Despite the “horrible” and “tense” nature of a relegation battle, Socceroos great Robbie Slater believes players relish the fight for survival because “the games mean so much.”
The battle to avoid the drop in the Premier League is the closest it has been in years, with last-placed Southampton still a mathematical chance of surviving even with four games to go.
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It’s even tighter just a few spots higher in the ladder with 15th-placed West Ham United only four points clear of Nottingham Forest in 18th.
Speaking on the Fox Football Podcast, Slater knows exactly what’s going through the minds of every player and manager at the clubs fighting for their lives.
After all, the 58-year-old was involved in a relegation scrap himself during his first season at Southampton in the 1996/97 Premier League campaign.
The Saints were stuck in the bottom three with seven games to go and Slater recalled watching Match Of The Day during a pre-match lunch with his teammates where Mark Lawrenson declared Southampton “were done.”
Slater said Lawrenson’s gibe “fired us up” as Southampton would go on to win four of their last seven to secure safety.
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However, it didn’t take away from the negative emotions all players feel in a relegation fight.
“I’ve been in a relegation fight,” Slater said.
“It is horrible. It is so bad. It’s so tense. It means so much. It’s how each player and the manager deal with it.”
Slater also noted the atmosphere at the training ground is also “horrible”, yet you somehow manage to “enjoy it” because of how close people in the pursuit of a common goal: safety.
It’s also down to importance of each game during the run-in to the end of the season and the sheer satisfaction a win can bring not just to the players and staff, but the passionate fanbase too.
“It’s games you want to play in,” Slater said.
“I always remember Southampton’s second season, the year after the relegation battle (in 1996/97 season).
“Dave Jones took over, we were mid-table and I remember Southampton fans coming up … ‘I kind of preferred last year, it was so exciting, this year it’s boring.’
“A relegation fight is fantastic if you survive. But as a player, the games mean so much.
“When you’re mid-table and there’s five, six games to go and you can’t get relegated or you can’t win the league, it’s not that you don’t (care), you’re just not as motivated.”
