5 years ago

[Hatch]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

Southampton 3 - Pompey 0

 

bung in a cup win over Pompey as well.

 

 

and if I remember rightly, 4th place in the Premier League.

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

[Pancake]

Man, those were the days...

[Thedelldays]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

Southampton 3 - Pompey 0

 

bung in a cup win over Pompey as well.

 

 

and if I remember rightly, 4th place in the Premier League.

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

 

and people say we are at our natural level now too...

[Master Bates]

Cheers for that reminder of the fall from grace

[ART]

I feel really sad looking at your post. For 40 years the Skates looked backwards and we all mocked them. Now so many Saints supporters are doing just what they did. Let's look to the future and take the lessons we've learned from the past to build a better day. I am one of those after 60 years supporting Saints believes for once we're moving in the right direction. If only the supporters would get their side of the bargain right it will happen sooner than later. There is light at the end of the tunnel and a bright shining future for the club. Forward together and don't be dragged down by looking backwards at what's dead and inexistant.

[Andy_Porter]

Shocking, so depressing.

[Iowsaintsfan]

That really is depressing

[Legod Third Coming]

I feel really sad looking at your post. For 40 years the Skates looked backwards and we all mocked them. Now so many Saints supporters are doing just what they did. Let's look to the future and take the lessons we've learned from the past to build a better day. I am one of those after 60 years supporting Saints believes for once we're moving in the right direction. If only the supporters would get their side of the bargain right it will happen sooner than later. There is light at the end of the tunnel and a bright shining future for the club. Forward together and don't be dragged down by looking backwards at what's dead and inexistant.

 

Thank the lord.

We should be over the grieving by now.

[Legod Third Coming]

That really is depressing

 

Why? Have a look at where Hull were five years ago.

That's football.

That's life.

None of knows what tomorrow holds.

[Thedelldays]

Why? Have a look at where Hull were five years ago.

That's football.

That's life.

None of knows what tomorrow holds.

 

that is depressing

[Legod Third Coming]

that is depressing

 

LOL - you miserable bugger.

Me and you might win euromillions on Friday and then it'll be DD and LGTC that everyone else is moaning about...

[swannymere]

and people say we are at our natural level now too...

 

Your not seriously suggesting that we were at our natural level during that period, are you?

[Whitey Grandad]

I'd settle for mid-table security - in the Premier League of course.

[Papa Shango]

I feel really sad looking at your post. For 40 years the Skates looked backwards and we all mocked them. Now so many Saints supporters are doing just what they did. Let's look to the future and take the lessons we've learned from the past to build a better day. I am one of those after 60 years supporting Saints believes for once we're moving in the right direction. If only the supporters would get their side of the bargain right it will happen sooner than later. There is light at the end of the tunnel and a bright shining future for the club. Forward together and don't be dragged down by looking backwards at what's dead and inexistant.

 

Nothing wrong in remembering the good times.

[Greenridge]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

Southampton 3 - Pompey 0

 

bung in a cup win over Pompey as well.

 

 

and if I remember rightly, 4th place in the Premier League.

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

:smt090

[Thedelldays]

Your not seriously suggesting that we were at our natural level during that period, are you?

no...but yes with regards to being in the prem...where we are now is below our "natural level" imo

[Saintmike666]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

Southampton 3 - Pompey 0

 

bung in a cup win over Pompey as well.

 

 

and if I remember rightly, 4th place in the Premier League.

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

**Cries**

[Kenilworthy]

A year later Arry inherited what was pretty much the same squad, minus Killer, and told us that players who had outclassed Liverpool at Anfied weren't good enough to stay up

[swannymere]

no...but yes with regards to being in the prem...where we are now is below our "natural level" imo

 

Why? Trouble is there are about 10-15 clubs who think that in the Championship and bottom 6-7 of the Premiership.

[Evil Monkey]

Sometimes I actually wish we'd never been relegated.

[Pilchards]

What is easier right now, To fall into Division 2 or to rise back to where we was?

 

 

I personally think it's easier to rise as we have a great stadium and some superb kids.

Just lacking a wee bit of ambition and money :-(

[Andy_Porter]

Why's it depressing? Surely it should remind fans that we've had some good times not too long ago. A lot of fans have never even experienced the premiership. We got well over a decade of it plus a world class player in our team for many years. I wouldn't swap that for anything, let alone being a waste of space short term premier league "success" like wigan or sunderland.

 

I know, i'm very glad I got to see Le Tissier for a few years and then some relative success in the Premiership and obviously the cup final. I know one day we will back and hopefully go one step further, I'd love to see Southampton win something meaningfull.

 

I don't really dislike the Championship, still have some quality days even if we're no way near that premiership level now. The only thing I find depressing is how the Skates have really kicked on while we're in a slump with a ****** chairman.

[Window Cleaner]

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

 

Beattie,Pahars and Ormerod in attack.

Probably earned less than Rasiak between them.

[Thedelldays]

Beattie,Pahars and Ormerod in attack.

Probably earned less than Rasiak between them.

i very much doubt it...beattie was on very high wages by then..

[Andy_Porter]

I just read the match report from the Liverpool game, that really was some side we had back then. Out 16 man squad looks better than the Liverpools, even our bench was strong.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3249098.stm

 

WGS > Houllier

Edited 10 December, 2008 by Andy_Porter

[Window Cleaner]

i very much doubt it...beattie was on very high wages by then..

 

Doubt it, we still had the rupertian "wage structure"

It was after the Cup Final that he wanted shedloads of cash.

I reckon he was on about 6K a week in those days.

[Window Cleaner]

I just read the match report from the Liverpool game, that really was some side we had back then.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3249098.stm

 

WGS > Houllier

 

But Higgy and Delap weren't good enough for us right??

[Thedelldays]

Doubt it, we still had the rupertian "wage structure"

It was after the Cup Final that he wanted shedloads of cash.

I reckon he was on about 6K a week in those days.

if i am mistaken...5 years ago was after the cup final...?

and i heard he was on at the very least £15k more like £20K a week plus bonuses etc..

 

also...i cant see him being on that little...i know that kachloul was on 8k before he left

[Andy_Porter]

But Higgy and Delap weren't good enough for us right??

 

Never had any problems with Higgingbotham, thought he was a decent player even if he was a bit of a hoofer - will never forget his reaction after he scored against Palace.

 

Delap wasn't my favourite player, I think WGS killed him for us though, playing him all over the place rather than sticking to central midfield.

[Legod Third Coming]

Never had any problems with Higgingbotham, thought he was a decent player even if he was a bit of a hoofer - will never forget his reaction after he scored against Palace.

 

Delap wasn't my favourite player, I think WGS killed him for us though, playing him all over the place rather than sticking to central midfield.

 

At Stoke they bring him on for throw-ins and play the rest of the game with ten men - FACT.

[londonsaint1604]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

Southampton 3 - Pompey 0

 

bung in a cup win over Pompey as well.

 

 

and if I remember rightly, 4th place in the Premier League.

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

Seriously mate, just let it go. 5 years is a long time, you never know we might be back up there in another 5.

[Andy_Porter]

At Stoke they bring him on for throw-ins and play the rest of the game with ten men - FACT.

 

Not anymore

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/7774110.stm

[Whitey Grandad]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

Liverpool 1- Southampton 2

Southampton 3 - Pompey 0

 

bung in a cup win over Pompey as well.

 

 

and if I remember rightly, 4th place in the Premier League.

 

 

Just 5 poxy years ago.

 

Merry Christmas.

I said at the time that it wouldn't last...

[Thedelldays]

I said at the time that it wouldn't last...

 

 

i remember being in the northam when we beat derby 2-0 and taunting them about going down...my made would not join in the taunting as he said it could easily be us...i replied with something like.."have you seen us..we have a great manager there is no way we are going down any time soon.."

 

lol

[Fan The Flames]

A lot of fans have never even experienced the premiership. We got well over a decade of it.

 

 

27 years

[Pancake]

A lot of fans have never even experienced the premiership. We got well over a decade of it

 

27 years

 

13 Years in fact.

[Fan The Flames]

13 Years in fact.

 

27 years, life before the premiership and all that.

[St. Jason]

I feel really sad looking at your post. For 40 years the Skates looked backwards and we all mocked them. Now so many Saints supporters are doing just what they did. Let's look to the future and take the lessons we've learned from the past to build a better day. I am one of those after 60 years supporting Saints believes for once we're moving in the right direction. If only the supporters would get their side of the bargain right it will happen sooner than later. There is light at the end of the tunnel and a bright shining future for the club. Forward together and don't be dragged down by looking backwards at what's dead and inexistant.

 

Art you've been supporting Saints for 60 years and you feel "for once we're moving in the right direction"?????????

 

Your obviously a life long fan and seen some very, very, very dark times if this is "moving in the right direction" one would of thought getting promoted, countless semi finals, cup finals, regular trips to Europe, winning the cup, finishing second, more semi's & finals, moving to a new stadium, seeing home grown talent play for England etc etc would be classed as "moving in the right direction. Not relegation, selling every player of any value, becoming a national laughing stock for our SCW experiment, staring administraion and oblivion in the face!

 

Ps:- Could you please expalin what "our side of the bargain" is please? I take it you mean bend over, lube up and take whatever Rupert Lowes shoves up you, turn round smile politely and pay him for the pleasure!

 

Please don't take this as a personal attack on you Art, I just don't get it, you've seen such great things in your time yet you see this as moving forward! We have many fans posting on here saying "we have found our rightfull position, we've been punching obove our weight for years, we're a mid-table championship club" we'll my friends if this is the case then stop moaning at the fans, an average of 18k (come the end of the season) is all a "mid-table championship club can expect!

 

Pps. before anyone starts, I have 2 season tickets!

[Rory]

Never had any problems with Higgingbotham, thought he was a decent player even if he was a bit of a hoofer - will never forget his reaction after he scored against Palace.

 

Delap wasn't my favourite player, I think WGS killed him for us though, playing him all over the place rather than sticking to central midfield.

 

No Andy. Despite Delap being my favourite player for sharing the same name as me and for being Irish, he was a fantastic player under WGS. It was WGS who utilised his talents in the middle of the park. He was ruined under Wigley and Redknapp. Rory provided perfect stability in the midfield with Oakley and occasionally Prutton and was a pivotal part in our cup final run.

 

Hope you're well though mate

[Frank's cousin]

Just think where we where 50 years ago...3rd div south or something... we could get worse and we will get better, but we dont have a devine right to be in the top flight.... there are probably 70+ teams that have a history in the top flight - the bad thing is beacuse of the money in the game, its never been more difficult to get out of a rut...because you cant afford to keep a side together and build - its all quick fix and cash and luck,.... and those budgies agents mean no loyalty either...

[Andy_Porter]

No Andy. Despite Delap being my favourite player for sharing the same name as me and for being Irish, he was a fantastic player under WGS. It was WGS who utilised his talents in the middle of the park. He was ruined under Wigley and Redknapp. Rory provided perfect stability in the midfield with Oakley and occasionally Prutton and was a pivotal part in our cup final run.

 

Hope you're well though mate

 

Yeah all well atm mate, are you coming back from Christmas at all?

 

True what you say, was mostly him playing right back and even left back that ruined him. He was a very good in the centre of midfield. Couldn't really remember which manager started moving him around.

[View From The Top]

I feel really sad looking at your post. For 40 years the Skates looked backwards and we all mocked them. Now so many Saints supporters are doing just what they did. Let's look to the future and take the lessons we've learned from the past to build a better day. I am one of those after 60 years supporting Saints believes for once we're moving in the right direction. If only the supporters would get their side of the bargain right it will happen sooner than later. There is light at the end of the tunnel and a bright shining future for the club. Forward together and don't be dragged down by looking backwards at what's dead and inexistant.

 

You are, and always have been, a totally and utterly clueless muppet.

[wightman35]

Just think where we where 50 years ago...3rd div south or something... we could get worse and we will get better' date=' but we dont have a devine right to be in the top flight.... there are probably 70+ teams that have a history in the top flight - the bad thing is beacuse of the money in the game, its never been more difficult to get out of a rut...because you cant afford to keep a side together and build - its all quick fix and cash and luck,.... and those budgies agents mean no loyalty either...[/quote']

 

Absolutely right FC and I seem to remember that in the season when South and North were reformed into Divs 3 and 4 we were in danger of ending up in Div 4 for a time.

After 5 years of decline it would be nice to get on the upward trail. Maybe we will!

[Thedelldays]

Just think where we where 50 years ago...3rd div south or something... we could get worse and we will get better' date=' but we dont have a devine right to be in the top flight.... there are probably 70+ teams that have a history in the top flight - the bad thing is beacuse of the money in the game, its never been more difficult to get out of a rut...because you cant afford to keep a side together and build - its all quick fix and cash and luck,.... and those budgies agents mean no loyalty either...[/quote']

 

 

no one is saying we have a devine right...does not take detract from the fact some get sad when they remember the good times...is that so wrong? it shows people actually care in a way? how does that make you think other assume we have some sort of devine right to anything..?

[VectisSaint]

Absolutely right FC and I seem to remember that in the season when South and North were reformed into Divs 3 and 4 we were in danger of ending up in Div 4 for a time.

After 5 years of decline it would be nice to get on the upward trail. Maybe we will!

50 years ago we were in the 3rd Division (not 3rd Division South, this was the first year after the regionals were scrapped). We were being managed by Ted Bates, and we had Derek Reeves banging in goals for fun. At the end of the season 59-60 we gained promotion back to Div 2, and soon after appeared in a Cup SF against Man U. Within 8 years we gained promotion to the top flight. Quite honestly 50 years ago things were actually looking very bright and little did we know how good things were going to get just around the corner.

[John Smith]

This thread highlights the real highs and lows in Southamptons history. Some would say never look back, some say looking forward is difficult, others use the past to remind us that it's not always been about the Prem. To me, this reminds me of a period in our history where we were going forward. Like in '84, we were progressive. The thing that I find hardest to stomach is that we've seem to have lost our uniqueness.

 

we can compare ourselves to teams like Sunderland or Norwich or Portsmouth or whoever, but for me, Saints were unique. Everyone seemed to love the passion in our game. Our attacking flare as it were. Many seasons would pass where I could compete against my Arsenal or Tottenham supporting mates by betting them that we would score 50 goals before they would. Of course I would always win, but then we'd also concede 50 goals before anyone else!

 

It wasn't just about grit and determination, it wasn't about attack, attack, attack, it was about cold, wet, floodlit games at the Dell. The crowd on top of the pitch, and as one big family, cheering on, what seemed like, our boys. We have lost this, and in some way, maybe it was our success, that has brought about our downfall. Dare I say it, maybe it is SMS that has taken the soul of this club away. Sure, we weren't going to survive without a move to a larger, better facilitated stadium, but, in doing so, we left behind our uniqueness! From now on, we will only ever be as good as Sunderland or Norwich, we will never be unique again, and maybe, this will lead us to be also ran's instead of the club that was everyone's favourite underdog, because at least we got behind our team, no matter the results.

[London Saint]

This thread highlights the real highs and lows in Southamptons history. Some would say never look back, some say looking forward is difficult, others use the past to remind us that it's not always been about the Prem. To me, this reminds me of a period in our history where we were going forward. Like in '84, we were progressive. The thing that I find hardest to stomach is that we've seem to have lost our uniqueness.

 

we can compare ourselves to teams like Sunderland or Norwich or Portsmouth or whoever, but for me, Saints were unique. Everyone seemed to love the passion in our game. Our attacking flare as it were. Many seasons would pass where I could compete against my Arsenal or Tottenham supporting mates by betting them that we would score 50 goals before they would. Of course I would always win, but then we'd also concede 50 goals before anyone else!

 

It wasn't just about grit and determination, it wasn't about attack, attack, attack, it was about cold, wet, floodlit games at the Dell. The crowd on top of the pitch, and as one big family, cheering on, what seemed like, our boys. We have lost this, and in some way, maybe it was our success, that has brought about our downfall. Dare I say it, maybe it is SMS that has taken the soul of this club away. Sure, we weren't going to survive without a move to a larger, better facilitated stadium, but, in doing so, we left behind our uniqueness! From now on, we will only ever be as good as Sunderland or Norwich, we will never be unique again, and maybe, this will lead us to be also ran's instead of the club that was everyone's favourite underdog, because at least we got behind our team, no matter the results.

 

sniff sniff...amen to that

[saintjinksie]

A year later Arry inherited what was pretty much the same squad, minus Killer, and told us that players who had outclassed Liverpool at Anfied weren't good enough to stay up

 

our squad was gash in 2005. FACT. davenport, jakobsson etc avreage at best.

 

Team for last day in prem:

 

Niemi- quality prem player 8/10

Telfer- 5/10

Lundekvam- 7/10

Higginbotham- 6/10

Bernard-5/10 (Davenport 78 ) 4/10

Prutton 3/10 (Phillips 71) 6/10

Redknapp 7/10

Quashie 5/10

Le Saux 6/10 (Delap 71)5/10

Camara 5/10

Ormerod 3/10

Subs Not Used: Smith, Oakley.

 

Very poor team if you ask me, would have been slightly better with crouch but we still deserved to go down with that team. Bringing on Delap to try and save us from relegation says it all...

[mattyg]

Southampton 3 - Charlton 2

 

And probably most important of all, the day (or certainly the first time it was publicly broadcast) Strachan announced his intention to step down at the end of the season.

[krissyboy31]

our squad was gash in 2005. FACT. davenport, jakobsson etc avreage at best.

 

Team for last day in prem:

 

Niemi- quality prem player 8/10

Telfer- 5/10

Lundekvam- 7/10

Higginbotham- 6/10

Bernard-5/10 (Davenport 78 ) 4/10

Prutton 3/10 (Phillips 71) 6/10

Redknapp 7/10

Quashie 5/10

Le Saux 6/10 (Delap 71)5/10

Camara 5/10

Ormerod 3/10

Subs Not Used: Smith, Oakley.

 

Very poor team if you ask me, would have been slightly better with crouch but we still deserved to go down with that team. Bringing on Delap to try and save us from relegation says it all...

 

It might have been poor but it was light years ahead of what we have now.