With the first odds for next seasons Premier League now out, its no surprise to find Saints as one of the favourites to be relegated at the end of the 2012/13 season, however this is par for the course.
Saints start the season with odds of 5/4 to be sent packing straight back to the Championship, the only side who the bookis at this moment feel are more likely to join them in the drop are Reading who are 11/10, but this is normal for the bookies in respect to promoted teams as at this moment in time both Saints and Reading are unknown quantities in the division, West Ham presuambly because of their status and the fact the bookies feel that they are far more likely to spend than either of the two sides who gained automatic promotion are 5th favourites for the drop at 5/2, with Wigan at 2/1 and Norwich at 5/4 squeezed in between the Hammers and Saints.
Just after West Ham come Swansea at 9/2 who could perhaps offer the best value in the opening days of betting and then West Brom at 5/1, those who seek a decent return on their money could do well to put their dosh on either of those two, Swansea could well suffer second season syndrome and West Brom could be in disaray after the departure of Roy Hodgson.
Perhaps the biggest shock of the opening odds are QPR, they start at 11/2 and 8th favourites for the drop, considering their last day escape, the bookies obviosly feel that things are going to happen at Loftus Road, that Mark Hughes will start to turn things round and perhaps the owners will put their hands in their pockets, after that come Villa and Stoke, Villa at 7/1 and the Potters at a surprising 9/1 although at this stage in the table they probably have the greatest variance in price, there is a sneaking feeling in the football World that the Stoke bubble is about to burst and that they are in decline.
After that come the last of the true possible relegation candidates, Fulham & Sunderland, both priced at 12/1, perhaps an attractive flyer, they are two sides that should be safe, but could get caught up with the dogfight if they hit a run of bad form, after those two its Everton and the chasm in price is massive with the Toffee's at 40/1, with a number of consecutive top 10 finishes under their belt, it would be a brave man that would predict their demise, however if David Moyes was to leave that could all change.
So thats the opening prices for the bottom half 2/3 of the Premier, as I said earlier, not too much can be read into Saints position in the betting, its mainly based on the fact we are a new Club in this years Premier and that being the case, the bookies are unsure about us and what our plans for next term are, if you do fancy sweetening a bitter pill by making a few bob should Saints go back down, perhaps now is not the time to do it.
For those who believe there is a god out there, Man Utd & Man City are 2500/1 to go down, with Chelsea and Arsenal at 1000/1 and Spurs at 250/1.