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Favourites for league 1

marc_saint

By marc_saint
in The Saints

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doddisalegend

doddisalegend

Posted
Posted

I see even skate boy Claridge thinks we're going to win league one on the BBC. Being favorites doesn't sit well with me we're saints it's our job to be plucky underdogs/ league wipping boys/or big scalp for smaller clubs, being excpected to win just doesn't seem right somehow. Hopefully winning will become the norm and I can get used to it.

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted

Ambitious Southampton are clear favourites to win League One

For a vivid illustration of just how far Southampton have travelled over the past year, it is simply necessary to admire the home kit that will be worn for the first time on Saturday.

 

Southampton have recovered to the extent that they have become known by their rivals as 'Junior Manchester City'.

"Bang on certainties to be promoted," is the assessment of Southampton from Swindon manager Danny Wilson – and the bookmakers certainly agree.

 

At 9/4 on for League One, no team in English football are such clear favourites to win their division.

 

Anyone else starting to feel a heady mix of anticipation and intrepidation....?! I'm not sure I like this "clear favourites" malarkey!

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
45.1% of Guardian readers think we'll end up champions in an on-line poll today :)

 

I don't remember us rigging that one.....can't be right!

 

What did the other 54.9% think?

dune

dune

Posted
Posted

At 9/4 on for League One, no team in English football are such clear favourites to win their division.

 

This can't be right, surely we're not 4/9?

Turkish

Turkish

Posted
Posted
At 9/4 on for League One, no team in English football are such clear favourites to win their division.

 

This can't be right, surely we're not 4/9?

 

If we had better cover in CM we would be.

EastleighSoulBoy

EastleighSoulBoy

Posted
Posted

Being favourites really is something we're not used to and it sets the mind working on all the angles from which we could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

I'd really prefer us just to be quietly confident of promotion being sewn up by Easter.

 

Then we could concentrate on finishing top.

buctootim

buctootim

Posted
Posted
That water looks very blue.

 

lol. I thought that. Had trouble believing the rest of the article after seeing the flagrant misrepresentation of the Itchen!

Window Cleaner

Window Cleaner

Posted
Posted
Just checked on Skybet and we're 15/8 to win the league and 2/3 to go up.

 

 

15/8 for a nailed on certainty is a very fair quote indeed. We are what is known in the turf accounting trade as

"past the post"

Don't get all this jittery stuff really, we will win the League with at least 100 points.....nailed on.

jawillwill

jawillwill

Posted
Posted
we have Pulis,what more do you want, lad might surprise us yet, I'm told that he was competent enough against Eastleigh.

 

I'm going to put a tenner on him scoring a hat-trick v Plymouth. Anyone know the odds?

St Landrew

St Landrew

Posted
Posted
It's nice to be favorites for once, however can't help but think the prices are wayyyy too short.

 

No pressure then!

 

Oh we've been favouites many times before. To be relegated, that is. This is a nice change. Note the author of the article and this..!

Junior Mullet

Junior Mullet

Posted
Posted

Like this bit:

 

"The catalyst for the transformation was the takeover last year by Markus Liebherr, a German-born Swiss billionaire who, in city circles, is estimated to be the third richest club owner across all of English football."

dune

dune

Posted
Posted
45.1% of Guardian readers think we'll end up champions in an on-line poll today :)

 

Brighton are top of the poll now - 43.6% and we only have 23%.

 

:lol:

Secret Site Agent

Secret Site Agent

Posted
Posted
Aaarrghhh.....in my haste to get off that site as quickly as I could I ended up voting for Dagenham! ;-)

 

Trousers, Just done you a favour. I'm working in Fords at the moment in...............Dagenham, so I just grabbed the Motor chef from his van, whose a Dagenham fan, and got him to vote for Saints.

 

I had to buy a large Chilli Concarnie and a cheese and pickle roll, plus a crazy milk drink that I think they stopped manufacturing in the eighties, but anything for another Saints fan.

thesaint sfc

thesaint sfc

Posted
Posted
Anyone else starting to feel a heady mix of anticipation and intrepidation....?! I'm not sure I like this "clear favourites" malarkey!

 

Amen to that! Scares the bejesus out of me. Since when have we been clear favourites for anything? Losing doesn't count.

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
Trousers, Just done you a favour. I'm working in Fords at the moment in...............Dagenham, so I just grabbed the Motor chef from his van, whose a Dagenham fan, and got him to vote for Saints.

 

I had to buy a large Chilli Concarnie and a cheese and pickle roll, plus a crazy milk drink that I think they stopped manufacturing in the eighties, but anything for another Saints fan.

 

Cheers!

NickG

NickG

Posted
Posted

bbc blog

 

Shortly after the end of last season, it was widely reported that Alan Pardew was facing the sack as manager of Southampton.

 

His team had started the campaign on minus 10 points but eventually finished in seventh place, just missing out on the play-offs.

 

It was a noble effort by Saints, whose challenge was undermined by their inability to reproduce their dominant home form away from St Mary's. For example, they scored five goals in consecutive home games in late February but lost at struggling Tranmere in their next away fixture. But was it enough for chairman Nicola Cortese, who had sanctioned a multi-million pound spend in January?

 

When he demanded a meeting with Pardew after the season was over, it was widely assumed the manager was on his way. But Pardew survived. That said, I would be extremely surprised if Cortese settled for anything less than automatic promotion this season.

 

I met the former banker last year and found him to be considered, intelligent and calm. But it's fair to say he's also unaccustomed to failure.

 

Southampton certainly have the personnel to win League One. In Rickie Lambert, they have a striker who scored 37 goals last season, while David Connolly and Lee Barnard supplement the attacking options.

 

The spine of the side is solid, with Kelvin Davis in goal, Jose Fonte in the centre of defence and the ever-improving Morgan Schneiderlin in midfield. Saints have kept hold of Adam Lallana, while the likes of Ryan Dickson, Danny Butterfield and Frazer Richardson have bolstered an already impressive squad.

 

Saints took four points off last season's champions Norwich, including a 2-0 win at Carrow Road - and Canaries defender Russell Martin believes Pardew's team are equipped to emulate his team's achievement.

 

"If you look at it on paper, they have the strongest squad by quite some distance," Martin told me. "I think they have a group of players who can handle the pressure of expectation and their manager definitely can. I would expect them to be up there with the likes of Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday, while Plymouth have kept quite a strong squad and Peterborough have made a lot of changes."

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