How do Saints keep ahead of the pack?

As a middling PL club, Saints will always be in danger of flirting with relegation if things do not click into place and of course nothing stands still in the PL, otherwise the club will again be in danger of relegation. So without any PR trappings like the 'Southampton Way', how does a club like ours survive and prosper in the league?

Is there anyway we could improve the academy, like Ajax, or A. Madrid who enjoy a 40-45% pathway?

Does the black box need new parameters in finding players?

What should the playing and support structure of the club look like?

How do you attract forward thinking managers like Pochettino or Hasenhuttl rather than 'the hates losing and frets when wins' Pellegrino?

I think as a club we need to accept our position as a showcase club. We will be seen as a pathway to some top managers and players before they make their move further up the pyramid. Very similar to how Monaco, Dortmund, Ajax and the likes work - not full of money, they pick talent well and coach it well and put it on a stage where it can flourish and be sold on for big money. It's a sad cycle in that sense, but it's the only way to operate on the top table without a sugar daddy. You need to be on the ball and be ready to react to a big sale with the next big talent. We can't expect to keep success stories, and neither will any of the other clubs.

We did it well for a couple of years, to a certain extend luck does come into it, but I feel we have lost our way scouting and recruitment wise, lost our way as a club with no real identity as to how we want to play. We tried to be clever and save money, not raising our transfer fees with the general rise across all football – so we attract lesser quality. To cut a long story short, scouting and recruitment is absolutely critical for a club like us. A couple of seasons of shoddy recruitment and players of lower talent and poor personalities will leave us where we have been.

Ross Wilson and Les were the main guilty parties for the mess of the last couple of seasons, but somehow Ross has earned a promotion. I guess I'll have to give him the benefit of doubt, but personally I hope Ralph calls the shots and uses the wider scouting network - not just at our club.

I hope the club have learned from the mistakes of the last couple of years and we buy players which fit an actual philosophy and a way the coach wants us to play. I have a feeling that Ralph may be key in getting this back on track, he just needs to be trusted and backed. That's my only fear.

Being 2nd in the league for much of the season and finishing 6th was outstanding. Do now what we were doing then.

Even the Dortmund/Atletico models seem to require more money than we are comfortable spending (though this might also be a function of being in the PL where the table stakes of having a competitive team are just a lot higher). But to play the reinvestment game with any confidence you have to be looking to sell one star and buy two or three prospects every time. One for one replacement leaves you one dud away from an empty cupboard, as we're likely to discover quite soon if we have to sell yet again before buying over the summer.

It's a shame really, as I think the stepping stone model can be quite exciting to watch. You get the enjoyment of seeing new talent emerge, rather than just watching the same old names week in, week out.

...........I think as a club we need to accept our position as a showcase club ..........it's the only way to operate on the top table without a sugar daddy........

Let’s not pretend that a wealthy owner could turn Southampton into a Liverpool or Man U. Man City was the last club created by wealth, but after that FFP put a stop to it. Owners can’t pump money in because clubs must balance spending on the team out of revenue earned. The international recognition of the usual suspects in North London, Manchester and Liverpool earns them huge income from commercial sales whereas Southampton depends on TV money, attendance income and profit on transfers. It’s unlikely to ever change.