Dalek2003

Exactly, and some of us where aware of our bad late form masking our overall finish in the league.

I am very clear in my thinking. I will spell it out for you. The club was realistic about not being prepared for A European campaign and so would not have been too unhappy to exit in the early stages. The club was unduly complacent about the quality of the squad regarding the EPL campaign. Now where you find a knot in that thinking is beyond me.

Good post.

OK, so you assert that the club was not complacent. Then, why did it not strengthen sufficiently in the summer ?

Whether this was planned, it is now very clear that we do need some top quality signings. If we fail to do so, then I can only assume the Board have a contingency plan in the event of relegation or that they are more than confident of our survival this seaason.

You can snipe all you like. You know what I mean. We were complacent at the start of the season and perhaps ther were some who felt we did not have the capacity to be in Europe and to ensure our EPL status. The fact of the matter is, if I am trolling by mentioning the possibility of a relegation fight, then so are three quarters of the posters on this board. I suggest CB FRy, you are trying to deflect from your own lack of insight into how things are.

Interesting. Is this because we have become complacent over the summer or is it for other reasons ? I must admit, I was very worried at the start of the season and felt we would have a tough season ahead.

It's possible that the whole club has been lulled into complacency and have begun believing in their own hype from last year. The thing is, that every season everyone starts from the same point and as some of the bigger clubs have found out everyone wants to secure their EPL status. RK has hinted that expectations were unrealistic and I would imagine that goes for the fans who have become used to winning with ease. The more perceptive of us warned of this at the start of the season. Thankfully, a great majority of fans have now woken up to the dangers of relegation. RK now needs to shake up the players. I am sure he was aware of the dangers, at the start of the season, but people did not want to believe him. I know the feeling.

I am not wishing for it. However, I would assume the club has a contingency plan. After all, it tends come around in cycles for a club the size of Saints. I would say that the Board must have been aware there was a possibility of relegation at the start of the season. I also think that was why we engineered a fairly quick exit from Europe.

I wouldn't mind too much if we are both above 18th place ! A bigger nightmare is us going down, Bournemouth staying up, Brighton being promoted and P******* returning to League 1 !!!!!

More or less agree with this. I think it really is worth a punt on Charlie Austin. I also think Forster will make a difference back in goal. Not sure how close he is to returning.

We could be in the relegation zone after the Norwich game. I think the mentality of the club has to change. Some went into the season thinking we would have an easy season in the league and have a European adventure and maybe some good Cup runs. As I advised, we should never have taken the EPL status for granted. We can still shake ourselves out of this arrogant complacency but we need to do it soon.

The Titanic was unsinkable.

I was told time and time again that we would not be fighting relegation. Same thing happened in 2004 - 5. Let's hope we have enough to stay up or a good contingency plan to yoyo back up if we are relegated.

We need to beat the likes of Norwich and the other clubs in the bottom third. Even a narrow defeat against Arsenal will be acceptable. The good thing about our slump is that it may have knocked out the arrogant complacency apparent at the start of the season. I did warn of this and have been proven correct in my assertion.

I can't believe it has taken so long for people to realise how hard this season was going to be.

At least IF we get relegated we can clear out the deadwood and rebuild with new players hungry to prove a point.

No, I don't want relegation. However, at least now people are being realistic about our chances this season. Lets hope club and fans knuckle down and are prepared for the fight to retain our EPL status. As I have said many times, this is what matters.

Yet when I mentioned this, some people wanted me banned.

Some have had their head in the sands all season. I always felt we would be in a relegation fight and we need to roll up our sleeves and start scrapping. Thank goodness we are out of Europe and the League Cup, I think we need an early exit out of the FA Cup and concentrate our energies on staying up. We are in for an exciting ride !

Well, its just like going back to the 'golden age' of the 1990's. I must admit it keeps you on edge !!!! Looks like this is the way we are going.

I love a relegation scrap. This is going to be a great spectacle, with loads of clubs in the scrap.

No you didn't.

I said it at the start of the season.

Hmmm. I am looking forward to the game at Carrow Road. Gulp !