Loved it too - our twins we born in January 2012, my wife and l would go to the Div 1 games and tried the Championship games but she was getting a little large - even for that Championship opener vs Leeds Utd. She would shop before kickoff and l would go to the pub and she would drive me home! Was so relaxing to attend games where you thought to had a damned good chance of winning each week and now I am gasping for a point...
I completely understand and empathise with the nostalgia for the time in League One and the season spent in the top two of the Championship. Who wouldn’t miss those days of nearly always winning? The thing is though, as this is a thread about the success, or lack of it, of our current manager, how would we measure that success if we found ourselves in the Championship next season? Let’s assume the worst has happened, Ralph has failed and has been sacked, and we are one game into the 2023/24 season sitting at the foot of the second tier. Most of us would want an immediate return to the Premier League to be the target, while a sizeable minority would be happy with at least a few seasons in the Championship. Those people would forget that failure to gain promotion would be just that, a failure. Do we then have a succession of failed managers being sacked? And please don’t forget that our last extended stay in the Championship coincided with, and undoubtedly contributed to, administration and near-liquidation, and relegation to League One. Never forget how lucky we were to be spotted by Nicola Cortese and his pal Markus Liebherr. Never forget that the stated aim when they took over wasn’t to become established as a lower-league club, but to get back to the Premier League as soon as possible. Sport Republic’s business model, I am sure, relies upon us being in the top tier, and the revenue generated by that level. The investment in the squad so far suggests a long-term plan to build year-on-year and gradually establish us as at least a top-half side. Could we rely on that level of support continuing if we were relegated? If not, what would the alternative be? Please excuse the somewhat off-topic rant!
If we were to dispose of Ralph, people always say "yes, but who would you get in". Can I drop in Matthias Jaissle's name into that pot.
But the fact is it happened and we had three of the most enjoyable seasons of my Saints life and recently we’ve had too much of the pointless (literally) joyless struggle to just avoid relegation Understandable that some of us get misty eyed about the joy of the non EPL years
I'll add Julien Stephan at Strasbourg. Got a significant overperformance from Rennes...and then the next season got a significant overperformance from Strasbourg while playing a markedly different style. Likes to attack but has the borderline-heretical idea that you should cater to the strengths of your players.
Agreed, it was miles better in hindsight. Striving for promotion was great and an achievable goal. There is no point in us being in this league where we can’t compete
I can accept that we a not likely to threaten the upper echelons of the league very much but I do expect us to play an attractive and exciting style of football, bloody the nose of the rich elite clubs occasionally and give it a real go in the cups (NOT ROTATING!). This would satisfy the vast majority of Saints fans I believe.
I completely understand the sentiment re the Div1 to Championship days. But when I watch those leagues on the box, I look at the sometimes empty areas of the ground, and wonder if that would be us in 2/3 years time once we've 'settled' in the lower tier. When we were there last, there was a clear plan and path to better things, we knew where we were heading for and therefore large attendances gave SMS a fortress feeling of full enjoyment. I'm not at all certain that would be the case if mid-table lower tier football became the norm. The management saga will resolve at some point hopefully in a positive direction for the current occupant, if not, then all bets are off. Stick with it for a few weeks yet is my stance.
We should not forget the four years of cross we had to suffer in the championship before Div 1, the last two years of that were dire
The 'journey' of going down and then all the way back was amazing, and probably the most enjoyable part of my Saints following career. Loved it. Wouldn't want to repeat it though.
Good points...but I would still take some down years to get the highs of the promotion seasons personally. I think I would prefer to be a yo-yo club like Norwich or Fulham than us right now. At least they get the buzz each season of chasing up the league, winning games in the championship and building/growing. Seems preferable to this purgatory of conceding 3+ goals every week, staying up by a point, losing all our good players and starting again. I have experienced the Europa league away days and the league one away days, and both were just as fun as each other. All I really care about is how well saints do in whatever competition they are in, it doesn’t matter to me which competition that is. As long as we are competitive.
It's taken me so long to write this that there are loads of similar posts already but better late than never. Everyone to their own and you are not alone but I've never quite understood this stance. For all it's faults, being in the PL gives you the chance to see some of the very best players in action and on the occasions when we have beaten one of the top six some of the best memories. Instead of remembering the championship on the way up think about what is was like on the way down. It was miserable to say the least. There's no guarantee we would be competitive and even if we were, to what end? Do you stop going if we were to be promoted? As for not ruined by money, it already is. The existence of parachute payments has seen to that and yo yo teams have to experience regular miserable relegations as well as the glory of promotions. I'm not sure I would enjoy that more than what we have now to be honest. I also enjoyed our time in the lower leagues, (we went to more games than ever before or since) but that enjoyment was built around success. As I said above there are no guarantees of even being competitive, it could set the club back years. The cost of a season ticket for the newly relegated teams are very similar to our own in the PL so no guarantee of financial benefits either.
For those that want a year or two out of the Premier League as it may be fun, can I just say Leeds and Nottingham Forest. Oh and Derby, Coventry.
That's the point, being competitive for most of the matches. My feeling is that the yo-yo effect cannot be guaranteed, my West Brom mate, once an optimist, 'we'll be back next year etc' not so happy at present. Just like you and all the genuine Saints supporters, I want to see us get into the mentality that Hants C. C have, they're finding ways to win from difficult situations.
