I simple vote on how successful you think Southampton have the potential to be. In 5 years time, so by the end of the 2017/18 what kind of a side do you see Saints as being? Obviously there are a lot of variables to consider, but weighing it all up, how big will we be? Personally, I think in 5 years time we will be a Champions League team, and within 3, mounting a serious challenge for either of the European competitions.
Getting back to the prem was one thing but champions league? I just can't visualise that, not for at least 10 years. Taking a look at the table now say, it would take something impressive to come out on top over the likes of Chelsea and Spurs over the course of a season.
If we have the same chairman, then there's only one way we are going, but five years in football is a very long time.
I can't see us ever reaching the champions league without monstrous investment. I'd hazard a guess at top half.
And as opposed to monstrous investment in players, it should be monstrous investment in facilities. If we want to permanently increase our stature, we'll need a bigger stadium and we'll need to be filling it. That's certainly possible, but not in the next five years. I anticipate an official announcement about an expansion in the next couple of years so long as we're still in the division. The way Cortese talks about his ambition for the club, that must be a large part of his plans otherwise I can't see how it would ever be possible to establish Saints as a big club. It's all well and good that we've splashed out on big signings like Ramirez and Rodriguez this season, but if we want to be making those kinds of signings every season for the foreseeable future, and paying much higher salaries, then we're going to be needing the income to support it. It must have been very exciting for fans of Portsmouth and QPR when they saw their teams transforming almost overnight and throwing enormous amounts of money around, but we all know we don't want that because it only ends one way. We want to build from the ground up, and we need to be patient, because it's going to take a while. In five years if we're still in the league and closer to the top than the bottom, I'll be happy. I'd love to see us win a cup in that time.
So much could happen that I wouldn't predict anything with much certainty, we could be relegated and it wouldn't be a complete shock. If I *had* to pick on option though, I would actually pick Champions League. Or at least Champion's League contenders. I think it will take awhile for Saints to contend for a league title, but other than Man U and Man City every other team is vulnerable. No reason we couldn't be up there if we keep the same administration/power structure.
I have put Europa League because a decent side can achieve that....Champions League requires a lot of investment if you qualify via the league. I believe we will do well in the domestic cups over the next five years....it's ridiculous that we haven't done better considering all our previous PL years. All depends if Nicola and the Leihberrs are still here. I'm hoping that Nicola has a real taste for this and is here for the long term.
Not that it's impossible to imagine, it just makes you think how far we've come in such a short space of time. It was hardly 2 years ago I was in the away end at walsall seeing a bleak performance where we lost 1-0.
If the Poll had said where do you want the Saints to be, I think the result would be somewhat different, we have a mixture of optimists, realists and downright fanatacists! Also just a few total pessimists, no names, no pack drill..........
I have a 1 £50 bet with an Arsenal supporting friend, that we will be finish higher in the league than them within the next 5 years... (made after a few drinks on a night out )
I suppose I do bang on about Cortese's intentions a lot, and his are that Saints should be a top 6 side within the next year or so. After that, we'll see, as far as the pitch activities are concerned. As for the longer term, there's the stadium and environs to uprate, and enlarge, and I don't suppose any of that will be done unless the intention is to get to the very top, and make it sustainable. I think that's going to take more than 5 years, but I believe it will happen. If the poll had said 10 years I would have voted Champions League, so I'm going to say Europa, but just missing out on Champions League. Basically, where Arsenal are going to be next season.
If Cortese gets his way we will have won the Champions League and defended it by then. I went for Europa League, I honestly think we can push towards this as early as next season. I'm not saying we will qualify next year but there is no reason we can't finish top 7-10 with a decent cup run.
As you move up the leagues and stakes get higher it becomes incrementally harder to progress. We've seen that in the jump from L1 to NPC and NPC to PL- we're just finding our feet after 30m spent in close season. Given the establishede clubs competing for CL places and the law of diminishing returns I think it would take more investment that we would be permitted to reach CL in 5 years. Voted for europa, will be tough but you've gotta dream! nb I think close season will give us an idea of cortese's intent- bolstering our already competent squad or adding several 'star' signings to the 1st XI?
I'll probably get shot down for this, but.... I fully believe we will achieve Europa league qualification, probably sooner than 5 years. What will be interesting is what this will mean for the club. We always need to remember whether we like it or not that we are primarily an investment vehicle for the Liebherrs, if Cortese can repackage us as European qualification contenders with a shiny new youth academy and possibly a revamped stadium then it's likely we will be sold. So basically my basis for believing we will achieve European football is that we more or less have to in order to recoup the Liebherrs investment.
Come on you lot who think we are only going to get into the Europa League, where's your ambition? You can put me down as a happy clapper if you feel you must, but one thing I have learnt in the last 3 and a half years is that what Nicola wants, he generally gets. I absolutely agree 100% with Joe that to get to the Champions League we will need a fairly big upgrade in our infrastructure, but we have made a big start on that already with the Staplewood development, which puts us in the "Champions League" places in terms of our training facilities and the excellence of our academy. Yes, we also need a bigger stadium to help fund the transfer fees and salaries that we will need to pay out, but the academy will come into play here as well, both in terms of feeding the best young players into the first team, and also providing some income by selling those players we don't want to hang on to. And Nicola has already dropped plenty of hints that the stadium can be expanded. So yes, Champions League within 5 years, why not?
