2–0, with first half goals coming from strikers Gary Alexander and Charlie MacDonald.

[72][73] Despite going 1–0 down in the first half, the Saints dominated the majority of the game and goals from Rickie Lambert, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Radhi Jaïdi and Richard Chaplow helped the home side move swiftly to the playoff positions in 5th place.

After a goalless first half and numerous Saints chances, the visiting club broke the deadlock less than two minutes after the break, when Adam Lallana scored his eighth of the season with an overhead kick.

[78][79] In the second half though, the Saints made their advantage really count, converting a further four chances with Guly do Prado, Richard Chaplow, Rickie Lambert and substitute Lee Barnard adding to their season tallies to increase the pressure at the top of League One.

[82][83] The first half was dominated by the struggling home side, and marked by a goal for midfielder John Welsh following a miscommunication between Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis and defender José Fonte.

[82][83] The visiting team continued to struggle in the second half, and under-performances from players such as Rickie Lambert, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Guly do Prado meant that Rovers doubled their lead thanks to a goal from Dale Jennings, sending the Saints down to fourth below local rivals Bournemouth following their win over league leaders Brighton.

[84][85] Daniel Nardiello opened the scoring for the home side just before half time, and it took until 20 minutes before the end for the visitors to come back, when Lambert headed in a cross from new signing Dany N'Guessan to equalise.

[88][89] The game was initially brought alive within the last five minutes of the first half, when Carlisle defender Gary Borrowdale was sent off after receiving a second booking for arguing with the assistant referee, after which Rickie Lambert scored his 50th Southampton goal by heading in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross.

[96][97] Within two minutes of the goal, Colchester were reduced to ten players as striker David Mooney was sent off for challenging Danny Butterfield off the ball, and Southampton's dominance was made easier for the remainder of the game.

[96][97] In the second half the team made their advantage count, as captain and former Colchester player Dean Hammond scored his third league goal of the season from inside to double Southampton's lead and secure the three points.

[100][101] The game was an exciting encounter all-round, with Finnish teenage striker Lauri Dalla Valle, on loan from Fulham, opening the scoring for Bournemouth in the 6th minutes, despite Southampton players' protests of offside.

[104][105] The Saints largely edged out the home side throughout the game, with more possession and chances on goal, but it took until after the hour mark to break the deadlock when defender Radhi Jaïdi headed in a corner from Guly do Prado, who had only come on as a substitute three minutes earlier.

[112][113] The visitors had more of the ball overall and more chances on goal, but Rochdale held onto the clean sheet and the two-goal lead to leave Southampton trailing even further behind Brighton, who picked up another win to go 16 points ahead at the top of League One.

[114][115] Brighton won their game against Walsall 3–1, which meant that they secured the League One title for the season, leaving Southampton to fight against Huddersfield, Peterborough United and Milton Keynes Dons for the second automatic promotion place.

[22][23] Defender Ryan Dickson made it two with his first of the season shortly after the break, before a foul gave the Saints a penalty which Lambert confidently converted to put the visitors three up within the hour and all-but confirm the relegation of struggling Plymouth.

[131][132] The second half was a disappointment for the hosts however, as United improved their form and fought back with goals from Michael Owen and Javier Hernández to squeeze the Premier League contenders through to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup and send Saints out of the competition.

[138] Despite a number of chances for Southampton in the second period, including a Rickie Lambert free kick which came close and a last minute effort from David Connolly, Bolton held on for the win to knock the South Coast club out of the League Cup in the Second Round for a consecutive season.

[141] The match came the day after the dismissal of manager Alan Pardew, and a lacklustre Saints team underperformed to lose 3–0 and exit the tournament, with substitute Lee Barnard receiving a red card in the 83rd minute following a tackle on Will Evans.