This isn't simply a Saints question, but it applies to us currently. My thoughts started rambling last night when I found myself with an old mate drinking in Chester and we started a conversation with a bunch of die-hard Chester fans. They are going for promotion to the Conference Premier, while their great rivals, Wrexham, missed out on the play-offs out of that league last year. Both teams have been well and truly turned over by the same owner and HMRC and both have experienced lows that make our troubles look like nothing. Thing is, both clubs have now got better support than they had even in their old Division 3 days. Fans of Chester City don't care that they are playing teams that my mate and I had never heard of; they just like feeling successful at their level. If they can get into the FA Cup proper and turn over a football league club they'll be happy. After wending our way home, my fellow Saint and I pondered on this conversation. We talked about a 6-0 away win at Oldham; the thrill of getting to the JPT final; the buzz from OUR TEAM being seen to scare the hell out of Man Utd in the Cup having disposed of Blackpool. The feeling of getting promoted is great, of course. But I don't know about others, but when we were playing the likes of Crewe Alex I didn't think about what was happening in the Premiership and wishing we were there. Now I'm back to watching MOTD to see the other teams in the league, and getting to know who's who. I loved the pain and ecstasy of our performance against United, and last Sunday ... (not good for the heart, but surely a 92nd minute equaliser from the centre half is one of life's great joys?!). Of course, I'm looking forward to seeing Spurs rather than Southend; I look forward to welcoming Alan Pardew back with his Newcastle team. But the conclusion I have reached is that, while I accept that for the business called Southampton FC wher we play matters, for me it matters less. I started my Saints life watching them in 3rd Division South when it was a very viable option for me to watch Pompey in the First Division. I refuse to see the possibility of relegation as a disaster (let's keep such words for Hillsborough in any case) and have simple needs as a fan. I like to see my team play good football, and get results. Wherever that may be. Is this blasphemy?
Wishing your team would be relegated is blasphemy for sure, not caring where your team is as long as they are successful or have the hope of one day being successful is probably the stance of 99.8% of genuine fans.
The worst thing about being in the premier league is the fact we seem to hardly ever play any games of football. I really miss the saturday then tuesday fixtures. I have not been this bored during a football season for ages. Nigel is gonna have to get us into europe or relegated as 1 game a week then nothing to do for 2 weeks is depressing.
I loved last season, my favourite as a Saints fan. Firstly, because we were winning more than we lost. And secondly, because I loved going to the away games. I doubt I will be able to go to any away league games unless it's Wigan or Sunderland, somewhere that takes an age to get to.
The Premierleague is a dream , fantasy and a load of **** , we will never win it , football nowadays is woeful to what it used to be , crap atmosphere , plastic stadiums , plastic fans , overpriced , overhyped , in turn a crap national team , 30% Brits in the league so in short the championship is far far better but is it wise to want to be relegated ? Change the structure within or like me hope the premiership folds .
I'm not sure I was saying this. However, I totally agree about the over-hype and teams like ours having nothing to play for save something not happening! I also agree that football is structurally wrong.
Agree that last year was fantastic. The Premier League though has to always remain an aspiration when you are in the Championship, as the race for promotion/play-off spots are what makes it exciting. I doubt many Saints fans would have had such fond memories of last year if we had been battling against Pompey for relegation all season! Ok we aren't going to win most of our games this year, and that big club feeling we had in the lower leagues is hugely diminished. But this is the reward we got for last seasons campaign, and i'm going to enjoy it come what may. That half-hour or so we were leading United for, was the biggest buzz i've had in football for years, and i'm sure we'll have other times like it this year, and hopefully hang on to a couple of leads!
Do you really not care what league we are in? Is it not a challenge to see how your team can do against some of the best in the world? Do you really just want to do well with some of the more mediocre teams in the championship or lower? If teams like Everton, WBA and the likes can make it towards the top why should that not happen to us? Look how long it has taken Everton to get into the top 4 do you not think that their Fans do not care what league they play in? In reality Saints are the team I support, as I have done over the years. Through their ups and their downs. During there last spell in the top league for some 27 years it was wonderful to see them playing against the top teams in the country and possibly the world. I have seen them thumped pretty badly too. So would I worry about them being in a different league no I would not..........However I would prefer them to be in the top league in the world and I would prefer them to do well, as eventually they will do they just need time.........
Some people bitch about the Prem far to much. Also hate the term 'plastic fan', who are we to judge others? They are Saints fans after all. What makes a 'plastic' fan?, or is it just another reason to bitch and moan and seem you are better then other people?. Instead of moaning that we are in the Prem, why not try and enjoy it a little. Yes we have no chance of winning the league, but how exciting isit trying to match the big teams?. Yes it will be a long hard season and a change from the last two seasons, is that why some people don't find the Prem good as it's harder?. That's just enjoy this season back in The Prem, many clubs have never get here and never will. So that's enjoy this moment instead of moaning about it.
It's hardly blasphemous to say I will support my team wherever they are, nor to say that any one season was more enjoyable than another, even if it was in a lower league. When we got relegated from the Prem last time around it felt like the end of the world. Should it happen again then as a result of our recent experiences I for one will actually be able to look forward to some positives, it costs less, it's easier to get to see Saints, the league is a closer competition, and resigned pessimism can be replaced once again by hope. Of course we all want to not only survive but to thrive in the prem, and whilst recognising that relegation poses a financial risk to the club and an administative challenge to those that own / manage it, should it happen then there is plenty to embrace in life outside the top tier and I for one wouldn't view it as a disaster.
I think the "Does it matter what league you're in" part is meant in the context of "would your passion for the club dwindle if you were down in the depths" I can quite understand the die-hard support of those Chester fans. If Pompey had folded and a phoenix club was playing in the Southern League I would have the same feelings of jubilation and heartache toward "AFC Pompey's" fortunes on the pitch as I do now in League One and did in the Premier league and Championship. I'm sure the vast majority of Saints fans would be of a similar stance had Southampton FC gone to the wall a few years back. As far as the footballing community is concerned; the lower down the leagues you look you see more genuine 'proper hardcore support' fans and fewer plastic JCLs. I'd love to see Pompey back in the Championship but, to be quite honest, the Premier League and it's grounds full of prawn sandwich munching glory hunters who probably couldn't pick out more that half a dozen of his teams players out in a police line up can go and do one.
I have a lot of sympathy for CH20's view. I've said many times before, probably ad nauseam, that I don't care who Saints play. I don't care about the opposition. I've also said many times that I hate the Premier League. I didn't want it in the first place and I still don't want it, for all the usual reasons. I still see no reason why there can't be a 1st to 4th division setup, where the 1st division doesn't get to pick over everything and the other divisions get what's left. I also want SKY to go bankrupt - that would simplify things a lot. Lastly, I would want a new football league setup to return to 50/50 receipts when teams play each other. The vote that the home team kept all the money [still 50/50 in the Cups], in the 1980's, meant that any team not coming from a huge metropolis had no chance of competing properly. Before they had a chance. And since the emergence of SKY the only clubs that have done well are those who were already doing the best before the PL started, bar a few of those who botched their management or who haven't taken best advantage. Of course I want Saints in the top division. Of course I want them at the top of it. But it's not the be all and end all, for me. I want a properly competitive league.
Easier than us maybe, but they've beaten Liverpool 3-0, Everton 2-0 (the only game Everton have lost in the league this season) and drawn away to Spurs, surely those are impressive results in anyone's book. I think I can say quite uncontroversially that they are a better team than us. But with 3 or 4 years behind us in the premier league, there's no reason we won't be up there as well.
If Sky went bankrupt there would be hardly teams left in the English leagues. I doubt even we would survive, so yep it would be simpler as there would be only about 20 teams left. The standard of football would be so ****e the rest would fold over time.
I really doubt that it would be that catastrophic. I imagine there would be a rapid reduction in player wages, like what happened at Rangers, except it would apply to all clubs, no-one would be forced to drop leagues or anything. Many good players would leave the country, but almost all clubs would survive, and probably not suffer any adverse effects in the long-term. There might be one or two clubs who are very cash-rich and don't depend on TV revenue who would probably do very well out of it. Essentially, exactly what has happened in Italy.
No, I don't think that's true at all. They'd all survive in one form or another. The problem is, the SKY genie has definitely got out of the bottle. If you will permit me the view, I wish it never had.
Clubs in the lower leagues wouldn't survive at all, yes Sky pumps alot of money into the Prem. But that money also trickles down the leagues. Yes it isn't much, but alot of lower teams survive because of that money. Then you have owners pulling out because the Prem or getting to the Prem isn't worth it any more.Then you have the owners pulling out because their team has no chance of European success. This would lead to the FA scrapping or cutting back the England training academys etc. At least half the clubs would disappear and a few more will never be heard of again. Plus England would be even ****ter then we are now.
