January 8th 2011 – January 22nd 2011
Finally the day most football fans look forward to, FA Cup 3rd 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 4th 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
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