On Saturday Saints victory at Swansea City took them to the 40 point mark in the Premier League, the usual benchmark for safety from relegation, therefore securing a massive cash increase next season.

Forty points is usually the benchmark for safety in the Premier League, it is very rare for a club to make the drop to the Championship after having attained this number of points.

However for those of you who prefer to wait till its mathematically impossible to go down before chicken counting, Newcastle United who currently occupy the last relegation place on 24 points or Norwich on the same points total but above the Geordie's on goal difference would need to win at least 5 of their remaining 12 games to have any chance of getting that magic 40.

So therefore Saints can start to plan with certainty for next season, not just on the pitch but off it as well, last season Saints earned £82.5 million fro the Premier League including TV money and this season they will earn around the same, possibly more with each place being worth an extra £1.2 million but next season that money will increase substantially.

So the reality is that next season Saints could earn £100 million from the Premier League, the downside of that is that every other club will see a relative increase as well, so in terms of player spending power it won't have a big impact in that every other club will have more money to spend on transfers and wages and the fact is it will just drive up both of those cost totals.

However Saints have an advantage over other club's in the fact that after several years of mismanagement in terms of commercial income, they are finally starting to get their act together in this department.

They undersold themselves in the kit department both in terms of the value of the deal with Adidas and also the shirt sponsorship, next season though that will change, a new deal not yet confirmed with American supplier Under Armour will be worth significantly more than the deal with Adidas, as will the sponsor that replaces Veho on the front of the shirts, although it is believed that Veho will remain major sponsors of the club in other areas.

It is hard to put a figure on how much extra money that will be brought in commercially next season, but given the starting point two years ago it could add as much as an extra £10 million to the coffers, that would bring an advantage over most clubs in the division that wasn't there , but with Liverpool adding significantly to their capacity, West Ham moving to the Olympic Stadium and Spurs moving to a new ground nest door to White Hart Lane, all three of those clubs will increase their ability to earn income commercially, far in excess of Saints.

But Saints can only work within their own constraints and it cannot be denied they have done that in the past few seasons by continuing to progress on and off the field.

One of the benefits that Saints have enjoyed from putting in place a definitive strategy since Katharina Liebherr & Ralph Krueger wrested control back from Nicola Cortese is that we have not taken the easy route by making "Marque signings", we have formulated our plan and stuck with it and not taken the easy option by splashing the cash with no real thought.

Indeed since the summer of 2014 our incoming transfers have been largely funded by the outgoing and the money from the Premier League has not been needed to have been spent on transfer fees.

The end result has seen Ronald Koeman build a bigger and stronger squad and that strategy seems set to continue this summer, but the difference will be that this year we do not fear losing Victor Wanyama or even Sadio Mane, the supporters are starting to see the value of our strategy, that selling a player at a price that exceeds his worth and replacing him with two players, each with the same potential is actually a good way forward.

Of course we would rather keep all our players and then bring in more, but that is not going to happen in reality and we would not have the depth of squad to be able to sustain genuine challenges for the top four.

Of course some will point at Leicester and their season, yes there is that factor, but it should be remembered that Leicester have achieved what they have by spending very little and spending very carefully, their success is based on something similar to Saints, they have baulked at spending big and looked for potential and value, they have landed at the right place at the right time and have had the luck with them, an example is the late equaliser at St Mary's, if that had not happened then the Foxes would still be top, but only by one point and we would be fifth a point ahead of Manchester United and with the top four firmly within our sights.

So if as seems likely further incoming transfer will be funded by the departure of Victor Wanyama and/or Sadio Mane, Saints will be looking at an income of around £110 million or more next season and there must be some still in the bank from the last two years where little of the Premier league money has been needed on a club's biggest outlay transfer fee's .

So what are the options repayment of loans to Katharina Liebherr could be one, but I'm sure that she will be thinking more about the improvement of the club which in turn could increase the value of it.

This could mean that Saints now have the ideal opportunity to build something substantial that could aid the club going forward, if Saints have their wits about them they have a great opportunity to not only build and increase the supporter base, but expand St Mary's.

I would suggest that reducing ticket prices would be a drop in the ocean now, the first step is to increase the season ticket base, the club can do that by slashing prices, if we say that there are 20,000 adult season ticket prices ( kids tickets are very cheap) to cut £200 off each ticket would only see a reduction in of £4 million in season ticket income, given that our income could increase next year by £30 million all things told that loss of income would not be significant.

However a chunk of this lost income would be offset by increased numbers and the extra merchandising and food sales etc, for a club like Man United they can keep filling seats with tourists who spend, but for a club like Saints a season ticket holder is worth more than a non season ticket holder.

I am sure the club will have noted that the last three home games have seen sub 30K attendances, unheard of in Premier league seasons, but it would be building for the future and that future should be stadium expansion.

With a bigger season ticket base and reduced prices, the club could expand St Mary's for 2017/18 and fill the ground for many of the fixtures.

In the past the club has looked at the land across the road from the Stadium on the River Itchen, that is prime for development and if the club and council could work together on that they could create a leisure zone of bars and restaurants that would not only be packed on match days, but busy throughout the year.

When St Mary's was built it was restricted in size due to the objections of local residents who campaigned tirelessly screaming that the Stadium would be a bad thing for the area, this proved untrue and the club now has a great opportunity to help in the regeneration of the surrounding district around St Mary's and not only build the football club, but something truly great in the City.

The only thing that would stop Saints from doing this is themselves, if they follow what seems to be the convention of football club boards and try to keep increasing prices and squeezing money out of supporters for tickets, then they will repeat previous seasons where full houses depend on either the opposition or the form of the team at the time.

Saints should note their own attendances this season especially in the past three games, they should note what happened at Liverpool, they should take in that football goes in circles and that like the early 90's supporters are not willing to be treated like sheep as they were in the 70's & 80's a period that nearly killed the game.

Saints should note what is going on in Germany where the game is flourishing in large and big stadiums to full houses, they should take in what is needed to be done.

So in conclusion all the stars are aligning for Southampton Football Club, the money is there, the opportunities are there to be taken, all it needs now is Ralph Krueger and his board to be forward thinking and take them with both hands.

Photo: Action Images

mesquita added 12:21 - Feb 17 I could not agree more, see the fórum comments as well
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dirk_doone added 12:33 - Feb 17 " but with Liverpool adding significantly to their capacity, West Ham moving to the Olympic Stadium and Spurs moving to a new ground nest door to White Hart Lane, all three of those clubs will increase their ability to earn income commercially, far in excess of Saints." You've out your finger on in right there, Nick. Some of our newer fans are in denial about his, but those who've followed the club for decades have seen how having a smaller capacity than the top clubs has always held us back and prevented us from winning trophies throughout our entire history.

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IanRC added 12:43 - Feb 17 Given the size of the potential catchment area, if pricing can be set appropriately so that fans are persuaded to take up season tickets, then an extension is a no brainer. However, the concern must be whether reduced price sarson tickets would be taken up.
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SaintNick added 12:49 - Feb 17 Not just reduced season ticket prices but reductions all round
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SkateHater added 12:58 - Feb 17 Have to agree
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Jesus_02 added 13:07 - Feb 17 I hate talking about finance but it seems a major part of our sport now but here goes The shirt deal is a good step - its the only significant improvement in commercial revenue we have seen. The sponsorship deals have been woeful in all honesty though i am thankful that we haven't gone for a betting website or payday loans company We need to expand St Mary's full stop, we have a relatively high % season ticket holders and we sell out all the bigger games but expecting 100% sellouts before we move on is not realistic - West ham dont sell out every week. For me though the biggest failed promise is the "match-day experience" . I though that is why Feddy came in! For me the only reason to go to the match is the football. But if we are going to attract whole families ect we need to have the full package. That might mean a bit more imagination than tweeking the catering.. although beer from any one of Hampshire excellent breweries rather than "Saints Ale" would be a reason to get to the ground early and spend more money there.

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BoondockSaint added 13:43 - Feb 17 Agree with the expansion. You can't wait until every seat is full. People are more likely to buy a higher priced seat with a good view than a cheap one up in the "nose bleeds" with partial view. Trying to get more concert business in the off season might help too.
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saintmike1950 added 15:05 - Feb 17 Went on the stadium tour yesterday and asked about expansion plans. I was told that there are none. There are problems over the extra traffic on road and rail the bigger stadium would bring and Saints would be asked to pay for a dedicated railway station so that away fans can be trained in. Great idea to buy and develop the site across from the stadium it could and should look amazing. At the moment its an eyesore. Tour was good shame you cant put your foot on the pitch kids were very disappointed.

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SaintBrock added 15:18 - Feb 17 With the amount of TV and advertising money coming in now ground size is becoming totally irrelevant. Let's get that monkey off our backs once and for all. saintmike1950.. Ralph already told us that a few months ago. Why would anything have changed?
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SonicBoom added 15:36 - Feb 17 FREE PIES! FREE PIES FOR ALL !!!!
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jonrog added 15:48 - Feb 17 I read recently that the new TV deal would allow clubs to reduce season tickets to £0 and still be better off!
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saintmark1976 added 16:50 - Feb 17 Nick. I have pleaded with you before. Please stop using this picture at the start of your posts. The poor girl at the top right just looks so sad and upset about something. It puts me off from wanting to read your comments. Surely being in the same seats as the England manager can not have had that much of an effect on her can it?
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Whatsforpud added 17:18 - Feb 17 There was a time when cash through the turnstile (literally!) was the only source of income. Now, with 30k+ people paying a lot of money to see a game of football, this is still a very small percentage of the total income. So 30k times, say £30 average is less than a million per game, or less than £19 million a premier season. Therefore it would not harm the Saints that much is the prices were greatly reduced, and would benefit them in the long run.

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BUCK added 20:43 - Feb 17 Your all deluded if you think ticket prices will be reduced. It may stay the same,but won't be reduced.
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IWOZTHERE added 07:54 - Feb 18 As pointed out, relative to our immediate competition we will be no better off, in fact compared to some who have increased capacity and marketing, we will be 'worse off'. However, we've got to be thankful this didn't happen when we were in Div. one or we may not have been part of that amazing ride! The main argument of the 'Board Bashers' early this season was that they had sold top players for top dollar and only spent a fraction on replacements. Admittedly, the improved squad numbers has proved to be a godsend this season and most of the incoming transfer money was spent to this end. However, As Nick states, none? of the TV and place money was invested in the squad so unless we are told where it's gone, the so called 'negative' lobby will continue to speculate, albeit quieter while we're doing so well. Come summer though. doubtless players will leave and we will make signings. Ron's contract will be discussed here and elsewhere. The same arguments will re-ignite,moreso when others are spending big on players and ground improvements if we are sitting on our hands with that 150m in the bank and the promise of a further 200m+ at the end of next season. That needs to be addressed publicly I think. If there are plans for future expansion, or even if a huge slice of this is absorbed by running costs, the club would do well to let us know! 350m is a huge amount of money even in footballing terms.

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SanMarco added 09:49 - Feb 18 On the 40 point thing I would prefer to get to 41 just to be safe...
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redwight added 11:11 - Feb 18 Saintmike1950 suggests that the a railway station would be required, at the club's expense, if expansion is to be considered. Ever since SMS opened, I have been at a loss to know why this wasn't done. The line is there for heavens sake, and so is the space(?). Can anybody explain?
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IWOZTHERE added 19:33 - Feb 18 Sorry all Derr! 200m next season was a geriatric moment. Still will be 100mplus, so we'd still be looking at 250m in total. I think we deserve to be told what's happening to it?
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