There has been a lot of discussion and a lot of debate, falling out and calling people names on the topic of our current form and points total. I have just one question really: Would you take relegation as one of those things if it came, or must we avoid it no matter what? For me, I would take it. I'd be disappointed of course, I am a football fan and none of us like losing too many games and experiencing relegation, but through the very long season of 10 games so far, I keep reminding myself of where we have just been. I really belief that we have the right set up and the right manager at the club; I only hope that Cortese thinks this too. We have come through two divisions in two seasons and although some may say "wasted opportunity" if we go down again, I firmly believe that so be it. We have got a couple of signings wrong and maybe not got the CB's we should have done but when I turn back the clock 6-12 months I remember listening to how we would do it our way; how we would keep wages sensible until we had grown more established; how we would buy young; how we would promote youth. I liked hearing this and I still want to hear it. I think the only things that have changed, are that a few fans have gotten higher expectations than before and that the club have been a little naive or dreamy in the "Southampton Way". Well, I like that dreamy view and I am prepared to stick by that dream for now, relegation or not. Just a foot note. I haven't spent as much time on here of late as I used to, I needed to get a grip of myself, so this may have already been posted... but did anyone else notice the little travelling yellow block of print on their Sky Sports News last evening? It said that Bolton posted accounts, declaring them to be £126.5M in debt. Survival at all costs? No thanks.
I feel much the same as you, FLT. I would be very upset, obviously, but I'd definitely just take it and would much rather we go down than mortgage our long term future through reckless spending. Plus... the Championship is a great league, season tickets would be cheaper, there are more away games at reasonable prices, and more games in general. Also, we'd (hopefully) not be as crap there.
I don't have any choice in the matter. If we are relegated, we are relegated whether I accept it or no. I'll still go, I'll sing as loudly as in the Premier League but in truth I have absolutely no power to affect anything. Vin
I have been thinking long and hard about this, and for me survival is very important. If we go down Ramirez will be sold, and Lallana, Morgan and Clyne will probably follow him. Therefore it will undo all the hard work of the last few years. So, no, I wouldn't accept relegation.
Yes, I would accept relegation. I agree with a lot of your points, FLT. I suppose I should cite the obvious differences. Nowadays, I am not a football fan in the conventional sense. I have almost no interest apart from Saints. I may comment on other football clubs and stuff, but I'm only truly interested in SFC. Therefore I am a Southampton FC fan, not a football one. I love the setup at SFC. I wouldn't change anything unless it led to enormous improvement. That will come on its own, in any case, in time. There was a thread 12 months ago, where posters asked whether being promoted twice in two seasons was a little too early. I answered caution. My heart said promotion, but my head said consolidation. But you take the opportunities when they come, and we may find we have to have that second season in the Championship after all. But this is mid-November and we are a few points away from the safe zone of the division. There's more than enough time to make the other clubs move over. One thing is certain. Players can be transferred, managers can be hired and fired, but a great Owner and Chairman with huge ambition is bloody hard to find. I want Nigel to be here when success comes, but if he's not, then so be it. My gut feeling is that he will be.
The reason I don't want to go down is because of the players we'll lose. Ramirez and Schneiderlin will go, maybe Lambert too. Lallana could but I don't think he will-losing 2/3/4 of those players will meean that they'll need top replacements and it'll be hard finding players of their quality who are willing to play in the Championship, a bit of Premiership experience too would help! Maybe any of our players that don't want to play below the PL could be loaned out for the season and if we get promoted could return after their loan has ended?
This. If we go down, I don't think coming back up will be easy...or cheap. It hasn't been so difficult to buy good players the last couple of seasons because we were a team on the up, but if you have to replace the likes of Lallana, and Morgan when you've just gone down??? On the other hand I loved last year in the championship, Palace away last year was one of the best days of football I've been to. It's a good job I liked the championship, because if we go down I think we'll be there a good couple of years. It's a tough, tough league.
I concur with just about all that you say FLT. Relegation would be a disappointment ..but no more than that. And nothing like the feeling of shock and despair that i felt in May 2005 on the day when we lost to Man Utd after being 1-0 up and were relegated after 27 years in the top div. Standing there with my 7 year old son crying that day was not good. However it would be far different if we were relegated at the end of this season - if Nigel Adkins is still the boss and we are still trying to play properly and bring through our young players then i would be able to accept it as part of a more long-term plan to have a largely home-grown team in the Premier League at some later stage. Plus i really enjoyed our couple of years in the lower leagues and some great away day trips !
Yeah, that's the other problem. Can we afford to go down? We got into debt to get out of the Championship, and that's with one of the biggest attendances in the league, and to be honest we didn't spend that much money. I imagine ours is a pretty expensive setup to run with the academy and new training setup. The Liebherr family wrote it off last time, but I get the impression that isn't an arrangement which will continue. I also reckon we stand to lose a fair amount on Ramirez if we go down, clubs will know that we have to sell, so they're just going to kick us in the balls on the price.
I agree with you FLT... We even have room in the 5 year plan for a year down and then back up! Yes it would be a huge disappointment and we would all be gutted but as others have said we will still support them through thick and thin. The biggest risk, and unknown, is which players would we lose as they might not be so easy to replace. However, i'm not sure we need that much extra at the back to stay up - my big concern is that the right players (Dawson etc) would cost too much in wages that Cortese may just not want to go to and this is the correct decision if it was to risk our future. We've been close to the brink before and I much prefer what we have at the moment than that again!!
Thanks for posting an opposing view Tom. I understand that we'd lose some players, especially Ramirez, but it's ok... you can change your avatar! I don't think Clyne or Lallana would go in the first season and I hope Morgan would give us a chance too. We'll only know if it happens, I suppose.
I don't WANT Saints relegated, especially after spending all that money. We may still be within the 5 yr plan but NC may have already spent the funds 'saved' by getting promoted 2 years early. I would accept promotion if I had to...just as I had to accept in 7 years ago. I followed the team then and I would again.
i dont see the point in looking beyond the qpr game. And when thats done the newcastle game, and then the norwich game etc...
To be honest I think the 5 year plan has gone out of the window. There is a new 1 year plan - stay in the Premier League!
Yes we can afford to go down. Money was in place for a five-year assault on promotion to the premier league, and we saved two years' worth of losing money in league one and the championship, so I'm sure we've kept enough of that back just in case. If no-one offers decent money for Ramirez then he will stay. He might not like it but he's under contract for a few more years yet and that puts us in a strong position. The same goes for all our other key players as well, if they want to go then people will have to pay what they're worth. More likely we will keep nearly all of them and have a good chance at bouncing back up again.
