UNDERACHIEVERS

I found this on the Echo's internet pages

Saints are among England's biggest underachievers - official
10:13am Thursday 23rd October 2008
By Simon Carter »

FORGET Premiership giants Chelsea and Manchester Utd – English football’s biggest winners are Doncaster Rovers!

Saints’ Championship rivals have achieved more with what they have got than any other team in the English leagues since the Premiership began in 1992, according to a major statistical analysis.

And out of all the 92 English League clubs, the big spending billionaire teams were shown up as time-wasting also-rans.

The world’s richest club, Manchester City, backed by oil-rich Arabs, are the fifth worst under-achievers.

Arsenal were the best in the Premiership, coming in at 27th place, Man Utd were 29th, Chelsea 33rd, Everton, 38th and Liverpool trailing behind in 45th.

Saints don’t fare too well – they are 77th (whisper it, but Pompey are second behind Doncaster ...) The biggest under-achievers were Sheffield Wednesday, followed by Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Coventry City and Manchester City.

The Achievers Report 2008, a huge study carried out by the New Football Pools, examined thousands of results, league tables and club records.

They then used financial data to compare the size of each club – based on stadium capacity, average attendances, club investment and player transfers – with what it has achieved on the pitch each season since 1992.

Each club’s achievements were then assessed on equal terms.

Rovers have overcome all the odds since the dark days of the late 1990s, when the club spent five seasons in the Conference, saw attendances drop to less than 2,000 and had its Belle Vue main stand badly damaged by fire.

And with the club’s former chairman sent to prison for conspiracy to commit arson, it’s a minor miracle Doncaster are now competing in the Championship.

Regarding Saints, the report says: “It’s going to be difficult to over-achieve when your best squads are regularly broken up by the necessity to sell the best players to your rivals.

“Managers from Ian Branfoot and Alan Ball, to Dave Jones and Gordon Strachan, all found that the Saints had to keep the books balanced by offloading their stars.

“Saints were Premier League regulars until 2005, and have found it difficult to adjust to life in the Championship.

“And does the fact that Southampton have had 14 managers in 16 years give us a clue as to why the club has under-achieved to such an extent?"

Good find. Lot of interesting points made but we are there because we don't score enough. That is except in points like these.

Simon Carter doesn't know Pompey are in the Premiership??


"Arsenal were the best in the Premiership, coming in at 27th place, Man Utd were 29th, Chelsea 33rd, Everton, 38th and Liverpool trailing behind in 45th.

Saints don’t fare too well – they are 77th (whisper it, but Pompey are second behind Doncaster ...)"

SSSHHHHH I won't tell if you don't.