the top 6 is going to be incredibly hard. but then i though that about top 10 this season and promotion a few years back!!!
My concern as well posted on here, is that we'll finish 10th next season and all hell will break loose. I will think 10th next season will be a good season, unless we are 18th-20th until April and win 4 games to crawl up to 10th.
I got married, now that was taking a chance. It didn't work. I got married again, now that was taking a real chance. I'm hanging in there still. Fingers crossed
Fully agree with you there flt I also think 10th would be a good season, I just look at thee teams above us and struggle to see how we could finish above any of them. Strangely, I feel this year was our best chance of this.
I can't believe some people are even entertaining this. We are SO much better under Poch, as much as I liked Adkins his time here at saints came to a natural end. Unless he has improved beyond all recognition then he would be a step backwards. (Not wanting to take anything away from all the great work he did in L1 and NPC).
Under Adkins we played attractive football but the pressing game is something which Pochettino promoted and led to our change in fortune, amongst other things. I would be delighted to see Nigel get Reading promoted but you can't go back. As far as the other Nigel (Pearson) is concerned, he was only in charge for fewer than three months and we just avoided relegation on the last day. Would we be talking so cheerily about him had we lost 3-2 rather than winning by that margin on the last day of the season? I think he is held in high esteem only because of what followed, what with the total football, sorry fiasco, of the Dutchman. Should we lose Pochettino we should be looking at the best available manager and whilst I love Adkins, I think that we could attract better. Obviously, this is hypothetical as Pochettino is going nowhere.
You can't blame the Dutch. We actually played some fantastic football given the very limited resources they had at their disposal. I reckon if we'd kept Stern John we'd have stayed up. Thank goodness we didn't! Regarding out position next year, then I think 4th is a realistic goal, depending on our summer of course. If you look at the current Arsenal team and compare them with the Saints team man for man, there aren't many I'd swap.
Szeszney for Boruc, Mertesacker for Fonte, Ramsey for Cork, Ozil for Davis. If we could swap those, we'd be up there.
I know what you mean there. Thats why despite everything great that has happened this year, I have this tiny feeling of disappointment. As I said above, we should be as good as Arsenal on paper and have certainly played that way for most of the time. Its just that on the occasions when we didn't we self-destructed.
I don't think Ozil has set the world alight this year. Ramsey has been superb, true. But obviously if its my team we won't be swapping anyone for Cork (OK maybe Ya Ya Toure!) It will be interesting to see whether or not he can repeat that form next year. The other 2, yes.
Hasn't really played much this year. I suppose on his day he'd get in the Saints side but not a shoe-in.
Also I honestly don't believe top 4 is a realistic target, in fairness though I dont really know what to expect until the summers out of the way.
