There is no reason why we can't win the premier league in the next 5-10 years with the backing that we've got,the superb academy and our great manager.
Adkins is going to have such fun answering questions in the PL...they won't know what has hit them if they think they will get a straight answer to a straight question.
Why not - i was there when we finished second in the league - happy days can come back even in these cash fuelled times (well M27 west anyway)
Good 10 min interview with Adkins on Player. Saying how well preseason is going and that most players are ahead of targets. Wants several players in, but important not to swamp the team and lose the good spirit at Saints. Says quiet signings not splashed over media often turn out to be the best. He's the master of the poker face because I still don't know about Buttner even though he was asked direct. He didn't say it was off exactly, but referred again to not liking it done in public. Didn't sound too pleased with Buttner and his agent. Can't read the man.
haha, same here I thought maybe a little smirk about Buttner or something, BUT no he kept such a straight face, didn't give a thing away.
Maybe its his middle name. Like Inspector Morse. Note: Endeavour is Morse's first name. And thats a fact.
Returning to the OP, I think the reason why Nicola is so convinced that we will get there in the end, is that he sees the way that most of the top EPL teams are run is completely unsustainable and eventually the chickens will come home to roost. We have already seen the problems at clubs like Pompey and Rangers. His business model is sustainable in the long term, (and before anyone brings up the loss on the accounts, that was very shrew investment bearing in mind what we will earn this year from our EPL status) with the emphasis on developing our own talent and not breaking our wages structure. Now I am not talking about this season or next but you have to say that Nicola seems to know what he is doing and his track record is to achieve his goals, usually ahead of target.
The opening games will provide a tough test and I think will have a bearing as to where we finish up this season. I think Adkins has done as fabulous job and the club has revived the "feel" it used to have back in the day of Lawrie Mac. However, I think that to suggest we will challenge for the PL and European football is a step too far. Even Tottenham couldn't acheive the latter last season and the PL is effectively only possible for Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea. Even a team with the pedigree of Liverpool have no chance of winning the league -ever. The best Saitns can hope for it stability and keeping a comfortable mid-table position. We should be more than a match for QPR, Reading, Wigan, Swansea, Norwich, Stoke and WBA and I think can avoid relegation. It is a tough league and the better teams should be capable with the talent at their disposal of brushing Saints aside. The situation is like 10 years ago when Chelsea started to dominate and they seemed to regularly turn us over. Next season, there will be more teams like this and I think the experience will be a huge learning curve for Nigel. For me, I'd like to see Saints establish themselves in the top flight, get the academy to continue churning out the young talent and play the swash-buckling style of football we have been used to over the last few seasons. A trip to Europe would be nice but realistically this is a pipe-dream and the effort has got to be towards concreting our PL status. I don't think anyone will take Adkin's comments seriously although I recognise the club's obvious ambition. The PL is a very different proposition these days and for the likes of Liverpool to be scrubbed out as serious contenders gives an indication of how difficult this league will be.
Agree with this. Have to be realistic but still plan ahead. Anything as long as it's above the bottom three will do for me this season.
Well I agree if you are talking about the next few years, but let's have some historical perspective here. Go back ten years and suggest that Man City might win the Premiership. Go back 20 years and suggest that Liverpool would not win another for 20 years. Both of those would have seemed laughably unlikely. Things change in football, so I can't see that your assertion that Liverpool will not win the title again, "ever" is reasonable. What we do know if that the whole economic base of football depends upon ever increasing TV income to pay off the unsustainable borrowings. That is a classic bubble and I think eventually it will burst. Remember that the 5 year bit of the plan was to get into the Premiership. I am sure that the next bit will take longer, but I do believe we could become a top-half established team within a few years. With our Chairman, who knows what is possible in a decade?
