Gao and Championship football?

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If we were to go down I would imagine that the majority of our squad would be wanted by a top flight team either here or abroad. Wages could be an issue but really wouldn't surprise me if there was a huge exodus if we went down.
 
The PL is fun for a few years then reality hits that you are nothing more than a make weight to pad the league out for the top teams. Sure it is nice with the extra coverage/ease of watching games if you can't go but we will never be a force in this league. Then it becomes a bit stale and finishing 8th or 17th is basically irrelevant in my view as the outcome is the same, no Europe and stay in the league. Matters to the club because they get that bit more money for finishing higher but there is no difference to a fan.

Going down obviously doesn't' guarantee anything and it could be just like when we went down in 2004 and a shambles or when we had a great season when we got promoted in 2011(?). What it does guarantee is something different, which I think a lot of PL fans want. If you could offer me being like West Brom were a few years ago of bouncing back every time they went down I would take it. If we stay up this year then next year we will either get relegated or finish 8th to 17th. Rinse and repeat for basically every season until we do go down, there will be anomalies, but that will be the norm.

I am amazed at your post Saintmagic. I’m
Not having a pop at you but I genuinely have no understanding of your mentality here. It is like you are a different breed of football fan. It comes across to me as if you treat football as a hobby or an entertainment you like doing, such as going to the movies.

I’ll repeat I am not having a go, I just do not understand that and it is clear that we have very different feelings about football.
 
I am amazed at your post Saintmagic. I’m
Not having a pop at you but I genuinely have no understanding of your mentality here. It is like you are a different breed of football fan. It comes across to me as if you treat football as a hobby or an entertainment you like doing, such as going to the movies.

I’ll repeat I am not having a go, I just do not understand that and it is clear that we have very different feelings about football.

Regarding the bold bit, yes I do. It is not my whole life, it is a hobby. If Saints go down I will be slightly annoyed but I won't be suicidal or really angry, we will just be in a new league. As I have said before I used to care much more when I was younger/up until the summer with Poch and everyone leaving, but that left me slightly dead inside with regards to the reality of football and changed my mentality.
 
We were in the top flight for years before our relegation and no one complained then about us being make weights. We got to second once and did well in some seasons, but in general we were just glad to be there and enjoy the games. I have no problem with being midtable with occasional forays into Europe....and please don't anyone start talking lack of ambition....that always makes me want to reach for a shotgun....being happy with that doesn't mean that I can't dream like everyone else. I enjoyed being an admired footballing club....and I want that back.
 
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Regarding the bold bit, yes I do. It is not my whole life, it is a hobby. If Saints go down I will be slightly annoyed but I won't be suicidal or really angry, we will just be in a new league. As I have said before I used to care much more when I was younger/up until the summer with Poch and everyone leaving, but that left me slightly dead inside with regards to the reality of football and changed my mentality.
Nothing wrong with that....fans come in all flavours. Sadly for most of us, Saints is more important than perhaps they should be. :)
 
Nothing wrong with that....fans come in all flavours. Sadly for most of us, Saints is more important than perhaps they should be. :)

Yeah I am not embarrassed by it or bothered by it. I can understand people getting passionate about teams/caring more than me, I am quite a laid back person in general so that is nothing new to me. That said I still come on here most days to debate about the ups and downs of the club I claim not to be overly bothered about :D Maybe I am lying to myself.
 
Selling players on biggish contracts will be difficult, even at knock-down prices. If relegation is the outcome this season, is there a clause in the players' contracts that stipulates less cash in their pockets as a result?
This is also a very good point and why I only said he might be able to pay off his debts with player sales. At the moment we aren’t exactly flush with players that other clubs want and player values would drop with us. I doubt anyone would take Forster (for example) off our hands for a sizeable fee if they also had to match his wages.
 
Regarding the bold bit, yes I do. It is not my whole life, it is a hobby. If Saints go down I will be slightly annoyed but I won't be suicidal or really angry, we will just be in a new league. As I have said before I used to care much more when I was younger/up until the summer with Poch and everyone leaving, but that left me slightly dead inside with regards to the reality of football and changed my mentality.

I’m guessing that your “when I was younger” leaves you still quite a lot longer than me?

:(
 
I’m guessing that your “when I was younger” leaves you still quite a lot longer than me?

:(

Probably :D. I am talking about 2006-2011 probably the peak of my "caring". Maybe it is just the being in the PL and I am more suited to wanting the prize of getting promoted, but actually being very "meh" about it when we are there.
 
I see both sides.

I understand the point of wanting your team to be the best they can but to me following Saints is about more than that. It's about feeling part of something, enjoying the game win lose or draw, it's about having a good sing song and meeting different supporters etc.

I've made no secret of the fact I won't all be that fussed if we go down, yes that doesn't mean I want us to, but if we did I'd probably be over it within an hour of it being confirmed and be buzzing for the next season.

The opposition is largely irrelevant to me, I follow Southampton and don't care what if we're playing Man United or Birmingham City.

I've also grown to despise a chunk of our fanbase, we've become another ****ty self entitled plastic club imo to the point where I don't really want to attend home games anymore and although I'm not saying I want us to go down, a big part of me would relish losing 10,000 supporters or so and going to new places.

I also don't think that hating the PL means you wouldn't want promotion, If thar happened it means another memorable season for fans. We go up, possibly have another memorable season or two and then inevitably come back down at some point.

I think people are wrong suggesting it would be good for a clear our etc. though, could be a long time this time round and there's much bigger clubs who have gone down and still not returned.
 
First of all I believe with the current manager and set up we are relegation bound. But is this really what Gao wants? Consider this, all the EPL payments, a clear out of best players recouping £100m in transfer fees, no longer paying big wages and together with the VVD money Gao would be well on the way to owning a club with a very healthy bank balance, little ougoings and still a squad of Championship level players. A pretty good outlook for his investment, being able to either directly or indirectly pay back loans that constituted his initial outlay for the club. KL with her 20% would also turn a tidy profit. I'm sure his bean counters have already looked at this and weighed up all the pros and cons. If he doesnt have money to invest in the club or is unwilling to, surely this would be a good business opportunity? Is this just me being paranoid, is this even viable, thoughts?

I dont think relagated teams get the best prices for the players that they sell because they want to shift the wage bill as well and the sharks know that, so they arent in such a strong position. Also there isnt a guarantee that there will be a speedy promotion back to the PL, and I'm sure that that is where the foreign owners want to be
 
Does nobody remember the fear and trepidation when we were promoted to the Championship in 2011, when all we heard from fans of other clubs was that it was “a tough league to get out of”? We proved the doubters wrong because we had a great squad at that time, one that was almost as good as the Premier League squad the following season. And yet, after a great start we faltered towards the finish line and didn’t confirm promotion until that last game against Coventry.

The premise of this thread is that we offload our best players to reduce wages and become a mid table Championship side. All I can say (sorry Fats) is, look at Sunderland. If this is what Jisheng Gao is really after, and I don’t believe for one second that it is, that could easily be us next season. The Championship is still a very competitive league, and as with all levels of football you either sink or swim. You have to aim to get promoted even if you fail, otherwise the trend can only be downwards.

The other aspect of this thesis that makes no sense at all is that no owner in their right mind would voluntarily give up the TV money which is a massive part of the Premier League. That alone would make up for any incoming transfer fees after relegation, once the parachute payments run out. And, by the way, those Saints fans who live away from the Southampton area can give up any hope of ever finding a stream to watch games!

I can see where you’re coming from, St. K, and asset-stripping is something I still suspect Mr Gao of being up to, as he’s done nothing to prove otherwise so far. It’s just that the economics of relegation don’t add up either.

Guess I just don't believe Gao has the money to take the Saints forward nor the intentions, Everything so far has smacked of being cheap, the hanging out for compensation for Puel to the appointment of MP2, a very cheap option when obviously better more proven managers were available at the right price. Time will tell but I wouldn't be surprised if none or very little of the VVD money was spent on new players. What his endgame is heaven only knows.
I've also lost a lot of respect for KL for selling the club to an obviously dubious character even though she was desperate to sell, then trying to dress it up as anything but.
 
Regarding the bold bit, yes I do. It is not my whole life, it is a hobby. If Saints go down I will be slightly annoyed but I won't be suicidal or really angry, we will just be in a new league. As I have said before I used to care much more when I was younger/up until the summer with Poch and everyone leaving, but that left me slightly dead inside with regards to the reality of football and changed my mentality.

I agree, just somewhere along the line I just lost my passion and realised I was just supporting a load of mercenaries who generally don't give a toss about who they play for. They don't love the Saints and I don't love them, used to, Micky Channon was my hero, Rank Xerox was my kit! Nowadays it's more of a hobby discussing the rights and wrongs of football but not really being overly emotional about the whole affair.
 
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I am amazed at your post Saintmagic. I’m
Not having a pop at you but I genuinely have no understanding of your mentality here. It is like you are a different breed of football fan. It comes across to me as if you treat football as a hobby or an entertainment you like doing, such as going to the movies.

I’ll repeat I am not having a go, I just do not understand that and it is clear that we have very different feelings about football.

It is a hobby though. And it is supposed to be entertaining, and a pleasure.

I know it's bloody torture sometimes, but football is supposed to be a distraction from the cares and worries of everyday life - instead of worrying about finance, romance, your kid's futures, or whatever, we can all stress out about Saints instead. And still find a way to enjoy it.

It is only a bloody game after all, though I do hope that when things go wrong in the real lives of some of our fans, they react with a bit more resilience than they do when things go wrong on the football field.
 
Do you suspect like me that alot of fans are tired of the EPL and its bullshit and would rather go back to a more genuine league where fans actually support their local clubs instead of glory hunting like manure fans?
Sounds like another potential Eastleigh fan:angel:. The lower leagues are great. I haven't seen a single case of diving, rolling around in mock agony, ganging up on the ref etc, etc. Hard tackling is allowed too. One or two of the managers are complete plonkers but mostly in a funny, rather than a Mouhrino, way.
 
Guess I just don't believe Gao has the money to take the Saints forward nor the intentions, Everything so far has smacked of being cheap, the hanging out for compensation for Puel to the appointment of MP2, a very cheap option when obviously better more proven managers were available at the right price. Time will tell but I wouldn't be surprised if none or very little of the VVD money was spent on new players. What his endgame is heaven only knows.
I've also lost a lot of respect for KL for selling the club to an obviously dubious character even though she was desperate to sell, then trying to dress it up as anything but.

Yep agreed. If the board have ANY intention of sacking MP, I’m pretty sure it’ll be after 31st Jan. following no significant player purchases.
 
There are no genuine leagues. Even if you look at the Championship, spending **** loads of cash is the only way to win things. People that think it will be much different than the Prem are crazy

It's the most competitive league in Europe though.

The Neymar deal was the final nail for football at the highest level for me. It's become ****ing farcical and it's not just the money, the hype surrounding everything now is nauseating.
 
We were in the top flight for years before our relegation and no one complained then about us being make weights. We got to second once and did well in some seasons, but in general we were just glad to be there and enjoy the games. I have no problem with being midtable with occasional forays into Europe....and please don't anyone start talking lack of ambition....that always makes me want to reach for a shotgun....being happy with that doesn't mean that I can't dream like everyone else. I enjoyed being an admired footballing club....and I want that back.

I think there was a fear of relegation, especially once the PL had become long established and the jump between the top divisions appeared wider.
Like a large chunk of our fan base I hadn’t known life outside the top division when we went down and those that did know had probably forgotten.
Now I don’t think there is the same fear there once was