Europa League, the stepping stone to glory or the trap door to the Championship for club's like Saints, that is the question posed in the first article from our new contributor William.

The days, good and bad, have over the years tended to blur into one. I am talking about Saints here, not my actual day to day, which are fundamentally far more blurred.

I recall a frozen Saturday afternoon when I took my Man Utd chum {who needed to experience a true kick about} to see 'our boys' take on the might and prominence of Burnley FC in a do or die (the do or die aspect was more due to the depressingly low temperatures rather than the outcome) and it was everything I had thought it would be.

It was, like for most of us, a stream of more than inadequate fixtures in a league full of really rather blundering teams. But we won and that was of course the main objective.

Did I mention my X had dumped me the day before? February is a cruel month, especially in the lower leagues.

Saints are a club that have succeeded where most newly promoted have failed, sure the past few seasons have seen the likes of Swansea and Bournemouth (to name but two) get the ball down and play BUT they've had average league positions and have always been within a game or two of collapse. Not to mention a clear lack of lasting ambition {within the Swansea camp} that can only really be based on ‘survival’.

It is also worth noting that clubs having come up and played the beautiful game as it should, have suffered, I'm thinking of Burnley {that’ll teach them for playing us on the day after I was dumped}. Saints have avoided this and in no small way, they've more or less handed out lessons to the likes of Man Utd, City, Chelsea AND Spurs both last season and this..

Saints have come up playing beautiful football they've come up playing a brand of football remarkable to most and they've done it root and branch, be it the playing staff right through to the general ground staff. They've opened many an eye both neutral and dedicated. That five year plan is being thoroughly expedited by the board, and by the looks of it it's working, even if when the wheels temporarily came off mid season and the rot of the media reared their heads to denounce the club's strategy. Here I get to the crux of it.

The Europa league for Saints IS the competition that will give the fans and club alike the true test. After all if not now then when? It is the next natural step. Saints finished in highly impressive league positions last season and in this. Sure Saints have had dips in form and had rather unsettling attitudes from some players but by and large Koeman has lead Saints on a dramatic and largely impressive charge into this Europa spot.

Last season RK got it wrong against Mitjliland which took me the best part of half the season to forgive him for {Was that just me?}

This is the next step for Saints and RK is the man to show all the naysayers that plague the press bemoaning the Europa league as a Micky mouse league that only disrupts rather than beds in further belief within clubs that it’s a competition to be greeted with open arms. However will it attract a different class of player? I hope so!

I would hasten to add that most reading this would like to think so otherwise we will forever remain a ‘stepping stone’ club for seemingly high quality players to simply showboat for a season or two {If we’re lucky} and then depart with a heavy heart {yeah right}.

Perhaps when I say a ‘different class’ of player I mean ones that won’t attempt to strongarm the club via a money grabbing agent when the slightest interest from other ‘bigger clubs’ come a’knockin’.

It may just be that we do impress and excite a different caliber of player that once again move us on as a club and further our campaign into the Europa league. In which case i’m all for it, but do we stand to lose our identity in the process? Will JWP feature next season? Will there be any room for a new crop of youngsters to show us just what we’re missing and to further cement all our belief that this is a club not just out to bring in then move on.

Relegation? Not a chance. I believe if, like for the past three seasons, we carry on with this progressive plan (that is clearly more about the game off the pitch than on) then this competition is surely a step into greater realms.

Far greater than winning the thing I believe it will finally give this club something to believe in. Some might whinge about a resulting slump come the lunacy of the Christmas period but it'll be largely forgotten if we can create truly incendiary atmospheres at St Marys that may result in something spectacular.

I point mainly to the home game against Vitesse where the singing between the two sets of fans was enough to have Fonte waxing lyrical and myself in an emotional tornado having never experienced such a ‘carnival’ celebration of two sets of fans.

Long may nights like this build and build I hope a grander sense of identity and aspiration is brought to the club and that RK is up the challenge and is not wooed. I hope that under the floodlights we can all bring Saints to the very verge of glory and fingers crossed install something truly lasting within us all.

It will of course come at a price. We will be drained and injuries will come but essentially it's what we all strive for, right? I for one still feel a real and present sense that perhaps there is something amazing in waiting for us next season.

I'm sure they'll be plenty written about the factors that may determine the outcome of next season but for now I am positive we'll sign well and keep marching on and entertain our european hosts by singing louder than any other club on the south coast!

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 12:21 - May 31 I can't help, I love the prospect of being successful in Europe. And the Europa League is a suitable fix whilst we waiting for that Champions League spot..
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SanMarco added 12:38 - May 31 Us being straight in to the groups is very important. Our squad for the season will be sorted well before the first game. Of course injuries will be a factor that but I don't buy the "we played on Thursday and are therefore too tired to play on a Sunday" excuse used by the likes of MoPo. Players should be able to manage a couple of games a week, especially early season. I expect we will sacrifice the League Cup though. Interesting point about youngsters. A new crop need to come through...

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A1079 added 17:10 - May 31 SanMarco, unless I am mistaken, I think we have sacrificed the league, FA cup, indeed all cup competitions for the last few seasons, not just under RK but also MP and even Adkins. It has been a very long time since I can recall us making a genuine effort in a cup competition of any kind - the JP trophy probably being the last one. To some extent, it is our failure or attempt to put in a genuine bid for a cup competition this season just passed which has made the difference between what a good season it has been in the league to a very good one had we matched the same effort in at least one cup competition.

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SanMarco added 18:23 - May 31 Good point A1079, but to be fair I think Koeman has picked stronger teams than the other two - compare the wins at Stoke and Arsenal last season with the Sunderland matches the season before or that awful Leeds performance. The Sheff U and Liverpool were extremely disappointing but not down to Koeman leaving loads of players out.
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