Slim wrote:Even if they broke top 4 this year it would be disastrous for them next season.
For many reasons too.
Qualifying leaves Southampton with some big decisions in the summer if they qualify for the champs league. The way I see it there are a couple of options:
1: Fill the squad out a little to cope with 6 extra games
2: Sign a couple of big names to try to win a few of the 6 extra games
3: Do nothing
With option 1&2, I'd be fairly certain they wouldn't make top 4 the year after, which would leave them with a larger wage bill. The irony is that they would most likely have to sell the core players who got them to the champs league who are further on in their contract, and the mercenaries signed would continue to play shite, dragging them right down the table arguably even to relegation.
With option 3, this seems to be the approach of a few promoted championship clubs latterly, who recognise that their first time in the prem will almost certainly end in relegation and should be treated as a means to bank some money to build a sustainable team for promotion the year after. This would be my preferred, (albeit less palatable to the fans) option in Southampton's case. Make transfers to try to keep their league position or at least stay in contention at the top end, and no silly financial decisions.
Not sure how much of a restriction FFP would have on a club like Southampton, arguably it stops them doing too much of option 1&2 so is a good thing, but it means that they can never sustainably challenge for the top 4 year in year out and thus fulfils the argument that it's biased towards the sky 4.
The alternative is that the board there are geniuses, and banked the £80m or so they made in the summer expecting that they would have a good season anyway, and to spend in the future, if so, fair fucks to them. If the owner has banked the money, who can argue with him?