The problem with getting promoted via the play offs is that it leaves little time to sort out a decent pre season programme and that seems to be the case for Saints with the first four friendlies announced hardly exciting the fans.
The news that Saints would start their pre season friendlies with a trip to Eastleigh on Friday 19 the July, followed by two behind closed door friendlies, against French 2nd division Bordeaux and then Sport Republic’s 3rd club Montpellier newly relegated to the 3rd tier in France, hardly set the Saints fans saliva drooling and now the announcement that the team will travel to Millwall on Australia the 3rd, means that 3 out of the 4 Saturday dates available before the big Premier League kick off are now taken.
Only August 10th is now free and usually Saints reserve that weekend for a home friendly against a European side, many though that would be Goztepe. Sport Republic’s 2nd club whose we played in Turkey last season, but that now looks out as the Turkish League starts on the 9th August.
It is unlikely that Saints would want to travel abroad the week before the League season starts, so it looks like it is going to be a very low key pre season this year and let’s be blunt, a national League team and two lower League teams make Millwall look a top side with all respect to the South London club.
I would suspect that there will be a home friendly at St Mary’s, but truth is the late ending to last season has not helped our pre season and it does not look good at the moment.