Agreed Hilts - Whitts is quality and can turn a game with a pass, a running shot or deadball strike - no question he has the flair. So we can expect him to pick up the ball from Marshall, jink past three opposition midfielders, play a killer pass down the channel, then run like hell to receive it himself, cut inside and round their keeper and backheel it into the net. By Christ Hilts, you're right, we don't need anyone else!..............
Saints fan in peace. Frank Burrows! - a name I had long forgotten - as you say, what a character! All us fans need to remember guys that managers can only operate in the confines of what is available to spend. As a club, you have done well in recent times, what with a new stadium etc. I,m sure your current manager is a good guy - stick with him! We Saints can speak from bitter experience; to keep changing the manager is a recipe for failure. We went through this when that clown Rupert Lowe was in charge at Southampton and we dropped down the leagues. You would expect me to say that I hope we beat you twice this season, but I,m sure you will not be far away at the end of the season. Looking at the threads on various club sites I am always surprised at the doom & gloom from some fans after 6/7 games. Just look at the Leeds site! Best wishes to you all
most of us were loyal to dave jones throughout his tenure here, but eventually something had to give, we've got MM in and we back him 100%. its only natural to want to be in the top 6 if thats where we have finished in the past 2 seasons - in mackays own words, he stated one of the reasons he came here was the ambition of the club, and in this division that means only one thing - promotion. its a league where norwich and swansea got promoted from last season. one was a league 1 side the previous season and the other a side operating on a lower budget than ours. why not aim to finish as high as possible?
Absolutely agree with your last paragraph & as saints manager said yesterday "reach for the stars & you might hit the moon". If you don,t aim for the top you sure will not get there! Good luck (after tomorrow!) & best wishes
Absolutely spot on. All this talk about finishing in the top 10 being some sort of an achievement is frankly rubbish. I bet Malky and the board don't think that at all, and will be very positive about top 6 as a minimum. Maybe some of the talk about top ten being a good finish for Malky is being influenced more by a dislike of the previous manager.
Are people getting expectations and aspirations confused? Expectations should be realisitic. The team needs time to gel and work as a unit (here's hoping we finish like Reading did last year) Aspirations will always be high at a club like ours. We will always try to finish first, although that may not be a realistic expectation
sparky, the reason people are saying that we should not be too disappointed by top 10 is because of the squad MM has inherited. its almost a complete rebuilding job for him, in fact after the good league finishings from DJ in the past 2/3 seasons he's got a difficult job on his hands, its not as if he is working with the same quality of players that DJ had last season, as recent injuries have shown we dont have much depth either. MM has a 3 year contract here and i think the board will fully expect him to get promoted within that contract. if not this year, fair enough, but there must be signs of potential, top 6 i would imagine
Swamp - It's never been a question for me about being dissappointed about finishing top 10 rather than top 6 or better. I'll take that at the end of the season no problem at all, but certainly not now after 8 games. I'm well aware of the squad (lack of) that Malky has inherited and the task before him, but to suggest that mid table is some sort of acceptable target at this stage is not on for me, nor I strongly suspect for Malky and the Malaysians. I've got no problem with those on this board who advocate patience - I've had plenty of that over this past 35 years and still have. I also have ambition and the belief that those currently charged with running the club share the same targets. Maybe it won't happen this year, but there's a long way to go before I accept that 10th place in May will be our best case scenario.
I always think this will be OUR YEAR, usually despite evidence to the contrary, we should be aiming for and expecting to finish in the top six at least, if we finish outside the top six, but in the top ten, will I be satisfied, of course not, will I be disappointed, well in view of the upheaval at the club, not really, anything outside the top 10 very disappointed, IMO the club need to plan and aim for promotion, if we fail to achieve this, but everyone has worked hard and given 100% well we can't really ask for more, this is such a tight league, the teams with the bigger squads are going to prosper, luck with injuries is going to play such a big part, especially with our current squad size, who's to say that if we hadn't had those injuries on Sunday that 1 point wouldn't have been 3, and we would not have bee cobbling a squad full of walking wounded together for the Saints game, which we might well now lose, so we could be looking 1 point out of a possible six from two home games, luck is such a big factor in the championship. So I hope for auto expect top six would reluctantly accept top ten (as long as everyone has given 100%) outside top ten disappointed but as we all know anything can happen in this league
I would love automatic promotion this year and given we have achieved better league and /or more points tally since coming into the championship it should be achievable based on the noise from the boardroom. Can Malky achieve this with the current squad? I think not as we need more players through the door. Miller for all his endless running and movement has not produced to date and Earnie as a lone striker isn't the answer either. As has been suggested a prolific striker needs to be found and quickly we can't rely on the midfield for goals. Am I happy with the season to date? Yes I am and 3 points tonight would not go amiss
blueprohet, how right you are! Anything can happen in this division & a club that sits very near the bottom at this moment will as sure as hell be fighting it out at the top at the end of the season. We saints fans are obviously happy to be sitting top at the moment but we are taking nothing for granted. At the end of this season September 2011 will look a lifetime away! Good luck guys - except for tonight of course! - and best wishes
thats what puzzles me. how can teams like swansea, southampton, norwich etc be promoted from league 1 then finish in roughly the same positions (or even higher!) as us? we've been in the championship too long and i think the owners know that
