Positive aspects of being in the Championship

[east-stand-nic]

I know there are many nay-Sayers when it comes to our chances in the Championship, but with a decent, dare I say NORMAL manager who plays to squad strengths and plays attacking football, we already have a proven top drawer goal scorer at that level in Che Adams. All he needs is a good boss to get his confidence back and a playing style that suits him and he will bang in the goals.

But here is my main positive slant on it all....A chance for us to actually win something! In my years supporting Saints we have been promoted from the second tier twice. Both times we were runners up when we should have damned well won the league. Time to put that right!! Let's come up as champions. Yes, I know it won't be easy....maybe it takes 2 or 3 years. But it is something tangible to aim for, whereas in the PL tangible is 14th. The top section of the table (top 6) is just impossible pretty much.

I for one am really looking forward to a revisit to the second tier.

[Give it to Ron]

West Brom have had a poor season yet won 17 games can you imagine watching us win 17 times in a season? 

[Weston Super Saint]

27 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

West Brom have had a poor season yet won 17 games can you imagine watching us win 17 times in a season? 

I'd take 17 times in 2 seasons at the moment.

[Sunglasses Ron]

Main positive aspect - No VAR!

[WestMidSaint]

More mid week games. I did love the fact that when we had a bad result we didn’t necessarily have to wait until the following weekend to play again. Works the same way with the positivity of a win. They get out quicker and hopefully keep it going.

[Suhari]

Seeing us win more games, score more and dominate teams. I hope.

Seeing some of the youngsters come through and get game time. I hope.

Seeing Alcarez and Sully run games for us. I REALLY hope.

[bangkoksaint]

1 hour ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Main positive aspect - No VAR!

Not yet…but it’s coming 

Edited 30 April, 2023 by bangkoksaint
Grammar

[Baird of the land]

2 hours ago, east-stand-nic said:

 we already have a proven top drawer goal scorer at that level in Che Adams.

B

Che won't be here next season. There will be premier league interest and there's no way the club will let him run down his contract and walk for free.

[bangkoksaint]

No VAR ….but it’s on the way

More games

Different venues

Arguably more chance of winning games

Probably easier to get away tickets

Potentially cheaper

Not being part of the EPL circus knowing we’re nowhere near able to repeat

 

[aintforever]

22 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Che won't be here next season. There will be premier league interest and there's no way the club will let him run down his contract and walk for free.

It’s mental that this cunt’s failure to score is one if the main reasons we are going down yet he might end up being the first rat out of here and end up back in the Prem.

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

West Brom have had a poor season yet won 17 games can you imagine watching us win 17 times in a season? 

even Reading 3rd bottom have won 13, more than twice as many as us. We’ve discussed it before on here but there can’t be many teams in the country who have won fewer games than us the last 5 years, especially at home. 

[whelk]

4 minutes ago, aintforever said:

It’s mental that this cunt’s failure to score is one if the main reasons we are going down yet he might end up being the first rat out of here and end up back in the Prem.

Mental that a Saints fan could refer to Che as a cunt. He isn’t good enough but that isn’t his fault.

[Archers Road Stand]

35 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Che won't be here next season. There will be premier league interest and there's no way the club will let him run down his contract and walk for free.

Any club that signs him will be bang in the relegation battle if he's going to start regularly. 

[Osvaldorama]

14 minutes ago, aintforever said:

It’s mental that this cunt’s failure to score is one if the main reasons we are going down yet he might end up being the first rat out of here and end up back in the Prem.

Ridiculous post. 
 

che is one of the few that clearly cares and works hard. Give your head a wobble 

[Turkish]

8 minutes ago, whelk said:

Mental that a Saints fan could refer to Che as a cunt. He isn’t good enough but that isn’t his fault.

Yep we’ve got far bigger problems than Che Adams. Yes he’s missed some big chances but certainly not one of the main reasons like dopey bollocks do articulately tries to claim 

[Streaky]

Would be nice to see some of the b team players getting more game time and hopefully the hierarchy will work on getting the fans back on side.

[aintforever]

24 minutes ago, whelk said:

Mental that a Saints fan could refer to Che as a cunt. He isn’t good enough but that isn’t his fault.

Well as his abject failure in front of goal is one of the reasons we are being relegated maybe he will do the decent thing and try and get us promoted next year as we are finally down to his level.

[beatlesaint]

Saving a huge wad on a season ticket as every Championship game, bar Saturday at 3 is on the Red Button on Sky, and I suspect there wont be many Saturday 3.00 games as we will be a big attraction for Sky along with the two other relegated clubs.

Edited 30 April, 2023 by beatlesaint

[david in sweden]

50 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Che won't be here next season. There will be premier league interest and there's no way the club will let him run down his contract and walk for free.

.and he won't be alone either. 

 Prowsey has already been promised a well-deserved move for his many years of service and a real chance of some England glory with "top club".

Lavia will surely go for decent money, and maybe ABK and the hitherto unplayed Orsic, and Onuacho maybe good but won't want Championship football.

Bednarek is always very concerned about his regular spot in the Polish side and won't fancy playing Championship football either. 

 

Those who don't want go down should be given a lifejacket, or at least place in the life boat , and let us keep those who will see a career playing at 

a less-demanding level.   Those out of contract , or with a year left,  should be sold for whatever we can get .

 

The downside will be 46 rugged games - on less than perfect pitches - coming up against 6'3" bully-boys who weigh in at 13 stone and will cripple 

our young talents before they get started.   In short we need a few bully boys  of our own in midfield to survive , and a proven strikers who can spend

90 minutes lurking around the opposition penalty area waiting for half-chances and will score 20 goals a season.. 

[Badger]

Not having to occasionally watch and listen to the smug twat Lineker and his  supporting cast on MOTD.

 

[SW5 SAINT]

3 hours ago, east-stand-nic said:

I know there are many nay-Sayers when it comes to our chances in the Championship, but with a decent, dare I say NORMAL manager who plays to squad strengths and plays attacking football, we already have a proven top drawer goal scorer at that level in Che Adams. All he needs is a good boss to get his confidence back and a playing style that suits him and he will bang in the goals.

But here is my main positive slant on it all....A chance for us to actually win something! In my years supporting Saints we have been promoted from the second tier twice. Both times we were runners up when we should have damned well won the league. Time to put that right!! Let's come up as champions. Yes, I know it won't be easy....maybe it takes 2 or 3 years. But it is something tangible to aim for, whereas in the PL tangible is 14th. The top section of the table (top 6) is just impossible pretty much.

I for one am really looking forward to a revisit to the second tier.

It’s actually three times runners up in the Second division/Championship - 1966,1978,2012…..

[CWD]

The ride from being bottom of L1 back to the PL was my greatest time to be a Southampton supporter. Lots of games, lots of wins, players who cared… If we could have the same stature and income without having to be in the PL money circus ever again I’d be happy. But sadly that ain’t how it works.

[Badger]

22 minutes ago, david in sweden said:

 

The downside will be 46 rugged games - on less than perfect pitches - coming up against 6'3" bully-boys who weigh in at 13 stone and will cripple 

our young talents before they get started.   In short we need a few bully boys  of our own in midfield to survive , and a proven strikers    
 

 

We’ve needed that in the Premiership over the last two or three seasons. Are you any more confident that Semmens and Ankersen will deliver that for the championship? 
 

Brick shithouse centre half, or another nimble footed Edozie, or Larios type ? You know which they’d pick.

They need a manager who realises this, and enforces it in the transfer strategy. But again, can you rely on them to select one? 

[Lighthouse]

31 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Well as his abject failure in front of goal is one of the reasons we are being relegated maybe he will do the decent thing and try and get us promoted next year as we are finally down to his level.

If he leaves it’ll be because somebody in the Prem clearly rates him and is willing to put their money where their mouth is. If that happens, fair play to him, why should he refuse? The players have been let down by the club more than the other way around; they’re trying their best, it’s not their fault if they are all sh*t. Hell, if Real Madrid want to sign Elyounoussi, fair play to him. Nobody owes us anything, just because we haven’t got the first clue in how to run a football club.

[Baird of the land]

1 hour ago, Archers Road Stand said:

Any club that signs him will be bang in the relegation battle if he's going to start regularly. 

Yeah trying to rely on him as the main striker is a bad idea. A striker who averages about 9 goals a season is going to be useful to teams as a 2nd striker

[aintforever]

5 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

they’re trying their best, 

That’s where we disagree.

[S-Clarke]

42 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Well as his abject failure in front of goal is one of the reasons we are being relegated maybe he will do the decent thing and try and get us promoted next year as we are finally down to his level.

We hung him out to dry and decided to be clever by making him our main number 9. He is a very capable PL forward who will be an important member of the squad for most teams, IF he's partnered with the right sort of players. He isn't someone who can score on his own, but that doesn't mean he's crap. He will have lots of takers in the summer, he won't be here that's for sure.

[Lighthouse]

3 minutes ago, Badger said:

We’ve needed that in the Premiership over the last two or three seasons. Are you any more confident that Semmens and Ankersen will deliver that for the championship? 
 

Brick shithouse centre half, or another nimble footed Edozie, or Larios type ? You know which they’d pick.

They need a manager who realises this, and enforces it in the transfer strategy. But again, can you rely on them to select one? 

These are just football cliches which don’t really cut it any more. Darren Powell was a brick sh*thouse CB, Paul Wotton was a tough tackling, no-nonsense midfielder. Tadic, Mané and Lallana were the ‘nimble footed types’. In fact I’d say DM/CB are the two positions in which we’ve recruited well with ABK and Lavia.

[Archers Road Stand]

13 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

We hung him out to dry and decided to be clever by making him our main number 9. He is a very capable PL forward who will be an important member of the squad for most teams, IF he's partnered with the right sort of players. He isn't someone who can score on his own, but that doesn't mean he's crap. He will have lots of takers in the summer, he won't be here that's for sure.

Why will he have lots of takers? I could see a promoted team taking a chance on him but hard to see any established mid table team wanting him. 

Better strikers like Mitrovic/Pukki didn't have lots of takers when they were relegated from this league. 

[AngusHyd]

I’m looking forward to having a proper chance in games. Every week we should know that we have a good chance of winning. The quality of football in the championship is pretty good these days, it’s not the rough league it once was. I dream of us having a season like Burnley, who went down in a similar state to us. If we can bring in a good manager who likes working with youngsters, we could end up having a cracking season. The club needs a refresh anyway, we’ve been stagnant for several seasons.

 

[david in sweden]

47 minutes ago, Badger said:

We’ve needed that in the Premiership over the last two or three seasons. Are you any more confident that Semmens and Ankersen will deliver that for the championship? 
 

Brick shithouse centre half, or another nimble footed Edozie, or Larios type ? You know which they’d pick.

They need a manager who realises this, and enforces it in the transfer strategy. But again, can you rely on them to select one? 

Quite right Badger,   I've  asked myself the same question. 

The Championship is a hard place to escape from.  In the past few years there are several sides who have had good seasons and ended up 

there ..or thereabouts, yet failed to win automatic promotion - or even get through the playoffs and it needs spending money they don't have.  

and can't get.  Burnley ..(never a club to spend big money) have bounced back first time,  but the likes of Sheffield Utd, Norwich and

Bournemouth end up being " yo-yo"  clubs, who are too  good for the second tier,  but just become cannon fodder  for Prem. sides. 

Aside from our own predicament, there are still a few " big name clubs" who might still go down.... one way or another.

 

After the 2009 bankruptcy, we built well in L1 and The Championship and were well worth our promotion, but it took 3 seasons to get there.

We need to find another  Fonte, another Lambert and a new young Lallana, and finding the right manager is even more difficult.  Not an easy ask. 

Remember - even after his disasterous sojourn with us,  Nathan Jones had done minor miracles in the lower leagues with almost no money at all. 

 

Edited 30 April, 2023 by david in sweden

[whelk]

1 hour ago, Badger said:

Not having to occasionally watch and listen to the smug twat Lineker and his  supporting cast on MOTD.

 

You do know you are not forced to watch whatever league we are in?

[Miltonaggro]

27 minutes ago, AngusHyd said:

I’m looking forward to having a proper chance in games. Every week we should know that we have a good chance of winning. The quality of football in the championship is pretty good these days, it’s not the rough league it once was. I dream of us having a season like Burnley, who went down in a similar state to us. If we can bring in a good manager who likes working with youngsters, we could end up having a cracking season. The club needs a refresh anyway, we’ve been stagnant for several seasons.

 

Good summary of where I am with this.  Soton is a big enough city and SFC are a big enough club to be competitive in the Premier League, but boardroom omission and mismanagement has killed us in recent years and knocked the stuffing out of the fans - we are punch drunk.  The club has to reset, and those most able to initiate it (Solak and Kraft) will have to be proactive and brutal, a genuine purge of the mediocrity.  If we adopt a what doesn't kill you makes you stronger mentality on the back of a cull we can get our club back and enjoy ourselves away from the faux-competition and glare of the top flight.  I am also hoping for a Burnleyesque reset, but for that fuck off the left-field thinking, we need a credible manager who can garner respect, committed players able to compete (whether aged 19 or 33), and a focus on re-engaging home support for first team games (screw the virtue signalling window dressing and idiocy with away fans - piss boiling nonsense).  Actually winning games and having a club that has character and contains winners will be the tonic that we all need.        

[Badger]

17 minutes ago, whelk said:

You do know you are not forced to watch whatever league we are in?

Yes, but if you want to see Saints highlights on the box then Line-acre is part of the Saturday night offering  

[Tamesaint]

A trip to Plymouth which will satisfy Mrs Tame's desire for a trip to Devon. Hopefully in the first few weeks of the season. 

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

These are just football cliches which don’t really cut it any more. Darren Powell was a brick sh*thouse CB, Paul Wotton was a tough tackling, no-nonsense midfielder. Tadic, Mané and Lallana were the ‘nimble footed types’. In fact I’d say DM/CB are the two positions in which we’ve recruited well with ABK and Lavia.

True to a point but perhaps  review the Championship  ‘  cliches’ after we’ve been down there a while.

Of the examples you give, Darren Powell was just shit, rather than ‘brick shithouse’, and Tadic, Mane, and Lallana regularly offered an end product as well. Yet to see that with Edozie for example 
 

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

A trip to Plymouth which will satisfy Mrs Tame's desire for a trip to Devon. Hopefully in the first few weeks of the season. 

November would be preferable unless you want to suffer the plague of caravans and holidaymakers heading that way. 

[Charlie Wayman]

1 hour ago, david in sweden said:

.and he won't be alone either. 

 Prowsey has already been promised a well-deserved move for his many years of service and a real chance of some England glory with "top club".

Lavia will surely go for decent money, and maybe ABK and the hitherto unplayed Orsic, and Onuacho maybe good but won't want Championship football.

Bednarek is always very concerned about his regular spot in the Polish side and won't fancy playing Championship football either. 

 

Those who don't want go down should be given a lifejacket, or at least place in the life boat , and let us keep those who will see a career playing at 

a less-demanding level.   Those out of contract , or with a year left,  should be sold for whatever we can get .

 

The downside will be 46 rugged games - on less than perfect pitches - coming up against 6'3" bully-boys who weigh in at 13 stone and will cripple 

our young talents before they get started.   In short we need a few bully boys  of our own in midfield to survive , and a proven strikers who can spend

90 minutes lurking around the opposition penalty area waiting for half-chances and will score 20 goals a season.. 

What a bleak and depressing picture you paint. I don't know if you have ever watched Championship football recently but it is unrecognisable from the nonsensical and demeaning images conjured up by your last paragraph. The league is populated with many ex-PL teams whose stadia and facilities match anything we are accustomed to. The idea that teams are full of journeymen and cloggers is just infantile. Many successfully promoted sides played football every bit as good as that played by 14 of 20 PL sides as witnessed by the immediate successes of teams like Brentford, Wolves and Fulham in the PL. Burnley this season have been a breath of fresh air.

If there ever was a 'Southampton Way' of skilful, pass and move football with emphasis on fast paced wingers and dominant centre forwards then lets stick to that principle and leave the physical stuff to the Leagues 1 & 2 brigades.

[aintforever]

At least with Burnley, Sheffield Utd, Blackpool and Wigan leaving the league there is a few less Northern shit-holes to visit. Hopefully Reading can stay up and Boro or Sunderland go up though the play-offs and make next season a bit less of a slog.

[LeBizzier69]

The best news so far for me is that Diallo and now apparently Moi don’t want to stay with the club. I’ll be raising a glass to that dynamic duo with my Sunday lunch. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

Imagine the reaction when SR only freeze season ticket prices and don’t reduce them. 😂

[Weston Super Saint]

Just now, FarehamSaintJames said:

Imagine the reaction when SR only freeze season ticket prices and don’t reduce them. 😂

Which will effectively be a reduction due to the higher number of home games....

[Whitey Grandad]

25 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Which will effectively be a reduction due to the higher number of home games....

Same total cost. Far too high for the crap that has been served up.

Edited 30 April, 2023 by Whitey Grandad

[Saint86]

We're going down for a long long time. Absolutely no way this cluster cluck of a club bounces on arrival... I would go so far as to say "what club?". Every part of it is in flux and just about the only common trend is one of everyone still here wanting to leave. 

 

Edited 30 April, 2023 by Saint86

[Paul.Studio]

Cheaper and easier to get tickets, all the over-rated players have left, winning games, more youngsters from the successful B team getting games, better atmosphere at games - can we hope for a better manager? (low bar for that one - ps would like Viera!)

[Dusic]

The one good thing is that there is genuinely a target to aim for and a tangible achievement to be had.

Irony being that the target is to spend as little time there as possible.

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, Tamesaint said:

A trip to Plymouth which will satisfy Mrs Tame's desire for a trip to Devon. Hopefully in the first few weeks of the season. 

I can assure you a night out in Plymouth is something she won’t forget. Perhaps not in the way she’d hope though

[east-stand-nic]

4 hours ago, SW5 SAINT said:

It’s actually three times runners up in the Second division/Championship - 1966,1978,2012…..

I know, but as I said, in my lifetime supporting Saints. I was born after 1966.

[ecurnew02]

One big positive is a lot of our shite players on big wages will have to be moved after the drop

[S-Clarke]

21 minutes ago, ecurnew02 said:

One big positive is a lot of our shite players on big wages will have to be moved after the drop

And one big negative of that is that no one will want them, so a lot of our budget is going to have to go on subsidising wages and contract pay offs.