The greatest ever Saints team?

With Saints match at Hartlepool being postponed due to the weather, I decided to share my all time favourite Saints team with you. I have been an avid follower for many years and have had the pleasure of seeing some incredible talent pull on the famous red and white shirts. Now my opinion will prove to be wrong in some people’s eyes, but this is the team I think was the best ever while I have been watching Saints. There were many candidates to make this team and coming up with a starting XI was a tough task, but here goes!!

1.       Tim Flowers – An England international who showed his true genius during the early years of the premiership. Flowers was a great shot stopper who commanded his area. Most memorable moment was when he ran the length of Old Trafford after saving a Ryan Giggs penalty in the FA Cup to put Saints through to the Quarter Finals.

2.       Jeff Kenna – Having come through the ranks, Jeff pips Jason Dodd as my right back. A marauding full back that made his name with whole hearted displays and a willingness to work for the team. My best memory of Jeff was his celebration with another stalwart of the club, Franny Benali after scoring a cracking left footed curler at home.

3.       Gareth Bale – Made his debut as a 16 year old away at Derby County and scored a cracking free kick in a 2-2 draw. Gareth somehow in one season got into my all time XI by showing a maturity beyond his years and running games from left back in the second tier of English football.

4.       Neil Maddison – Defensive midfielder was tough position to call. Candidates for this position included the tough tackling Tommy Widdrington and long haired monster Terry Hurlock. Maddison gets the nod as he would chip in with the odd goal and was part of a midfield whose main job was to win the ball and as Alan Ball wanted “Give it to TIss!”

5.       Michael Svennson – Killer as he was affectionately known to the fans, was a hard ginger Swedish centre back. He formed a great partnership with another Scandinavian in Claus Lundekvam. Killer scored the last ever goal at Maine Road in a 1-0 away win. That shut the Gallagher’s up!

6.       Francis Benali – Franny was Southampton through and through. Having started as a striker, he eventually played in defence. Franny was a hard working committed player. He had a nasty streak and opposition attackers knew he was there. Never the most talented, but wore his heart on his sleeve and shed plenty of blood for the cause. Scored only 1 goal in over 450 appearances.

7.       Matthew Le Tissier – Only one man could ever have this shirt in my team. Matty was simply the greatest player I have ever seen. Scorer of penalties, free kicks and spectacular goals. Matty was out talisman, when he played well, we generally played well. Scored goals which today’s overpaid players can only dream off. Scored the last ever league goal at the Dell. A goal which nearly bought me to tears, the perfect fairytale ending for the Dell!

8.       Anders Svennson – Another Swedish import to make my team, Anders was pushed close by Ronnie Ekelund, but due to Ronnie’s career being cut short due to injury, Svennson gets the nod. An attacking midfielder who helped to knit together the team in some difficult times. Scored a great goal on the route to Cardiff in 2003 against Spurs.

9.       Marian Pahars – A footballer with a woman’s name was how he was first billed but many premiership defences quickly realised he wasn’t one to be messed with! Marians Pace and skill made many a player look foolish including a certain nutmeg on Jaap Stam at Old Trafford!

10.   Chris Marsden – Journeyman is a term that could be used to describe Chris. A dependable midfielder who formed a great partnership with Wayne Bridge down the left side of the pitch. Highlight of his career was his John Barnes-esque goal away at Ipswich as he went past 6 players and finished.

11.   Neil Heaney – Norm as he was known was an infuriating player. He could produce magic down the wing and score great goals, but more often than not, his final ball would end up in the middle of the Milton Road stand. He gets the nod ahead of many other wide players we have had simply because I remember the way he terrorised Dean Austin of Spurs for a couple of seasons. Never have I seen a full back look so scared when a player ran at him.

So there is my favourite Saints XI, I’m sure many of you don’t agree with my selections. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Saints have had many talented and brilliant footballers during my years as a fan, but we have also had some shockers! I’m working on my worst ever Saints XI, but it may take a while to come up with that team.

St Mary's - The Fortress

November 20^th 2010 – November 27^th 2010

Saints started the week with the first of three home games against pre-season promotion rivals Peterborough United.  Saints started like a runaway horse against the “posh”, we should have scored a lot earlier than the 28^th minute when “Bernie” continued his good recent form by smashing the ball past Joe Lewis in the Boro goal. Lewis had already pulled off a couple of good saves from Lallana before Saints took the lead.  Saints went in 1-0 up at the break, but it was easy to see why Peterborough had been conceding goals of late. Yes, they may have a good attack at this level, but some of the defending was comical. Early on Chamberlain skinned the full back and this caused one of their most creative players, George Boyd to spend his afternoon helping his full back from what can only be described as a footballing rape!

Second half started with a bang as the ever improving Ryan Dickson crossed for Fonte to head home his 4^th goal of the season. Finally we have a centre back that chips in with a few goals! In all honesty Fonte is playing below his level. Jose could easily do a very good job at championship level. Saints increased the lead when Richard Chaplow made it 3-0 after 50 minutes and it was game over. Saints had outclassed, out passed and out muscled the opponents on offer. The defence was called into action rarely and stood up well against Mackail-Smith and Maclean. Posh pulled a goal back on 76 minutes as MacLean finished well from inside the box, but Saints were not finished, as we were treated to a Samba special appearance from Guly who came on and scored. In all honesty he should have had a hat trick but maybe we’ll see that one day. A solid 4-1 home victory for Saints who played with an attacking freedom and simply swept the “Posh” away.

The second game of the week came against top of the table Brighton. Gus Poyet has taken them to the summit with a possession game. Brighton bought a full allocation of away fans and the atmosphere was buzzing. Saints fans mocked the fans that had made the journey from Sussex with the predictable, yet funny banter. All the classic chants were out including, “Does your boyfriend know you’re here?” and “We can see you holding hands”. My good friend, Russell who supports the seagulls was expecting these chants and wasn’t surprised at how quickly the chants were sung.

Saints again, like the whole season, started well. Brighton couldn’t cope with all our midfield runners and struggled to pick up the intelligent running of Lallana. Somehow, Brighton managed to hold out till half time. Saints had played the league leaders off the park but had nothing to show for it! 0-0 at half time didn’t do justice to the attacking flair shown by Saints. The Brighton keeper made a couple of crucial stops and was helped by defenders throwing themselves at the ball.

The second half again started with Saints on the front foot, but on a cold winters evening, things started to even out. Brighton slowly gained more possession but didn’t look too likely to score. Saints held out for the draw after tiring in the final 20 minutes and a point against the team leading the way in the division isn’t the worst result we could have got. Radhi Jaidi gets a special mention for playing an absolute blinder at the back. Good to have you back Fireball!

Our third home game of the week was against Cheltenham town in the FA cup 2^nd round. Saints had reduced admission prices and despite a chilly day, we still managed to get the highest attendance of the round.

In all honesty this was a mis-match from when the draw was made. Saints brushed aside their league 2 opponents with ease and surprising comfort. Saints made a few changed to the starting team with Guly and Young Oscar Gobern getting starts. Yet again it was Lallana who shone as he gave Saints an early lead finishing following a flowing move. Saints dominated with long spells of possession and were frustrated as Cheltenham sat back and tried to make life difficult. We finished the game off on 50 minutes when Guly added to the score to make it 2-0, the goal coming minutes after Gobern had a goal ruled out for offside. Gobern was finally to get his first goal for the club on 87 minutes as he headed home from a good cross.

A perfect end to an enjoyable week, Saints picked up 4 league points and made it into the 3^rd round of the most famous club competition in the world! Blackpool will be the team coming to St. Mary’s for the next round, the return of one of the unsung heroes from the 2003 FA cup final team Brett Ormerod will be a feisty affair.  

A big thank you to all those that have been able to read this and if you have any comments, good or bad please get in touch.

Special thanks to my very good friend Alan who is helping spread the word by advertising this blog on his own website. Please visit www.bellsofhythe.co.uk for all your outdoor sports needs!

All the best

Neel