Our form

[Heisenberg]

Last 17 

L L L L L L D L L W L L W L L D L 

13 L

2 D

2 W

conceding 40 along the way. 😳 

[SKD]

Yeah it’s shambolic, but last 2 games have shown signs of improvement. Which is a start. 
 

Inthink we’ll pick up 1 or 2 more wins this season. 

[Heisenberg]

1 minute ago, SKD said:

Yeah it’s shambolic, but last 2 games have shown signs of improvement. Which is a start. 
 

Inthink we’ll pick up 1 or 2 more wins this season. 

I don’t see 2 wins tbh.

Palace

Fulhan

Leeds

West Ham

1 win tops 

 

[SaintTex]

29 points in our first 17 matches

8 points in our last 17 matches

I guess it is all about the timing.. if Saints had started this season with 8 points on 17 matches, Ralph would be sacked (one would think).

-

so much optimism as we headed into 2021. We were on pace to finish with 65 points.

[Heisenberg]

5 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

29 points in our first 17 matches

8 points in our last 17 matches

I guess it is all about the timing.. if Saints had started this season with 8 points on 17 matches, Ralph would be sacked (one would think).

-

so much optimism as we headed into 2021. We were on pace to finish with 65 points.

Reminds me of Sheffield United last season and gives me massive concern for us next...

Sheffield United had a fantastic first half then collapsed. Not to same level as us but comparatively very poor second half

we all know what happened this season  

[Turkish]

Isn’t it now as bad as it was when Pellegrino got sacked?

[SaintTex]

12 minutes ago, SKD said:

Yeah it’s shambolic, but last 2 games have shown signs of improvement. Which is a start. 
 

Inthink we’ll pick up 1 or 2 more wins this season. 

Who exactly is going to be doing the scoring? Goal production has fallen off a cliff.

• First 17 matches - 26 goals for
• Last 17 matches - 15 goals for

even worse.. who is going to stop our opponents from scoring? We are giving up nearly 2 1/2 goals a match in 2021.

• first 17 matches - 19 goals against
• last 17 matches - 42 goals against (wow!)

oh, and 1 clean sheet in 17 matches - and that was against Sheff United.

[SKD]

Just now, SaintTex said:

Who exactly is going to be doing the scoring? Goal production has fallen off a cliff.

• First 17 matches - 26 goals for
• Last 17 matches - 15 goals for

even worse.. who is going to stop our opponents from scoring? We are giving up nearly 2 1/2 goals a match in 2021.

• first 17 matches - 19 goals against
• last 17 matches - 42 goals against (wow!)

oh, and 1 clean sheet in 17 matches - and that was against Sheff United.

Honestly, I don’t know. We’re pretty easy to beat at the moment even when playing ‘well’. 
 

But we’re not going to sack him, so trying something new is all we can ask for. 
 

Lets hope Ings is back ASAP. 

[supersonic]

Now our worst run of form in the PL era....

[Turkish]

22 minutes ago, supersonic said:

Now our worst run of form in the PL era....

Our worst run since 88/89 under Nichol?

[SKD]

40 minutes ago, Heisenberg said:

Reminds me of Sheffield United last season and gives me massive concern for us next...

Sheffield United had a fantastic first half then collapsed. Not to same level as us but comparatively very poor second half

we all know what happened this season  

In fairness, I know most of your posts are just fishing, but this is a very valid point. 
 

Too be honest, we’re pretty lucky to survive this season. Let’s hope we get a bit of luck (if you can call it that) in the transfer market. 

[Turkish]

28 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

Who exactly is going to be doing the scoring? Goal production has fallen off a cliff.

• First 17 matches - 26 goals for
• Last 17 matches - 15 goals for

even worse.. who is going to stop our opponents from scoring? We are giving up nearly 2 1/2 goals a match in 2021.

• first 17 matches - 19 goals against
• last 17 matches - 42 goals against (wow!)

oh, and 1 clean sheet in 17 matches - and that was against Sheff United.

Tremendous defensive record, must be that settled keeper and defence....

[trousers]

Surprised our favourite non-troll didn't start a "last 17 games" thread 6 months ago #textbook

P.s. add 1 to the bite count 

Edited 8 May, 2021 by trousers

[Micky]

It's been shambolic, I cannot wait for this season to end.  We can point to injuries, but all teams have to contend with those, we can also point to some pretty crap VAR calls, but again all teams get those as well.  So ultimately, if we are all honest, we are where we are because we are not very good and this is where we deserve to be - simples.  Contrary to what Semmens said this week I don't think Ings will stay either, let's face it if he was that committed he would've signed by now.  We may get lucky in that other teams look at his injury record and shy away, but personally I think he'll get a better offer and go.  Bertrands going, wouldn't be surprised if JV goes as well, and somewhat worryingly it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few sniffing for JWP as well.

The bottom line is, we have very little quality already, we will probably loose more in the close season, and we know that we'll try and scrape by in the transfer window.  This season, we fell off a cliff and luckily landed on a ledge, but the ledge is crumbling.

 

[SKD]

11 minutes ago, trousers said:

Surprised our favourite non-troll didn't start a "last 17 games" thread 6 months ago #textbook

P.s. add 1 to the bite count 

To be fair, there was a thread about winning the league... kinda the same right? 

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

39 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Our worst run since 88/89 under Nichol?

I've only checked back as far as the 87/88 season (so the 88/89 season is included in this) but our record of 8 points in 17 games is the outright worst return for that number of games over a single season since 87/88 at least. Branfoot has a worse run covering the end of the 92/93 season and start of the 93/94 season where he only managed 7 points in 17 games and that run probably reached it's worst point at only 9 points in 19 games but as said that was spread over 2 seasons.

Lose both of our next couple of games against Palace and Fulham at home and it will be a worse run then even that but i'd like to think we'll pick up something in the Fulham game at least.

[Heisenberg]

45 minutes ago, trousers said:

Surprised our favourite non-troll didn't start a "last 17 games" thread 6 months ago #textbook

P.s. add 1 to the bite count 

someone beat me to it. HTH 

[kyle04]

Aside from the odd season here and there, it's always been this painful being a Saints fan (45 years for me), a seemingly endless saga of mediocrity , millions wasted on shite players and managerial pay offs. Hope and pride rekindled briefly earlier in the season, only to slowly crumble when our standard level of cuntishness returned. Our squad just aren't good enough to produce a successful season, meaning finishing above the bottom 6 (?). We've had the clown, the dinosaur, now the idealist in charge and overall not much has improved. You would think that, older fans especially, would know this and accept it with weary resignation. I think the FA Cup semi summed us up - a very rare chance to achieve something special. We didn't manage 1 shot on goal.

 

[Danbert]

7 hours ago, kyle04 said:

Aside from the odd season here and there, it's always been this painful being a Saints fan (45 years for me), a seemingly endless saga of mediocrity , millions wasted on shite players and managerial pay offs. Hope and pride rekindled briefly earlier in the season, only to slowly crumble when our standard level of cuntishness returned. Our squad just aren't good enough to produce a successful season, meaning finishing above the bottom 6 (?). We've had the clown, the dinosaur, now the idealist in charge and overall not much has improved. You would think that, older fans especially, would know this and accept it with weary resignation. I think the FA Cup semi summed us up - a very rare chance to achieve something special. We didn't manage 1 shot on goal.

 

Outside the top six and Everton, we had a longer current run in the Premier League than any other team, and that despite spending considerably less than many. Objectively, I know that's quite an achievement, it just doesn't feel that way.

[Sunglasses Ron]

As above, this season can just do one now so we can all forget about things and hope that hard work is taking place behind the scenes to correct things.

[Heisenberg]

8 hours ago, kyle04 said:

Aside from the odd season here and there, it's always been this painful being a Saints fan (45 years for me), a seemingly endless saga of mediocrity , millions wasted on shite players and managerial pay offs. Hope and pride rekindled briefly earlier in the season, only to slowly crumble when our standard level of cuntishness returned. Our squad just aren't good enough to produce a successful season, meaning finishing above the bottom 6 (?). We've had the clown, the dinosaur, now the idealist in charge and overall not much has improved. You would think that, older fans especially, would know this and accept it with weary resignation. I think the FA Cup semi summed us up - a very rare chance to achieve something special. We didn't manage 1 shot on goal.

 

This

[Saint_Jonny]

I remember looking enviously at Shithouse premier League teams when we were at our lowest ebb (2006-2010), and indeed beyond that as we started to climb back. Teams like Villa, Sunderland and Bolton. Perennial strugglers barely winning 10 games each all season and on the back of that getting to stay in the Premier League. It's the reality for us now and yes, while we "get to be in the Premier League" it isn't much of a prize when you're living through it. Fucking dreary, stale boring crap. 

[Nemi]

With this group of players, sometimes they play well, sometimes they play shit but no matter what the result is always the same. There’s a losing mentality that this set of players will never shake off.

That’s why I think losing anyone from this squad (except Ings maybe) would matter very little. I know Saints fans love talking about how good players like Vestergaard and JWP are, but bottom line is no matter what their qualities are, they indisputably don’t win football matches. 

Edited 9 May, 2021 by Nemi

[Charlie Wayman]

10 hours ago, Micky said:

It's been shambolic, I cannot wait for this season to end.  We can point to injuries, but all teams have to contend with those, we can also point to some pretty crap VAR calls, but again all teams get those as well.  So ultimately, if we are all honest, we are where we are because we are not very good and this is where we deserve to be - simples.  Contrary to what Semmens said this week I don't think Ings will stay either, let's face it if he was that committed he would've signed by now.  We may get lucky in that other teams look at his injury record and shy away, but personally I think he'll get a better offer and go.  Bertrands going, wouldn't be surprised if JV goes as well, and somewhat worryingly it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few sniffing for JWP as well.

The bottom line is, we have very little quality already, we will probably loose more in the close season, and we know that we'll try and scrape by in the transfer window.  This season, we fell off a cliff and luckily landed on a ledge, but the ledge is crumbling.

 

An excellent post that encapsulates precisely what many must be thinking. Relegation next season seems almost inevitable on our current pathway.

[S-Clarke]

10 hours ago, Micky said:

It's been shambolic, I cannot wait for this season to end.  We can point to injuries, but all teams have to contend with those, we can also point to some pretty crap VAR calls, but again all teams get those as well.  So ultimately, if we are all honest, we are where we are because we are not very good and this is where we deserve to be - simples.  Contrary to what Semmens said this week I don't think Ings will stay either, let's face it if he was that committed he would've signed by now.  We may get lucky in that other teams look at his injury record and shy away, but personally I think he'll get a better offer and go.  Bertrands going, wouldn't be surprised if JV goes as well, and somewhat worryingly it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few sniffing for JWP as well.

The bottom line is, we have very little quality already, we will probably loose more in the close season, and we know that we'll try and scrape by in the transfer window.  This season, we fell off a cliff and luckily landed on a ledge, but the ledge is crumbling.

 

I somewhat agree with what you say, let's just see where we finish first though. If we do manage to finish in the mid 40's points wise then it wouldn't be a shambolic season for me, it would be perfectly acceptable one for this squad. Like you said, the lack of quality beyond two or 3 is glaring. It's freighting how much we've regressed over the last 5 or so years in terms of starting quality anf depth. 

I certainly do feel that the injuries had a big impact on us, smaller clubs at this level like ourselves, Burnley, Newcastle etc cannot absorb injuries to key players. Look at the cluster fuck Burnley endured when they had all their injuries at the start, similar to Newcastle when they are within St Maximan and Wilson. The injuries to our key players is highlighted even more because we have no depth. Having to revert to square pegs in round holes just to fulfil a fixture is self defeating and has been a major problem for us.

We're probably on course for a normal season with a squad such as ours, so it'll be hard to call it shambolic overall.

 

[sadoldgit]

12 hours ago, SaintTex said:

29 points in our first 17 matches

8 points in our last 17 matches

I guess it is all about the timing.. if Saints had started this season with 8 points on 17 matches, Ralph would be sacked (one would think).

-

so much optimism as we headed into 2021. We were on pace to finish with 65 points.

But to have sacked him would have been a huge mistake as he would have turned things around spectacularly in the second half of the season! It’s all about perspective.

[sadoldgit]

23 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

An excellent post that encapsulates precisely what many must be thinking. Relegation next season seems almost inevitable on our current pathway.

All being well everyone will be 100% fit and will bring in a bit more strength in depth in the summer There is no reason that we can’t have a half decent season next year. 

[rallyboy]

It's all about the rebuild.

From the fans' forum it appears that everyone at the club realises this and we're just seeing out this season with what we have, so a few players are playing for their future - though you wouldn't know it from some performances.

The alarm bells have gone quiet since Fulham faltered so I'm not too concerned at the moment.

But....if we win one out of ten at the start of next season, Ralph's great vision will clearly be in trouble and changes will have to be made.

Hold your nerve, judge him on the rebuild.

 

 

[trousers]

10 hours ago, Heisenberg said:

someone beat me to it. HTH 

Tick

P.s. try reading what I wrote you buffoon (no offence)

 

Edited 9 May, 2021 by trousers

[JustinSFC]

12 hours ago, Turkish said:

Isn’t it now as bad as it was when Pellegrino got sacked?

Possibly.

Pellegrino got pretty fucking bad.

But Ralph's football is a lot better than Pellegrino's.

Results wise, this has to be on par at least.

[SKD]

Just now, JustinSFC said:

Possibly.

Pellegrino got pretty fucking bad.

But Ralph's football is a lot better than Pellegrino's.

Results wise, this has to be on par at least.

I don’t disagree, Is it any better than Hughes though? I’m not sure about that 

[JustinSFC]

2 minutes ago, SKD said:

I don’t disagree, Is it any better than Hughes though? I’m not sure about that 

I wasn't massively against Mark Hughes because I knew he could do the job he was brought in to do and if we'd have stuck with Pellegrino we would have definitely gone down.

But that's where it should have ended, we shouldn't have extended his stay.

[Heisenberg]

8 minutes ago, trousers said:

Tick

P.s. try reading what I wrote you buffoon (no offence)

 

And what’s your view on our recent form? 
 

#opinions #thoughts 

[trousers]

1 minute ago, Heisenberg said:

And what’s your view on our recent form? 
 

#opinions #thoughts 

Double tick

Try answering the original question first #buffoon

 

[Micky]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I somewhat agree with what you say, let's just see where we finish first though. If we do manage to finish in the mid 40's points wise then it wouldn't be a shambolic season for me, it would be perfectly acceptable one for this squad. Like you said, the lack of quality beyond two or 3 is glaring. It's freighting how much we've regressed over the last 5 or so years in terms of starting quality anf depth. 

I certainly do feel that the injuries had a big impact on us, smaller clubs at this level like ourselves, Burnley, Newcastle etc cannot absorb injuries to key players. Look at the cluster fuck Burnley endured when they had all their injuries at the start, similar to Newcastle when they are within St Maximan and Wilson. The injuries to our key players is highlighted even more because we have no depth. Having to revert to square pegs in round holes just to fulfil a fixture is self defeating and has been a major problem for us.

We're probably on course for a normal season with a squad such as ours, so it'll be hard to call it shambolic overall.

 

And I somewhat agree with what you say as well.   But I am not going to afford Ralph the luxury of looking at where we finish over the course of the season. That said,  I think the club will and that's why he sits in a fairly safe seat.   

We may get a few more points and comfortably avoid the drop, but only because what is below us is so bad. So overall another poor mid to lower league season if you look at it as a whole.  However,  when you look at the start we made there is no way we should've collapsed so spectacularly.  Again I accept, like other teams we have had injuries and bad calls,  but so have everybody else.  We have been guilty of some woeful performances,  United, Leeds,  Brighton and WBA spring to mind, all games where we've looked anything but a premiereship outfit. 

So for me, the season is not about the whole unfortunately, its about what should've been.  Maybe harsh, but I think we should've done so much better. 

[hackedoff]

Will have to be content being " best of the rest",even if the "rest" are the relegated clubs.

[RedWillie]

We are a poor team, championship at best. Our lack of quality is showing. Reserves and youth team bottom of their leagues,  I want to be optimistic but sadly we will be relegated next season.

[TWar]

10 minutes ago, RedWillie said:

We are a poor team, championship at best.

Evidently not.

[Tamesaint]

16 hours ago, kyle04 said:

Aside from the odd season here and there, it's always been this painful being a Saints fan (45 years for me), a seemingly endless saga of mediocrity , millions wasted on shite players and managerial pay offs. Hope and pride rekindled briefly earlier in the season, only to slowly crumble when our standard level of cuntishness returned. Our squad just aren't good enough to produce a successful season, meaning finishing above the bottom 6 (?). We've had the clown, the dinosaur, now the idealist in charge and overall not much has improved. You would think that, older fans especially, would know this and accept it with weary resignation. I think the FA Cup semi summed us up - a very rare chance to achieve something special. We didn't manage 1 shot on goal.

 

I am sorry mate but disappointment is the default fate of all football fans. It goes with the territory. 

I don't think that any of my friends and acquaintances are ever all that  happy with their team. They have occasional good times (sometimes a cup run, sometimes a good season or two) but most of the time they would echo your views.  My mate who is a Liverpool fan for example is currently distraught at how their season is falling apart. The Spurs fan is continually  miserable about his team (how many years without a trophy?) whilst the Arsenal fan I worked with for over 7 years was never happy. "Wenger in / Wenger out / Emery in / Emery out." etc etc. 

It is not just fans of the big 6 who normally feel let down by their team. If you want mediocrity just look at Everton - according to my Everton mate. Too good for relegation battles but despite expectation and promises never good enough for the Champions League. The Baggies fan just thinks his team is shite and is only made happy when he talks to his work colleagues who support Wolves and who are currently very pissed off after a couple of great years. 

Outside the Premier League neither my mate who supports Birmingham or the one who follows Coventry are happy. They have had their brief good times but to say that they are not currently in love with their teams is an understatement. I could go on but I guess you get my drift. 

I don't disagree that supporting Saints is often painful but very few fans would say anything different about their team. That is the lot of the football fan. If you dont like it you can either change your team every year and support the latest winning outfit or give up football and just follow the Harlem Globetrotters. 

 

 

 

Edited 9 May, 2021 by Tamesaint

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

I am sorry mate but disappointment is the default fate of all football fans. It goes with the territory. 

I don't think that any of my friends and acquaintances are ever all that  happy with their team. They have occasional good times (sometimes a cup run, sometimes a good season or two) but most of the time they would echo your views.  The Liverpool fan for example is currently distraught at how their season is falling apart. The Spurs fan is continually  miserable about his team ( how many years without a trophy?) whilst the Arsenal fan I worked with for over 7 years was never happy. "Wenger in / Wenger out / Emery in / Emery out." There was a bloke Claude on Arsenal TV who made his name by being downbeat about his team.

It is not just fans of the big 6 who normally feel let down by their team. If you want mediocrity just look at Everton according to my Everton mate. Too good for relegation battles but despite expectation and promises never good enough for the Champions League. The Baggies fan just thinks his team is shite and is only made happy when he talks to his work colleagues who support Wolves and who are currently very pissed off after a couple of great years. 

Outside the Premier League neither my mate who supports Birmingham or the one who follows Coventry are happy. They have had their brief good times but to say that they are not currently in love with their team is an understatement. I coulf go on but I guess you get my drift. 

I don't disagree that supporting Saints is often painful but very few fans would say anything different about their team. That is the lot of the football fan. If you dont like it you can either change your team every year and support the latest winning team or give up football and just follow the Harlem Globetrotters. 

 

 

 

Oh yeah for sure, I read some of the Man City forums yesterday and Christ what a bunch of moaners. Pulling Pep apart for the team, throwing Augero under the bus etc. It's a very impatient society and everyone wants everything tomorrow, not just related to football, but it has kind of flowed over into that. Generally fans don't want to wait for their club to 'build' over seasons, they want it now and they'll moan until they get incredible success.

The reality is that we are in our true position for a club of our size, probably punching a bit when you factor in the no investment factor. 

That Claude bloke did have a rant after most games tbh. He actually died last month, saw it on the news the other day (most of that Arsenal fan tv lot became 'celebs')

[Chapel End]

37 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

I am sorry mate but disappointment is the default fate of all football fans. It goes with the territory. 

I don't think that any of my friends and acquaintances are ever all that  happy with their team. They have occasional good times (sometimes a cup run, sometimes a good season or two) but most of the time they would echo your views.  My mate who is a Liverpool fan for example is currently distraught at how their season is falling apart. The Spurs fan is continually  miserable about his team (how many years without a trophy?) whilst the Arsenal fan I worked with for over 7 years was never happy. "Wenger in / Wenger out / Emery in / Emery out." etc etc. 

It is not just fans of the big 6 who normally feel let down by their team. If you want mediocrity just look at Everton - according to my Everton mate. Too good for relegation battles but despite expectation and promises never good enough for the Champions League. The Baggies fan just thinks his team is shite and is only made happy when he talks to his work colleagues who support Wolves and who are currently very pissed off after a couple of great years. 

Outside the Premier League neither my mate who supports Birmingham or the one who follows Coventry are happy. They have had their brief good times but to say that they are not currently in love with their teams is an understatement. I could go on but I guess you get my drift. 

I don't disagree that supporting Saints is often painful but very few fans would say anything different about their team. That is the lot of the football fan. If you dont like it you can either change your team every year and support the latest winning outfit or give up football and just follow the Harlem Globetrotters. 

 

 

 

Top post mate 

[Turkish]

53 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

I am sorry mate but disappointment is the default fate of all football fans. It goes with the territory. 

I don't think that any of my friends and acquaintances are ever all that  happy with their team. They have occasional good times (sometimes a cup run, sometimes a good season or two) but most of the time they would echo your views.  My mate who is a Liverpool fan for example is currently distraught at how their season is falling apart. The Spurs fan is continually  miserable about his team (how many years without a trophy?) whilst the Arsenal fan I worked with for over 7 years was never happy. "Wenger in / Wenger out / Emery in / Emery out." etc etc. 

It is not just fans of the big 6 who normally feel let down by their team. If you want mediocrity just look at Everton - according to my Everton mate. Too good for relegation battles but despite expectation and promises never good enough for the Champions League. The Baggies fan just thinks his team is shite and is only made happy when he talks to his work colleagues who support Wolves and who are currently very pissed off after a couple of great years. 

Outside the Premier League neither my mate who supports Birmingham or the one who follows Coventry are happy. They have had their brief good times but to say that they are not currently in love with their teams is an understatement. I could go on but I guess you get my drift. 

I don't disagree that supporting Saints is often painful but very few fans would say anything different about their team. That is the lot of the football fan. If you dont like it you can either change your team every year and support the latest winning outfit or give up football and just follow the Harlem Globetrotters. 

 

 

 

It’s painful because as a club we just exist. For a lot of our fans just being in the premier league is the be all and end all. For me that’s pointless. I’d happily swap a couple of European campaigns and cup finals for a few relegations and promotions. Few years in the premier league then go down, come back up again after being a big club the championship for a few years, then repeat. There is very little pleasure in starting every season with the sole ambition to still be in the same league at the end of it. 

[John B]

6 hours ago, JustinSFC said:

Possibly.

Pellegrino got pretty fucking bad.

But Ralph's football is a lot better than Pellegrino's.

Results wise, this has to be on par at least.

Unsurprising really as the standard of players has been the same since VVd left

Without outstanding players we will continue to struggle like we did when last got relegated

The Academy is not producing many PL players so we have to virtually buy a team

 

[Chapel End]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

It’s painful because as a club we just exist. For a lot of our fans just being in the premier league is the be all and end all. For me that’s pointless. I’d happily swap a couple of European campaigns and cup finals for a few relegations and promotions. Few years in the premier league then go down, come back up again after being a big club the championship for a few years, then repeat. There is very little pleasure in starting every season with the sole ambition to still be in the same league at the end of it. 

Sadly what you say is true but its the same for the majority of clubs who play in the PL

[Tamesaint]

37 minutes ago, Turkish said:

It’s painful because as a club we just exist. For a lot of our fans just being in the premier league is the be all and end all. For me that’s pointless. I’d happily swap a couple of European campaigns and cup finals for a few relegations and promotions. Few years in the premier league then go down, come back up again after being a big club the championship for a few years, then repeat. There is very little pleasure in starting every season with the sole ambition to still be in the same league at the end of it. 

I think that is right ... as long as you can guarantee a return to the Premier League after a couple of years. Those 4 years when we were in the Championship were just awful. 

[TWar]

2 hours ago, Tamesaint said:

I am sorry mate but disappointment is the default fate of all football fans. It goes with the territory. 

I don't think that any of my friends and acquaintances are ever all that  happy with their team. They have occasional good times (sometimes a cup run, sometimes a good season or two) but most of the time they would echo your views.  My mate who is a Liverpool fan for example is currently distraught at how their season is falling apart. The Spurs fan is continually  miserable about his team (how many years without a trophy?) whilst the Arsenal fan I worked with for over 7 years was never happy. "Wenger in / Wenger out / Emery in / Emery out." etc etc. 

It is not just fans of the big 6 who normally feel let down by their team. If you want mediocrity just look at Everton - according to my Everton mate. Too good for relegation battles but despite expectation and promises never good enough for the Champions League. The Baggies fan just thinks his team is shite and is only made happy when he talks to his work colleagues who support Wolves and who are currently very pissed off after a couple of great years. 

Outside the Premier League neither my mate who supports Birmingham or the one who follows Coventry are happy. They have had their brief good times but to say that they are not currently in love with their teams is an understatement. I could go on but I guess you get my drift. 

I don't disagree that supporting Saints is often painful but very few fans would say anything different about their team. That is the lot of the football fan. If you dont like it you can either change your team every year and support the latest winning outfit or give up football and just follow the Harlem Globetrotters. 

 

 

 

An excellent point. Everyone sees lack of progress as a negative, and lack of big progress as a neutral. Unfortunately by definition there must be as many teams going backwards as forwards and big progress is rare. Expectation management is a big part of  following any sport, and sometimes a couple of good seasons way overperforming are in the long term bad for fan happiness as anything less than that is seen as regression. It's a hard game really.

Another thing which this gets across well is that success is relative. Supporting the team that does the best won't make you the happiest, you will just expect more and get annoyed at 2nd. You have to enjoy the little victories, like good games, good players, good football, and not always sweat it over the big picture as for 99% of teams in England winning something is a couple of times in a lifetime experience and for the remaining 1% winning doesn't feel anywhere near as sweet and not doing so will feel bad. A Chelsea fan doesn't even have the opportunity to feel the way Leicester fans did that one season, it is impossible for them.

Edited 9 May, 2021 by TWar

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Tamesaint said:

I think that is right ... as long as you can guarantee a return to the Premier League after a couple of years. Those 4 years when we were in the Championship were just awful. 

Last time was ridiculous though. Rather than give it a go at getting back whilst we had the parachute payments we spent £100k of fuller and a load of over the hill free transfers despite selling crouch, Phillips for £10m combined and Walcott going in the January window. When you run a football club by a spreadsheet it rarely goes well. The clubs that’s come back up quickly don’t flog everything they can.

[Toussaint]

19 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

All being well everyone will be 100% fit and will bring in a bit more strength in depth in the summer There is no reason that we can’t have a half decent season next year. 

A half decent season or half a decent season?  As that’s what we had this season, so let’s hope the bottom three are just as weak next season as they were this season, or half a good season followed by burn out may not be enough next time.

[John B]

13 hours ago, Turkish said:

It’s painful because as a club we just exist. For a lot of our fans just being in the premier league is the be all and end all. For me that’s pointless. I’d happily swap a couple of European campaigns and cup finals for a few relegations and promotions. Few years in the premier league then go down, come back up again after being a big club the championship for a few years, then repeat. There is very little pleasure in starting every season with the sole ambition to still be in the same league at the end of it. 

Realistically we just cannot compete with the large city clubs which have large budgets  but we have been in the PL for 22 seasons which is more than other clubs of a similar size which is quite an achievement being 11th

 

Southampton      22
Manchester        24        
West Ham United      25    
Aston Villa      26    
Newcastle United  26    
Arsenal          29    
Chelsea          29    
Everton          29    
Liverpool      29    
Manchester United 29    
Tottenham Hotspur 29    

 

We also were in the First Division for twenty years or so

[sadoldgit]

2 hours ago, Toussaint said:

A half decent season or half a decent season?  As that’s what we had this season, so let’s hope the bottom three are just as weak next season as they were this season, or half a good season followed by burn out may not be enough next time.

They are both the same after 38 games.