After the relegation of Swansea, Stoke & West Brom amazingly Saints are now the 8th longest serving member of the current Premier League, highlighting the transient nature of the division.

Since Saints were promoted in 2012 there have been a total of 28 relegation places filled by at total of 16 different clubs which means that Saints are now the 8th longest serving club in the Premier League, although it could be said that West ham could share that position, the fact that they went up in the play offs in the year we got automatic promotion in my mind though is that we have been in the Premier League 2 weeks longer than them to be pedantic pushing them to 9th.

The big six clubs are of course ahead of Saints as are Everton, of those teams Arsenal have been there the longest having been relegated only once and that was before the First World War and they have been continuously in the top flight since 1919, Everton since the early 1950's, Liverpool since the early 60's and Manchester United and Spurs have spent over 60 years apiece continuously in the division save a season each in the 1970's when they both were relegated and spent a year in Division 2 only Chelsea and Manchester City have spent any length of time outside of the top flight in the last half century back in the 1980's & 90's and indeed only City have been outside the Premier league since it's formation in 1992.

What this tells us is that the Premier League is now only two sections, the big six and the rest, we flirted with relegation this year and so did Everton earlier in the season, the stark truth is that the big six aside any of the other clubs could go down.

So whilst Saints fans ranted and raved about whose fault it was that we found ourselves in relegation trouble and there were of course reasons, the fact is we do not have a God given right to stay in the top flight many of the clubs who have been relegated have been well run and have had money thrown at them, yet still went down.

There are 14 teams nest season who could finish 7th as Burnley did or who could just as likely go down as Soke, West Brom and Swansea clubs who have all finished in the top 10 in recent years found out.

So in six short years we have suddenly become one of the stalwarts of the Premier League and this is worrying.

It is easy to talk about ambition but the reality is that there is only a fine line between a top 10 finish or relegation, playing the wrong clubs at the right time can have a bearing on where you finish as can refereeing decisions and just plain bad luck.

If Saints had beaten Newcastle who finished in 10th and West Ham, then we could have ended the season above both, conversely if we had lost at West Brom they would have jumped above us and stayed up instead of finishing bottom.

So the message is that bad seasons are inevitable, the trick is to make sure that they happen infrequently, in truth this year is the only one out of six we have been in relegation trouble apart from our first season back and even then we were clear long before the end of the season.

This season we have had a lot of both bad luck and bad decisions, hopefully next season will not see so many, hopefully we have learn't our lessons and one of those should be realism, the Premier League is still split into two distinct sections we should be careful what we wish for !

Photo: Action Images

skiptonsaint added 14:43 - May 31 That’s why it is very important we spend the right amount of money rather than just looking for good profits every year ... Going to be a very interesting summer because we need to find a way of scoring quite a few more next season imo and mich as I love Gabbi we will need to find a system that is going to suit him if he is staying.
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patred added 15:55 - May 31 And the best way to assure we finish above the bottom 6 is to employ a manager, not an experimental coach such as Pelligrino. If that does not suit members of the board, those members should go as well. It should be the boards job to put in place a manager, and enough funds for his squad, then leave well enough alone, unless that manager proves incapable.
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Sanguin added 16:34 - May 31 This is fantastic perspective, thanks. I remember when West Brom were challenging the top 4, or in the late noughties when everyone was saying that Aston Villa were going to pip Arsenal to fourth spot. I’m going to use this factoid with friends, particularly the West Ham fans.
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underweststand added 17:58 - May 31 I can recall that in our " previous life " (which ended around 2005), we were also quoted as " the 8th. longest serving club - and that after 27/28 seasons (?) in the top tier and we rarely finished in the top 10 in all that time.? Times have changed. Record transfer fees that once stood unchallenged for several years - now it is only a matter of months. Expectations are far greater, and impatient owners want instant success, and being named " Manager of the Month" has become a game of musical chairs in some clubs as as we noted the departures of De Boer and Koeman almost before summer was over. On a personal level, I think English football would be better off if "the "top six" went off (together with their counterparts in other European countries) and played their games in all the arenas from Oslo to Athens.. and let the rest of us get on with some entertaining football without suffering the indignity of NOT finishing top 6 ..and sacking the manager.

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ItchenNorth added 19:39 - May 31 Couldn't agree more UnderTheWestStand; as soon as the top six disappear into UEFA's dream scenario of a European Super League (currently branded as the Champions League); the better. Football in this country would survive without them, there are plenty of big clubs, even down in the Championship with massive fan base. Attendances may dip for a short while (when the plastic fans leave), but imagine the prospect of actually challenging for the title !

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helpineedsomebody added 19:52 - May 31 with out the top six where would you get £180million pounds per season PER CLUB the world would not want to pay to watch huddersfield burnley etc
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underweststand added 20:04 - May 31 helpineedsomebody ...YES true, but then again we probably wouldn't have to pay £20-30 million for players who aren't good enough to sit on the bench in their parent club, and are vastly overpriced just because they are moving to a Prem.side. The transfer market would regulate itself - after a while.
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helpineedsomebody added 20:42 - May 31 the epl owners know in ten years time when sky breaks into the american / indian/china market each club could be earning a billion pounds per season thats why the big six will never leave the epl
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SanMarco added 08:44 - Jun 1 "hopefully we have learn't our lessons" - or we will be complacent. The last two seasons were more than a 'blip' - they were a definite downward trajectory. More of the same is not an option. It is not about money but about the quality and nature of the players brought in. Four record signings all on the bench for a vital match? That is more than 'bad decisions' in my book. Will we learn? Are those making the vital decisions up to it? The next few months will give us the answer.

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underweststand added 08:56 - Jun 1 I agree (in part) with San Marco, but at kick-off time, it is down to the formation that the manager wants to stick by. In recent seasons, we've seen two managers with " defensive backgrounds" who were more concerned with % ball possession than they were with attacking prowess. Playing one man up front and without wing support just doesn't work. The fact that our most expensive players sat on the bench shows a lack of understanding on the part of the managers as much as it does those who Ok'd the buys in the first place. .

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legineloc added 16:41 - Jun 1 In the season where we finished 8th I believe there was only 3 points between 8th & 17th, I think we were in the top half of the table in creating chances last season so we need someone to put the ball in the back of the net( I know that sounds easy) win our home games against teams in our part of the table & get stability in the club & change the manager year on yea
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SanMarco added 18:03 - Jun 1 Hi underweststand - I think the issue is having the manager and 'transfer committee' in harmony so that these things don't happen. Players were being bought that the managers didn't rate. Those that bought the players knew the manager's formation etc preferences...
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underweststand added 10:05 - Jun 3 to San Marco - I agree, but such a situation arises when new managers ( Puel and Pellegrino in this instance) "inherit " players who are already on 3-4 year contracts but they " don't fit his formation " . They want to bring in their own ex-players and the rest are left on the bench, or in the stand. Koeman's own playing record showed he liked attacking play and we got it. The two later appointees (P& P ) were both defenders in their time and concentrated on teams who played for clean sheets with a lone striker. Hughes is (thankfully) different, and I hope we se some of that enthusiasm next season. I don't blame Pellegrino for all the ills we endured last season, but the fact that he kept both Austin and (partly) Gabbiadini on the bench until November, (by which time we'd lost over a dozen HOME points) showed some naivety, together with his insistance on picking Boufal - who continued to play like "a one-man" team. which excluded others. I think both the Board and the players learned lessons from this, I hope they recognise it.

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SaintBrock added 23:32 - Jun 3 Just a meaningless statistic Nick. It's not the quantity that matters there hasn't been that much quality associated with our scraping survival for most of our time in the top division.
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LoisDeem added 16:41 - Jun 4 The pertinent fact is that -wherever we've finished -we have only once seriously flirted with relegation since our return to the PL -and that was this last season -and most of us could see that we were goners under that last coach. There is no reason this should happen again, and that is a starting point for Gao to ponder, Ralph to articulate, and Les to worry about.
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Jesus_02 added 10:23 - Jun 8 helpineedsomebody: The world may not want to watch Huddersfield v Burnley but Huddersfield and Burnley fans would and maybe without the huge cash incentives there might even be a few more players that actually come from Huddersfield and Burnley. But I guess that's just a utopian pipe dream that would never be sustainable ... a bit like the NHS
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