Southampton could top the bottom half of the table by the end of our next game. Even when we were routed to the bottom I didn't really think we would go down this season, but now I don't really regard us as being in a relegation battle. We are far better and look far more accomplished than our fellow "strugglers" and I believe we will start to open up the gap a bit more quickly as the season progresses. If we were to win in the toon I think our focus would properly shift to looking at how high we can realistically finish this season, not just whether we can avoid the drop. I don't think the media would refer to us as 'strugglers' any more and I think we would start to believe we have found the coveted "winning mentality" that we haven't quite yet had this season. I would like to see us start to control games to the extent that we don't need to use quite the work rate of the previous few games and can once again up the confidence level and the swagger, without any complacency. This will be achieved when we are no longer referred to as "plucky", "brave" or any other similarly condescending term. To win in the toon is a big ask, but on the previous few games' performances I see no reason why we can't. From there, the top half beckons...
Oh I remember the glory days of times gone by, when we could happily sing, "First page of ceefax, we're on the first page of ceefax"
I think you have a good point. But with regards to the effort put into winning matches, I genuinely think we had the points wrapped up by the 60th minute Vs City and took our foot off the gas and made it look far too easy.
I've said we'd finish mid-table, i.e. 10th to 14th. It's possible I might have been overly cautious, but I suspect that's how it'll pan out.
12th was my prediction as well and I stand by it for now. But I think the question is now not whether we can achieve that but will we exceed it and by how much.
People are being far too reactionary and just assuming we will coast to safety now. As a wise man once said "Don't get too high when you win, and don't get too low when you lose."
It's not just on one game - since we achieved points/games played parity I thought that once we get a win or two on the board we will start to pull away, and since then we have upped our game. It is important not to be complacent, you're right there, I just don't think we're going to find ourselves worrying about relegation for much longer.
Come on, we are definitely in a relegation battle. Towards the end of this season, we are going to see many of the clubs in and around the relegation zone rally, just like every other season.
I agree . I think we will stay up , but it will be closer than people think IMHO . Would be made up if we finished 12th or so .
The media will continue to refer to us as "Struggling Southampton", purely for reasons of alliteration.
You can get 6/1 on a top half finish, anyone fancy a pop on that? Skybet only offering 4/1....they know!
Our position just above the relegation zone has fooled neutrals into the snap judgement that we are struggling, but we are far better than our position. May only have beaten one top team but we have draws against Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea and could have won at least 2 of those. We can beat any team and, of course, we can lose to any team, but only 3 losses out of 16 games suggests we will pick up enough points by the end of the season. And we have just come through a tranche of difficult games with more points than we might have thought. I think we will finish about 12-15.
Soon as we pop into the top half we'll become Super Saints again. EDIT: One positive thing I will say about the media. When commentators refer to Southampton as Saints they always put The in front of the nickname. Mainly because SFC is the best known and possibly original Saints in the UK.
In our last 12 League games we have accumulated 15 points. If we maintain that form we will finish on 42 points. Personally I think we'll do better than that because we are getting better all the time.
Heck, if the first four games of the year were retroactively declared friendlies, we'd be on a 47 point pace for the season. After that rough introduction to the Prem, we've played the past 22 games at a level that would have us nipping at Stoke's heels...shows how much of an impact even a brief stretch of struggles can have on the overall picture.
Before the villa game the best odds were 25/1 I had a bet at 18/1 which doesn't look too bad now. Fingers crossed
Yeah if we win our next game a few teams below us win, everyone will be saying how we are still in a big relegation fight. People need to zone out and look at the bigger picture sometimes.
9 of those points have come from the last 6 games. I see no reason why we cant continue to collect an average of 1.5 pts per game, putting us on around 45 pts at the end of the season. Now Saints have got that first win under Poch I think they will pick up at least 4 more, and could well reduce defeats to the odd 1 or 2.
Play like we have done last four, perhaps slightly more clinical, and I think we're a shoe-in for mid-table. People on here will feel silly for still thinking even at this stage that we'll be involved in a relegation battle.
