Yes, but on the flip side, you're using that very, very, very dubious table as a stick to beat them with. It's been bad, nobody is denying that, but it's not been *that* bad ffs.
If continuing to exist is your benchmark for success, then SR have been resoundingly successful. Yay we didn’t go into administration- go SR
I think the unforgivable thing was actually the first relegation. This has made any impact by SR less likely to be successful. We have to cut our cloth accordingly. I think Still needs 2 seasons to get things right but if we are on the same downward trajectory by Christmas, he will need to go. In my opinion it is a 2 year project to sort the mess out. I can see 10th being seen as success, just as long as we are above Portsmouth. That will be a good season for me. I am not expecting miracles from Will Still but decent football and a bit of stability. After last season, I think SR will have to do alot to get back trust. The issue is fan expectation and accepting the reality. Fans need to accept that play offs are unrealistic this season
I'm sorry but that is ridiculously negative. Play offs should be, and they are, the absolute minimum target from the club.
Tom If anything our squad is worst than last season. The confidence was shot and our best players want away . I have followed Saints since 1974 and never saw such a gutless Southampton side since last season. They had a losing mentality which will be difficult to shake off if they do no get points on the board quickly Your only grounds for optimism are the previous promotion and the parachute payment. Just feel that we are extremely fragile. Cannot see what there is to be optimistic about.
Sheffield Utd got 3 points more than us in the PL, conceded more goals and were just as mentally shot coming down. They got 92 points last year in the Championship. The gap is ridiculous from the midtable sides and below and the top 3/4 sides.
Without some major additions (assuming we lose Dibling and Fernandes) we won't though. As Ian said, this squad is way worse than last time in the Champ.
I love the enthusiasm on here that we’ll be a promotion chasing team or possibly even in the autos. Personally I’m way from convinced “just because there’s a quality gulf”. Definitely hoping you guys are correct but have a feeling Dibs & Fernandes will be going when the window shuts & any replacements will be a bit … meh, which will impact severely. Fingers x’d tho. Definitely nervous.
As Ian said, the worst thing was the first relegation. If we had stayed up then, even our ****ty squad would have been above that years bottom three of Burnley, Sheff Utd and Luton by a big margin. We didn't. We went down and this huge gulf has opened up, We will always be playing catch up now I feel and bouncing between the leagues. Until we don't. For whatever reason that is...staying up or staying down...
My biggest fear is more and more PL clubs get American owners, sure as eggs are eggs they'll vote in favour or removing relegation and promotion. You can guarantee at the point SR will have us nowhere near the PL and we're done as a club
Why? I'd imagine if you asked the owners of every PL club now if they want a closed league they'd all vote yes, it's just no one is stupid enough to suggest it yet with all the flack which would go with it. The yanks would.
So many reasons why it won't happen. I'll state the obvious ones. - Firstly, fans wouldn't stand for it. Not only would it be seen as ruining the domestic game. But it's Americans doing it. Remember the protests when Utd/Chelsea et al were going to break away to form a Euro super league? That's nothing compared to the protests and boycotts that would happen if there was a vote to change the domestic league system. - Secondly, the government have literally just passed the Football Governance Act in order to stop exactly these kind of things threatening the domestic game. - Thirdly, the Americans are only coming over to buy the clubs in England because of the money. When they realise that there is more money to be made elsewhere, you watch how quickly they sell up and f*ck off. Where will they go? Back home. The MLS is growing in popularity more and more each year. They have a higher average attendance than the EFL Championship. And it isn't just because of Messi and Inter Miami. Atlanta had an average attendance last season of over 46,000. Once the whole Wrexham narrative comes to an end - they'll probably reach the Prem but stagnate there for a while - then the next story will be about an American team. - Fourthly, and somewhat ironically, it will actually more likely be the Americans that adapt to our game, rather than us adapting to theirs. The USL (second tier football league in the US) has recently voted to implement promotion and relegation from the 2027/28 season. It won't be long after, that the MLS will get involved with that structure. The reason being, is that relegation and promotion adds so much more drama to a sport. And drama means more people watching. And therefore more money.
I think they only require 14 to fix & only then Gov could try to regulate, which is questionable. Happy to be coy.
Attendances aren't the reason English football is so wealthy - it's because of international appeal which the mls will never have. The quality of the mls will always really struggle too because whilst they can pay for big players like messi, they produce almost no domestic talent because of the competition they face from American football, basket ball, baseball and hockey. "Soccer" is still seen by many as a sport for kids before they can start contact sports.
The Prem is most popular now internationally because our clubs are the richest and can buy the most expensive players. But as the American game grows domestically, their clubs will get richer and richer, and they will eventually start competing with European teams in buying the best players. When they can afford those players, then the international interest will grow. I see kids already in my local park in Shirley wearing Inter Miami shirts. And the US is producing lots of talented players now. Even if it is their fifth or sixth most popular sport, there are still millions of genuine football fans in the US. If they have a successful World Cup - which they will - the game will become even more popular over there. The MLS will become an elite league. Not next year or even five years from now. But twenty or thirty years down the line, it will.
