If you listen to some Southampton supporters you would think relegation would be confirmed sometime during Tottenham Hotspurs first attack on the opening day of the season, however the bookies don't agree.
No one will be surprised to learn that Saints don't feature heavily in betting on who will be the Premier League champions in 2022/23, most bookies are offering 500/1, although if you shop around you could get 750/1 or even 999/1 at one outlet.
Truth is though, unless you are Liverpool or Manchester City the bookies aren't looking much beyond that, Spurs are 3rd favourites for the title and they are 16/1, Man Utd around 25-30/1 and if you fancy Newcastle to spent their millions and storm to the title get on now at 80/1
So to be blunt the table most teams are more interested in is the odds for relegation and if you read Saints fan sites the general consensus is one of doom and gloom, with people saying we are one of the favourites for relegation !
Only we are not !
A look at the market today after the fixtures were released shows Saints as actually 6th favourites to go down, after Bournemouth who are favourites at 8/13, Nottingham Forest at 8/11 & Fulham at 11/10.
After that comes Leeds United at 5/2, Brentford also at the same price and then ourselves at 7/2.
In fact at this point the odds aren't that much different for the next five clubs, Wolves, Everton & Palace are all about 5/1 with Brighton and Aston Villa at 8/1, are all in a similar position to Saints in the eyes of the bookies.
So although some would claim we are dead certs for the drop, the Bookies don't agree.
Where they have us is about our par score for the table, 15th, yes we are in a group of clubs who could struggle, but that same group could also flourish as Brighton & Wolves did.
Truth is perhaps 2 out of the three relegated clubs will go straight down, but this season all three going down looks more certain than most of the recent seasons.
So why aren't Saints being predicted for the drop ?
Perhaps because at this moment we haven't lost any key players, some will scream at me here Armando Broja, but with just 6 goals in the season, he isn't looked upon as a key player in terms of stats.
So in the eyes of those compiling the odds, we are exactly a team we were last season, we will win some games and lose others, those for whom the glass is half empty will point to our form in the final third of the season, but those for whom the glass is half full will point to that mid season period where we looked likely to challenge for the top 10.
The drop in form was worrying, but if we can keep the squad together and make some signings in key areas, ie Goalkeeper, Central Defender & Attack, then we are more likely to be pushing for top 10 than worrying about the bottom 3 and lets be blunt that has been the case for the last three seasons.