Being relegated from the Premier League has big financial implications for any football club and Southampton FC are no different in this respect, as we prepare for an exodus on the playing side comes news that the non playing side will see a lot of trimming also.

Professional football players in the main no longer have much affinity for the clubs they play for, even those who are locally born such as Danny Ings showed not loyalty when Aston Villa and more money came knocking.

Whilst the players themselves are relatively secure, they can't be made redundant, in fact quite the opposite, they have secure contracts that must be paid whatever, Ok some will have relegation clauses inserted that will reduce down their wages, but that elicits little sympathy in the fanbase, after all it must be a big struggle to survive on £30k a week instead of £60k.

An article on line at TheAthletic claimed a week or so ago that the club had sent out 340 "at risk" redundancy notices even before the last ball of the Premier League season had been kicked.

It is fair to say it didn't include any of our bloated playing squad.

But who really suffer when a club gets relegated are those that work for it, at the top Martin Semmens as CEO is already leaving by that old chestnut mutual consent and Managing Director Toby Steele was already working his notice.

The next layer is those considered Executives and heads of department, many of these are not Southampton natives but hired in, they themselves simply move on and find another job in whatever field they can.

But below that the staff roster is a lot more local and this is where it really starts to be a question of quantity, as mentioned by TheAthletic 340 people were at risk and that is now believed to be down to the fact that around 140 people will leave the club completely, the other 200 either keeping their jobs or being redeployed elsewhere.

The consultancy period has now begun and over the next few weeks, those affected will find out their fate.

Many of them will be lifelong fans of the club who perhaps achieved their dream of actually working for it and are now going to have their dreams shattered, although I suspect that this will be the least of their worries, they will be more concerned in these difficult times about paying mortgages, bills and how they are going to support themselves and their families.

But truly do Southampton FC need to get rid of so many people on what looks like a knee jerk reaction?

After all they have put out some big words about next season and challenging for an immediate return to the Premier League, so why do something on a whim, surely they would have been better to have waited a while, seen how next season was progressing and review the situation at the half way point, after all if we go straight back up, surely we will need to fill some of these roles again.

Most of those leaving will not even be on an annual salary of half what most of the first team squad earn in a week, perhaps those responsible for our relegation would like to put their hands in their pockets to pay for these people to stay at the club.

In simple terms if our 30 or so First team squad players, plus the 3 managers each donated a weeks wages then that would pay for 60 or so people's wages for a year and enable them to stay on.

I suspect that this will not a topic of conversation in the dressing room and the club has not been approached by the players, this would be a drop in the ocean for the players, but a vital lifeline for 60 employees.

Of course this will never happen, some professional player still have a connection with the real world and our squad has usually been better than most, but in our 11 seasons since returning to the top flight a lot has changed and little of it for the better.

I feel more sad about those losing their jobs than I do about the actual relegation itself, although I was well aware that we had far more employees than seemed necessary in certain departments and that some of those going perhaps don't deserve our sympathy for the way they have done their jobs , the person who chose this season's kits for instance.

Sadly I don't feel there will be a happy ending, but I have to say that the swiftness in which Sport Republic have acted here does not endear me to them, I trust them to put right what they have made a hash of on the playing side of things, but the callousness of the redundancies makes me thing that they have not connected with this football club at all.

Photo: Action Images

Ifonly added 13:59 - Jun 8 I have a different view and because we fans ultimately pay the wages, we all have a right to say. My view is that, while I feel sorry for these employees individually, this is the right thing to do. Every business and government department has a tendency to build up excess and needs to scale back from time to time. It's a good thing for the club to see if it really needs these people. If it really does then it will recruit again. But my suspicion is that many of these posts do not need to be replaced. Like all businesses, when we were flush with cash, we probably over spent. Now belts are tightening, but if we don't need them in the Championship then I can't see that we needed them in the PL either. When the season ticket prices were announced I said the price reductions were a good thing but I felt sorry for the people who would lose their jobs. The two things go hand in hand. You can't comment on one without the other. Taken together, I say they are a good thing.

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Crispinmumbles added 14:16 - Jun 8 All those happy, smiling faces eh Dragan!
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Jesus_02 added 14:47 - Jun 8 @ifonly. As fans we do not ultimately pay the wages gate receipts account for a very slim portion of revenue. I think the point that Nick is making is that the relationship between the club and its Fans has widened and this action it illustrative of that . It really undermines the work of the Saints Foundation and shows it for what it is , a poorly disguised PR activity. I will continue to support saints as I have strong emotional ties to the club and good memories of days out with friends. But realistically, the sense of togetherness is a distant memory.

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Block8 added 17:43 - Jun 8 I tend to agree with Nick here, Semmens & co have gone or are going because they are not very good at their jobs, recruitment & sales particularly. However those that genuinely suffer are the people further down the food chain. Some of which we as fans have regular contact with one way or another. Yes it is a business but not one that is really under financial pressure at this moment in time and as Nick said the owners could have held on for a little bit longer to see how things transpire? As it happens very few football clubs have a genuine connection to their fans these days and ours is definitely not one of them. Season ticket renewed despite that!

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SaintPaulVW added 21:47 - Jun 8 But surely if you go back up again suddenly you have to recruit 140 people? Presumably a lot of these will be in hospitality for match day entertainment? I can't see where else a championship clubs staff needs would drastically differ from a premier League clubs? If you are at the top of the league, the attendances should be fairly similar. UK and TV/ media relations maybe? Be interested to find out what all the 'disposable' jobs are that can be easily cut when you move from PL to Championship.

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