We have certainly passed the baton for the mid sized clubs to Leicester this season. Good luck and hats off to them. I hope Ranieri wins the league with them. Such an upset of the established order has been long coming but getting closer. The big 4 superclubs' model is creaking and falling apart at the seams.
I'd say we are in the fight to stay out of the fight at the moment. After our match against the in-form Canaries it could well be a frank relegation battle for the rest of the season.
I don't think I have ever seen the term "drug paraphernalia" in a report about a poor Saints performance. The last time I saw the term "football hooligan" in a Saints match report would have been in the 80s.
I must admit though that using drug paraphernalia regularly appears to me as a good idea after such losses.
The magic spell of success that gripped and entranced the club for 5 years has been dispelled. There is a palpable sense of the team and wider club being moribund. The psychology has changed dramatically for the worse.
They were probably thinking "sh1t, we aren't going to be able to do our usual trick of flogging half the team for a massive profit in the summer...cancel that new yacht"
Bullet point analysis:
We sold a spine of great players 2 summers in a row - that was unavoidable in the main as they had their heads turned.
With them went the team spirit that only successive promotions can engender.
Replacing with cheap foreign mercenaries has failed and there is a lack of spirit and character and leaders. Board take the rap for that.
The team aren't fit enough
The team aren't as good as we have been used to.
The academy is either being ignored or the conveyor belt of world class talent has shuddered to an abrupt halt.
Drop Wanyama but don't sell in Jan unless stupid money is offered - let him rot in reserves till summer 16 then sell.
Regarding relegation: we could easily get no points over the festive season looking at the fixtures and our form.
Then the papers might well be correct.
Those stats, and the table, don't lie. The concern is that the relegation candidate clubs presently contain a few sleeping giants that tend to wake from their slumber when they really have to.