I THINK I’ve said a few times now but the Premiership is obviously the place every club wants to be, and sadly Saints are not in the best position.

They have had a bit of a break recently with the Carabao Cup popping up and winning cup ties, as Saints have been doing, can eventually be the thing that moves them up the table.

Looking back to the days when it was known purely as the League Cup, supporters of a certain age will remember a trip to Wembley in 1979.

Many of the supporters who failed to get tickets for the FA Cup final we were in three years earlier were able to attend, which was pleasing for me.

The atmosphere on the day was amazing with Brian Clough, the famous manager of Nottingham Forest, back where he would be many times.

I didn’t realise until recently that he took Nottingham Forest to six League Cup finals and incredibly he won four of them.

It was in a period starting in 1978, where he beat Liverpool after a replay, before winning 3-2 in 1979 versus us and then he finally lost one in 1980 to Wolves.

There was then a long gap but he was back in 1989, beating Luton Town 3-1, 1990, beating Oldham 1-0, and 1992 – where he lost to his old rivals, Manchester United.

He was quite a close friend of mine and he looked on us as managing what many media and supporters of other teams called ‘small clubs’, with the likes of Manchester United much bigger.

He was always determined to get results against them as a result and he was always a bit of a character.

I well remember his comments and shouts down the touchline when we played each other in different games.

However, I don’t think there will be many other managers who match his cup visits. There are only two now and that is Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, who can match his four wins.

Apparently, in his time with Nottingham Forest, he made 10 total trips to Wembley, with the League Cup finals and two Full Members’ Cup finals, a charity shield and an FA Cup final.

The good thing about cup ties is that it gives managers, especially these days, a chance to look at some players who are on the fringes of the league team.

That is the best side of it but, as I have said, the fact they are squads of 20 or more nowadays means that the cup ties are not as strongly filled as league games and can be used as an experiment.

Having said that, when clubs get as far as Saints have at the moment, any manager wants to walk out at Wembley and knows his supporters will be fully behind putting their strongest XI out.

Tuesday’s match will be very interesting; the Newcastle supporters will be out in force – they love their football – and I wish good luck to Mr Jones and his team.

I am still wondering who will be appointed as the next Everton manager, especially when an ex-Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has been given a mention.

Personally, I think someone like Sean Dyche – who could be confirmed by the time you read this column – or Sam Allardyce will be ideal, with experience in keeping teams in the Premiership, but they need to get the right man in.

They are alongside Saints in joint-bottom with only 15 points, but it is good that we can concentrate on cups for another week or so before we get back to the big job.

Hopefully, the success that the club has had in the cups can lift the supporters and remind them that cheering during the game, rather than booing, can make a big difference.

The atmosphere at St Mary’s on Tuesday, despite the eventual result, was excellent. Newcastle supporters helped, bearing in mind the journey here and back was over 600 miles, but both teams made it a good evening.

Let’s hope we can disappoint them next Tuesday night...

Don't miss a moment with our Saints morning briefing email.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this article on the Daily Echo. Your support means we can bring you the latest breaking news, exclusive Saints features and coverage - and much more.

Digital subscribers get unrestricted access to all of our stories, our dedicated app including e-version of the newspaper, and an advertising-light website.

If you want all the latest articles delivered straight to your inbox you can join the thousands of subscribers who are signed up to our newsletters.

They include our popular daily morning news briefing, breaking news, crime and court, and Southampton FC bulletins - plus business, heritage and our what's on newsletters.