But there is a nonsense sometimes mooted amongst the Saints supporters that the club would be better off not winning promotion this season.
Clearly, many are traumatised by the 12-point Premier League season, or perhaps by seeing the nauseating ‘big six’ coverage week-in, week-out.
You cannot argue with any of that, while going on unbeaten runs of 25 matches, or 14 as it currently stands, is, obviously, a lot more enjoyable.
But from a point of view of sheer competitiveness, there is not one player or coach who does not want to be back in the Premier League again.
The big argument is that Saints are not prepared for the top flight. That they would be routinely beaten heavily, and that they need another year to build.
Saints are 14 games unbeaten in all competitions (Image: Southampton FC/Matt Watson)
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Some supporters point to Leeds United, who lost the play-off final to Saints in 2024, and went on to win the second division the very next campaign.
They, still under the management of Daniel Farke, look good to beat the drop with a four-point gap from the bottom three with seven games to go.
Losing at Wembley has worked out all right for them. But, when you look deeper, it is not really anything to do with what they did in that extra year.
Only two signings in the Championship, Joe Rodon and Jayden Bogle, have played any major role this season; it’s all down to the summer recruitment.
All 10 of their Premier League signings were aged between 25 and 28, and every single one of them had come from a major European top-flight club.
Leeds also competed in a relatively poor Championship. Saints, next season, would have to contend with Wolves and Burnley at the very least.
They will be joined by one of West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur. All five of those teams would likely be at the top end of the league.
Next season’s Championship is going to be very competitive, and being good in it this year certainly does not guarantee success going forward.
Let’s look at another promoted team last season – Sunderland. The Black Cats lost their last five Championship matches before the play-offs.
Yet, a year later, with the same manager, Regis Le Bris, they sit 11th in the Premier League, following a famous double over rivals Newcastle United.
They were not ready for the top flight, everyone said, but they recruited a mass of athletic and experienced players, and will survive another season.
If they can manage it, why not be excited for another crack at it?
I know what you are thinking. Saints will not recruit as well as Leeds and Sunderland. This lot bought Cam Archer and Ben Brereton Diaz last time.
Fair enough. Technical director Johannes Spors does have an encouraging record, but I take your point. I would come back to you with this, though.
Technical director Johannes Spors has made some shrewd signings (Image: Stuart Martin)
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Going up means you have the muscle to keep the best of your squad, and you add to it from the top up, filtering out the players at the bottom.
Staying down is the opposite. You lose the ability to hold onto your most valuable players, sell the best, and promote those with smaller roles.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Shea Charles and Leo Scienza, who is already the subject of suggestions to scout him if not promoted, are candidates for sales.
Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsdale is unaffordable in the Championship, and fan-favourite Daniel Peretz may not want to sign permanently in this league.
Surely everyone wants to keep their best players, while the market also opens up to a world of talent that will take a punt on any Premier League club.
One of the interesting complexities of this is that, if you actually look at the raw financial data, Saints lose more money in the Premier League seasons.
The club made a £5.7 million profit in the 2023/24 Championship, after recording a £87m loss in 2022/23. A large loss is also expected last year.
But that’s just the cost of recruiting to survive in the top flight versus selling off assets to make up the revenue shortfall in the second tier.
Promotion effectively secures your club a minimum of three years of shopping for players in a bracket above at least 21 other Championship clubs.
This is due to TV deals worth over £100m in the Premier League, the inflated value of sponsorship and commercial work, and parachute payments.
Since 2019, two-thirds of relegated teams finished top six in the next season, while only 45 per cent did so in their second Championship campaign.
And in the last decade or so, more relegated teams have been promoted within one season of relegation than after two, three or four combined.
Before you know it, your club is a Derby County, or a Norwich, or a Watford, or a Swansea, or even a Sheffield Wednesday, and not winning every week.
So while I can see where many fans are coming from – the Premier League can be soulless and unforgiving – it is just not an argument that really flies.
Dozens of clubs are fighting tooth and nail to be one of the three that get there each year, and you simply cannot pick and choose your moments.
There is no debate that, if Saints are lucky enough and perform well enough to achieve it, promotion is the best outcome for the club’s future.
With all that being said, maybe VAR is enough to put us all off…