Southampton in the Champions League? Some sceptics laughed - they're not laughing now

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/southampton-champions-league-sceptics-laughed-4961395


DTLW

 

Seeing as Chelsea and Manchester City are the only away matches Saints have to play against teams currently higher than tenth, this is starting to look more and more doable.

 

Aren't Newcastle 10th?

 

Yes and he said "higher than 10th"

 

I refuse to get sucked into CL excitement, I refuse! *wee comes out*

 

What a remarkable bloody season. If the mirror are writing positive stories we've either won everyone over or we're doomed.

 

But I wish Koeman would talk less about "top five or six" - the last time he said he hadn't seen a better team than the Saints we stopped winning for 5 games.

 

Ignore

 

This cant happen .can it?

 

I dont think so - we have a top 4 1st eleven, but in terms of squad its not top 4. If we get really lucky with injuries its possible but normally that doesnt happen

 

I bet on us to finish top 4 - put the bet on in June but wish I'd waited a month as the odds got much longer when players started leaving. I got 35\1 so will be a nice bonus WHEN we do finish top 4

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...to-believe-in-making-the-top-four-this-season

Matt thinks we should believe. I'm not quite there yet but many more results like this and even I will have to believe.

 

The Monday Night Club on Radio 5 discussed the Ballon d'Or, Saints ability to make the top 4 and... well what else is there..?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xn2ky

Saints discussion starts around 13 minutes in.

 

Thanks for posting that...very enjoyable and complimentary (well how could it not be?). The Dutch chap when talking about our defensive set up picked out Pelle to show how everyone is involved. Another interesting point was how we are finding gems in leagues that top PL clubs are wary off. By applying due diligence we sort the wheat from the chaff in leagues outside the usual suspects. A few people on here should put their hands up...how often has someone said...he looks good, but the league is pants. Applying our selection system to these smaller leagues is how we are getting great players at half price compared to players in Spain for instance. Their discussion about whether we will make the top 4 was pretty much on the money....this is our best chance, we have a good chance, but may depend on injuries.

 

You are probably right about this being our best chance, but funnily enough I thought that last year and yet here we are.

I'd like to think that form here on we will always be able to put in a decent challenge. Getting into the top 4 this year though, might realistically be the only way to prevent the sort of team break-up we had last year.

 

Our success is mainly down to us being a very good side, but it is helped by several teams usually in the mix (Arsenal, Liverpool, ManU, Spurs, Newcastle) going through an inconsistent phase. This was also true for some teams last season, but we didn't take full advantage (I would say due to the manager). If we take advantage this season (which I think we will), we will keep good players and attract others....then we will be a permanent feature near the top (title anyone ).

 

Great piece.
The one thing I took from this is that this is our best chance & probably last chance of getting into the Champions League because failure to do so will leave us open for the Big Boys to come in and take our best players AGAIN! If we are in the CL there won't be that excuse and with the extra cash gained from qualification we may be able to up the wages of our top players so that other offers are not so beneficial to those players chasing the big wages

 

I've heard Steve Claridge say that Saints have a great last chance of making Champions League before, earlier in the season. I don't actually believe that's true. This is an early chance of doing it. Behind the scenes, Koeman has actually been thinking/saying all along about qualifying for Europe at the end of next season, so the current position of the club is [typically post-2009 Saints] ahead of schedule.

Admittedly, this may be a good/best chance because there are several big clubs who appear to be caught in transition, but I wouldn't rule it out at all if we don't make the jump this season. However, it would be very convenient and nice if we did.

BTW, during the last 5 minutes of that programme, the guys talk about manager of the season. Currently, there are two candidates, according to Robbie Savage - Koeman and Sean Dyche. The question was if Koeman got Saints into the top FIVE and Dyche kept Burnley in the division, who would be the manager of the season..?
After that, there was a fun exchange between Claridge and Savage [they were teammates at Leicester City in the late 1990's], which was a giggle.

I always find Steve Claridge entertaining, and particularly so on the MNC, where he can give full vent.

 

So, Champions League eh?

 

The majority of us knew it was never (and never will be) realistic. A few got carried away but most of us know how it really is.

Could be worse though, we coild be finishing mid table in the basement (and 3 divisions below the mighty Bournemouth!)