What to do for the EFL return?

[Noodles34]

Not hoping we go down of course but pretty much expecting it. Can’t see us getting anything at Fulham and if we lose to Forest then it will all but be done, surely? 
In a way I don’t think it will be a bad thing. The last few years have been crap and the gaps are getting bigger and bigger and it’s not a matter of if but when the likes of us are relegated. It’s getting pretty boring now and maybe the championship will actually be more fun, games, venues, fans. 
So do we keep NJ for that division. Do we sell off the likes of Ely, Diallo and Djenepo? Do we play the kids in readiness? 
we will have to accept and plan for it at some point instead of aimlessly believing we might stay up. 

[Nordic Saint]

First we need to get rid of Nathan Jones or we'll end up like Stoke did, bottom of the Championship. 

 

 

Edited 3 January, 2023 by Nordic Saint

[LGTL]

1) Get rid of Nathan fucking Jones. 

[S-Clarke]

The problem with getting relegated with this bunch is that they've proven to be soft as fuck, cannot take anything bad and their heads drop at the slightest turn in a game. They will be mentally shot if we get relegated and anyone half decent will be running for the door.

We will be left with the likes of Smallbone, Adam Armstrong, Lyanco, McCarthy, Diallo, Moussa stinking the NPC out. It's not going to be fun for a few years.

[LGTL]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

The problem with getting relegated with this bunch is that they've proven to be soft as fuck, cannot take anything bad and their heads drop at the slightest turn in a game. They will be mentally shot if we get relegated and anyone half decent will be running for the door.

We will be left with the likes of Smallbone, Adam Armstrong, Lyanco, McCarthy, Diallo, Moussa stinking the NPC out. It's not going to be fun for a few years.

Yep. Anyone dreaming of the Adkins years can forget it. That’s why I’m fuming that we’ve already given up on our PL status. The managerial appointment points to nothing else. 

[Pamplemousse]

Bring back Ralph to take us up

[The Cat]

Would be interesting to see who we'd be left with if we went down. Can see a massive amount of players leaving for one reason or another. 

Would be a totally different team next season, which while it sounds a good idea at the moment wouldn't give us the stability that a lot of teams who do well after going down have.

[SNSUN]

22 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Would be interesting to see who we'd be left with if we went down. Can see a massive amount of players leaving for one reason or another. 

Would be a totally different team next season, which while it sounds a good idea at the moment wouldn't give us the stability that a lot of teams who do well after going down have.

It depends who'd want them. JWP, ABK, KWP, Salisu, Lavia and Tino are probably our most saleable assets with possibly Edozie in there too if he continues to shine and someone would probably want Adams. Besides them I fail to see who would want the rest. So we could keep a lot of the team together but it would be the crapper ones. Still we'd be able to play the likes of Morgan, Edwards and Ballard more... 

 

So without those (or any signings) we're looking at: Bazunu, Payne, Lyanco, DCC, Perraud, Diallo, Finnigan, SArmstrong, Elyounoussi, Mara, AArmstrong. Looks great. 🙃

 

[Saint86]

7 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

Bring back Ralph to take us up

Should never have been sacked when he was to be honest. We'd have picked up points under him this January. Can anyone say the same about Jones with any kind of confidence 😭

[SaintTex]

hell, i am a bit surprised 538 still predicts a 16th place finish.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/premier-league/

what do they know that we dont?

[Give it to Ron]

4 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Should never have been sacked when he was to be honest. We'd have picked up points under him this January. Can anyone say the same about Jones with any kind of confidence 😭

So why were we 19th under Messiah Ralph? Why would we have picked up points when we had lost to Villa,  Wolves, Everton who were all in bottom 3?

where was the toxic atmosphere?  I think that was in your head apart from a few boos and calls after bizarre team selection or subs there was support.

Sacking Ralph wasn’t wrong appointing Bananaramas greatest hit is.

[bangkoksaint]

Couldn’t care less if we go down. We’ll never compete in the PL and come what may our best players will leave if we stay up and they have no feeling for the club - JWP aside possibly. To have that winning feeling a few more times on a Saturday, more games, cheaper prices, more chance of getting away tickets and less disappointment? Yeah I’d take that as I’m a Saints fan not a PL fan. If by a bloody miracle we stay up then it’ll just be the same next year.

[Bad Wolf]

Looking forward to it. The PL is utterly boring, the Championship has much better fans, more verity of games and it's generally more exciting. Bring it on!!

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, bangkoksaint said:

Couldn’t care less if we go down. We’ll never compete in the PL and come what may our best players will leave if we stay up and they have no feeling for the club - JWP aside possibly. To have that winning feeling a few more times on a Saturday, more games, cheaper prices, more chance of getting away tickets and less disappointment? Yeah I’d take that as I’m a Saints fan not a PL fan. If by a bloody miracle we stay up then it’ll just be the same next year.

We narrowly missed out on champions league football under koeman, so clearly a well run club can compete in the Premier league.

The sad reality is that with the academy now starting to produce again, there was a pretty good future within reach - but that looks to have slipped away now, and we can likely look forward to ballard, dibling, and Co being poached by bigger clubs for peanuts, whilst we struggle for momentum in the 2nd tier.

Its been all downhill since Kat cashed out to Chairman Gao - the rest is just a history of chronic under investment and non footballing people making bad footballing decisions. 

Edited 27 December, 2022 by Saint86

[Chewy]

Hope Chelsea sack Potter, appoint him and rebuild with a proper coach who can work with our crop of youngsters alongside whatever is left from the relegation fire sale.

 

[AlexLaw76]

I just hope Everton come down with us.  That would be funny

[Saint86]

51 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

I just hope Everton come down with us.  That would be funny

Ideally we want forest and Bournemouth surely? Don't want to be competing with Everton in the championship personally. 

[Kenilworthy]

I don't think ticket prices will be that much cheaper in the Championship, especially for away games that will still be £30. And going by 2005/6 the level of disappointment will be much the same. I really don't think we are a straight back up sort of club. And the Championship is not a long stay division, generally teams leave at one end or the other. If we go down we need to be prepared for the possibility of league one and it will not be the same as under Cortese Pardew and Adkins when we were the Manchester City of the division.

[bpsaint]

Those hoping for relegation because it’ll be like the last time we were in the Championship and will be winning a lot more games are in for a shock I fear. The rebuild job required to get us to the point of promotion candidates will cost far more than SR are likely to spend given how we’ve scrimped on our manager and how the early leaks from The Athletic suggest this January window is likely to go.

The parachute payments will be eaten up by wages of the dross that nobody else wants, servicing the loan against the club, and the multiple redundancies that come with relegation. We’ll be relying on academy graduates, loans and journeymen and it will look more like the Poortvliet/Wotte era than the Adkins one.

if we are relegated this season as looks likely we are much more likely to double drop than bounce back

[HarvSFC]

Then you've got to think about if we do go down, how hard it is to establish yourselves back up here. Do we want to become a yo-yo club like Norwich, West Brom, Watford, Fulham up to this season. One season of good football, followed by a season of getting beaten every week. We're playing with Norwich's budget now, rather than Fulham's. So, this season for us would happen every other season. 

Last time we came we were flirting with relegation for the first half, 18th after 19 games, but we made some good signings in the Championship and League 1, added Rodriguez, Clyne, Davis and Boruc to them and a good manager in Pochettino. I don't think we'd get any of that were we to come up again. 

We're an established Premier League club, but haven't acted like one for a few years now and are looking like we're going to lose that status this season.

[Archers Road Stand]

5 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Then you've got to think about if we do go down, how hard it is to establish yourselves back up here. Do we want to become a yo-yo club like Norwich, West Brom, Watford, Fulham up to this season. One season of good football, followed by a season of getting beaten every week. We're playing with Norwich's budget now, rather than Fulham's. So, this season for us would happen every other season. 

Last time we came we were flirting with relegation for the first half, 18th after 19 games, but we made some good signings in the Championship and League 1, added Rodriguez, Clyne, Davis and Boruc to them and a good manager in Pochettino. I don't think we'd get any of that were we to come up again. 

We're an established Premier League club, but haven't acted like one for a few years now and are looking like we're going to lose that status this season.

I'd take being a yo yo club over one that aims for 17th every season because that isn't enjoyable one bit. 

Personally think with the correct people in charge, it would give us a good opportunity to reset ourselves, look at Burnley this season for example but things will quickly get grim as fuck down there if we fail to bounce back and the parachute payments run out. 

[LGTL]

Just now, Archers Road Stand said:

I'd take being a yo yo club over one that aims for 17th every season because that isn't enjoyable one bit. 

Personally think with the correct people in charge, it would give us a good opportunity to reset ourselves, look at Burnley this season for example but things will quickly get grim as fuck down there if we fail to bounce back and the parachute payments run out. 

Burnley appear to have got themselves an excellent manager. We’ve got Nathan Jones. 

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Looking forward to it. The PL is utterly boring, the Championship has much better fans, more verity of games and it's generally more exciting. Bring it on!!

I never buy this logic. 

Ask Stoke how they feel, it's a cesspit of a league when you're struggling. 

There is no guarantee that we'll go down there and have the fun we did in 2012. the 2008/9 ish period was pure misery, getting stuffed by 5 at Hull and Wednesday, getting turned over at home by Charlton etc. A truly miserable, miserable time. I can't think of anything worse, stuck in no mans land with your Lutons/Prestons/Birmingham's etc.

Please don't bring that on.

[LGTL]

3 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Looking forward to it. The PL is utterly boring, the Championship has much better fans, more verity of games and it's generally more exciting. Bring it on!!

No wonder why you’re a big fan of NJ then. Utterly bizarre logic. 

[Bad Wolf]

1 minute ago, LGTL said:

No wonder why you’re a big fan of NJ then. Utterly bizarre logic. 

Never said I was a fan...

It's not bizarre. The PL is a complete dump of a league, most people will agree The Championship is better, more entertaining and has proper fans (with the exception of our patient, understanding and supportive bunch of course)

[Appy]

Some deluded people seem to think if we get relegated it’ll just be a doddle, fun like the Adkins seasons. 
 

Only 2/3 of our seven seasons out of the premier league previously were remotely enjoyable, if we go down we’ll be in serious bother. 

[Bad Wolf]

Let's be honest, last time we had a squad of players who should absolutely have not been anywhere near the relegation battle. A strike force of Crouch, Philips, Ormerod, Pahars and Beattie (later replaced by Camara) might be one of the best attacks to ever be relegated. At least in the PL era.

We also had the likes of Fernandes and Svensson whom were both inconsistent but capable of utter brilliance as well as Antti Niemi in goal! That was a team that should not have gone down and that's why when they did, the vulture's swooped down and the team was picked apart.

This time around we have a bunch of players who nobody would want bar one or two and some of them actually have Championship pedigree. Nothing is guaranteed but I think we'll fare far better this time around.

[Bad Wolf]

3 minutes ago, Appy said:

Some deluded people seem to think if we get relegated it’ll just be a doddle, fun like the Adkins seasons. 
 

Only 2/3 of our seven seasons out of the premier league previously were remotely enjoyable, if we go down we’ll be in serious bother. 

Depends how you look at it. Even our Championship relegation season had some great moments, blooded some youngsters and actually, considering the resources we had and how tactically clueless Jan Portvlett was, we actually played some really nice football.

Not that I'm saying it was in any way a good season but there WAS some remote enjoyment there at times.

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, Bad Wolf said:

Depends how you look at it. Even our Championship relegation season had some great moments, blooded some youngsters and actually, considering the resources we had and how tactically clueless Jan Portvlett was, we actually played some really nice football.

Not that I'm saying it was in any way a good season but there WAS some remote enjoyment there at times.

Great moments, for real? I just remember misery, administration and the future of our club on an edge. I cannot remember any great moments.

[Appy]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Great moments, for real? I just remember misery, administration and the future of our club on an edge. I cannot remember any great moments.

Agreed, even the year under Burley we scraped into the playoffs wasn’t good.

[Bad Wolf]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Great moments, for real? I just remember misery, administration and the future of our club on an edge. I cannot remember any great moments.

3-2 against Preston? The 1-0 win at Derby which was honestly some of the best football we played in those 7 years away.

[Bad Wolf]

Just now, Appy said:

Agreed, even the year under Burley we scraped into the playoffs wasn’t good.

I refuse to believe you're not classing that season as enjoyable. It didn't end well and we should have done better but we were brilliant entertainment value that year.

[HarvSFC]

10 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Depends how you look at it. Even our Championship relegation season had some great moments, blooded some youngsters and actually, considering the resources we had and how tactically clueless Jan Portvlett was, we actually played some really nice football.

Not that I'm saying it was in any way a good season but there WAS some remote enjoyment there at times.

Relegation has a ripple effect on the whole club. A club that is known for its academy hasn't actually produced anything of note for a good number of years now because we were bringing through the players who had joined us in the Championship and League One years, and proved not to be good enough in the long run. We've finally got a good Under-18s again, how many of those want to come through at a Championship club? Will they look to leave at the first opportunity like Dibling did? And they probably won't come back like Dibling.

Best case scenario if the players like Dibling and Jimmy Jay-Morgan do develop like we hope then we get a season out of them in the Championship, like we did Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlain in League One and half a season out of Walcott. All players who left at the first opportunity because we weren't a Premier League club. 

There's a far bigger picture to relegation than hopefully winning a few more matches.

[Bad Wolf]

4 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Relegation has a ripple effect on the whole club. A club that is known for its academy hasn't actually produced anything of note for a good number of years now because we were bringing through the players who had joined us in the Championship and League One years, and proved not to be good enough in the long run. We've finally got a good Under-18s again, how many of those want to come through at a Championship club? Will they look to leave at the first opportunity like Dibling did? And they probably won't come back like Dibling.

Best case scenario if the players like Dibling and Jimmy Jay-Morgan do develop like we hope then we get a season out of them in the Championship, like we did Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlain in League One and half a season out of Walcott. All players who left at the first opportunity because we weren't a Premier League club. 

There's a far bigger picture to relegation than hopefully winning a few more matches.

And what about the players who left at the first opportunity despite being a PL club?

[modern matron]

I must have missed something- have we been relegated? I hope not I remember the Redknapp, Burley years then going bust…..be careful what you wish for!!!!

Get behind this young team and Nathan Jones. Booing the team and the manager already is embarrassing- also the support for the Lincoln games and yesterday was so negative and subdued - it has to change!

COYR

 

 

 

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Archers Road Stand said:

I'd take being a yo yo club over one that aims for 17th every season because that isn't enjoyable one bit. 

Personally think with the correct people in charge, it would give us a good opportunity to reset ourselves, look at Burnley this season for example but things will quickly get grim as fuck down there if we fail to bounce back and the parachute payments run out. 

By definition, a yoyo club is one that aims for 17th and misses 😅😜

[nta786]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I never buy this logic. 

Ask Stoke how they feel, it's a cesspit of a league when you're struggling. 

There is no guarantee that we'll go down there and have the fun we did in 2012. the 2008/9 ish period was pure misery, getting stuffed by 5 at Hull and Wednesday, getting turned over at home by Charlton etc. A truly miserable, miserable time. I can't think of anything worse, stuck in no mans land with your Lutons/Prestons/Birmingham's etc.

Please don't bring that on.

Agreed. I also don’t buy into this notion that getting relegated gives a chance to reset and remove any dross.

Survival and the TV money from the PL gives us that chance. We had the chance to reset in the summer by sacking Ralph but we didn’t and now we’re dangerously hanging. 

[AlexLaw76]

who will be off when we are relegated.  My list below..

Livramento, Salisu, ABK, KwP, Lavia, Bednarek, JwP, Adams, Walcott, Mo, Adams, Stu Armstrong (maybe), Willy

Sad thing, with Lavia being constantly injured and Livramento out for so long, that is a lot of Sports Republic money left on the table

[bangkoksaint]

I’m not saying I necessarily want it but if it happens I’m not bothered. Yes it may be a slog but in the time we were out of it there was relatively more enjoyment. I recall seeing us demolish Oldham away on a bitterly cold night 6-0 - Lallana, Schneiderlin, AOC, Ricky to name but a few were playing. Then there were the two promotions, the play-offs, the JPT final. I appreciate we’ve had some good times in the PL but we just can’t dine at the top table consistently and we don’t and never will have the financial clout to be a club that’s taken seriously.

Look we all have different views and opinions. Nobody is right or wrong but for me I just want to see us being competitive and winning more games. That I feel can’t happen in the PL

[Hodgey]

The WPs will be off, Walcott out of contract, Lavia Salisu and ABK as potential with prem experience. Maybe Adams. Tino will need to prove fitness so see him staying.

That would leave

Bazuna, McCarthy, Willy

Tino, Payne

Perraud, Small, Larios

Bednerak, Stephens, CC, Lyanco

Diallo, Smallbone

Moi, Fandab, Djenepo, Aribo, Armstrong, Dibling, Tella

Morgan, Armstrong, Mara, Ballard

You would think we would get c £100m in sales and reinvest c £50m which added to the above (need a cf, rb and 2 dms) you would hope would have us top 6 minimum. 

[Turkish]

On 26/12/2022 at 18:17, The Cat said:

Would be interesting to see who we'd be left with if we went down. Can see a massive amount of players leaving for one reason or another. 

Would be a totally different team next season, which while it sounds a good idea at the moment wouldn't give us the stability that a lot of teams who do well after going down have.

Who's going to want them? Walker Peters, Bella Kotchap and Lavia will go to a decent club, probably Salisu too, Ward-Prowse might get a move, Elyanoussi, Willy and Walcott out of contract, Adams might get a move to a promoted club, or a near the bottom team if he's lucky and they get desperate, that's it. We'll probably spend about £20m from the sales to sign 3-4 players. 

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Which clown is going to be the first to call for Nigel Adkins 

[Noodles34]

11 hours ago, Chewy said:

Hope Chelsea sack Potter, appoint him and rebuild with a proper coach who can work with our crop of youngsters alongside whatever is left from the relegation fire sale.

 

Said the same thing myself. Not beyond reason. Can’t see Potter being there long term and he’d be perfect for us. 

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, Noodles34 said:

Said the same thing myself. Not beyond reason. Can’t see Potter being there long term and he’d be perfect for us. 

Expect he’d get another premier league job though. Someone like Palace or Leeds. Leicester, West Ham and Everton will all be after a manager sooner or later. They’d all take him. Would love him to come here he’d have better offers

[Noodles34]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

Expect he’d get another premier league job though. Someone like Palace or Leeds. Leicester, West Ham and Everton will all be after a manager sooner or later. They’d all take him. Would love him to come here he’d have better offers

Yeah I think well be too late for him to be fair. We will be gone before he has probably. And he probably thinks we don’t have a big enough LBGT voice as well because I don’t think the club will fine them Block One 

[Saint_clark]

11 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Great moments, for real? I just remember misery, administration and the future of our club on an edge. I cannot remember any great moments.

Beating Derby 1-0 away with a great performance and coming back from 2-0 down away to Preston to win 3-2 in the last minute are the only highlights from that season. Possibly the last minute freekick from Saejis away to Watford, and the class counter attacking goal Lallana scored away to QPR. 

Seeing Michael Svensson in the team after so long out was incredible too, even if it did all end in tears again. 

[SotonianWill]

19 hours ago, modern matron said:

Get behind this young team and Nathan Jones. Booing the team and the manager already is embarrassing- also the support for the Lincoln games and yesterday was so negative and subdued - it has to change!

I agreed with this until the two misses at the end vs lincoln, most people are sick of this terrible team, who is also the least likeable I can think of for ages. They have barely any ability and it quite literally is men vs boys. 

[Toussaint]

20 hours ago, modern matron said:

I must have missed something- have we been relegated? I hope not I remember the Redknapp, Burley years then going bust…..be careful what you wish for!!!!

Get behind this young team and Nathan Jones. Booing the team and the manager already is embarrassing- also the support for the Lincoln games and yesterday was so negative and subdued - it has to change!

COYR

 

 

 

To be fair the atmosphere only turned when Bazunu threw one  in his own net, again. Although I do agree, the toxicity  will  make it impossible at home. If we do improve, it will be away from home, where the support is always much better. 

[Rebel]

It is hard to see us escaping relegation this season - but don't kid yourself it will lead to some form of renaissance or fresh start for the club - or that life will be better in the Championship.  This current squad would struggle in the Championship - they just don't have the nous, mentality or experience to win games or grind out results. And that is before the best of the players are picked off by the premier league and the mercenaries jump ship.

The only hope is that unlike the last time we went down under Lowe Sports Republic will have a plan to get back up.  All Lowe was interested in was cutting the costs and banking the parachute payments before he sailed away.  By the time he was ousted the damage was already done - and we then wasted money we didn't have on trying to strengthen a very weak team which saw us relegated again and in administration.

If we go down the crown jewels will most likely be sold or stolen from us - Lavia, Tino, ABK, JWP, KWP and probably Salisu and Caleta-Car as well as Sports Republic cash in.

Moi, Walcott, Caballero and AMN will be out of contract and will be released to cut costs.

With a year left on their contracts and a cut in wages Salisu and Che Adams will probably jump ship. The same with Stuart Armstrong.

The cut in wages for Bednarek and Stephens finally means they be willing and able to leave permanently - and I think Lyanco will leave as well for the same reason. 

That leaves us with a very small squad - even if we recall Simeu, Smallbone, Lis, Tella, N'Lundulu, Vokins, etc. 

GK - McCarthy, Bazunu, Lis

FB - Larios, Perraud, Payne, Small, Vokins

CB - Simeu, 

M - Smallbone, Aribo, Djneppo, Diallo

F -  Edozie, Mara, Tella, N'Lundulu, Adarma

But hopefully it means we will be able to get rid of Adam Armstrong, Djnepo and Diallo as they are simply not good enough and rather than waste money on paying them use it to bring in new players.  

It should mean the end of Semmens - but a lot of other staff - good people for the most part will lose their jobs.

If we are lucky Sports Republic will manage to persuade 1 or 2 of the better players to give us another year (Stu, ABK, Tino) and use the parachute payments and cash raised to sign the best proven Championship players and get some of the best young players on loan from the premier league.

On top of that Sports Republic will have to sack and replace a manager who will have become toxic for the fanbase if he keeps going the way he has started - and find a good young manager who can build a team, an identity and a way of playing.

But we will need a proper well funded plan to get us back up in 2 or 3 years - not a one hit hope or roll of the dice. 

To be honest I hope Sports Republic sell up to someone who actually wants to run a football club and not a player development business.  And then we might actually be successful on the pitch.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

On 27/12/2022 at 12:20, modern matron said:

I must have missed something- have we been relegated? I hope not I remember the Redknapp, Burley years then going bust…..be careful what you wish for!!!!

Get behind this young team and Nathan Jones. Booing the team and the manager already is embarrassing- also the support for the Lincoln games and yesterday was so negative and subdued - it has to change!

COYR