I don't usually start threads and I haven't seen anyone take this sort of a view on our current plight yet. Mods, if you feel this should belong in another thread, feel free to merge. I've been thinking... This is all working beautifully in our favour. 7 years ago, no one cared about little old Southampton. I remember the original 606 forum we were always whinging about not having any media coverage etc. This window I've lost count of the amount of times we've been headline news... Yes it's been for negative reasons, but as a club our profile has skyrocketed in the UK and further afield in Europe/Americas. No longer are we the relegation dogfighters who are rarely mentioned but more the club with an amazing ethic, trying to do things the right way but who were mercilessly picked apart by top 4 vultures. Numerous times I've walked around London and always overhear conversations about our little family club. Always with pity. Almost always ending with them agreeing that our lowly club has been firmly settled as their second team. I'm sure that isn't just limited to the UK and given that our situation is such a unique one I can guarantee that our popularity has extended overseas. Bring on the new era of Southampton the media darlings. Bring on the bigger fan base. Bring on the new season. COYS
I pretty much agree. Last year we gained support for being the 'hipster team'. This year we are gaining support out of sympathy. You never know we might do as well or better than last season and the whole of the world will shout HOORAY at the top of their voices whilst hugging whoever is nearest and feeling the largest amount of untold joy. This time next year Rodney we could have millions of followers / supporters / fans / friends
Pretty certain everyone except Liverpool fans will want us to win on the opening match. Sky must be hopeful.
Good post. Not sure if it will actually do Saints ourselves any good, beyond making us a bit better known, which I suppose might be good from a commercial point of view. Where it does help is that the ridiculously hierarchical nature of the Premier League and its permanent top 6 has been given a lot more exposure. I don't know if this will lead to any change, the cynic in me says no, but at least, as you say DH, people are talking about it. I'll quote my currently favourite statistic for about the third time in a week: 46 different teams have played in the PL in 22 seasons, that's exactly half the number in the Prem and Football League combined. Out of that number, only 5 have actually won the title. These teams, including Blackburn of course, have all, over the years, preyed on the lesser teams like Saints and built themselves into such an impregnable position (apart from poor old Blackburn) by the simple expedient of having vast amounts more dosh than anyone else. That's it. I absolutely agree with you DH that the only thing we can do is carry on with the "Southampton Way" and show that you don't have to be owned by oligarchs or Sheikhs to play attractive football and beat the big boys every so often. Maybe one day we can break the mould and get into that top 4 just to show that it's possible. As you say, COYS!
I am really looking forward to what RK can do with this team, if the board gets behind him he could build something special
Must admit it does cross my mind every so often. Not that all the publicity plays into our hands, but that, good news or bad, the Club name does indeed get out there. Off the top of my head, West Bromwich Albion, for example, would like a fraction of the coverage, and they used to be much better known than Saints. There is one thing that Southampton FC has over many clubs. We're referred to as The Saints. For a supposedly cosy little club, that's rather iconic. You say Saints, when referring to sport, and almost any supporter with a penchant for football, rather than Rugby, is going to think of Southampton FC over other clubs with the same handle, eg. St Johnstone. Like Liverpool, with their You'll Never Walk Alone, we have our very own song. We've no need to borrow or steal these days. Both songs were written for other purposes, but both were adopted early on, and When The Saints Go Marching In, things couldn't be clearer or more appropriate. OK, so our very own Chairman had to differentiate us from other Saints, by calling us The Southampton Saints, but then he learned there was no need. Southampton FC are The Saints.
I think with him it was more he is used to 'The Saints' being an American football team. I do agree with your statement though. Everyone knows the Saints is Southampton just as everyone knows the Hammers are West Ham. Our other plus is we don't use bubble machines to wash our un-hygenic fans
There was a recent article which put forwards the idea that our reputation is great and nowhere more than in the academy realm. They suggested that our best hope for serious growth would be a network of academies around the world. Asked who wouldnt want to join the academy that produced Gareth Bale, Lallana, Luke Shaw, Walcott etc. I have to say I could see a lot of merit to this. If international fans are the reason we cant compete with ManU then why the hell not. An asian academy, north american academy, oceanic etc sounds great in principle. And the players generated would provide a pool of talent and income regardless of club support. I know that the big clubs have setup similar ideas themselves but they're not us. When you have a reputation for something good you really should do everything around in I think. Cant remember where I read it so apologies to original author.
To be fair, Saints have been setting up academies far and wide in the last 5 years. They're small but they are beautiful.
I think that it is more likely that as a north America (although he did spend time living in Germany and Switzerland) he didn't understand that the nickname 'The Saints' is not part of the club name, in north American sports the second part of a club's name, e.g. Minnesota Wild, the Wild part is usually called the nickname. Not that any of that really matters in the overall scheme of things. My favourite was an old World Hockey League team called Minnesota Fighting Saints, so much so I nicked their logo, recreated it, tidied it up and altered it to my needs and created a Facebook banner that I used for a while.
Agree with that idea and I think the club are on to it. Krueger said he was speaking with Spurs and their links with Toronto. Man City own New York and I think a Sydney side. Jaidi was employed as an international relation with his links and influence in Africa, though you mainly see him coaching with the academy (not a waste of his skills). The top 6 are promoting the game abroad and trying to gain more support and we really should be looking to do similar or we will fall further behind. I don't think we're too far away from that infamous game 39 idea
Yeah, this. He may have understood even, but it's still rather hard to get out of the habit of calling teams "The [location] [nickname]'s." Oh, and for Saints Go Marching in, that song belongs so thoroughly to the city of New Orleans, and the New Orleans Saints that anyone else using it just sounds wrong. It sounds as out of place when Southampton sings it as does when Liverpool or whoever else does.
Well not to me it doesn't. Saints have been using it as far back as it came to these shores, so if that doesn't give it a little authenticity then nothing will. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Saints_Go_Marching_In And they may well have been singing ..Are Marching In, before that. You'll perhaps notice in the Wiki text that, although indeed it mentions New Orleans has an association with the song, it is also the sporting anthem of several clubs. First up, Southampton FC. That means it has been duly recognised.
http://news.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/foo...thampton-recover-squad-decimation_205926.html Spotted this... hope to see many more the same!
I think you've missed out the most important silver lining of them all - deflated expectations. There's no pressure on the team following the loss of so many players - no one expects us to be 8th again, and everyone is expecting "struggling Southampton" back, not the "Super Southampton" of last season. Given that we've actually bought in some good players (something that few appear to remember) and have actually had a a very good pre-season, we could take some people by surprise. Again.
A big "no" to that. Most football people in this country probably wouldn't even know of its New Orleans connection.
