I really want Saints to be promoted and back in the big league, but these happy days made me ponder something: Right now we are experiencing some of the happiest times as a Saints fan; they are simply fantastic days. Imagine we are where Blackburn, Bolton or Wigan are: what would be a better feeling?
Loving it right now, not felt this good about Saints since the 80s! Wouldn't be happy to be in the bottom 3, but where Stoke, Swansea and Norwich are right now - I'd take that most definitely
those 3 teams have had a good few years at the top level. but changes of ownership/manager etc have destabilised them. Every club needs to adapt and grow, whatever league they are in - look at Man U. However, the key to success in any league is stability, and those 3 teams do not have it. Noone likes their team to struggle, and winning in the Championship will be more enjoyable to losing in the Prem. i trust NC and NA to adapt so that we do not struggle when we finally achieve the premiership. I am not expecting a Man city spending spree, but a mixture of astute buys, existing players, and young academy talent will be the plan.
I agree with you, but I was just hypothesising, as things are sooooooooo good right now; how would we feel struggling in the league above.
Would I be disappointed, depressed, bored etc at watching us lose week-in, week-out in the Premiership next season? No. (I'm not saying that that would neccessarily happen by the way). The reason would simply be because of these past few seasons. Having experienced great lows, having experienced life in the lower leagues, I'd just be happy with being back in the Premiership. Potentially we'd be some of the most grounded fans in the Premiership (unlike more than a handful of Arsenal fans, who seemingly think it's the end of the world, just because their side is currently in the bottom half of the best league in the country, and probably the world!!). And besides, getting relegated could lead to us becoming a yo-yo team, and that's a lot more exciting than mid-table obscurity year after year after year.
Even if we were absolute crap and losing every week I think Nige would at least get the boys battling. I suppose I'd rather be struggling in the Premiership than struggling in the Championship.
Can this current feeling last forever in the championship - can it last to christmas. Only 10 games in and noe of us could have dreamed of this. This is Southampton after all and we are not used to such highs. All we can do as a team and fans is take opportunities as they arise. I love it in the championship or the premier league 2nd division and whilst i am a bit sceptical about the premier league greed, overpaid wages and overpriced players it probably is the best league in the world and the best teams need to be in it. After a long painful absence we deserve our chance again. If we get there, there will be different highs. We wont be setting club records and winning 20 zillion home games on the trot, in fact we might be lucky to win 3 in a row but we will be up against the best and our highs will be matching or beating the best and seeing all the current 'greats' at st marys. we still talk about now, beating liverpool in the eighties, man U 6-3 and 3-1 and Arsenal at the last game at the dell. Truly memorable. we can compete with the Norwiches, wigans, fulhams etc and the excitement should be if we can compete for europa places, though i hope the silly format of having to play 645 games to get to the final has been changed by then. Still lets enjoy the moment - there cant be many clubs currently with the highs that we are feeling and lets hope we have something to celebrate for the 3rd season running.
You make an excellent point FLT, and it is something I have asked myself. I remember when Saints used to be able to count themselves as one of the established teams of the First [and Top] Division, with no thoughts of relegation. That's largely pre-Premiership days, of course. But these last couple of years have brought a new positive feeling. We just don't lose that often, and I love it immensely. Plus, it's going to be a shame to be promoted and to [inevitably] shed some of the players we have, who have made that possible, so that we can compete with the Premier League clubs. Don't get me wrong [especially SFC, if anyone from the club is reading], I want Saints to be promoted, but I'm a sentimental old thing too, and I feel certain heroes, like Lambert, are not going to play in the Premiership too often, and that breaks my heart, for the player involved. The fact is, Lambert is the lead player to making this campaign the way it is, and Saints will eventually have to replace him. But there will be other players not going to the Premiership too, and that's a killer for me. Some will be there, but only as squad players. And it's almost easier to say who will make it regularly, rather than those who won't, we'll keep that few. Lallana and Fonte will be on team sheets, I have no doubt. The others..? See what I mean..? If you think the same as I do, it'll be a sad time too. But then again, we do have Nicola Cortese calling the shots, and he may have a few Keeganesce moves to delight us with..!
just think back to Man united when they were relagated with us back in the 70,s and fergison didnt win anything for a good few seasons in fact it was reported he was one game away from the sack,,mark hughes late equaliser in a cup game saved his bacon if i remember correctly,,stability at a club is so important,would ted bates and laurie mac have kept there jobs as long in todays enviroment ? whats the longest a manager has stayed with saints since chris nichol ?
some very good points here too. We need to get back to the top for sure, but I am enjoying this moment we are in now, and long may I remember it. I just look at the wife (Wigan fan) and think to myself that I am a lot happier than she is on a Saturday night these days.
I've ben saying for ages what a refreshing change it was in the L1 with more honest football, less cheating (meaning diving and feigning) more respect for referees even though they 'don't seem' too good sometimes etc. It's much closer to football than the modern non contact premiership model. However I am quite optimistic about Saints when they get to the Premiership. It may take a season or 2 of steadying the ship but once the YOUTHEFA <--- rules come into full effect (not when it starts but say in 5-10 years once they fully push rules forward) and the 'homegrown' and 'sustainability' rules are pushed even further forward it could well have the effect we saw in Formula 1 over the past 3 seasons where Brawn and Red Bull suddenly moved up to the upper echelon. Meaning.......When these rules come into effect our academy alongside our astute chairman could well push us up there with a real chance of Champions League positions. I think this is probably what NC is suggesting when he talks of Champions League possibilities. Not by buying players in to challenge. Stay there and filter the academy into the first team until the football world is at the point where we are already at the pinnacle of abiding to those rules whilst others are still only half way there. Will be a tough few years until they are fully implemented and pushed further though. Andy
