I’ve had a funny relationship with Southampton over the past three years. They’ve been strong competition for us, and somehow they’ve always seemed to get one over on West Ham. They just pipped us to automatic promotion, and, although we finished five points above them in the 2012/13 season, they enjoyed a very comfortable perch in the top half of the table during the 2013/14 season, whilst we struggled with relegation. We both have a decent selection of English players, yet they sent three of theirs to the World Cup (and it would have been four had Jay Rodriguez not been injured), whereas we could only scrape Andy Carroll onto the reserves list.
It’s been hard to watch Southampton do well but equally it’s not been pleasant viewing to see that since they finished a truly impressive 8th in the league, they have lost their manager and best players to bigger clubs. I can’t help but feel relieved not to be in their shoes right now—a feeling which is very different to how I’ve felt about Southampton in the past.
It’s unfortunate that clubs can only get so far before they inevitably become unable to hold on to the stars that got them that far in the first place. This makes it so difficult for clubs outside of the top six not only to move up, but to survive. Clubs like Southampton become victims of their own success; work hard, buy well, play well and suddenly your players are flooded with big money offers they can’t turn down. It’s such a shame for Southampton. They should be building on their hard-earned success of the past few years and improving further; instead they are facing an almost certain relegation battle in the upcoming season.
It is hard to imagine any club outside of the top six being able to achieve a certain level of success and not be immediately punished for it. The Premier League has become a mass game of snakes and ladders for anyone out of the big six, and it is a depressing thought for the future of football.
The counter argument is that as a result of the exits, Southampton have filled their piggy bank well (apart from that tiddly £4million for Rickie Lambert), but at what cost? At the time of writing, they will need to replace Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, and very likely Adam Lallana with a cash balance of £56million to do so. While the potential for signings is there, who would go there knowing how difficult this year will be for them? For £56million, the best players Southampton could buy are the players that have just left – or are about to leave – them.
Fortunately for us (I guess), we have no success to be victims of. Our only player angling for a move to a top six club is Mohamed Diame— obviously the offers are flooding in, but I’ll be starting for Arsenal before he ever is. And whilst I wouldn’t mind if Liverpool offered another slightly ageing player a chance finish his time at his boyhood club, they have yet to make an offer for Kevin Nolan.
I’m sympathetic to Southampton; and also conscious that when we have a year where we finally play well, we too will be in danger of shooting ourselves in the foot, and having to watch our best players go elsewhere. It’s not pleasant for Southampton, it’s not pleasant for West Ham, and it’s bad news for the game of football.
What do you make of Southampton’s mass exodus? How do you think it will affect West Ham this year, if at all? Let us know below, or tweet me @makingthemarrow.
i enjoyed reading this and stopped as soon as you mentioned saints are certain to be relegation battlers next season. ronald koeman is to get a minimum of 70 million to strengthen, are you mad,we will be top 10 again for certs. west ham buy the likes of andy carroll, a flop in my eyes. hes a cart horse and a dirty player. west ham will be the ones fighting relegation again im afraid to say
Southampton have £100 million to spend and a better manager in Ronald Koeman. Your comments that they will be in a relegation battle will be far off the mark. They also have
two new young lads to come in who will be top players. I do hope whu have a good season
but think again you will be behind the saints.
Relegation battle? What a ridiculous statement, Shaw, Lallana and Lambert where sold on our terms and for very good money which will be spent on 5-6 players who will strengthen our team. We have a new proven European manager who will continue to bring on our young players (JRod, Chambers, Clyne, JWP, Gallagher and Targett), a brand new training ground and a wealthy owner. The future looks very exciting.
Think the two saints fans are deluding themselves a little. Ten or eleven clubs were in a relegation battle last season and there is no reason to think that’s going to change.
Even a very small decrease in achievement will see Saints join the at risk group.
Sorry guys but thirteen teams will be in a relegation battle this coming season, from last terms 8th downwards.
you right we have no money at west ham and no ambition with gold and Sullivan we will struggle again this season
There was a big gap in quality between 8th-1st (Southampton) and those teams below. I see no reason for this to change taking into account our style of football, the calibre of our new manager and the sort of players he/the club can attract. Let us not forget what held us back from perhaps an even higher finish last season was the relative strength in depth compared to the teams above, this should be rectified with the money to be made available.
As a saints fan I’m not sure I entirely agree with your comment. I actually think we were pretty much in a league of our own last season. Significantly ahead of the teams below, but aside from our amazing start, there was always a big gape between us and those in the top 7. Hopefully we can build on this slowly and close the gap this season.
I think the pace we’re going at at the moment is our best hope of breaking into the top of the league. If we go too fast we’ll lose more players than we are at the mo, and too slow and we’d stagnate.
I’m looking forward to the next few seasons with saints.
Shows what a corrupted competition the PL is. While the article says top 6, it might be top 7 although Everton might well be dropped back in with the rest of us. At the beginning of last season when after a few games we were sitting in 3rd place, the press and football supporters (of teams outside the top 6/7) were seemingly quite keen for us to push on. It’s not particularly for a fondness of Southampton but more that the PL has become largely a closed shop for the top 6 or 7 spots. It was if Southampton can do it, then anyone can. It gave hope. That we didn’t push on when we should have, and got more points than we did, is something different. But now, normal service has been resumed, and we are back where we belong. Of the other 13 teams, I see Newcastle as being best suited to break the cabal of the top 6 or 7, but they continually fail to do so. WHU and Saints are similar, although WHU probably should be above us and should do better than they have in past. Nothing will change unless those teams outside of the top 6 or 7 do something about it. But of course, threatening the £80m odd TV payments will ensure that they tow the line. Me, well, I have lost the passion for the game that I once had. I can’t really see much point being part of a competition that only 4 or 5 teams have a chance of winning or even finishing in the top 2 or 3. Still, I love Southampton so renewed my season ticket, but for how much longer….??
I’m struggling to think why this is a lesson for west ham. Surely what happened to us when we had lampard ferdinand carrick and co break through should have been a lesson for saints that even though you get a lot of money in, you will struggle.
Soton fans have been very naive about this. Go back 10-15 years and we were in the exact same position
Thanks for your sympathy, I’m being serious here, much appreciated. From the outside I can see how it must look for our Club. In fact, I reckon we are in better position long term. The Baggage that came with Napoleon has now gone. We have a much better Manager in place, ( Pochettino will struggle at Spuds. )
Apart from the pittance we got for Rickie, IF the money being talked about for the other 2 is correct, then it was good business on our part. We will get some quality in, and move on. I am one of those that think next season will be one of consolidation, with no change in our initial aim of finishing in top 17, but could finish comfortably mid table.
I agree that the 13 teams out of the top 7 will form the Relegation League. Hopefully, we will finish high up in that League of 13.
As for your lot, it can only get better. You seem to have got one or two in, and more in the pipeline. Keep clear of injuries and you will finish high up in the League of 13.
I reckon Burnley and Leicester will struggle next season, and I would love to see Redcrap’s lot relegated AGAIN.
Big Sam or not so big by the end of last season. He will struggle. Saints will finish in the top half as long as the new players gel quickly. But I have faith in Koeman. He is a proven manager and successful. The point is the difference between a successful Saints Manager and a proven flop Sam. Sam has had little digs at Saints finances and playing style but again proven wrong. When will West Ham dump the flop and find a new manager?
big mistake not getting rid of sam
I think that it’s a very similar outlook for both clubs. Having seen the likes of Rio, Glen Johnson, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Trevor Sinclair and Fat Frank depart for better offers, I do feel for Southampton. Yes, they have a proven manager, and a big wad of cash to spend, but the best players all seem reluctant to move to a club not involved in European competition. Players also need time to blend into a team, just look at what Spurs did with the Bale money (did make me laugh)! I don’t think that either club will be relegated next season, but with United, City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea fighting for the top four places, and Everton and Spurs (assuming they don’t change their manager gain mid season) going for sixth, the rest of us are scrapping for the minor places, or a good cup run. I enjoyed watching Southampton last season, so hope they don’t fall apart, and hope they finish just one place behind West Ham.
Well written piece and one could argue its a case for keeping a manager like Sam in the shot term rather than go for glory after all to a lesser degree Swansea suffered for their relative success too recently and most players who start to excel in lesser teams will be cherry picked. The money is certainly nice for Southampton but as Spurs discovered using it wisely (assuming it is available which is in doubt) is another matter. Clearly some southampton fans have disccovered a new sense of superiority but for teams such as they or us it will be a purely temporary state, have they forgotten their recent past so swiftly I wonder. It also shows why we as a club need to generate a whole new level of purpose, image and achievement that goes far deeper than producing (or finding on the cheap) some very good players, after all we experienced ourselves what happens when you are a selling club of your young talent, how the proceeds disappear with little to show and how the long decline takes hold. The move may give us at least an outside chance of changing all that but sadly for most clubs outside of London that option is never going to arrive.
Soton will be fine next year but they won’t be the same team as they won’t be able to replace those players with the same standard of player. They struggled to attract the players they wanted in the last 2 years though they had the money becausethe standard of player they are after is looking at europe and winning things. Ramirez and osvaldo only ended up there as a last choice! Also Kooman is untested at this level. Has done great in Holland but not so good in other divisions
Any top players they look to sign this summer will be looking at the fact that they haev lost 3 of their best players, their manager and more seem to want out. They will be viewed as a selling club and the money will possibly end up burning a hole in their pocket. And how much money will they have to spend? Talk of 70-100m is ridiculous, they will not spend that and will struggle to spend it based on the above
Sad for Soton as I live fairly local and have a lot of soton supporting friends but the reality is they are much further away from europe now than they were at teh start of last season. At least they have a great youth set up which will keep them competitive financially with any team outside the top 6. A few on my mates were banging on about them playing CL football within 3-5 years; very naive!
Saints fan here.. but also used to live in Romford and been to many Hammers games as a adopted fan.. so I think we are defo in a similar position viz the top teams poaching . its clearly getting worse with all the money flooding in at the top (with CL and foreign investment). We may struggle or we may get lucky with a new batch of youngsters and hopefully a few good ones left from the existing squad. I think our biggest positive story is the 35 million we just put into the training and academy facilities, truly an amazing setup.. the focus is to make the saints the dream of every youngster (like a Harvard or OxCam for trainees).. we get the money .. they get the easier path into the top 4 teams and ridiculous wages.. we will pair that with a solid foreign scouting operation.. and we will survive and hopefully stay in the top half .. for now thats fine by me.. oh and hopefully play pretty football .. the likes of which I always enjoyed at West Ham.. good luck to you for the new season.. hope you are top half or better too..
‘PS Spurs aren’t a top4 team and never will be 🙂
Your training facilities are incredible. It’s no surprise that youngsters and their parents want to start at your club
I don’t see how people can say “a certain relegation battle”. We have lost Shaw (£30m for a left back is insane), and one that despite playing nearly every game didn’t get an assist or a goal. Lambert was a squad player last season and will be even more so for next season. Lallana is a blow no doubt about that, but again, £25m for him is well over priced for someone who is 27 this year. He can be replaced for less no doubt about it. Players will come in, Targett who is a very highly rated LB was waiting in the wings behind Shaw, he now gets his chance. Obviously 1 or 2 others may go but the money will be reinvested and we go again.
West Ham have been a selling club in the past, and suffered for it. If a good player wants to leave West Ham for another (better?) club, then his sentiments are known, and we should wish him well, (whilst swearing behind his back). West Ham (and every other team) invest in players, many of whom are just on the gravy train. Who can blame them? Just blame football.
Now the $64,000 question, if you offered the same job you have, but at twice the salary, would you take it? Probably.
Decent article. It is certainly becoming clearer to me the dilemmas of any team trying to break into the top six. [with out the multi billions a la Man City]
As a Saints fan obviously my hope is the RK shows himself to be a very good appointment and that we use the money we have coming in well and a new team gels. Then with perhaps a couple more of the youngsters breaking through we could, just could continue or progress.
I am under no illusions though that we are currently losing the main parts of our team and we will do incredibly well to have even nearly as successful season as the last one.
Realistically we just could struggle in the bottom 6 next term but as an eternal optimist I cant go there………..