It's a bit like being promoted again! We are now on the BBC's Championship page. Felt a bit special looking for Saints on a different page. However I noticed we are now below pompey in the league - alphabetical order only! Looks like a tougher Championship than in recent years - but I believe we should still be looking for a play - off spot. COYR
We need to improve our squad, but not vastly improve it. You don't disturb a winning team too much. I thought Bournemouth had gone all quiet..did someone wake you up.
depends on what you think we should be achieving. I think we can comfortably stay up with the addition of maybe only one player. However, if you think we're going for promotion then yes, we probably need 6-7 new players.
I don't agree with this at all. We could easily stay up with the team we have, and building on Fran's point, you don't want to change the squad too much. 6-7 new players in one transfer window is just way too much change.
Be careful, Wisescummer. Any sense of ambition is viewed as conceit by Brighton and Bournemouth. You are right though...we will see by our summer signings what NC is expecting this season. A couple of signings means he doesn't want to rock the boat and wants to see how we fare in the Championship. Four and upwards and he is really going for it. Is he a risk taker?
Its not optimism, its realism. We already have several players who would get into most sides in the Championship (Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Schneiderlin, Fonte maybe even Davis). If you were to put in another 6 players of the same quality then we really could challenge. Don't think we will personally because 6 players of that quality could cost up to £20 million, and i can't see us spending that.
Lambert, AOC, Lallana and Schneiderlin will all be gunning to prove their obvious talent in the league above. Others with none or limited Championship experience will also have something to prove. The best players who aren't ludicrously expensive are in high demand so the idea would be to do our best to fight for them and sign talents from lower down or overseas that can prove themselves. Parachute payment clubs will have more money than us, so we need to play our game on the pitch rater than off it.
you say that, but west ham have £90mill (?) debt, losing pl revenue this year will put their debt up to about £120mill. do you really think they have the upper hand on us just because they have parachute money? birmingham also have £30-40mill debts and blackpool arent exactly rolling in it. not to mention the fact that we have a settled manager and squad,, that surely would give us the upper hand?!
Thanks for the positivity Jen..I'm probably losing my sense of perspective. It was only a few weeks ago we were top of the world.
I think with West Ham and Birmingham that debt only becomes a problem if they don't go up in the next two years. Still think both of them will have bigger playing budgets than us next season. I mean, West Ham look like they're about to sign Kevin Nolan ffs.
I suppose if they can service the debt, they could use the parachute payments to spend in the hope of going back up. Risky tactic..look what happened to us.
Yeah, but Gold and Sullivan have gambled on going back up before and it worked. And tbf we gambled at the wrong time. In the season after we got relegated we only spent £90 grand. The first summer is when you need to gamble on bouncing back (if you're going to).
I'm sure you know enough about English football to know that clubs put sucess before servicing their debts. It hasn't stopped West Ham paying Nolan £55k per week if rumours are to be believed. I'd be ashamed if we paid someone that much. If that was the precedent, it would add a hundred or so to season tickets, which none of us would want. I'd rather we spent in moderation, kept ticket prices reasonable and earnt success the hard way. Not that there is an easy way even if you do spend alot. Long-term success can't be built overnight.
If we ever get back to the premiership we'll probably end up paying somebody £55K a week, and season tickets will be between £800 and £1000. Its just the way football is going and I can't see it changing anytime soon.
West Ham are the team to beat, thats for sure. Gold & Sully have thrown the dice, & with Big Sam & Nolan amongst others, will surely be the favorits. Lets hope us & a few others can disturb if not upset the apple cart.
Exactly HR. Debt aside, it's what they can do on the pitch that counts. Next season, if they haven't managed to return to the Premier League, things won't look so pretty for them.
they were never going to sit back and see what happens. theyre making up for the deficit thats going to arise this season from reduced tv revenue.
Look at Norwich, Leeds and Millwall - they all did well after promotion, without spending a fortune! saints have some momentum and confidence to make a positive start. I think perhaps a couple of 'clever' signings will do us well. they do not need to cost a fortune - but need the winning mentality and experience of the championship. I think to make 6 - 7 signings would spoil the team we have and be too much of a change in one go. There are some 'big' clubs in the league - but they are low on confidence after relegation. Cardiff are in turmoil. OK West Ham look like being the biggest threat, but with a good solid start, and a bit of tweaking to our team, the top half for Saints looks realistic, and hey, with a bit of luck ......... COYR
