whelk Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Only a few lunatics clinging on to hope of staying up but there are some positives of being in Championship next year More games, and more Saturday 3pms. Not playing teams who played on Thursday so making our game Sunday Less tourists with their mobiles out. Lose a few of the entitles wankers who only come to Pl games hopefully. Maybe win a home game? QPR and Reading may survive so some away days to look forward to 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whelk Posted 9 April, 2023 Author Share Posted 9 April, 2023 fuck! How did I leave out no VAR 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 I'm just looking forwards to hopefully having the real basics of being a fan again. Going to games with at least a little optimism that we may actually win, hopefully seeing some goals, maybe even winning a few games with ease. Hopefully competing, and not being out of the game as soon as we go one down - just simple things really. As a club we have really lost our way it's really going to take some turn around to start to get us going in the right direction, hopefully the championship will do that, but I fear we could fall further still. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Corbyn Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 I'm looking forward to it - it has to be more enjoyable than this (and most of the last 7 years). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 (edited) I don't think there will be more Saturday 3pms. Obviously we would be of the biggest teams in the league so expect plenty of our games to get moved to Friday night or Saturday lunchtime for TV Edited 9 April, 2023 by Pamplemousse 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berkshire Saint Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 14 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said: I don't think there will be more Saturday 3pms. Obviously we would be of the biggest teams in the league so expect plenty of our games to get moved to Friday night or Saturday lunchtime for TV I'm sure we will have more 3pms overall but can see us getting moved a lot as well as we don't get picked for TV that often in the Prem. Particularly early in the season as a recently relegated club, although having said that we're likely to come down with some other relatively 'big' clubs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 All of the points Whelk makes are appealing. I'd add in a more level playing field. There's no clubs with unlimited funds buying £100m players or spunking £500k per week on wages. This means a more reasonable chance to win every match. Going to different grounds is another bonus. There's not many in the Championship I haven't been to but it's getting pretty dull continually going to the same ones each season. Losing the Prem hangers on might mean we don't get instances where our players are booed by some fuckwits when their names are announced before kick off. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Just now, The Cat said: All of the points Whelk makes are appealing. I'd add in a more level playing field. There's no clubs with unlimited funds buying £100m players or spunking £500k per week on wages. This means a more reasonable chance to win every match. Going to different grounds is another bonus. There's not many in the Championship I haven't been to but it's getting pretty dull continually going to the same ones each season. Losing the Prem hangers on might mean we don't get instances where our players are booed by some fuckwits when their names are announced before kick off. What you probably mean, we have the financial advantage over most other clubs.....not a level playing field at all in reality 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convict Colony Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Will be a nice stay on our journey to L1 😆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Just now, AlexLaw76 said: What you probably mean, we have the financial advantage over most other clubs.....not a level playing field at all in reality If you can't see the difference between the advantage Man City have over us to the one we have over someone like Millwall then there's no hope for you. My phrase was "a more level" playing field. Which is what we'll get in the Championship. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 1 minute ago, The Cat said: If you can't see the difference between the advantage Man City have over us to the one we have over someone like Millwall then there's no hope for you. My phrase was "a more level" playing field. Which is what we'll get in the Championship. we will absolutely lord it financially over say Plymouth, and they will probably win League 1. Our financial clout (with parachute payments) will blow most championship teams away... that is the reality... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obelisk Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Saints might pass Luton Town on the way down. Wonder if there's any lessons that could be learned from them. 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee On Solent Saint Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 2 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said: we will absolutely lord it financially over say Plymouth, and they will probably win League 1. Our financial clout (with parachute payments) will blow most championship teams away... that is the reality... It is the reality, but if we don't have a team on the pitch to match that reality, it doesn't matter how much money we have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said: It is the reality, but if we don't have a team on the pitch to match that reality, it doesn't matter how much money we have. totally agree...the suggestion of a more level playing field is pie in the sky; the monetary gulf between Plymouth/Barnsley/QPR/Rotherham and Saints will be enormous, as we will be part of the championship 'top 6'...financially I doubt you will get many of those clubs claiming the league is fair as we are able to spend, probably unwisely, significantly more than them without being penalised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerx16 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 11 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said: we will absolutely lord it financially over say Plymouth, and they will probably win League 1. Our financial clout (with parachute payments) will blow most championship teams away... that is the reality... And we had that, at least in theory, last time we went down. How did that go ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarehamSaintJames Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 (edited) We won’t go straight back up. We’ll be around there for some time now. We might have financial clout compared to most; but we had that this season, and pissed it up against a wall. All we’ve proven is we’re reckless with the money. Edited 9 April, 2023 by FarehamSaintJames 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Just now, badgerx16 said: And we had that, at least in theory, last time we went down. How did that go ? badly...but that is a different point 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsaint Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 No VAR, no plastic fans, no light shows, more 3pm kick offs, the expectation to get points from every game instead of ‘hoping’ to get something against the top 6, new away grounds, better atmosphere, more games. The club and city take a hit with relegation that much is true, but for the match going fan its probably going to be a welcome change for a little while. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie May Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 I’m not looking forward to it. The feel good factor of the initial drive to the Premier League has long gone. The football is going to be terrible and I think fans are going to be in for a rude awakening. We aren’t going to do a Burnley unless SR pull a good manager out of the bag, which is unlikely. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warsash saint Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 VAR has to the biggest - actually enjoying a goal in the moment! Yeah the refs may f**k a few decisions but at least we are spared the sight of Stuart Atwell staring blindly into a pitch side monitor for 5 minutes! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Just now, warsash saint said: VAR has to the biggest - actually enjoying a goal in the moment! Yeah the refs may f**k a few decisions but at least we are spared the sight of Stuart Atwell staring blindly into a pitch side monitor for 5 minutes! 😂 The issues seen again yesterday, this time at Spurs, is a real turn-off for VAR. Pathetic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alehouseboys Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 After going season after season for something like 50 years I'm all a bit 'meh' with the football experience these days. I'll now pick and choose my games and very likely enjoy the day out more when I go, more so for being out of the PL. One thing they should do is find a way to stick the TV cameras in the Itchen. Last time we were down and crowds dropped it was the Itchen that was mostly empty plus the big gap between home and aways in the Northam, the place looked particularly bad on the tele and save us having to watch away fans lording it when they score in front of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo1976 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 22 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said: We won’t go straight back up. We’ll be around there for some time now. We might have financial clout compared to most; but we had that this season, and pissed it up against a wall. All we’ve proven is we’re reckless with the money. plus we just seemed to have no idea on what type of panic buy to buy next,in the end they have all nearly proved pointless. And whats worrying is they are still going to be in charge of this situation again for the next season,it seems. Still might be able to afford to buy a ticket, in the rare off chance i might see the team win next season,providing we have a good sound structure and belief that were going to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfc4prem Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 1 hour ago, Pamplemousse said: I don't think there will be more Saturday 3pms. Obviously we would be of the biggest teams in the league so expect plenty of our games to get moved to Friday night or Saturday lunchtime for TV I mean... we're not that big, really. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee On Solent Saint Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 10 minutes ago, sfc4prem said: I mean... we're not that big, really. In terms of the Championship, we will be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 41 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said: totally agree...the suggestion of a more level playing field is pie in the sky; the monetary gulf between Plymouth/Barnsley/QPR/Rotherham and Saints will be enormous, as we will be part of the championship 'top 6'...financially I doubt you will get many of those clubs claiming the league is fair as we are able to spend, probably unwisely, significantly more than them without being penalised. That's horseshit. The gap between us and clubs with unlimited funds is not the same as the one between Plymouth and Saints. Therefore it's "a more level" playing field. Not a level one, but more level. Which is what I said. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssEffCee Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 More Saturday 3pm KO's. Better home atmospheres. New grounds to visit. For those saying no VAR then there's a very good chance that the championship brings in a watered down version next season unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsland Codger Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Won't the reality be that other teams will come to St Mary's to park the bus. As usual, we will be unable to unlock a tight defence and the opposition then nick a goal on the break. Rinse and repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raging Bull Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Hopefully get a beer at halftime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Rabbit Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 How anyone is actually looking forward to playing in a lower division is beyond me. It will suck. 3pm kick offs… couldn’t care less.. Half full stadiums, crap football, crap opposition, crap division, no star players to see. All shite. I’ll still be there though… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenilworthy Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Our current experience in the Premier League is poor. But it is going to be even more disappointing when we face the reality of how brutal the game is in the Championship and get turned over at the many grounds we have historically struggled at like Plymouth, Bristol City, Preston, Blackburn, Norwich, Ipswich and Stoke. My prediction is that it will pan out something like 2005/6 and at the halfway point we will look in danger of relegation and then rally once we come to terms with the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 1 hour ago, The Cat said: If you can't see the difference between the advantage Man City have over us to the one we have over someone like Millwall then there's no hope for you. My phrase was "a more level" playing field. Which is what we'll get in the Championship. Exactly this. It’s more of a level playing field and a very competitive league. lots of clubs of our size in it. Plus the fact that 3/4s of the league has something to play for right up until the last few weeks. Usually the teams 12-14 still have a chance of making the play offs with a month to go, seen so many times a late run and you can sneak into 6th. plus it’d be nice for once to start a season with the objective being positive not just to survive. It’s pretty miserable starting every season knowing you’re going to be lucky to win 1/4 of your games and the main objective being not to get relegated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whelk Posted 9 April, 2023 Author Share Posted 9 April, 2023 27 minutes ago, B Rabbit said: How anyone is actually looking forward to playing in a lower division is beyond me. It will suck. 3pm kick offs… couldn’t care less.. Half full stadiums, crap football, crap opposition, crap division, no star players to see. All shite. I’ll still be there though… So do you enjoy leaving St Mary’s having been beaten by a top team than having beaten an average team? I genuinely will never understand the likes of you and how you get any fulfilment being a Saints fan. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Rabbit Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 1 minute ago, whelk said: So do you enjoy leaving St Mary’s having been beaten by a top team than having beaten an average team? I genuinely will never understand the likes of you and how you get any fulfilment being a Saints fan. there’s infinitely more fulfilment beating the top teams than beating middle of the road teams. An average finish in the top division and a good cup run is infinitely better than a playoff push in the championship. and you assume we’re going to cake walk beating average teams. We’re probably all in for a rude awakening. that’s ok though.. 3pm kick off times. Yaaaay 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whelk Posted 9 April, 2023 Author Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Just now, B Rabbit said: there’s infinitely more fulfilment beating the top teams than beating middle of the road teams. An average finish in the top division and a good cup run is infinitely better than a playoff push in the championship. and you assume we’re going to cake walk beating average teams. We’re probably all in for a rude awakening. that’s ok though.. 3pm kick off times. Yaaaay Not assuming a cake walk at all but we have won 2 home games this season and is soul destroying, any optimism even pre-match has gone. We can’t compete so rightfully go to a place where we can compete more. We deserve relegation as are the worst side in PL this season. I still enjoyed watch Saints beat Carlisle in L1 but clearly some home fans are only there cos is PL and told best league in the world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Matty 76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 I don't think many people are saying it's going to be great, this is literally just a thread of a few things to look forward to from a bad situation. Looking forward to having a bit of expectation going to St Mary's again, seeing us score a few goals and hopefully (very optimistically) managing somewhat of a clean-out of a lot of the shite that's caused this in the Summer. Don't expect us to piss it by any means, and the managerial appointment is key (and their history of that is already beyond worrying), but we have a decent amount of players who I think will do a good job next year, on top of what should be a decent budget from outgoings to add to that. I've felt the most detached that I have in the past couple of months, so I think the fans need the reset as well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 39 minutes ago, B Rabbit said: How anyone is actually looking forward to playing in a lower division is beyond me. It will suck. 3pm kick offs… couldn’t care less.. Half full stadiums, crap football, crap opposition, crap division, no star players to see. All shite. I’ll still be there though… Stick to basketball and green day Burberry boy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archers Road Stand Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 8 minutes ago, B Rabbit said: there’s infinitely more fulfilment beating the top teams than beating middle of the road teams. An average finish in the top division and a good cup run is infinitely better than a playoff push in the championship. and you assume we’re going to cake walk beating average teams. We’re probably all in for a rude awakening. that’s ok though.. 3pm kick off times. Yaaaay Thing is we won't manage to get that next year if we somehow stayed up this year. It would be another shite season where we'll aim for 17th place and deem that success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedArmy Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 I’m hoping for a better atmosphere and more enjoyable experience going to games when all the “fans” that are there to see the opposition more than Saints and just clap a goal all go back to watching football on Sky Sports. I’m hoping for more affordable tickets. I’m hoping for a squad of players that want to play for Southampton Football Club rather than those that have joined us for either the money and/or to get themselves in the shop window for the top 6. I don’t think we’ll ever get anything like we had 2009-2012 but we can dream. Winning more games than we lose would be nice too but I’d happily stay in the Championship for a few years as long as the club was stable financially (probably not realistic) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crab Lungs Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 16 minutes ago, Archers Road Stand said: Thing is we won't manage to get that next year if we somehow stayed up this year. It would be another shite season where we'll aim for 17th place and deem that success. Agree. There needs to be a huge mindset change at the club, from the top downwards… as it’s from the top that those kind of things are set. Currently, we’re just a group of utter losers that have been spouting self-congratulatory shite since post-Koeman. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Relegation Plus / and / Minus? MINUS.. aside from the pride of losing our place in the top tier in the best league in the World ...we'd also lose all that lovely TV money for Prem. clubs. We'd lose some our very best talents... ( JWP and Lavia to start with ), but there maybe a bonus there, too (see below). Reduced crowds.. not likely to get even 20,000 - when you play the likes of Swansea and Blackpool ..depending on where they are next season. We would be one league closer to that mob at the eastern end of the M27. PLUS ...strangely enough quite a few. After sales of our best talents, and the welcome departure of a few more over-paid " bench warmers" the club's salary bill would be drastically reduced and give us less outgoings and a little more economic stability. Those vacancies from (sales of the above) would give a chance for the Saints loanees who have proven themselves at Championship level (the likes of Tella and Smallbone) ... and if we get an offer we can't refuse...and sold them ... we'd get good fees . The (albeit) bad experience of relegation would also give the " new " youngsters will have the benefit of having played a season in the Prem. We also have a dozen former Academy graduates (currently out on loan) who have already cut their teeth on lower league football in the last year and who would be in the running for first team places in a Championship squad, as well as those currently showing up well in the B team. Signing new players ?. One might assume that we would see " newcomers ", but as the current level of our signings is 10-15 million, that level of fee would be drastically halved, or even better than that. Sad to say ....Relegation - even for a short time - might not be a bad thing, and a quick return to the Prem. not so far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washsaint Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Hoping to see some of our Academy starlets get an opportunity (if they have not left). Hopefully never seeing moi in a Saints shirt again. However, with our pathetic squad and Sr in charge I fear the worst for next season too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 I'm actually fairly optimistic, as long as we get the managerial appointment right. We have enough decent young players, even if we do sell some, that a season of them together winning most weeks, playing attractive, attacking football, could be a springboard for a successful Premier League campaign in 2024-25. It's not going to be all doom and gloom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBizzier69 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Quieter trains, easier parking, SFC fans rather than PL fans, more games, different opposition, smaller bar queues, a new journey, something to actually play for……I’d rather be in the PL but if we’re not…oh well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRM Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 1 hour ago, whelk said: Only a few lunatics clinging on to hope of staying up but there are some positives of being in Championship next year More games, and more Saturday 3pms. Not playing teams who played on Thursday so making our game Sunday Less tourists with their mobiles out. Lose a few of the entitles wankers who only come to Pl games hopefully. Maybe win a home game? QPR and Reading may survive so some away days to look forward to All of those plus VAR, really looking forward to some of the away days , it's a proper competitive division points between top and bottom tend to be closer , good times ahead 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Football is relative, most fans just want to see their team win regardless of the division. Our promotion run out of league 1 was infinitely more fun than this season. We should at least be more competitive in the championship which will make it more fun than getting tonked week in week out. Who the hell enjoys that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Rabbit Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 1 hour ago, Turkish said: Stick to basketball and green day Burberry boy You don’t even live here! Northern tosser. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 .... Not being linked with Harry Winks in the transfer window! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Ralph Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 Winning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggles31 Posted 9 April, 2023 Share Posted 9 April, 2023 My favourite ever Saints season was the Championship promotion with Adkins. I’d like us to assemble a young English side and cash in on as many players as we can. Try and get Carrick if they don’t go up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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