Even though Saints are sitting 7th in the table and could realistically go 7th on Saturday perhaps even 6th, this season does not seem to have the same buzz amongst the fans that previous ones have had.

It has been virtually a season upon season improvement for Saints over the past 6 seasons since Markus Liebherr brought the club, first we had the Johnstone Paint Trophy win that for many marked some sort of Phoenix rising from the ashes, then we had the thrill of coming strong in the second half of the season to snatch automatic promotion.

After that it was dreamworld, back to back promotions as we went straight through the Championship and then securing our place back in the Premier League for a second season.

Although there was turmoil on the pitch, on the pitch the team prospered with a top 8 finish seemingly the peak of our aspirations back then, but the following season saw us almost do a Leicester City a year before them, although we fell away in the second half of the season the 7th position gained once more seemed like a great triumph.

Perhaps some Saints fans have grown accustomed to always winning, but this season does not seem to have that buzz, perhaps it's not helped by the fact that we have had some poor periods in it, but despite the fact that we are in a better position than two years ago at the same stage and not far behind what we were this time last year, there seems to be a flat feeling in the crowd.

That was shown on Saturday against Newcastle when the crowd barely got going as the team cruised to victory, there was more enthusiasm for taunting Newcastle fans about having a shot than there was to actually encouraging the team on to more.

Last year was so different and so was the year before despite the fact that we had off the field issues and we were never going to finish above 8th, then that position seemed brilliant, now we would consider 8th a disaster almost.

Yes perhaps our standards are higher and yes our expectations as supporters definitely are, but have we let that expectancy lead to complacency, 8th just doesn't seem so exciting anymore, someone said that back in the 90's that in the Premier league you need to be either challenging for the top 6 or fighting relegation, being in the middle offered no excitement.

So perhaps we need to vamp up a gear or two, it has always been the case for a Sants crowd that mostly the team has to show the crowd something before the bulk of that crowd will respond, that is the case going into the last five games of the season. The crowd expects 7th, it hasn't quite grasped how close we are to something higher.

It is almost as if a lot of Saints supporters having seen us sit in or around 10th have long accepted that as this seasons lot and they haven't quite awakened to the fact that Europe is still a real possibility.

Now the team needs to give the supporters something to aspire to, the travelling away army at Everton on Saturday will do what they have always done and give great backing, if Saints win it will open out the league table and will perhaps open up the eyes to some that another win at Aston Villa will give us a great chance of the Europa League.

This could turn out to be the best season yet the Champions League is not yet out of site, Manchester City are seven points ahead and that is a big ask especially with the fact they have a game in hand, however this weekend they have a tough trip to Chelsea followed by a weekday visit to Newcastle and a home game to Stoke, if they fail to win all three then their visit to St Mary's could be interesting if we have dispatched both Everton and Villa.

The Champions League is a long shot, however it does show that we have capabilities of jumping above both West Ham and Manchester United.

So Saints fans need to get that buzz back, this is as good a season as we have known in any other 2002/03 aside and it could yet be our best ever.

There has not been such a good time to be a Saints supporter since we had three consecutive top ten finishes in the early 80's, we can equal that this year, the next five games are crucial !

Photo: Action Images

halftimeorange added 13:35 - Apr 12 Perhaps the flat feeling is due to the fact that Saints have needlessly frittered away points with a few lacklustre performances - Bournemouth away, Sunderland at home, for example and it is now difficult to believe we will finish any higher than eighth (as Liverpool could conceivably win all their remaining games). As good as eighth is, it could have been significantly better. Saints are inconsistent so fans tend to shrug their shoulders and accept things as happened on Saturday. We beat Newcastle but there was no ruthlessness about it after the first goal. If we fall behind at Goodison I doubt the team will rally. Complacency is one thing we have an abundance of, on the pitch and on the terraces. We're comfortable, aren't we.

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SaintNick added 13:50 - Apr 12 Every team fritters away points and we have frittered away no more really than in the past two seasons
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wopper added 13:59 - Apr 12 Knowing half the team will be sold in the summer f**ks most supporters up.
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BaselSaint added 14:31 - Apr 12 Agree with wopper. Are we resigned to a devastating set of changes that could also include RK in the close season? This time more than ever if we are to improve it should be fine tuning and tweaks rather than wholesale changes.
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Sanguin added 14:32 - Apr 12 I think there is a phenomenon that effects all Premier League teams. The first season in the league, survival is the primary goal and anything above this is a bonus. The second season you expect your team to survive comfortably and to beat the newly promoted teams. In subsequent seasons the team starts to establish its position in the league and improves on previous seasons. As it improves, expectations increase and something like a top 10 finish no longer seems like much of an accomplishment. Then, one season the team struggles and, while still finishing comfortably, flirts a little with relegation. The fans aren’t as forgiving as they would have been when the team was first promoted, they get behind the team a little less and on their backs a little more. The team begins to lose its more ambitious players and the problem is exacerbated. Then the team gets relegated and the cycle starts again. Look at Aston Villa as an example, they were pressing the top four ten years ago. It will be interesting to see how Leicester do next season.

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BoondockSaint added 15:20 - Apr 12 The extreme frustration for Saints fans this year, is the floundering of all the big teams-all of them! This was a rare window of opportunity for a team like Saints who were well up the table for the first half of last year. Leicester to their credit have jumped at the opportunity by beating the teams they were supposed to beat. The Saints just couldn't find goals when they needed them, or even one goal when it was needed. They never seemed to have any fight in them once they got a goal down. Maybe it was the survival fight last year, but Leicester seem to be more of a "team", play hard for each other, and seem to know where each other are on the pitch. Saints too often look like a bunch of individuals, which is probably a result of the revolving door on the locker room the last two summers. Just as players can feed off the energy of the crowd, so too can the crowd succumb to the lethargy of the players.

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DPeps added 15:31 - Apr 12 Part of the problem is that our most talented and exciting players (Mane, Tadic) have been relatively poor this season. The result is that we don't play much attractive football. Most of our attacks come down the wings rather than intricate play through the middle, and we seem to end out of ideas fairly early on. Attacking-wise, Long and Steven Davis have been our best players across the season... which I think says a lot. I rate both players highly, but neither are geniuses on the pitch. Their talents come mainly from hard work than exceptional skill. With our most talented players off form we look pedestrian. Having said this, a few tweaks to the squad (AND NOT SELLING OUR BEST PLAYERS) and I'm confident next season will be great.

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LennyJam added 15:42 - Apr 12 No real buzz as we are clearly not as good as last season. the fact the league is so poor, means we sit 7th.
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saintmark1976 added 18:24 - Apr 12 Showing some real interest in the cups over the last few seasons may have helped?
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vanmans added 19:30 - Apr 12 Cant agree more with BoondockSaint what Leicester have done could have been us. We would never have had an easier time to get into the champions league. Just hope we don't lose any players this summer,
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A1079 added 21:38 - Apr 12 It has not been a bad season but not memorable. There have only been a handful of games where I would say we have been a joy to watch and been entertaining. A few 45 mins where we have played well, only to fade dreadfully and then a number of insipid performances. Goals have generally been hard to come by and at times we have lacked team spirit. Forster returned just in time as at that point we were looking like we could have had a struggle at the wrong end of the table - and I am not sure some our foreign contingent would have been up for a battle. Our effort in the cups have again been woeful. All that aside, it has not been a bad season but given the league, you kind of feel we could have challenged more.

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IWOZTHERE added 22:02 - Apr 12 For all the 'we've done really well considering', we have challenged for nothing again this season so so it's hardly surprising! We're running with a weaker first eleven while our immediate rivals like West Ham have overtaken us. This in a 'one off' season of opportunity. All will be forgiven though if there is REAL investment this summer (in a couple of top players, not squaddies) all depending on RK signing immediately the season finishes.

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Ali_Diarea added 22:36 - Apr 12 Have we as supporters come to realise that Saints have hit a glass ceiling and, with further sales likely in the summer (VW, SM etc), our first team probably won't get any better, and this is as good as it gets? I think a lack of youth team players in the starting eleven also has a detremental effect as bringing through youth is part of 'the Southampton way' however spurs and others are currently doing it better than us

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schatfield added 09:11 - Apr 13 1. We know we will be selling our best players come the summer, and 2. Knowing which Saints team will turn up on the day, one that could beat anyone or one that struggles to hit a barn door. We have been very inconsistent this season. Disagree with the league being poor though, its as strong as it ever was and will be even more so next year.
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SaintBrock added 10:23 - Apr 13 It's easy to blame the supporters but what has there been to cheer about? With the exception of the Arsenal game at SMS what has been in the least bit memorable about our performances this season? We no longer play particularly attractive football and have become on the whole rather unreliable, so much so that few fans have any confidence that we'll even get three points at Villa Park in a couple of weeks time, points that on paper should be gimme's. The Leicester factor has been a game changer. The domination of the Big Clubs has been broken if only temporarily but despite all the hype from mission control about the new and exciting Southampton Way and our famed Academy - Les Reed you recall addressing conferences world wide on the subject - it wasn't us that made the breakthrough and it wasn't our young Academy stars that tore Germany apart in Berlin recently. These factors hurt and frustrates fans more than you realise Nick. If you promise what you cannot deliver then of course people no longer trust your judgement and rightly so. The Club's promise is taking rather a long time to show fulfilment. As you can tell from reactions on here hardly anybody seriously believes that we'll rise to the challenge at Goodison on Saturday or mount a serious challenge for a European spot. Most fans call it correctly, this season is fizzling out in relative mediocrity and they are once again resigned to a summer exodus of the few players who have any hope of lifting us to a higher level.

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Zambucco added 18:12 - Apr 13 I blame it on not being able to have alcohol on the terraces! Plus we need cheerleaders! There is definitely a just on cruise control feeling at the moment, we may get Europe, but at least we're not in a relegation scrap, this isn't a place we've been in an awful long time. But I do have a gripe about the singing, apart from most of the songs are crap, childish and 50% are how we hate Pompey! Now for the old familiar saying "when I was a lad" I stood on The Milton Road end deep in the heart of the 'Milton Mob' the singing was centralised, with a handful of guys who would always start the singing, they were situated in the middle so the songs would radiate out. Now we are divided, Northam, Kingsland and Itchen, so the songs are rarely co-ordinated and sung en mass! My proposal is to give all the Northam to terracing, invite the Kingsland and Itchen to change their locations. The biggy is move the away fans AWAY, far away. A section between the Itchen and chapel. Or at the very least to replace the singers in the Itchen. With terracing all those who sing most will naturally gravitate to each other. There problem solved, the twelth man will help us to European and Prem glory next season!

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