Wigan's defeat at Arsenal meant that mathematically Saints are now absolutely safe and can go into the final game knowing they have completed what they set out to do this season.

Its fair to say that if you did a straw poll amongst Saints fans at the start of the season, the sizeable majority of them would have concurred that success this season would be staying in the Premier League and many would have added the coda that if we could be safe before the final day of the season that would be an added bonus.

Saints have now managed that and although they have edged to cross the safety line rather than stormed to it as it looked like they might do a few weeks back, the reality is that the however we finished, with a flourish or otherwise, the job has been done and that is all that matters.

The difficulty of our achievement is shown when you look at the league table itself, the fact is that perhaps only eight clubs have truly not flirted with relegation this season, although Swansea fans would perhaps argue it should be nine, I can perhaps allow them that, but the fact does remain that from West ham in tenth down to Wigan who have now been relegated in eighteenth, right up to the last few games of the season they and every club in between could have gone down, indeed Saints go into the final day knowing a win and a few results going their way could see them finish tenth, but defeat could just as easily see them finish seventeenth only one place and a couple of points above the relegation spot.

That shows just how tight the relegation battle has been and Newcastle are living proof of how you can never rest on your laurels in this league, last season they were fifth and this season very nearly went down.

But Sunday can be a celebration, its been a long season, nine months ago we kicked off at Man City with four players making their league debut for the club and most of the team never having played in the top flight before, since then we have changed managers, seen many players go out on loan, we have endured some torrid times and some good ones, but that is now all of no significance, we should celebrate what we have achieved and then put this season behind us, its what happens next that counts, its a good job done, but now its time to look to the future.       

Photo: Action Images

LeicesterSaint added 09:16 - May 15 Job done indeed! Well done Saints and looking forward to another season in the Prem next season! I would have taken this at the start of the season for sure, yeah it is dissapointing that we did not surge away from the relegation places as we could have done a few weeks ago but we have acheived what we set out to do and that is retain our Premiership status. Bring on Stoke and a party atmosphere! I hope that the likes of Forren, Ward Prowse, Mayuka etc get a start to see what they can do over 90 minutes, we need to see if they can step up in the coming seasons - a couple of good signings in the summer and we can push on to try and secure a mid table finish next season without the relegation worries! COYR!!

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slynch added 09:20 - May 15 If: West Ham lose at home to Reading: Norwich fail to beat Man City away Newcastle fail to beat Arsenal at home: Fulham fail to beat Swansea away by 2 more goals than Saints beat Stoke by then Saints go 10th. I think??
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LennyJam added 09:22 - May 15 good read. job done indeed and done with a game to spare, not too shabby no matter how you look at it. we played appallingly at times and amazingly at times who would have thought that after 10 games gone, only 4 points on the board, lost first 4 games, 30 goals let in and sat rock bottom of the league that we would stay up with a game to spare. it really took top 10 performance in the 2nd half of the season to get out of it. and we did well done saints

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SaintNick added 09:38 - May 15 I think that it wasn't just only the second half of the season, there were several crucial results before the new year, not least back to back wins against QPR and Newcastle and the home win against Reading. For me the most crucial win was at Aston Villa in January, that could have plunged us into the bottom three
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TreeHugger added 10:01 - May 15 To stay up has to be a great achievement, especially given that the majority of the squad is the same one we had in the championship. credit to the players for staying strong as there was a period when it could haev all gone wrong. Credit to Adkins for that as well as it was a difficult start and in fairness he did turn it around. We will never know if he could have maintained the run he was on but we were safe when he left and he has to be judged on that. MP has come in and continued the good work and it seems he can take us to that next level....we will find out next season anyway. There were a few crucial wins....villa and QPR were huge at that point and also the wins against city and and Liverpool seem huge now as they were not expected. Its been amazing to see Morgan come into his own, lambert stepping up, Shaw and clyne looking like world beaters.....so many positives. Lets hope Cortese stays and keeps the bus moving. Big respect to fellow fans, the support has been brilliant this season.

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landsdownsaint added 10:11 - May 15 A couple of months ago I was not sure how I felt about NC, but with all that's going on (or is it) I'm really panicking about his situation at the club,if it wasn't for him and him alone we would not be where we are now! He convinced Markus to pick us! Sorry about going of the subject but I'm seriously worried :-/
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LostBoys added 10:20 - May 15 Great - lets look for a win on Sunday to finish as high as we can. Very pleased and I hope the situation with Mr Cortese can be sorted this week as well.
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sidsaint added 11:30 - May 15 Good job done lets get 3 points on Sunday which could increase our prize money significantly. Like the other fans I am concerned about the boardroom and NC's position, like him and his style or not we need him on our side as he has a vision which we all support and want to see him achieve. A few chants in support of him on Sunday might convince other board members that we support him and want him to finish the job that he started with Marcus.

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SaintNick added 11:59 - May 15 Its nothing to do with other board members, they are all people appointed by NC himself ie les reed etc, its the Liebherr family as such that he is in dispute with
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davidhosey added 12:36 - May 15 How do we know that he is in dispute with the Liebherr family? Where did this story come from and what are we to believe. Hope it is sorted out soon as there will be no transfers until then and we may wiss out on good players.
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davidhosey added 12:36 - May 15 sorry...miss out on good players
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SaintNick added 13:01 - May 15 Its been well documented in the press, the BBC is perhaps the most neutral http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22510420
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bendybob added 13:19 - May 15 Well summarised Nick. I agree with the 10th to 18th place point including us possilbly finishing 10th. It just shows how tight the league is, and fair play to Saints for surving their first season back. Considering there were some seasoned prem clubs in the mix it can be considered a good result. Toss in the management change which can always be disruptive, and some inconsistent performances, this season can be classed as a good result. Sort out the chairman issue, and make the signings/changes that are necessary, then there is no reason why Saints should not be able to consolidate their place in the prem. A good years experience for the whole club

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aceofthebase added 21:38 - May 15 We started in 13th place ( alphabetical order ) so any improvement on that is fantastic. We did it despite the most stupid change of manager. Next season we consolidate and aim for leagur security by Xmas
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