"clubs like Southampton cannot be champions of England"

[Saint_clark]

There are other clubs close by Leeds who therefore have no catchment area whatsoever.

 

Let's be clear here. The man walks on the moon theory only. works. for. Saints.

 

Although no-one has ever said that.

[The9]

....no one on earth has ever said Sheikh Mansoor had any history of loving Man City.

But funny they plumped for Manchester City in 2008, and not "just some Prem team" like Hull, or Bolton, or Stoke, or Sunderland, or Wigan.

Just randomly, out of thin air, Manchester City. Big city, former league champions, massive fan base Man City. "Just some Prem team".

 

Yet not Liverpool, or Man Utd, or Chelsea, or Spurs or Arsenal, all bigger clubs. Middling Man City, hadn't won anything for 30 years, fewer cup final appearances than Millwall in the previous 25 years, and in 1997 still getting decent but not spectacular crowds.

 

There's potential in Newbury if someone throws a billion quid at them. Maybe they won't be champions in 2013, but you were talking about a jump of 11 years already from the date I was discussing before City even got taken over. They were a middling-to-relegation threatened Prem side with nothing resembling success in '97, and before the Commonwealth Games came along and gave them a stadium, showed no signs of getting any bigger. Even with Shinawatra's money they were STILL nothing major. Though they had a new ground, they were still only a vaguely decent top half side at that point.

 

So, ANYONE can inherit a big, rich, owner and suddenly get the rocket treatment, and the threshold is getting lower as the top clubs are already bought up.

 

The only question now, is whether someone can still launch a club with a wodge of cash while Financial Fair Play is in place.

[CB Fry]

Yet not Liverpool, or Man Utd, or Chelsea, or Spurs or Arsenal, all bigger clubs. Middling Man City, hadn't won anything for 30 years, fewer cup final appearances than Millwall in the previous 25 years, and in 1997 still getting decent but not spectacular crowds.

 

There's potential in Newbury if someone throws a billion quid at them. Maybe they won't be champions in 2013, but you were talking about a jump of 11 years already from the date I was discussing before City even got taken over. They were a middling-to-relegation threatened Prem side with nothing resembling success in '97, and before the Commonwealth Games came along and gave them a stadium, showed no signs of getting any bigger. Even with Shinawatra's money they were STILL nothing major. Though they had a new ground, they were still only a vaguely decent top half side at that point.

 

So, ANYONE can inherit a big, rich, owner and suddenly get the rocket treatment, and the threshold is getting lower as the top clubs are already bought up.

 

The only question now, is whether someone can still launch a club with a wodge of cash while Financial Fair Play is in place.

 

Sorry. Nonsense. Man City were Man City and were a bigger club than us even when they were in the third tier and we were Premier League. There was a reason Alan Ball walked out on gigantic Saints to join Newbury-sized Man City.

 

They were not and are not" just any club".

[Barry Sanchez]

BS. When Man City were playing in the second division one could have sais the same about them.

 

Manchester City, Everton, Leeds and many many others have large followings and a large history.

 

Chelsea have always had a massive following, having a couple of seasons when a stand was shut down, hooliganism and financial trouble is always going to affect attendances, they are 5th of all time attendances for football clubs so they cant be that small.

 

I would be more concerned about what we get in and the lack of atmosphere, I wouldn't want anymore in as it can be embarrassing as it is.

[Barry Sanchez]

Delusion abounds on this site to actually how big modern football Saints think we are, we are between 15th and 20th largest club in England and thats being kind, that never changed when we were in the 3rd tier so it wont change now.

[Dig Dig]

Why all of a sudden are we talking about what Keegan said in 1997 about his time here in the early 80's?

[Wes Tender]

It's possible it's possible it's all possible.

 

Close the thread. It's possible.

 

It's possible.

 

Is the correct answer, although the repetition and implied snideness is boring and infantile, in your typical style.

 

Improbable, but possible.

[scotty]

Why all of a sudden are we talking about what Keegan said in 1997 about his time here in the early 80's?

 

He's probably got a book out.

 

Possibly ghostwritten.

[Wes Tender]

Delusion abounds on this site to actually how big modern football Saints think we are, we are between 15th and 20th largest club in England and thats being kind, that never changed when we were in the 3rd tier so it wont change now.

 

It isn't a debate about how big we are, but how big we might become under certain circumstances. Also, it seems to have escaped your attention that the debate is about whether we could be Champions of England, not whether we are one of the largest clubs. The largest clubs have a greater chance of succeeding, because it follows that they will generally have more money to throw at it. But even as we stand now, we are patently ahead in the top flight of some of those clubs deemed by you to be bigger than us, which presumably includes some clubs one or even two divisions below us. Talk of us not being able to progress upwards because of historical precedent and therefore in the process becoming a bigger club is plainly nonsense.

[70's Mike]

many years ago when we first got promoted to the top league the team released a song and one of the lines was

 

"we are yet to win the FA Cup or win the league but we will do them both one day"

it took 10 years to win the Cup and I still believe that we will win the league in the next 30years, before I am 90

[Miltonaggro]

many years ago when we first got promoted to the top league the team released a song and one of the lines was

 

"we are yet to win the FA Cup or win the league but we will do them both one day"

it took 10 years to win the Cup and I still believe that we will win the league in the next 30years, before I am 90

 

Damned right!...

[The9]

Sorry. Nonsense. Man City were Man City and were a bigger club than us even when they were in the third tier and we were Premier League. There was a reason Alan Ball walked out on gigantic Saints to join Newbury-sized Man City.

 

They were not and are not" just any club".

 

Of course the discussion about why Man City got taken over is irrelevant anyway, when there's the precedent of a billionaire buying Saints in League One.

[sammysaint]

It isn't a debate about how big we are, but how big we might become under certain circumstances. Also, it seems to have escaped your attention that the debate is about whether we could be Champions of England, not whether we are one of the largest clubs. The largest clubs have a greater chance of succeeding, because it follows that they will generally have more money to throw at it. But even as we stand now, we are patently ahead in the top flight of some of those clubs deemed by you to be bigger than us, which presumably includes some clubs one or even two divisions below us. Talk of us not being able to progress upwards because of historical precedent and therefore in the process becoming a bigger club is plainly nonsense.

 

Were become a bigger club from being just in the prem, the amount of kids 4-7 year olds who got chelsea or utd kits instead of saints ones when we went down to league one was mad, over half my classes i coach would be of non saints kits, where as now i have half or in some cases pretty much all of the class wearing last seasons kit every session, big clubs attract the kids, ok some kids grow out of the glory hunting, but some wont, your find teams that were bigger then us like Leeds, now have a poor young fan base and from my time in Leeds i see alot of Man Utd fans now appearing specially in the young fan base, kids want to support a team they can look cool at supporting at school and can see on TV.

 

if

[OldNick]

Were become a bigger club from being just in the prem, the amount of kids 4-7 year olds who got chelsea or utd kits instead of saints ones when we went down to league one was mad, over half my classes i coach would be of non saints kits, where as now i have half or in some cases pretty much all of the class wearing last seasons kit every session, big clubs attract the kids, ok some kids grow out of the glory hunting, but some wont, your find teams that were bigger then us like Leeds, now have a poor young fan base and from my time in Leeds i see alot of Man Utd fans now appearing specially in the young fan base, kids want to support a team they can look cool at supporting at school and can see on TV.

 

if

in the 80's we had a lot of new fans away from the area because the football we played and having stars like Keegan etc. A period of success would undoubtedly get us a larger fan base,especially abroad. I read that fans especially in the Far East do not have the same club loyalty we have here and thnk nothing of changing club support. I assume long term the club are looking for global fans not 'little England' i t is not what I would want but I assume our foreign owners are not focussing just on getting the fans in from Shirley,Millbrook,Bitterne etc.

[SaintRobbie]

"I took a gamble moving to Southampton and it definitely was not a mistake. It was a fact finding mission, and I learned more about life and football in two years there than I did in six at Liverpool - notably that clubs like Southampton cannot be champions of England. They couldn't then, even though we had a good go at it, and they certainly couldn't now. It's not even an issue"

 

So spoke Kevin Keegan in his 1997 autobiography , is it a sad indictment of English football that in reality a side other than the top 4/5 (the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal and perhaps Liverpool) are the only ones considered as potential champions?

 

Or could a club like Southampton with the right financial backing ever threaten as we did back in the early 80s.

 

Did he eat his words when Blackburn won the Premier League title?

 

Of course we can do it.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Did he eat his words when Blackburn won the Premier League title?

 

Of course we can do it.

 

Yea but as I have already pointed out, then it took Blackburn millions to win the League but now you have to be bankrolled by a country

[aintforever]

Yea but as I have already pointed out, then it took Blackburn millions to win the League but now you have to be bankrolled by a country

 

Doesn't mean it will always be that way. Football finances have changed before and they will change again.

[ericb]

Doesn't mean it will always be that way. Football finances have changed before and they will change again.

 

Of course we can't say for certain it won't but its highly, highly unlikely it'll ever happen in our lifetime and the same is true for 90% of clubs in football

[Miltonaggro]

in the 80's we had a lot of new fans away from the area because the football we played and having stars like Keegan etc. A period of success would undoubtedly get us a larger fan base,especially abroad. I read that fans especially in the Far East do not have the same club loyalty we have here and thnk nothing of changing club support. I assume long term the club are looking for global fans not 'little England' i t is not what I would want but I assume our foreign owners are not focussing just on getting the fans in from Shirley,Millbrook,Bitterne etc.

 

A favourite story of mine is that we were visiting family who lived in Manchester in August 1981. I went to a local park for a kick about with my cousins and whilst there saw two local kids wearing Saints Admiral candy stripe shirts, both with a homemade number 7 on the back. Later we drove to a local pub and on the way passed another gaggle of kids with a football, amongst the Man U and Liverpool shirts, one was sporting a yellow and blue Saints away shirt. Success breeds success...

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Possible this season for sure. Highly unlikely but possible. United under new management, Chelsea and Arsenal inconsistent, Man City gone. Then you are into the dregs - Everton, Spurs, Palace. Why not? Probably would need to come up the rails late like in 1984.

[Window Cleaner]

Possible this season for sure. Highly unlikely but possible. United under new management, Chelsea and Arsenal inconsistent, Man City gone. Then you are into the dregs - Everton, Spurs, Palace. Why not? Probably would need to come up the rails late like in 1984.

 

where have Man City gone then ?

[70's Mike]

Of course we can't say for certain it won't but its highly, highly unlikely it'll ever happen in our lifetime and the same is true for 90% of clubs in football

 

Believe

[Tom & Gerry]

What would it take for Southampton to win the league.

 

You would need a driven ambitious chairman determined to succeed and not afraid who he upsets (like me) in the process - I think we have that.

 

You would need enormous luck and good judgement in the transfer market as we can not pay the £30m+ transfers that guarantee success. So far close but no cigar.

 

You would need an extraordinary coach like Brian Clough. Do we have that?

 

You would need to hold on to good players longer than might be expected for a club of our size and status - so far so good.

 

You would need to avoid injury and suspension to key players.

 

Then if there was no outstanding team that year with a large slice of luck it could just be possible.

[Miltonaggro]

What would it take for Southampton to win the league.

 

You would need a driven ambitious chairman determined to succeed and not afraid who he upsets (like me) in the process - I think we have that.

 

You would need enormous luck and good judgement in the transfer market as we can not pay the £30m+ transfers that guarantee success. So far close but no cigar.

 

You would need an extraordinary coach like Brian Clough. Do we have that?

 

You would need to hold on to good players longer than might be expected for a club of our size and status - so far so good.

 

You would need to avoid injury and suspension to key players.

 

Then if there was no outstanding team that year with a large slice of luck it could just be possible.

 

Spot on!...

[Sour Mash]

What would it take for Southampton to win the league.

 

You would need a driven ambitious chairman determined to succeed and not afraid who he upsets (like me) in the process - I think we have that.

 

You would need enormous luck and good judgement in the transfer market as we can not pay the £30m+ transfers that guarantee success. So far close but no cigar.

 

You would need an extraordinary coach like Brian Clough. Do we have that?

 

You would need to hold on to good players longer than might be expected for a club of our size and status - so far so good.

 

You would need to avoid injury and suspension to key players.

 

Then if there was no outstanding team that year with a large slice of luck it could just be possible.

It's not impossible, just extremely unlikely.