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Whatever Happens On Sunday This Has Been A Great Season
Friday, 22nd May 2015 10:25

On Sunday Saints travel to Manchester City for a date with destiny, but whatever the result Saints supporters should celebrate what has been one of our best seasons ever as a club.

On Sunday at 5pm Saints may already be planning a European tour or they may be having to cross their fingers that Arsenal win the FA Cup the following weekend, but whatever happens and that includes the Gunners losing that final and Saints missing out on Europe, we Saints fans should celebrate just what the club has achieved this season and how much joy it has provided us all with.

A year ago this club was in turmoil and there were not many Saints fans who would have predicted just where we would be sitting a year later, some even spoke of meltdown and certain relegation, indeed even those who knocked back that idea were in the main talking of a season of consolidation and looking to finish around 10th -12th spot, in fact that would have been seen by many as success given the number of players that were leaving the club.

A year later and we are on the cusp of equalling our second best ever league finish, in fact even if the worst happens and we finish 7th, that would still rank as our fourth highest highest finish equally with season 68/69, 70/71, 81/82, & 89/90.

To put that in perspective we will only have had 3 better league finsihed in the entire history of the club, that being the monumentous season of 1983/84 when we finished 2nd, the Keegan era season of 1980/81 when we finished 6th and 1984/85 when we ended up 5th.

But listen to some people and you would think that this season had been a disaster and that we have a squad of underperforming, hopeless idiots playing, at various times Pelle, Long, Mane, S Davis, Tadic, Gazzaniga, Ward Prowse & even Fraser Forster have all come in for criticism from the fans and in most cases downright abuse.

So how on earth has this squad managed to be up there with those greats from the past ?

So we should sit back and take a long look at this season and see it for what it has been, it has firstly been one of rebuilding and we have to appreciate that Ronald Koeman had a very hard task when he took over and that although it is disappointing that we perhaps could have done a little better and that in the run in we dropped some points that earlier in the season we would not have, we have still rebuilt and improved.

Secondly we should look at those players that have received abuse and firstly recognise that all have tried their best in a Saints shirt and that all have made positive contributions to the season.

But mainly we should just celebrate what has been an exciting season that at times has seen as good a football as played anywhere, the excitement of some games where we could not stop scoring, Newcastle, Sunderland, Everton & not least Aston Villa all saw comprehensive high scoring victories at home, away from home there were some great results as well, starting with the 3-1 win at West Ham, the same score at Crystal Palace and of course that classic victory at Old Trafford.

There were also some great wins that although not comprehensive or high scoring where enjoyable and vital, the 1-1 draw at St Mary's with Chelsea followed up a few days later with a 2-0 home win against Arsenal, the 2-2 draw at home with Spurs and of course the 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

Both cups initially promised great things, the Capital One Cup saw a great win at Arsenal but ended in a disappointing defeat at Sheffield United, the FA Cup looked to be opening out but again we lost to Palace when we had a great chance to progress.

So what is there not to like in this season, yes it has not ended on the real high we all hoped and that means there is that late equaliser effect on it ie when you score a late equaliser it seems like you have won the cup, when you concede one it seems like relegation, having had such high hopes we feel a little deflated, but if it had gone the other way and we had come up on the rails we would be in ecstasy now.

So it now all comes down to one game, if we win and results go our way we could equal our second best ever season and that would be a fantastic achievement, but just being able to go into the final day with the opportunity to do so is still something to celebrate.

So even if we lose on Saturday and we have to pray for an Arsenal Cup final win, let us celebrate what has been one of our most exciting top flight seasons ever and our best ever in the Premier League era.

Southampton Football Club is now in good hands both on and off the pitch, it is about constant improvement, we have done that this season and we have done that from a position far worse than we neded last season in, we march on again next season and this has been another great step forward.

Photo: Action Images



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SonicBoom added 10:41 - May 22
You're right Nick. Seventh would be an excellent finishing position and above pretty much everyone's expectations from the start of the season. As Jose says it could have been even better.
I don't think we will make 5th with is a shame. Coming 5th would be a real achievement and would make signing new players a lot easier I would think. Secondly if we are seventh then unfortunately all the players that left last year will finish higher than us at their new clubs - including the manager. It To be fair the DM are not used to spelling the names of players who aren't at Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, City or Liverpool.
I'm frankly amazed they even know other teams exist. have been great to finish above at least one or two of them.
I can't see all the results going our way, but anyway it has been a fantastic season in which the highlight for me was winning at Old Trafford. No panic, no huge slices of luck, we were the better side and took the points.
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A1079 added 11:20 - May 22
I believe it has been a GOOD season, not a Great season. We've done very well, from where we were, what could have been given last summer's events etc, but at the end of the day, we haven't won anything and there have been periods in the season, between some good moments, when the football has been not so good. But, there is no doubt, finishing where we are now or higher is a tremendous achievement and beyond expectations.

I have the same issue with people in the media saying Gerrard is a Great footballer. A good footballer Yes, Great, I would dispute. Similar when people use the word Hero in football - rarely in football is someone a hero.
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GeordieSaint added 12:01 - May 22
Next year could be mental if we sign up Clyne and Morgan, bring in a couple more promising kids and make a couple of shrewd acquisitions. Onwards and upwards.

If anyone is interested £10 on Saints to win, Spurs to draw and Liverpool to lose, guaranteeing 5th, pays upwards of £900.
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SaintNick added 12:18 - May 22
A1079 I think a little perspective is needed in this season, Saints have been going for 130 years, in that time if we finish 7th we will only have beaten that finish 3 times, if we finish th then we will have only have bettered it once, so for Southampton Football club this has been a great season, not good, the reality is for Saints that a good season would see us around 9th-11th.

But in the premier league perspective we also have to look at it. it is virtually impossible to break into the top 4, Spurs have managed it once, Liverpool rarely of late, so to get within a whisker of doing so and to take on the likes of Spurs and Liverpool and compete with them is truly great, ask yourself how many clubs have actually done that in the past decade.

Gerrard is a great footballer, I cant understand why so many queue up to slag him off, he is a one club man he has been loyal to both club and country, a pity that there arent many more like him these days, yes he didnt have the skill of a Best, Gascoigne etc, but if gerrard is merely good then Saints have not one single player who could be described as anything better than good when they have played for the club
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BoondockSaint added 13:29 - May 22
Good season overall considering the past summer. But I think it's frustrating to think we threw Champions League away in February by not having the grit to get just one goal when needed in 3 of 4 games against weaker clubs.

Yes it's very hard to break the big money group, all the more reason you have to do it when you get the chance, because those chances can be very rare (hopefully that doesn't apply to the Saints).

Gerrard: he didn't have the skill of a Le Tissier or a Keegan either, and I would describe them as "better than good" players who played for Saints!

Since it's the end off the season Nick, let me be the first to thank you for all you do running this site, lots of work and aggro, I'm sure!
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codge added 00:19 - May 23
Amen, what a great season it has been, can't wait until next season, great work Nick a really fun read every week and almost always agree with your coments, but most of all thank you goes out to all the players and staff of SC coyr..
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SanMarco added 09:56 - May 23
Surely overall though Boondock we cant really claim to have been one of the top four sides. Man U are the ones we would have had to get above and over the whole season they have been better than us. Every team has individual games where they can point to referees or missed chances/mistakes etc. Yes we should have got more than 1 point from the 4 Liverpool and Spurs games but there were several certain penalties NOT given against us that should have been and would have cost us points. The 8-0 could have easily gone to 2-1 with us down to 10.

Also I echo Boondock's comments on our genial host. I am sure we all take this site for granted at times but it is the one site to go to for informed and civil discussion...

And finally Gerrard - a very good player but was I the only one nauseated by the coverage of his last game? Surely the truth is that him and Lampard were lauded as the two greats who would take England to glory and they were never quite as good as we needed them to be.
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BoondockSaint added 19:39 - May 23
San Marco- I get your point, but this was the year when, with the exception of Citehad and Chelski , that there was weakness that could have been exploited and there are no guarantees it will happen again.

Lets be happy if the Spuds and Scouse finish ahead of us-that will guarantee they keep their overrated managers for another year and burn through their owners' money!

Totally agree on this site-"civil discussion" is the key to this being the top Saints site!

Gerrard: Yep, him, Terry and Lampard were dubbed the "Golden Generation" and when they got to the World or European Cups they turned out to be the "Brass Generation"


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davepid added 19:39 - May 23
The stats say this has been a good season for us but my feelings say otherwise. Frankly if Fuontes back pass against United had been firmer, if Tadic hadn't missed the penalty at Burnley, if Davis ,JWP could shoot better at Swansea, Liverpool, Spurs or if Kelvin had watched a deflected shot better at Stoke then we would have already qualified for Europa league and still be in for a shout of 4 th.
We were superbly placed in Jan for 3/4 th place. We didn't buy well in Jan ( except Bertrand) and the squad tired in Match and April .and when individual playerscwere off form or injured we didn't have the quality to replace.
A great season from where we were in August, a poor season from where we were after winning away at Newcastle in mid Jan.
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SaintBrock added 23:09 - May 23
It's been more exciting than last season simply because after last summer's meltdown most fans expected and feared relegation so our competitiveness has come as a huge and genuine surprise.

We do need to be better at managing expectations next season 'though as talk of champions league by Ronald Koeman around Christmas-time probably were never realistic but subsequent failure to maintain the pace did serve to take the edge off what has been arguably our best ever season
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corkcitysaint added 13:27 - May 24
Overall, it's been a great season. After all the if' buts and maybes we have found our equilibrium this season. I for one, hope we do qualify for Europe to give us further incentive to keep progressing and moving forward as a club.

To echo my fellow Uglies above also, thanks Nick for an excellent site and for putting up with all our "opinions" and "expertise"..




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