Relegation Cup Final tonight

[Jaspers ghost]

The odd twist to all this is that Saints supporters are dreading at ending up in the Championship, which is the very place where Pompey supporters long to be.

Must admit quite a lot of supporters like the championship , certainly very entertaining , as was L1

I might be wrong but I think it’s more the dread of the financial impact that they are dreading .

[Jaspers ghost]

As a football fan I feel sad for Saints fans. I suspect that if they can keep many of their young players and get a striker or two that they would be one of the strongest favourites to be promoted next season but it is still going to hurt being relegated from the Premiership.

Ironically, I think they have invested well in young players but that defence has fallen apart and selling Danny Ings now looks like sporting suicide. Three managers in one season is of course a key ingredient for a recipe for disaster

The whole situation is a mess top to bottom .

Jones replaces Ralph .

Jones gets a 6’ 7” striker .

Selles replaces Jones & doesn’t play the striker .

Selles talks a good game .

There maybe ego problems in the board room .

Tell you one thing .

I reckon there maybe 2 or even 3. Of you that are taking some delight in our plight

[Blue Walter]

The odd twist to all this is that Saints supporters are dreading at ending up in the Championship, which is the very place where Pompey supporters long to be.

Must admit quite a lot of supporters like the championship , certainly very entertaining , as was L1

I might be wrong but I think it’s more the dread of the financial impact that they are dreading .

Will there be a financial impact though? I know incoming money from Sky will be lower as will season ticket and entry prices will be lower. There is, of course, the parachute payments that will soften the blow. I would think Southampton will have, at least, one of the strongest teams and would fancy themselves for an instant return to the Premiership.

From what my Saints supporting friends have told me one of their problems was that they invested to much in younger players and their inexperience showed. If they can keep most of the team intact, with the young players that more experienced, I would have thought that they can look forward to a good season. From what I understand the crowds have been a lot thinner for many games but I would assume they would all return if the team are winning and playing well.

[Jack_Tinn]

As a football fan I feel sad for Saints fans. I suspect that if they can keep many of their young players and get a striker or two that they would be one of the strongest favourites to be promoted next season but it is still going to hurt being relegated from the Premiership.

Ironically, I think they have invested well in young players but that defence has fallen apart and selling Danny Ings now looks like sporting suicide. Three managers in one season is of course a key ingredient for a recipe for disaster

The whole situation is a mess top to bottom .

Jones replaces Ralph .

Jones gets a 6’ 7” striker .

Selles replaces Jones & doesn’t play the striker .

Selles talks a good game .

There maybe ego problems in the board room .

Tell you one thing .

I reckon there maybe 2 or even 3. Of you that are taking some delight in our plight

I had not seen the signing of the 6'7" striker (hard to do I know given his height) but I don't take too strong an interest in what Saints are doing either so perhaps you will forgive me. You'd have thought though that given he arrived in January and is on a 3.5 year contract that he would have given Saints something different; and the opposition defenders something to worry about at least, at a time when their attack was pretty toothless. Odd.

[Betelgeuse]

As a football fan I feel sad for Saints fans. I suspect that if they can keep many of their young players and get a striker or two that they would be one of the strongest favourites to be promoted next season but it is still going to hurt being relegated from the Premiership.

Ironically, I think they have invested well in young players but that defence has fallen apart and selling Danny Ings now looks like sporting suicide. Three managers in one season is of course a key ingredient for a recipe for disaster

The whole situation is a mess top to bottom .

Jones replaces Ralph .

Jones gets a 6’ 7” striker .

Selles replaces Jones & doesn’t play the striker .

Selles talks a good game .

There maybe ego problems in the board room .

Tell you one thing .

I reckon there maybe 2 or even 3. Of you that are taking some delight in our plight

Nooooo.....

[Jaspers ghost]

The odd twist to all this is that Saints supporters are dreading at ending up in the Championship, which is the very place where Pompey supporters long to be.

Must admit quite a lot of supporters like the championship , certainly very entertaining , as was L1

I might be wrong but I think it’s more the dread of the financial impact that they are dreading .

Will there be a financial impact though? I know incoming money from Sky will be lower as will season ticket and entry prices will be lower. There is, of course, the parachute payments that will soften the blow. I would think Southampton will have, at least, one of the strongest teams and would fancy themselves for an instant return to the Premiership.

From what my Saints supporting friends have told me one of their problems was that they invested to much in younger players and their inexperience showed. If they can keep most of the team intact, with the young players that more experienced, I would have thought that they can look forward to a good season. From what I understand the crowds have been a lot thinner for many games but I would assume they would all return if the team are winning and playing well.

Yes , that’s a good point .

All I can go on is what I read on other sites .

I have not been to a game since about halfway through our first season back in the PL .

Never mind the team for a moment .

What we really really need NOW is an experienced Manager .

You could well be right , perhaps some of the young players will turn out ok .

Time will tell .

[Jaspers ghost]

As a football fan I feel sad for Saints fans. I suspect that if they can keep many of their young players and get a striker or two that they would be one of the strongest favourites to be promoted next season but it is still going to hurt being relegated from the Premiership.

Ironically, I think they have invested well in young players but that defence has fallen apart and selling Danny Ings now looks like sporting suicide. Three managers in one season is of course a key ingredient for a recipe for disaster

The whole situation is a mess top to bottom .

Jones replaces Ralph .

Jones gets a 6’ 7” striker .

Selles replaces Jones & doesn’t play the striker .

Selles talks a good game .

There maybe ego problems in the board room .

Tell you one thing .

I reckon there maybe 2 or even 3. Of you that are taking some delight in our plight

I had not seen the signing of the 6'7" striker (hard to do I know given his height) but I don't take too strong an interest in what Saints are doing either so perhaps you will forgive me. You'd have thought though that given he arrived in January and is on a 3.5 year contract that he would have given Saints something different; and the opposition defenders something to worry about at least, at a time when their attack was pretty toothless. Odd.

Forgive you for what ?

Stating you have no / little interest in another team bar your own ?

Perfectly normal IMHO .

[PeteM]

The odd twist to all this is that Saints supporters are dreading at ending up in the Championship, which is the very place where Pompey supporters long to be.

Must admit quite a lot of supporters like the championship , certainly very entertaining , as was L1

I might be wrong but I think it’s more the dread of the financial impact that they are dreading .

Will there be a financial impact though? I know incoming money from Sky will be lower as will season ticket and entry prices will be lower. There is, of course, the parachute payments that will soften the blow. I would think Southampton will have, at least, one of the strongest teams and would fancy themselves for an instant return to the Premiership.

From what my Saints supporting friends have told me one of their problems was that they invested to much in younger players and their inexperience showed. If they can keep most of the team intact, with the young players that more experienced, I would have thought that they can look forward to a good season. From what I understand the crowds have been a lot thinner for many games but I would assume they would all return if the team are winning and playing well.

Pretty good article here on the financial impact of relegation from the PL:

https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/soccer/ ... qzomkjbbxx

I don't think it's quite as simple as keeping the majority their squad together and getting promoted. The biggest problem in terms of bouncing back is that they will almost certainly lose most of their better players who will want to stay at the top level either in the UK or abroad (likely to be at least Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Salisu, Walker-Peters, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud, Adams). Maybe Stuart Armstrong, Bednarek, Caleta-Car and Diallo too.

They've got other players signed in January who might not have had the Championship in mind when they joined and may well want out - Orsic, Sulemana, Onuachu. Three or four others are out of contract. Burnley will want to sign Tella permanently after his successful loan. There's a realistic chance that they lose upwards of 15 players this summer, or can't shift others they want to due to their wages.

What they will likely have to cushion the blow of losing those players is a lot of money from sales this summer. Whether they are in the mix for promotion probably depends on their recruitment over the summer being more successful than it was last year (with a different person in charge of recruitment this year).