From one extreme to another...

January 8^th 2011 – January 22^nd 2011

Finally the day most football fans look forward to, FA Cup 3^rd round day. Blackpool were the visitors to St Marys as Ian “Too much to say” Holloway made headlines by making nine changes from his previous selection. What the media failed to recognise was that Saints made eight changes themselves, even giving the want away Puncheon a start.

Saints started with a new formation from the standard 4-4-2. Adkins adopted a diamond shape in midfield to give the creative Lallana more space to ply his trade. This system baffled a very poor Blackpool who were simply outplayed by Saints. From the kick off, Morgan and Lallana ran midfield and toyed with the opposition. Saints had numerous chances to take the lead but seemed to lack calmness in front of goal and seemed to snatch at a few chances. 0-0 at half time, but it was never in doubt who would progress to the next round.

The second half started with a bang for Saints as Lee “Bernie” Barnard finished off from close range to give Saints the lead. This is where I expected the so called premier league team to battle back and show their fitness and class. How wrong was I? Saints carried on with great confidence and passed around a very poor team. The win was guaranteed when Samba Star Guly came off the bench and scored with a cracking 25 yard effort. Special mention to former Saint Brett Ormerod, who as usual worked his socks off for his team and was rewarded with a standing ovation from the saints fans.

Ian Holloway had the nerve to call our fans disrespectful and jealous due to the nature of the banter aimed toward his team. Holloway has worked miracles to get the seasiders where they are, but he needs to learn to shut up. He was beaten by the better team and showed he can be tactically inept by moving Matt Phillips, who was the biggest attacking threat to right back and throwing some unknown player up top. In my opinion he needs to learn that he is manager of a football club and not a TV personality! All his quotes and little stories were once directly linked to his team but now they are just the ramblings of someone desperate to cash in on his 15 minutes of fame. Stick to being a manager and you may still have a chance of earning my respect.    Anyway, Saints will face Manchester United in the 4^th round at St. Mary’s. A great excuse for the plastic fans to crawl out of the woodwork!

Following the cup victory Saints had to make the long journey to Oldham. This was game I thought could be a potential banana skin for Saints. Paul Dickov has moulded a team based on his own beliefs and they are a difficult side to play at home. However this game was a walk in the park for Saints. Chamberlain tapped in from a Lambert pull back early on and it was one way traffic for the rest of the game. Saints ran out 6-0 winner with further goals from Lallana, Guly, Chaplow, Lambert and Barnard. In all honesty it could have been more, but from reports Saints played with a freedom which allowed most of our play to be in Oldham’s half. A great way to carry on our good form and we seemed have come together as a unit.

The euphoria surrounding our next home game was high. The other form team in the division Nott’s County came to town. Paul Ince’s men had been unbeaten in several weeks and had themselves pulled off a cup shock by beating Sunderland. Ince has never won a point against Saints as manager and seemed determined to change that. His team set out in a very defensive system and frustrated Saints. I think we looked a bit tired from the run of games we’d had and seemed a little off the pace. We huffed and puffed but didn’t really create many chances. Fonte had a header cleared off the line early in the second half, but we couldn’t find the breakthrough. Nott’s county celebrated like they had won the league at the final whistle, which to me shows how much teams in our league fear the Saints.

Tranmere Rovers was the next stop for Saints on the journey to hopefully promotion. Tranmere has been a very unlucky ground for Saints in the past and this was again proved by a poor 2-0 defeat. Nigel Adkins was not happy with the performance and I’m glad he stated this on local radio. Too many times do Saints seem to struggle at places like Prenton Park. We conceded 2 very poor goals, again in my opinion the fault of fans darling Kelvis. He was hesitant for the first goal and showed how little he commands his area and what he was doing so far off his line when beaten from 35 yards, I will never know. My feelings on Kelvis are well known and I won’t bore you all with them. So it has been mixed emotions for all Saints fans lately, a couple of very good wins, followed by two lacklustre performances. Let’s hope we get back to winning ways soon.

The transfer deadline is almost upon us and Saints have been in the media a lot! Alex Chamberlain is an undoubted talent and I’m glad the club appear to be standing their ground with respect to how much he’s worth. During the dark days of Darth Lowe, we cashed in on our prized assets and rolled over to the big boys. Mr Cortese seems to have made a stand. Chamberlain is being courted by the most successful clubs in the land, but they must pay. Arsenal have rumoured to have offered a structured deal for the kid and Liverpool simply can’t afford to buy him with their current crisis. Man Utd and City have both watched him, but no concrete offers yet. Saints should look after themselves; Chamberlain should be sold to the highest bidder. His welfare once he leaves saints is not our concern. But I will wish him good luck for wherever he ends up.

One player who I will be over the moon to see the back of is Puncheon. A typical wideboy who thinks he’s better than what he is. Rumour has it a disruptive influence in the changing room, Puncheon displays all the things I hate about modern day footballers. The big thing he lacks is loyalty and heart! Dropped from the first XI, replaced by a kid, he should have knuckled down and tried to win his place back, but he decided to sulk and went out on loan. The biggest thing that annoys me is the fact he stated he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to sit on the bench away at Tranmere. The bloke is a disgrace!

While writing this lengthy edition, Saints are still being linked with attackers like Mackail-Smith and Austin, which shows our ambition. N’Guessan from Leicester has joined on loan till the summer and I hope saints will improve the squad.  

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

The promotion push starts here...

December 11^th 2010 – January 3^rd 2010

Saints went into the festive season with a home match against the unfancied  Bee’s from Brentford. This was a game I missed due to work commitments, and I’m so glad I did! From what I’ve seen and heard, this was possibly our worst home performance under Nigel Adkins. Brentford took the lead following a mistake from the Club number 1 Kelvin Davies. As many of you may know, Kelvis as I like to call him is not my cup of tea. From day one I have said I don’t rate this keeper. Yes, he may be a good shot stopper and decent penalty saver, but the other aspects of his game are shocking. He doesn’t command his area, doesn’t talk to his defence enough and stays rooted to his line allowing opposition teams to benefit from how static he is. I was told it was a good thing I wasn’t at the game or I may have been escorted from the ground following this error! Brentford further increased the lead mid way through the half and were able to hold on for all 3 points. This bought an end to our decent home run and hopefully we can get another run going ASAP!

It was a further 17 days before our next match due to the Siberian weather we have been having. Special mention to all the saints fans who made the trip to Charlton on Boxing day, only to have Andy D’Urso call off the game less than an hour before kick off as the linesman might have had to run on slippery ground! An absolute disgrace and I hope the FA will conduct some sort of investigation, of course we all know this will not happen!

Saints finally got some game time with a home match against one of the divisions more potent attacks. Huddersfield were the visitors to St Marys and on paper would provide a stern test for the Red and Whites. Saints started brightly but fell behind to a goal on the break, Lee Novak headed home from a delightful cross to give the terriers the lead. Saints seemed to switch off for a few minutes and paid the price. We were soon level when the big man Lambert powered home a shot from the edge of the box, his first goal from open play in a long time. Saints grew in confidence and started knocking the ball around and moving the opposition around. This movement was creating space for our wingers who were terrorising the full backs. Alex Chamberlain again looked to have the pace on the left back, who was eventually subbed after 30 minutes. This didn’t help Huddersfield’s cause, as a minute later Chamberlain used his quick feet to bury a low shot into the net following good hold up play from Guly.

The second half started with a bang as Lallana, who again was showing off his skill with some sublime touches, delivered a perfect free kick from the right and Jaidi rose to power home an unstoppable header. 3-1 and cruising. Huddersfield had come to St Mary’s and played too open and left massive holes for Saints to run into. This was highlighted 10 minutes from time as good build up again lead to Guly setting up Chaplow for a fourth. Saints ran out easy winners and in all honesty could have scored many more following 25 efforts on goal. A great way to recover from the previous poor result.

New Years day bought another home game for the Saints. This time we took on Paul Tisdale’s Exeter who have had an impressive season and were sat comfortably in mid table. The game started fairly evenly as both teams seemed happy to knock the ball about and try to create space. We finally took the lead on 19 minutes as Guly produced a lovely measured finish in front of the Northam end. Our Brazilian Samba Superstar seems to have settled into League 1 football and is now producing some lovely football and is forming a blossoming partnership with Rickie Lambert.

Guly again got Saints off to a flyer in the second half tapping in after Chamberlain had ruined yet another full back and then very intelligently squared the ball to create the chance. Saints were now playing with extreme confidence and the midfield pairing of Chaplow and Morgan were running the show. We further extended the lead as Lallana cut in from the left and curled a low shot into the far corner.  Guly then had the moment to complete a well deserved hat-trick and after rounding the keeper, he looked on in disbelief as a defender somehow got back onto the line and cleared the ball away. Nigel Adkins started to rest a few players and we were treated to “Bernie” and Oscar Gobern coming on for the final 20 minutes. Bernie made up for some missed chances in the previous game by converting in injury time. 4-0 to the Saints and only 27 attempts on goal in this match!

Saints finished off the festive program with a tricky looking tie away at Dagenham & Redbridge. Over 1000 Saints fans made the Trip to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Stadium. We were housed in the only decent stand they have behind the goal. The saints fans seemed in high spirits following our climb into second place and the team responded. The pitch at Dagenham was a leveller. Lots of bobbles and it cut up very easily. This affected our passing game and despite many chances in the first half, we went in at half time 0-0. Again our midfield dominated the game and we seemed to have a game plan to cope with the awful pitch. The defence were happy to clear the ball long away from our goal and we tried playing football in the home teams half.

Yet again Saints got off to an impressive start to the second half. Adam Lallana further enhanced his reputation with an acrobatic volley with beat the Dagger’s Keeper. The goal seemed to settle any nerves Saints had and we carrying on knocking the ball around with ease. The lead was extended when Guly cut in from the right and produced a cultured finish with his left foot. This was game over and Saints looked to see the game out in a professional manner. But typical Saints! We gave away a silly goal from a cross, yet again Kelvis stayed glued to his line. For some unknown reason, this goal seemed to drain any confidence or common sense Saints had and we panicked. Dagenham were quicker to the tackle and seemed to want it more. They got a free kick about 25 yards out and Kelvis produced a good save to keep it out with the help of the bar. Dagenham claimed the ball had crossed the line, but ref and linesman both said no goal much to the relief of the travelling army. Rickie Lambert then wrapped up the 3 points with a deft flick over the advancing Tony Roberts in injury time, from my view there was a definite suspicion of handball from the Saints number 7, but we’ll take a goal anyway we can. A top performance away from home and the Saints are chasing hard for top spot!

As the transfer window is now open I look forward to seeing what further additions the club will make following the bargain capture of Richard Chaplow. I do love this time of year as the rumour mill goes into overtime, best rumour so far is that Michael Owen will be joining to challenge Guly for a starting slot. Ha Ha, Pure genius!

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