The EPL, its not big enough for the both of us.

In 2005, after 27 years of top flight football, Southampton sadly gave up the fight & bailed out of the top division. After years of dramatic escapes, defying the bookies & frankly pissing off Mark Lawrenson, we really did just go down with a wimper under the not so keen guidance of Harry Redknapp.
But as our golden league story ended, another started. A small club from Greater Manchester was emerging. Dave Whelan, a local millionaire bought the club in 1995 with the single aim to get the club to the Premiership, & with some help, he achieved his dream in a pretty short amount of time considering how big the task was.
Since then, Wigan have become the new perennial survivors, often leaving it very late in the season until they launch into some serious form to keep themselves up. This season, they seem to have taken that to a whole new level, beating Manchester Utd & Arsenal in consecutive games (something last achieved by the Saints in 2001), & also taking 3 points from Liverpool & Newcastle in that fantastic end of season run.
The 2012/13 season is set to be a cracker, the top league really looks to have been shaken up over the last couple of season with newbies like Norwich & Swansea holding their own. But as Saints start a new journey, I hope we manage to keep the spirit we've built up, I just wonder if we'll be able to share the division for more than one season? I do hope so, but I also doubt it. It will be fun finding out. Look forward to seeing you at St Marys for the first time.

 

What a gay post

 

Quite a decent post if you ask me, on a side note, I've always found that people who use the word 'gay' for no real reason are the most repressed homosexuals around, were you touched by a priest when you were a child, or did you simply enjoy the school showers a bit too much?

 

Yeah, I use the word gay because I was touched by a priest. Wonderful logic there.


What word should I use for homosexual then?
I just find typing out 'homosexual' each time is too much effort.

 

There is nothing wrong with either word, but to use either for no valid reason, as you clearly did, blatantly smacks of repression

 

I really don't see where you are coming from here.

Are only gay people allowed to say other things are gay?

If you walked in on your dad having bum sex with his mate from work does it make you gay if you say that that's gay?

 

Gayest thread ever!

 

Pete & the rooster need to grow up. Thats for sure.
Any mods out there just want to delete this thread, its fine by me.

 

Jesus, this Pete Doherty makes the real thing look like Stephen Hawking.

 

Must remember not to use the loo when we visit Swansea in case we are found out.
What a bell-end.


On a serious note I am also looking forward to seeing your lot at SMS. The way you play the game is attractive and has endeared many opposing fans to your club. Will you be able to stay up this season and will we also manage to is a question that still awaits an answer I guess.

 

Is that why you don't like gays?

 

Lumping on Swansea, Norwich and Southampton to go down next season. Sorry and all that, but the changes of management for the first two are going to have too detrimental an effect combined with the notorious second season syndrome. And I don't expect to have a repeat of last seasons escape for the two promoted teams. While I would love to see WHU go back down I think it's going to be Southampton who struggle to adjust.

 

The bookies think the same HP! Saying that, they had us down for bottom half last season.
Awkward.

 

In fairness, the Championship is alot harder to predict than the Premier League

 

I don't mind if we are favorites, I trust Nigel, & I rate the group of players we have. Its going to be a cracking season........ whatever happens!

 

Yup West Ham, Norwich, Swansea, Southampton, Reading, QPR, West Brom to make a cracking relegation show down

 

Wigan & Stoke will feel left out if we don't include them in that list!

 

Wigan will be dead with 10 games to go but still survive as they allways do

 

Well, now that some proper dead wood has gone, I reckon your great escape might be a tad harder this time round.

 

If the bookies think the same then I take it back - they've had us down as favourites for the drop every year for the last eight.

People forget we finished four point behind Norwich and Swansea - and they both had "great seasons" and we had a poor one. It was the same the previous year with Blackpool, except they managed to have their second season syndrome in the second half of their first season! They had been so blown up by the press that they started to believe that they just had to turn up. Maybe the change of management for Norwich and Swans will actually work in their favour, I dunno, it just seems unlikely. But the biggest problem that so many clubs seem to have to face is a mental one. They just can't sustain that attitude they had in their first year - and it seems like its a ten point attitude.

As for our great escape - we'll see of course. There is a more optimistic feeling around Wigan than there has been for many's a season. We'll probably lose Moses but apart from that we'll have the team and system which we ended the season with. A few wins at the start of the campaign and maybe we'll have a different experience.

There's always one club who surprises everyone. Lets hope its Saints eh?