Saints are Back in the Premier League: Where are Expectations Set for 2024/25 Season?
Southampton Football Club’s Championship stay was short-lived, and their victory at Wembley on Sunday ensured their return to the Premier League for the 2024/25 season. Russell Martin’s side will now compete in the top flight, and the question on everyone’s mind is: what are the expectations for the upcoming season?
Saints celebrate their promotion to the Premier League
Saints had been relegated from the top flight just a year ago and required the playoffs to secure their passage back. For many, the trip to Wembley will register itself in the Southampton Football Club’s history books as one of its finest days.
It may have been only a second-division game, but it was everything to 37,000 fans. For the owners - Sport Republic - and their appointed club leadership, Adam Armstrong’s winner represented unadulterated relief.
Saints are back in the Premier League after victory at Wembley.
Saints made an £87 million loss during the financial year of 2022-23 and will have made an eight-figure loss this past season too. Promotion back into the Premier League and access to its rich broadcast deals pull Saints back up from its descent into a black hole.
The Road Ahead
When Saints return for pre-season around a week into July, they will have an almighty challenge ahead of them. Martin addressed it in his press conference at Wembley - a question mark will hang over whether this brave style can work in the best league.
Whatever way you play, survival in the Premier League is no easy task, and the three promoted sides this year proved that. Just 27 points would have been enough to survive this season, but that was an anomaly, and the target is usually 10 wins. That is the aim for Saints this season - 17th and the guarantee of another season in the Premier League will be the measure of success.
A lot of hard work will be needed to achieve it, and there is no reason to entertain any loftier ambitions for now. Survival comes first and foremost, to allow the club time to keep building upwards.
St Mary’s Stadium will see its biggest changes since it opened its doors in 2001
Sport Republic have invested more than £200 million into the club since they arrived and will continue to make the necessary funds available. St Mary’s will see its biggest changes since it opened its doors in 2001 with a home end Northam and vastly improved matchday experience.
CEO Phil Parsons, however, with his hands on the purse strings, walked into the club to find the finances in a mess. He will not allow that to happen again, and there will be no gambling with the club’s future. Saints will look to operate efficiently.
Transfer Plans
Saints are already in talks with former captain Adam Lallana, 36, over a deal to bring him back to St Mary’s on a free transfer. They will pursue permanent deals for loanees Ryan Fraser and Flynn Downes but must agree a fee with their respective parent clubs. And they have been linked with interest in others, including Coventry City ace Callum O’Hare - who is out of contract this summer.
Even if the core group remain, there are probably half a dozen positions where Saints need an upgrade or more competition. Saints also have four key players heading into the last 12 months of their contracts this summer and could look to address that.
The club may opt to cash in on someone like Walker-Peters if an extension to their contracts cannot be agreed upon. Martin’s wish is to keep as many of the squad together as possible, but he has already admitted that will not be 100 per cent possible.
Continuity will be key, and Saints must hope the summer’s managerial merry-go-round does not sweep up Martin himself as it turns. We can only speculate on the performances and results yet to come in his first crack at the Premier League as boss.
Russell Martin’s brand should help keep the current squad keen to stay and attract new players looking to express themselves in the top division.
Martin told supporters at the promotion celebration event that Saints will look to be the same team they were in the Championship. It will inevitably lead to some bad days - they conceded 63 goals in 46 league games this season without having to play Man City and Arsenal. But it promises plenty of good days too - and you only have to beat the teams you are competing with directly.
Chairman Henrik Kraft told the Daily Echo that Saints do not want to be an organisation that changes course all the time last week. It will not be without its challenges, but the last 10 days have sent gearing up for an exciting summer into overdrive.
The Saints supporters have seen what can be done when they get behind their team, and they will do it again in August. Can they, and the club, hold their nerve if needed? Whatever happens, those behind this month’s success deserve support - and a chance.
